August 25, 2003
Daily Care, Type 2
Question from Quezon City, the Philippines:
My father, diagnosed only last year with a fasting blood sugar of 298 mg/dl [16.6 mmol/L]. He was given Euglocon [ED: glyburide (a pill for Type 2 diabetes) ], and after a month of monitoring, his blood sugar has normalized. The problem is when my father takes this medicine continuously (let’s say for 14 days), his sugar easily goes down to 70 mg/dl [3.9 mmol/L], but when he stopped taking it for a week, his sugar went up to 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L]. We don’t understand. Does he really have diabetes? If so, what type? What should we do to normalize his blood sugar?
Please advise as to what foods should he eat and should not eat.
Answer:
It sounds like he needs some medicine, but he needs less medicine than what he is getting. It is unacceptable to have such low sugars all the time that he is danger of passing out. Please talk to your father’s physician and discuss whether the dose of the medication can be decreased.
JTL
[Editor’s comment: I’d suggest that you ask your father’s physician for a referral to a diabetes team who can best devise a treatment regimen (including medication and meal plan) that meets his lifestyle needs and blood glucose goals.
SS]