January 23, 2004
Complications, Type 2
Question from St. Charles, Missouri, USA:
My relative has type 2 diabetes. She has some worrying symptoms: falling, stubbing toes that take a long time to heal, forgetfulness, falling asleep after dinner, decreasing driving skills. Are these normal signs of diabetes and high blood pressure or should we be more worried?
Answer:
Your questions are insightful. They can be the result of sugars that run too low or too high. The symptoms can also be the result of the side effects of medications that lower the blood pressure. They have to be put into the context of the patient’s clinical course. For instance, does your relative have blood sugar data that indicates frequent hypoglycemia after meals? If so, this needs to be discussed with their physician. Is there evidence that the blood pressure drops precipitously when they stand up or is the blood pressure running too low? Again this needs to be discussed with their physician.
JTL
