Family members with potential diabetes

(In a #ketomarriage with @peggaloon) #1

Hello! My first post here!
I have my dad and my Aunty (not same side of fam) who are both showing signs of IR / T2D

Is there any information or pamphlet I can give them or show them to encourage them to go see a GP about this?

Both don’t go to a GP regularly or seem to notice their symptoms:

Dad - Has had 4x bypass, has skin tags, falls asleep frequently, gets the shakes if he doesn’t have carbs (after every meal at our house LOL!), urinates constantly, weight gain - specifically on his torso

Aunty - frequent urination, skin tags, falls asleep a lot, weight gain

(Danielle) #2

This thread may help you

(Kerri Hines) #3

Have you expressed any of your concerns to them?
If they refuse to go maybe you get them to at least do some blood sugar checks. You can get meters and strips pretty cheap these days. Maybe once they see it they will act upon it.

(In a #ketomarriage with @peggaloon) #4

Thank you for your response! Yes with my dad we have. We have the ketone / glucose tester. We offered to test his blood sugars, and he said he had his own tester - but refused to use it. He thinks his hypoglycemia is a ‘condition’ he has, like a genetic problem or something. He maintains to this day his quadruple bypass was caused by ‘chance’ and ‘age’ !!!

Thank you @Dandoesketo!

(Mark) #5

My suggestion would be to have them listen to all the podcasts from the beginning and let them convince themselves, the shows lay it all out in an easily digestible format,no pun intended,as they say you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink

(Kerri Hines) #6

Oh no! I can almost bet that’s exactly what he was told when he did last see a doctor.
That’s what happened with my sister. She had hypoglycemic episodes and when I tried to explain what the actual cause was and that she was at risk of developing T2D, she got really upset with me and yelled “I don’t have high blood sugar, I have low blood sugar, so I HAVE to eat sugary foods every couple hours. That’s what my doctor told me to do to keep from passing out”! And that IS exactly what her Doctor told her to do. So she carried candy and crackers with her everywhere and ate them about every hour of every day.
That was about 4 years ago. She’s about 100 pounds heavier and her A1c was over 8 the last time I knew. They never even checked her A1c back then. She still gets the same advice about eating lots of times a day to “keep blood sugar stable” that doesn’t even make any sense. I’ve tried again to explain things and now she admits she needs to “cut back” but still fully believes she will simply pass out and die if she doesn’t eat sugar every 2 hours at least. I couldn’t even get her to agree to 1 change. To switch to diet soda… “it tastes bad” imagine in a whiney, sad voice… I even asked her to mix it 50/50 with regular soda… “doesn’t taste right”. Honestly all I could say after that was “Well, having no legs isn’t gonna taste right either. Enjoy your soda” and we’ve not spoken of her health since then. I refuse to listen to her complain about being sick and she’s learned that unless she’s willing to talk making a change that I can’t be a sympathetic ear.
I truly hope you have better luck than I did. She’s so addicted to sugar that she’s willing to become more disabled and die young for it. Rather than suffer a bad tasting soda, god forbid!
Sorry, gets me worked up. I feel for you, it’s so difficult wanting your loved ones to understand how truly easy it can be to at least be healthier if not fully recover and they don’t seem to want it.
I wish you the best of luck getting through to them.

Edited to magically turn sofas into sodas

#7

Small steps, perhaps? Maybe things like:

  • Invite them over for a Keto dinner, but don’t let them know it was sugar and grain free until after they’ve eaten and enjoyed the meal

  • Put together homemade gifts/care packages of Keto snacks for them to nibble on

  • Have the podcasts playing in the background whenever you have them to yourself, eg. in the car or in lieu of dinner music

  • Casually leave articles and studies around for them to read, or not so casually email them links to such with an opening line along the lines of, “I’m trying to understand what you’re dealing with a little better and thought you might find this interesting. Have a read and let me know what you think.”

The hardest part is being patient, particularly when you just want to shake them whilst screaming “wake up and smell the bullet proof coffee!!!” Everyone has their own pace when it comes to change.

And of course, continue to do what you’re doing and lead by example.

