January 17, 2003
Other Illnesses
Question from Nevada, USA:
I have suspected that my husband has had diabetes for years, yet he was moderately able to control it due to relatively good living, until he was drinking heavily and eating poorly and then got sick. My husband has modified his diet, but he is in denial and refuses to give up alcohol. He doesn’t know how moody he is, and the literature I’ve been able to dig up talks about hypoglycemia, yet it never talks about mood. A disturbing link to this, for me, is that I hear people talking about antidepressants being recommended before diet and exercise. What type of diabetes does he have? What are the specific reasons why alcohol causes such severe mood swings in people with diabetes? Where do I go for a “diet plan” for an underweight male with diabetes?
Answer:
Very good questions, and you sound like a concerned spouse. I think it would be good to get his okay to accompany him on his next visit to his health care team where you should be able to have a lot of your questions answered. My thought is that he is perhaps not in good control of his diabetes, and he needs your help along with the help of his team. Alcohol should only be used sparingly in folks with diabetes, so if he is drinking quite heavily, that may aggravate his diabetes — or the alcohol by itself may be causing mood problems.
LSF
[Editor’s comment: your local Al-Anon group (their phone number will be in the telephone book), or the Online Al-Anon Outreach program, to help you cope with his denial.
WWQ]
