So my brother is Type-1 Diabetic, and the doctors gave him an insufficient insulin boosting pill, he hadn't been taking care of his diet, and over the years he's had significant weight-loss, lack of strength, and deteriorating health. Possibly even the signs of diabetic neuropathy... Well, Thanksgiving came, he said he'd just throw up whatever he ate so he wasn't feeling up to joining the family...and we were worried about him, after learning he hadn't been to work in over five days at that point. He's 42 years old...lives alone... I swung by to give him some Nyquil and Orange Juice and shit because I thought he was a different kind of sick.

He was suffering from Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Read that shit.

His blood sugar was through the roof. He had stopped breathing when he got to the hospital...they got him onto a rebreather and put him in ICU. Dehydrated to the point where they put 15 POUNDS of fluid back into him, and they were pumping acid out of his lungs...

My big brother almost died to this shit...My Dad has a different kind of diabetes, but he says the diabetic neuropathy is making life even more difficult.

This shit is scary...and in a lot of cases it can be prevented.

It makes me so uncertain. It makes me mad, honestly...because now I look at a snack machine and I'm just like...all of this shit will eventually kill you. I can't even drink Dr. Pepper in good conscience. My diet is shit. Most of our diets are shit...so whats the risk we take?

How many of yall are diabetic? How do you cope with family that are diabetic? Any stories to share? Whats your thoughts on the disease...for the past four days I've just kinda been in a haze.

high blood sugar damages cells and accelerates aging even for the non diabetic. I cant wait till my shipment of organic junk food from well.ca makes it way here, in my mind starches are ok

My dad has got diabetes from a pancreatic virus he had about 10 years ago.
Before he was diagnosed he was really thirsty all the time and he was drinking can after can of coke which only made him thirstier.
He got diagnosed and started looking after his sugar intake, but over the years it got progressively worse.
Now he has an insulin pump, which basically functions as a new pancreas for him and it's done absolute wonders for his health. He's still diabetic, obviously, but it's been a massive help for him.
I don't know what the situation is in your country, but he got it free on the NHS. He was one of the first people in Britain to have one.

Wow, I didn't now you could actually die from diabetes.
My condolences.

At 12/3/14 01:21 PM, WahyaRanger wrote: Type 2 Diabetes kind of runs in my family because nobody runs in my family.

+1

To OP: No I don't have diabetes and no one in my immediate family does (I have a shit ton of family members in Amsterdam/Rotterdam and in the Philippines) so it's never affected me in any way. One of my dads friends had a wife that died from Type 1 Diabetes but that was when I was really young so I didn't really give a fuck. It does suck ass though and is a pretty scary situation to deal with, hope for the best.

At 12/3/14 01:46 PM, WahyaRanger wrote: Whatchu mean?

Means that comment was epic.

Yeah I've been trying to watch what I eat and cut back on sugar. Worried about my sister, though...

My dad's got diabetes and needs to take insulin shots regularly. He seems to be doing alright for now, even while has other conditions.

I don't plan on becoming diabetic, hopefully I won't be a lazy fuck and skip exercise as I grow older.

At 12/3/14 01:23 PM, mysticvortex13 wrote: and if i am to make my own meals, they must consist entirely of one food. i dont have the time or patience to prepare all the different portions recommended. and breakfast's one food must be cereal. and i cannot be bothered to make lunch. unless you count snacking between meals as lunch.

This is very interesting and unusual. Is it a kind of obsessive compulsion (OCD-related)? Or is it related to your autism? Or something else? Or you don't know?

I must say I don't think I've ever heard of someone having this particular quirk before. I've heard of picky eaters but never "every meal must have only one food".

At 12/3/14 01:23 PM, mysticvortex13 wrote: i dont have type 2 yet... but both grandmothers of mine probably do... i know at least one does... but i rarely visit extended family anymore so i dont have to endure much.. except the worry of suffering feelings of discomfort that losing a loved one naturally brings.. discomfort, not misery. i lost too many family members through other means to be fazed much anymore. my uncle shot himself, my dogs have hung themselves on a short leash, gone blind and run into oncoming traffic during a thunderstorm... cant recall what else...

my great grandfather died of a heart attack, i cant recall what killed my great grandmother, pnumonia maybe, but she was suffering from alzheimers by that point so...

my rabbits chewed a hole in their pen and got eaten by stray cats... my fish died of "old age"...

ive always been very particular in what i can stomach eating. if i find the only things available to eat arent to my liking, i starve myself until something is available. might have given me a few ulcers or something but meh..