(In a #ketomarriage with @peggaloon) #8

@Sunny_Bunny
Wow! That sounds exactly like my dad! 100%

@KetoKate - My dad doesn’t think he has a problem. He knows we eat ketogenically and says “you and your family have many dietary needs” So he treats it like we have allergies. I think I might have to flat out tell him I think he has full blown diabetes. My FIL, we are fairly certain. had T2D and it went undiagnosed. His first symptom was a fatal heart attack (this was also 20 years ago).

#9

Sounds like you’ve certainly got a challenge on your hands!

(Richard Morris) #10

Yeah sounds like they are expressing all the symptoms.

You could scare them by pointing out that the relative risk of lower extremity amputation rises by 26% for every 1% increase in HbA1c (glucose) and then pull out their last HbA1c results.

But another approach might be to point out that you and any kids you have will all have inherited their genetics, and if they do something about halting the progression of their disease your kids will not only have their grand parents around for longer but modeling the behaviour you will all eventually have to take up to reverse your common problem.

Best of luck with convincing them to do something before it is too late

(Larry Lustig) #11

It doesn’t sound like these are situations that are amenable to reasoned argument. It sounds more like a case for an intervention, drug-addition style.

Not knowing the people involved I can’t guess what approach might reach them. Are there grandchildren in the picture now or in the future? Being there to see them grow up might be a motivator. Something like “Dad, I know your health is your business, not mine, but I think we both recognize that, given your diet, your chance of dying or becoming incapacitated in the next ten years is pretty high. Have you thought about long-term care if you have to have a foot amputated, or even burial options?”

I certainly don’t think you’re going to convince them to read anything or listen to 40 hours of podcasts (as beneficial as that would be). I also wrote about the idea of some recovered / recovering T2D people recording short (a couple of minutes each one), first-person video appeals that could be shown to reluctant sick people. It hasn’t been done, but maybe you could approach a few people directly and ask them to record something (maybe even only audio) that you could play for your father and aunt. Here’s my original comment on the subject:

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/how-to-assist-a-t2d/869/3?u=larry

(Kerri Hines) #12

I hate to say it but I don’t think anything will reach my sister. She has so many health issues and chronic pain and terrible old injuries that left her disabled. I honestly think that she believes there is no hope for improvement. i think she feels like all she has left is her favorite food for enjoyment because she has so much trouble with everything else. She’s fully convinced that she’s have nothing good left in life if she couldn’t enjoy food. Completely ignoring how enjoyable keto food is!
She has grand children that are her world but as long as everyone sticks around and takes care of her once she’s bedridden I think she will just accept it.
It sounds terrible to say this. She doesn’t seem to realize what her future… near future… holds.
I would love to go the intervention route but I don’t think I would have the support of her husband and adult daughter that live with her. Her daughter is set on the same path and is a recovered addict so I’m not sure how to even approach that since she sorta traded one addiction for another. And the husband… Total meat, bread and potatoes with extra bread kind of guy. Somehow he’s managed to not get obese. He would feel like he should be excluded from having to change anything.
It’s literally just me that realizes what could help and nobody else wants any part of it.

(CIndy Rhoades) #13

Hi there! I too have the same problem will my brother. I have tested his BG with my meter twice in the last six months, 319 and 420. He has many skin tags gets up to urinate multiple times during the night and is actually losing weight I beileve because he is so diabetic. He refuses to go to the Dr. or change his Fast food and soda habits. He says he feels fine. REALLY?!? Unbelievable… but he just doesn’t want my advice or help. I actually get made fun of at family gatherings because i won’t eat the bread, rolls or cake! God forbid it is pasta or lasagna. VERY Frustrating!!! My mom is an insulin dependent T2D also whose usual breakfast is OJ will sweets or white toast. I truly understand your heartache!

(Jo Lo) #14

Regrettably, things can get even worse after they go to the CW doctor.

All of the wonderful stories about reversals and cures are based on ignoring the conventional wisdom.

If you can find a good LCHF doctor, there would be hope.

Remember that sugar and simple carbs are more addictive than heroin.

If these are your family members, consider that you are at risk too. Get your own numbers measured and keep them low using a wise diet. T2D is a dietary condition (not a disease).