Good plan. Depending on your relationship with your endo, maybe they can help get your mom in with some other endo sooner by making a phone call on your behalf.
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I was misdiagnosed too. Type 1 and Type 2 runs in families, and in fact type 2 is a lot more prone to being inherited than Type 1. But in Type 1 you inherit a gene that makes you susceptible to “getting” it. They are pretty sure that process is set off by several viruses, one of which seems to be covid. Covid of course is setting off both types because it plays with the cells that regulate BG levels.
But if you have Type 1, you have the gene and you inherited it from someone, mom or dad. Unfortunately the medical field still is really lacking in knowledge. And now because there is so many people that have type 2, everybody must have type 2, that is what they are familiar with, especially if you are an adult. That 10 units of Humalog they gave your mom smacks of them treating her as a type 2 and that lacking knowledge…because type 2’s are insulin resistant and generally require higher doses of insulin.
Be forceful, seek another doctor if you have to. Not all endos are good, the first endo I saw insisted I was a type 2 and never tested me. But hopefully your endo should know more and you should be able to contact him to help of what to do. It’s also possible since you are his patient already they might take her since she is your mom even though not accepting new patients? Don’t just ask the front desk, have them send a note to the doctor. He should know that people inherit it and it is more likely your mom is a type 1.
It makes a difference in care. A type 2 is sort of left on their own half the time. They still make insulin so the thought would be to change what you eat, exercise etc and you will get better, if you need it, here are some pills etc that will help. So ending up being diagnosed right can end up being a long process. But a type 1 needs insulin. And once you are properly labeled you qualify easier for CGM’s, pumps etc.
Since your mom doesn’t like to test a cgm could be critical. If you can’t get the process going fast enough, she could consider self funding a Libre. The reader can be her smartphone and each 14 day sensor costs $37 at Costco if you are a Costco pharmacy member or Good Rx. Plus Abbot has coupons I think they still give out. But that way she wouldn’t have to fingerstick all the time and it would give you a better picture what her BG levels are at. It would maybe make her life a little easier. But you still need a prescription.
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I don’t have an endo, but a very very supportive family practitioner who is versed in type 1. Not sure why still, but he is… He doesn’t treat me like a type 2 and wants me to try anything new that I haven’t if it can help. Still on the fence about the dexcom, but he really wants me to try it.
I gave in and gave my mom an unopened novolog pen and gave her 2 units a bit ago to see if it’ll bring down her 215 mg/dl. She only ate a low sugar oatmeal for breakfast and a healthy choice low carb frozen meal for lunch. So both meals probably were at most 23-25 carbs. She was 167 mg/dl this morning I think without any food before hand. She’s been spiking with meals 20 carbs or less since coming home.
I’d say this is dumb, but I want my mom to feel better and be able to eat something.
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I love oatmeal and I think it’s very healthy…but just a warning because your carb evaluation might be off. A 1/2 cup is 24 carbs and who only eats a half cup? And if there was any sweetening that would add carbs too.
Before I knew I was a type 1, I was trying to be really careful about what I ate, lots of green salads with some veggies on top. And a salad would make me go over 200. When you need insulin you will still go up when you eat. Even when it’s low carb.
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It’s what’s on the package, so if it’s off , it’s quaker not me??
But yeah, gave her insulin for a salad with chicken and balsamic vinaigrette on it that was around 15 carbs , gave her 2 units for that, on top of the 2 unit correction… and she was 195 before it … And she was 132 2 hours later😃. So much better. Hopefully she stays better this way. She’s miserable not being able to eat much.
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Yes, a packet is premeasured so it probably wasn’t a big serving.
Sounds like you are on the right track. If you are starting her on insulin make sure she has a hypo fix within easy reach. While most of my insulin is used within the first two hours, I know I like to get a small extra kick after about 4-6 hours too.
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I had undiagnosed diabetes from a distal pancreatectomy. Was in DKA. I was panicked because I couldn’t see. Even got emergency glasses. When they finally figured out what was going on and got things under control (I am in tight control and intend to remain there) my eyesight returned to normal. No damage at all, but she needs to go to retinal specialist or good opthamologist.
Give it a few months to let the pressure behind her eyes subside.
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Nice job, can you imagine how bad she would feel if she didn’t have someone as amazing as you in her corner advocating and helping her with her treatment. She is a lucky mom.
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Bit of an update.
I’m super stressed and irritated at a lot of things, but trying my best here.
So far she’s not gaining weight, which is good on the chf front, but kinda worries me when I am not sure what she weighed before heart failure and it could be diabetes related weight loss? My mom’s around 5’4" or 5’5 where she’s 128 lbs now and that’s skinny to me, not bad or anything on its own, but not sure if it’s her normal or not.