These experiances you had to go through must have been very tragic but don't just say it leaves you unphased now as I'm sure you'll think differently about what you care most even more than you have lost.
I hate this quote posting limit...

At 12/3/14 01:07 PM, Monster-64 wrote: Damn, dude. My condolences. Losing people sucks ass.

no one died you fucktard.

At 12/3/14 07:25 PM, Monster-64 wrote:

At 12/3/14 07:23 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote:

At 12/3/14 01:07 PM, Monster-64 wrote: Damn, dude. My condolences. Losing people sucks ass.

no one died you fucktard.

Fucks given about your comment: 0

if you weren't half as retarded as you are now and properly comprehended what you read no one would be calling your dumbass out.

Doctors told me im borderline this was back in 09 or 10 they gave these injections to lower my insulin levels, with that i was slowly losing weight along with thyroid medication but i hated the side effects i switched to another and hated and now since i've been eating right i got my thyroid levels good and im right on track with losing weight steadily.

I don't have the 'beetus, myself. Over the last few years, I've made radical changes to my diet. I don't drink sodas, have sugary desserts, or eat anything that's been heavily processed. I've felt much better, and I've probably beat any chance of getting the 'beetus.

At 12/3/14 01:01 PM, Phobotech wrote:

How many of yall are diabetic? How do you cope with family that are diabetic? Any stories to share? Whats your thoughts on the disease...for the past four days I've just kinda been in a haze.

I'm not diabetic, YET.
I have a shit diet and live an exceedingly sedentary life style.
A few months ago I realized i was shitting out blood.
I also have extremely bad heartburn as well.
about a month ago I switched to a new lifestyle and diet.
My heartburn is nonexistent as long as I keep to my diet.
I also don't shit blood much either.
I don't want to become diabetic so I take my diet seriously.
I haven't eaten candy in a month.
hopefully I can get better.

Dude, that is probably one of the saddest things I have ever heard on the BBS.

Hopefully he'll feel better.

At 12/3/14 08:28 PM, Monster-64 wrote:

At 12/3/14 08:08 PM, kazumazkan wrote:

That's good. Did you radically change your diet by any chance?

in way yes i just don't eat fastfood a lot and junk food it's a once in a while thing but i still drink sprite and 7up.

i just eat less and i get use too it and now i get full with eating little food.

It is scary that this stuff happens. I'm speaking generally here. Our bodies are our livelihood. If we can, we should do our best to find a doctor that has our best interest at heart. If your doctor is recommending stuff like exercise, sunshine, changes in diet or upping your intake of certain vitamins, you may very well have a doctor who genuinely cares.

Anyway. I'm very sorry OP. That sounds very scary. And I can tell you're feeling very troubled by it. I hope that you can find peace in doing what you believe is best for yourself.

He is stabilized and apparently in a big enough mood to be pissed off about the situation he's in...to the point where he shooed away my older brother when he tried to talk to him after his physical therapy.

After gaining some context from diabetic friends...when your blood sugar level is that out of whack, you tend to get violently fluctuating mood swings. That thirst, my friend explained, is as if you were made of clay or playdough that had dried out...and you tried to drink some water to rehydrate that clay, and it just sits on top of the dried out, brittle, crackled-out clay instead of absorbing right away....

...if I had felt like that, I would've been in a pretty sour mood too.

But y'know what, he's feeling sour. He's feeling something. I feel like he's on the road to improvement.

It's horrible being Diabetic when your blood sugar levels are high. You get really dehydrated and it's annoying as hell. It's probably why I drink so many energy drinks (the sugar-free ones)

I think a few relatives may have had it.

He failed his swallow test, so now they're taking his feeding tube out of his nose (run down his throat) and surgically feeding it into his chest. There's been some talk or rumors among him or family about the possibility of this being permanent, and I honestly don't see how a fucking feeding tube would be a permanent side-effect from this thing.

