Please help me, my husband is at the moment having a diabetes hypo attack, help?

Question

I have tried giving him a glucose drink, by spooning it into his mouth, he did have a cup full and then on the second, he just spits it out, I feel upset and frustrated, please help?

Thank you to everyone that gave me positive answers, I will use them in the future. My husband is now okay and back to normal.

To the answers that were saying how stupid I was to go on the computer and ask for help, all I can say to these people is that I have had 9 years of hypo experience and other than glucose drinks, what other tried and tested ways and food/drinks have other diabetic people tried.

I know that if I resorted to ringing up 999, my husband and his parents would be angry with me, so I endeavour to do what I can with the knowledge I have read about, to help him in his hour of need. Surely you can see this.

Answer 1

oh so the first thing you do is come on here and ask us.get him some proper medical attention.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

You need to:

-Have a tube of glucose gel to rub on the inside of his cheek or sqiurt in his mouth for severe lows.

-Have an glucogon kit to use if he loses conciousnes.

Your diabetic educator should have explained these options to you when your husband was first diagnosed with diabetes. I would ask for an education session, or look for a new Diabetes Nurse Educator.

If he is having severe and frequent lows, his medication/insulin needs to be adjusted. An insulin pump is another option to reduce severe lows. The is also a continuous glucose monitor called the Guardian RT, which can detect a falling blood sugar before it becomes a big problem. I don't believe this is covered by any national health or insurance plans, but perhaps you can get assistance and coverage if his doctor feels it's necessary to keep him safe.

Also realize that severe hypoglycemia with a loss of consciousness may still require 911/999 even if glucagon is given. Often IV glucose is needed, and only medical personal can deliver that. I'd think it's better to have mad parents over a dead or brain damaged/comatose husband. Keep that in mind.

NEVER leave a person who needs assistance for hypoglycemia alone!

Answer 5

Have you tried giving him something/anything else he likes? The glucose drink will take a while to bring his BS levels up but it would be best to call for assistance as people with hypos can be very uncooperative.

The obvious answer to do is never let him get to this stage, but as we cant run peoples lives, ask the diabetic nurse if there is training that you can do to if this happens again, and any injections you could pop into him when his BS gets too low.

I guess you know the bit about putting him the recovery position if he gets too bad, and keeping up his breathing. Everyone should know this really. I guess he must be ok by now, but ask him not to scare you again like this!!

Answer 6

The emergency is obviously over now, some people have been so rude! Theres no need for that.
If your husband has not had a recent dietician appointment it may be worthwhile getting him one. It wont do any harm to get expert help with his diet and reduce the hypos.
I am also a diabetic and prone to hypos, if someone has not had to deal with them they have no idea how scarey it can be. Luckily with mine I get warning in time to stop me getting to a stage where I am in danger of unconsciouness, but my best friend can go very low and have no symptoms at all;

Answer 7

I have both kinds of diabetics here with family.
All I know that works is orange juice, peanut butter, cheese for hypoglycemia.
Is he able to eat any of these?
I'd use a straw to place the juice in his mouth if his numbers are severely low. My niece worked for an endocrine drs. office.
She reassured me that the professionals do not worry about the numbers until they reach 50.
But I know from experience with my own hypo., at 75 or higher, you can get the signs of diabetic shock.
Best of luck for now and in the future. Hope this helps some.
When my hubby has hyper.: I give him milk; cheese; crackers; peanut butter.

Answer 8

In the future you should seriously think about having a glucofauge kit handy. I think that's what its medical term is. Basically it's an injection of glucose that reaches the blood faster than digesting glucose. Usually after digesting glucose it takes about 15 min for the blood sugar to rise. If he did take a cup of a glucose drink his sugar should shortly rise back to normal.In this case where he can't even take in any glucose he must go into the er or get the glucofauge injection from from an ambulance immediately before going into ketoacidosis. (a diabetic coma).

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Its a good thing he spat out the drink (was he conscious? Never give an unconscious patient anything to eat or drink as they might choke on it)

Do you have glucagon injection with you? You should keep one with you (ask the doctor to prescribe it). It is used when the patient becomes unconcious due to hypoglycaemia.

If he becomes extremely dizzy and does not make sense while talking, and it wouldnt be advicable to give sugary thing, use something called Hypostop (its a gel). Basically you apply a bit of the gel to the inside of the cheeks and then rub the cheeks, so the gel goes into the blood stream and increases the sugar.

Also, KEEP THEM TALKING (EVEN IF IT IS RUBBISH TALK) to try and prevent them becoming unconcious.

Answer 11

Never be embarrassed to call 911 for a hypoglycemic episode. Especially if he's unconscious. People with diabetes should always carry a Gloucagon Emergency Pack for dangerous lows (seizures caused by hypoglycemia) If his blood sugar is low enough to not be able to swallow, this is defiantly when he needs a gloucagon shot, and a call to 911.