Blood pressure is better, but not great still, but it’s consistently around 140/82.
She’s still running high blood sugars. She had an over 300 yesterday and a 221 today… But insulin brings her down to the 120-130 range really well. I’m doing the method I do when I’m higher than 200 : 2 units, wait an hour if possible, if still over 200 , 2 more units. Seems to work for her too? We went out to eat at noodles and company and she was 221 before she ate some penne Rosa ( a small order) and a side salad gave her 3 units for the food, 2 correction and she was down to 117 around 7pm so that is great! I hope when she can see better she can test herself more, but it’s super tempting to get like a dexcom or libre as soon as possible NGL.
We were at the eye Dr earlier in the day and we found out she has lots of small spots of vitreous and retinal bleeds and cataracts in both eyes. I hate this eye Dr though, they swore she could only have one type 2 as she’s not a kid, when I was in the room 
. I’m tired af of that idea , and I’m sure everyone here is ,too. They cut me off when I corrected them and gave me bad vibes the whole way through. She’s seeing a retina Dr on Thursday morning and if they’re an ahole too, we’re gonna find somewhere else.
She goes to the primary Dr tomorrow. I hope they’re not dismissive of the possibility of type 1, lada, or insulin dependent type 2…or even MODY. I used to think mody wasn’t on the table, but with my diabetes and my mom’s brother having diabetes as well, made me wonder 
. So far I’m finding insulin is working well and in small doses there’s no hypoglycemia and she’s very ok with it.
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I sure hope that appointment goes smoothly and productively…meaning c-peptide and antibody tests are ordered and a treatment plan developed to help your mom get her BGs under control. 
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I’m there with her now. We’re going for autoantibody testing and I think cpeptide.
He got super mad at me for giving her insulin, but I never give her more than 5 in one day and she still runs a bit high with that, but better than 300. Made me feel guilty for it , saying I’d make her hypoglycemic… But I’d not. I am vigilant about frequent testing and I keep glucose tablets , sugary treats ( my grandma has a horrible sweet tooth) and glucagon near by at all times. I understand doctors rather have people hyperglycemic, but I don’t wanna have her constantly high, I know that’s miserable and she’s a puker if she’s high like that.
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I think lots of doctors are afraid of hypos because they learned about insulin back when the strategy was to estimate an insulin dose, give it, and hope for the best but if it goes wrong there’s a life-threatening hypo before anyone knows about it. Now that we know better, we watch what is happening to the BG after giving insulin, so we can steer the BG in a good direction if it’s not going where it should, and prevent a problem rather than reacting to one after it’s bad. CGM is best for watching, but frequent fingersticks in the hours after dosing will work too.
I think if I were in your position I think I’d be doing what you are doing for your mom. Even if it makes the doctor mad. But only because you are being so responsible about preventing serious hypos.
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Lower blood sugar will help her start feeling more in control of her life and surely will improve her vision! Keep up the good work!
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I’m sure, I’m hoping it helps her vision.
Turns out he’s not her primary, we’re at a teaching hospital clinic thing so yeah… But either way, dude’s prolly 30-40 or so…and I didn’t think the old hypo fear is there but lol ok. My Dr isn’t that scared and he’s prolly around that age, he knows I test more than the usual 3-4 tests a day if I’m low or high or sick. if all else fails, I’m gonna see if my Dr can take her, even if she’s a type 2 , insulin is likely better early in to reduce further problems. I have no doubt we got this, but we’ll see. She’s got a lantus rx, She’s told to take 5 units of lantus, but only if her before bed glucose is 200… I’ll continue to hold off until she’s 300 , but if she’s in the 300s I’ll give her some novolog ( or whatever I have lol my insurance is giving me hell, that’s a whole other problem) . I’m just hoping her vision gets better and she can take over. I’m here for her either way.
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If you have the money, you can always order extra from Marks Marine for something like $35 a vial for Novolog. My wife and I travel frequently to Canada and always pick up a few extra vials.
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Why wait until 300? 200s will contribute to vision problems over time.
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Second this, from experience.
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The Dr made me paranoid, I’m an anxious person. That’s really it. Keeping her under 200 is a goal, but I don’t really wanna face drs thinking I’m trying to kill her, when I’m not.
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She’s more at risk of DKA so I agree: treat sooner.
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Can you speak with your family doctor (who treats you) about this, perhaps by phone? If you describe what you have done and what the result was, maybe your doctor will reassure you that you are doing a good and reasonable thing. Maybe that could help you withstand the pressure from the bad doctor.
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