But the poor guy can barely swallow. He already had vision problems and his glasses don't help...now there's a fluid buildup in his ears, and according to his CHART, a daily helping of ear drops. Not sure if thats what the fluid in his ears ARE, or if the ear drops are to help remedy the fluid in his ears...

Anywho...he's having difficulty physically rehabilitating because of apparent neuropathy in his feet. A side effect I'm too familiar with associated with diabetes, as its something my Dad complains about all the time. He likes to Doom-Trip us into talking about how his diabetic neuropathy will continue to kill off nerves, make its way up to his heart (from his feet) and kill him...but I don't think there's legitimacy to that claim... I'm of the opinion that if I can kick my brothers ass into getting serious about PHYSICALLY rehabilitating himself to regain his own strength, he can conquer this shit...

...but what the fuck do I know.

Either way... He looks leagues, LEAGUES better than the last time I saw him. He was speaking, though softly. He had almost normal motor functions. He was alert....I had to raise my voice so he could understand me because of the fluid in his ears, but he was lively. There's a pattern here of improvement.

...and yet, on my way out of the hospital...snack machines, soda machines in every corner. Like its a joke in the details if anyone wondered why diabetes was so prevalent today...and here I sit with a Dr. Pepper by my side, and hating myself for drinking it.

My head is in a weird place, guys.

At 12/3/14 01:07 PM, Monster-64 wrote: Damn, dude. My condolences. Losing people sucks ass.

I knew what you meant, and thank you.

At 12/3/14 01:16 PM, RedCoin wrote:
I don't know what the situation is in your country...

Its expensive, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I kinda wish our healthcare was as affordable as it was professional and effective...it seems like such a touchy subject here in Texas because it'll trigger rage-boners with conservative friends that it erupts into a frenzied political discussion that usually involves Obama, and I kinda hate that.

There's got to be a better way than what we have.

At 12/3/14 01:21 PM, WahyaRanger wrote: Type 2 Diabetes kind of runs in my family because nobody runs in my family.

I gotta say, man, and I feel bad for not saying it the instant I read it; this line made me laugh, and I love it.

One of the reasons I'm trying to lose weight.

Me too, dude. You can do it. I've been meaning to post more on the workout progress thread, because I still go to the gym often.

Hope your brother gets well soon.

Thank you. Me too...though they're saying he could be in there anywhere from a week to a month, it all lies on the healing process. I'm reminded to be patient because its a gradual process...its a gradient.

At 12/3/14 01:23 PM, Zerodecoole wrote: Wow, I didn't now you could actually die from diabetes.
My condolences.

Heh, surpriiise...and when you really think about it, its actually really easy to get with our inactive and affordable junk-food addled environments...I appreciate the love.

At 12/3/14 11:29 PM, Shauna wrote:
I'd like to help in any way if you'd like.

You rock, Shauna. Thank you for the info, and the insight.

At 12/3/14 11:31 PM, poopmcfarts wrote: Dude, that is probably one of the saddest things I have ever heard on the BBS.

Resisting the urge to plug my own thread filled with way sadder things on the BBS...

Hopefully he'll feel better.

I think he will. If his pattern persists, from the time I saw him before Thanksgiving to the time he was admitted into the hospital to now...he should be outta there in no time.

At 12/4/14 12:53 PM, Piper wrote:
Anyway. I'm very sorry OP. That sounds very scary. And I can tell you're feeling very troubled by it. I hope that you can find peace in doing what you believe is best for yourself.

I know... my motivation has been shot. Knowing what to do best for oneself to cope with a stressful situation and actively doing it are two completely different things. Even with the optimism I carry about his healing, and how I know he'll be alive and well, with more and more expected years in his life expectancy piling on with each visit, I've been depressed through this whole thing.

Its a justified depression, but it doesn't make sense because I KNOW of the positivity...I see good things happening that should ease things out...flatten whatever wrinkles I've ruffled...and still I just get overwhelmed with a gloom that hangs over, and I hate that...

I have things to do, and I don't have the energy to do it. I have the time. I have the place. PLACES, even. I have support from a loving family, and friends, y'all, I have everything I need. But for some reason, not the drive...and I hope it ain't just another excuse I'm making...like a subconscious enabler for laziness or procrastination...It might be fear, and I don't fully understand why I'm afraid...it used to be about losing him, but I'm sure I won't yet...not for this. Fear for him? Still doesn't make sense.

