LC and diabetes
I am a type II and only 28 years old. I was 27 when I found out. I was really about 80 pounds overweight. When they found me, my sugar was 599. Yes, I almost died.
There are many doctors that say that LCing will kill you, there are frankly uneducated or bull-headed. I say this because my best friend in the whole world is now a surgeon, and I understand how most doctors are bull-headed. If you talk with him about the good ole days (back in high school), he is normal, ask about work, and he knows everything. Of course, it is his job to know everything. So, the first thing I would recommend is that your husband see a doctor that is Low-carb friendly, you may have to call around to different doctors offices to find one.
Anyway, back to my story. I was only in the emergency room for a few hours and they gave me a bunch on insulin injections, and sent me home with a blood-sugar of about 225, not great, but not immediately dangerous anymore. Put me on a medication called glucatrol. I did my best to stay low-fat and so forth for the next couple weeks until I could meet with my endocrinologist. My lowest sugar was around 250, even though I was exercising everyday with a 3 mile walk and a trip to the gym.
My endocrinologist really saved my bacon when he said two things are wrong: one thing is that my medication produced more insulin, and should be changed to a medication that help you to use the insulin you have. The other thing is that carbohydrates (sugar or not) with few exceptions increases blood sugar levels; complex carbos increase it more slowly, which is bad news for someone who is insulin resistant. He gave me a copy of sugar-busters.
This was on a Tuesday morning. I ate mostly eggs and chicken and by week-end my sugar was a nice stable 150. The next week, I was sick with a head cold (happens sometimes to diabetics), and wasn't able to do very much exercise, but my sugar level had continued to drop. My fasting glucose was around 130, and the afternoon was around 90 - 100. This according to my endocrinologist was normal blood sugar levels.
On my first visit, my hba1c was 9.2 or ~ 220 average blood sugar. Second visit (approximately 2 months) was a 6.5 or ~ 135 average blood sugar. My last visit, we didn't do an hba1c, but since I had lost another 15 pounds he knew I was keeping my sugar under control. My last a1c was 5.8 or ~ 114 average blood sugar.
So, in recap. Find a LC friendly doctor to properly check-out your husband for low carbing. There are some tests that need to be run for diabetes, which is a kidney function test, and a general health assessment.
Good luck to you,
wsgts
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