Hyperglycemia and Hypoglycemia

[Bowyn Aerrow]

No Problem Partisan...

Yeah my 'property caretaker' position appears to be taking on new duties.

Currently waiting for doctor/nurse to call to give me a better idea of how long they are going to keep him.

[LONDONER]

This might initially seem to go slightly off topic but bear with me. A friend recently sent me this, a link about an American doctor's use of coconut oil in treating he husband who was suffering Alzheimer.

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.as...JO190v1_WS

I was interested enough in the subject to investigate more and during my search I came across several site advocating the use of coconut oil to reduce blood sugar levels. As a Type 2 non insulin dependent diabetic that also interested me since recently my blood sugar spiked to 168 from a more usual and more manageable 130 that I had managed to maintain by diet and exercise.

If you just type coconut oil / diabetes in to Google you will get lots of results but here's a few:

http://beth811.hubpages.com/hub/Virgin-C...r-Diabetes

http://naturalhealthychoices.weebly.com/...betes.html

http://www.coconut-oil-in-a-nutshell.com...betes.html

I am not a doctor and I have no medical qualifications so please don't take my word as gospel.

I found some unsaturated coconut oil in a local health food store last week and am starting off taking half a soupspoon a day to be increased to a whole spoon after a week. I am due to have another blood test at the beginnig of August so it will be interesting to see the results.

I have an open mind and don't expect miracles. In the past I have tried cider vinegar and fenugreek, both supposed to reduce sugar levels but in my case they didn't.

By the way, coconut oil is tasteless.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

By the way, coconut oil is tasteless.

This way I can slip it to him without him knowing.

thanks

[mrk2010]

Hypoglycemia = too little sugar and hyperglycemia = too much sugar in the blood.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Yes I know what they are, I just don't know how to identify them as they are going down in a patient.

[unkown21]

Hi, im actually a full time EMS provider. Buy a Blood glucometer, they aren't too expensive (the test strips can be) and check his sugar for him when he is like that. Hyper and hypoglycemia can present the same. Loss of consciousness can be present with both. Usually excessive sweating and confusion can point towards hypoglycemia, as a fruity odor on their breathy(yes, we smell their breath) can indicate hyperglycemia. There isn't much a layperson can do for hyperglycemia, unless you could administer a fluid bolus via IV for him (that's what we do) to dilute the sugar. Since its mainly hypoglycemia you have to worry about, you can actually go to your local pharmacy and buy a tube of oral glucose and keep it handy. If you suspect he is hypoglycemic (sweaty, confused and sometimes combative) you can administer it to him orally, you don't give the glucose to them orally when they are unconscious though because you can obstruct their airway. I can give dextrose 50 to hypoglycemic patients via IV, but if i can't get a good IV line i actually have to insert the oral glucose rectally (mucous membranes like your mouth) and it works just as good hope this helps!

[trywait]

Hi, im actually a full time EMS provider. Buy a Blood glucometer, they aren't too expensive (the test strips can be) and check his sugar for him when he is like that. Hyper and hypoglycemia can present the same. Loss of consciousness can be present with both. Usually excessive sweating and confusion can point towards hypoglycemia, as a fruity odor on their breathy(yes, we smell their breath) can indicate hyperglycemia. There isn't much a layperson can do for hyperglycemia, unless you could administer a fluid bolus via IV for him (that's what we do) to dilute the sugar. Since its mainly hypoglycemia you have to worry about, you can actually go to your local pharmacy and buy a tube of oral glucose and keep it handy. If you suspect he is hypoglycemic (sweaty, confused and sometimes combative) you can administer it to him orally, you don't give the glucose to them orally when they are unconscious though because you can obstruct their airway. I can give dextrose 50 to hypoglycemic patients via IV, but if i can't get a good IV line i actually have to insert the oral glucose rectally (mucous membranes like your mouth) and it works just as good hope this helps!

^that's amazing advice spens. my grandpa is a type 1 diabetic; even though he takes insulin everyday, he is still susceptible to hypoglycemia more often than hyperglycemia because my grandpa doesn't eat much food now. one time, all we had at home was pepsi and that worked surprisingly well. we only used it once.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Ok, perhaps I didn't make it clear.

The old man will refuse to allow me to take blood to test - He already refuses to tell me the truth about his health when asked. I'm going to have to rely on visual inspection only to know his true health condition any given day.

He was very lucky, his gal-friend was trying to reach him to find out arrangements for church pot-luck. Had she not been trying to call him and find out, he would have sat in that chair all night long since I had done my 'last round' an hour or so previously and wouldn't have known he was having problems until the morning when I would have brought him is newspaper.

In order to 'keep tabs' on him I have to literally walk around his house and peek into windows to make certain he isn't on the floor bleeding to death. I do this 3 to 4 times a day, plus I take him his morning paper and when the mail arrives around 4 PM I take it to him.

I was hoping there was visual signs 'clues' to look for that will warn me that something is up so I can at least check on him more often when I suspect something is going on. If not insist on making him eat or something to offset this sort of thing in future.

[unkown21]

I listed a few signs and symptoms that can visually differentiate hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. Again, you don't have to present with any of those signs and symptoms to have low BS or high BS (blood sugar). Its a shame that he won't let you get a blood sample for a glucometer, that's really the only way to know for sure. Has this person ever had hyperglycemia? Usually if you are insulin dependant you won't have high blood sugar problems. Sorry, wish I could be more help.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Unknown21,

Yeah I was kind of hoping for a neon flashing sign to make it much clearer.:tongue:

It would make things a lot more easier if he would just be honest and stop being so g-damned independent and let people help. But noooo he has to be stubborn.


As an aside, he is staying another day at hospital, apparently his pacemaker is not functioning as it is supposed to either.

Yeah this makes it a bit more complicated...