At 12/4/14 02:17 PM, K1LL80Y wrote: Just shoot it with a gun.

Frontier Texan doctors tried that once in the days of the wild west... his blood sugar level dropped, but it was because the poor fellar was bleedin' out, so they had to try somethin else.

diabetes is hereditary. you will have it eventually if your genes are not okay. people with diabetes cannot produce enough insulin (or can't produce insulin) so their blood sugar level is high. it is not caused by having a high sugar diet and not having exercises.

that being said, regular exercise can help control diabetes.

At 12/3/14 01:01 PM, Phobotech wrote: ... he hadn't been taking care of his diet...

This is exactly it,

This shit is scary...and in a lot of cases it can be prevented.

and this.

You need to take care of yourself to survive. I think it's selfish when people can't give up soda and cheeseburgers when it would take an immense strain off of their loved ones. It goes to show that you aren't really living for yourself in this world.

It makes me so uncertain. It makes me mad, honestly...because now I look at a snack machine and I'm just like...all of this shit will eventually kill you. I can't even drink Dr. Pepper in good conscience.

My brother is an alcoholic, and addicted to cigarettes. Sure, I take issue with the glamorization of alcohol, and the sheer legality of cigarettes (shitty little carcinogenic cancer-causing brain and respiratory tract-ruining social conventions which are a poor excuse of tobacco to begin with), but, so what? Life is challenging -- doing the right thing is a challenge. We can't possibly remove all of the nive from the world, and if we did there would be no rightness in doing right. Plus I love to drink occasionally, just like one can occasionally eat fast food.

My diet is shit. Most of our diets are shit...so whats the risk we take?

My diet used to be shit, but now it's pretty good. I learned a lot about health from my friends in college. A few months ago my dad had a brush with diabeetus, and since then my fridge at home has only been stocked with healthy stuff, like white meat and fresh produce.

You know the funny thing is that healthy food is super delicious.

Any stories to share?

My friend -- one of my dearest friends in the world -- her father is a diabetic who refused to take care of himself. He started to try, after his first stroke. Recently he caught food poisoning and almost died because he couldn't control his diet. I didn't ever even think about that possibility. Man, diabetics have it tough. But it's a similar situation -- for years and years, this man chose to be hedonistic, even though it put his family through hell. Now he's in the most pain he's ever been in.

So my heart goes out to you. I hate when people say, especially on the news (look, my heart goes out to these people, but we still need to bomb/deport/torture them etc.) but it's an expression and I mean what it's supposed to express. If you want advice on living healthier, or talking to your family, you can honestly PM me.

That's another thing. Tell your family how you feel. Tell your brother how you feel. Don't expect it to work (lol), but you shouldn't remain silent about things that hurt you. Bringing an idea into dialogue can often help.

And maybe see a therapist. You're watching your loved ones self-destruct, and you shouldn't be alone. Try a school counsellor if you can find a good one, or a priest if you're into that kind of thing.

They should come up with a cure already. It is not a new disease.

To the companies that make junk food, it's really just business. Within the confines of avoiding non-food ingredients (eg. heavy metals and petroleum) I don't watch what I eat much at all and I'm fine. A big part of it is simply genetic.

Also I don't date diabetics.

Neuropathy has killed almost all of the nerves in his right leg, he says. So he'll either have to walk with a cane or be wheelchair bound.

He still can't swallow, he feels like shit, and he's pissed off that we saved him. He explicitly pointed out how he has DNR on all of his documents or something, and how he wished that he had died instead of having to live like this.

My oldest brother, the one that found him and called the paramedics, with tears in his eyes said he's sorry that he lived.

I'm not sure if its his depression saying this...at the core, his inability to cope with the predicament, if he's blowing the severity of his symptoms out of proportion or not but guys...my heart is in tatters over this. I fear that even if he makes it out of there and back to his home, that he might just kill himself... I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say.

At 12/11/14 05:21 AM, Newgaf wrote: incredible post

How did I not see this before? This was a very helpful read, dude, I absolutely needed this. Thank you.