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Dr. Andrew Rynne

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Should Insulin Be Stopped In Severe Diarrhea?

Hello. My father is near the end of his life with us. He is diabetic and currently in the VA. The Hospice nurce told us he had a short time left (days). After a conversation with my mother and the doctor, it was decided that my father would be kept comfortable rather than try to extend his life. He had a severe bout of diareha for 48 hours and eats little. They stopped taking his blood sugar and stopped insulin. I m concerned that he still should have insulin as his body is still metabolizing fat. I ve forced the issue that his sugar should be read. Am I wrong? I dont want him to languish on my behalf. Thank you DLB
Thu, 18 Sep 2014
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Diabetologist,  's  Response
Hi, welcome to our site. I am Dr Saumya Mittal, MD.

Read your query. That is a very significant question and i appreciate your problem. I will try my best to answer your query

Technically, I dont see the harm in checking the sugars. But please understand this my friend that the prick for testing sugars is painful. Now your intentions are good, but in that state, the pain may bother him a lot. Besides you have said the diet has dropped a lot and he is not eating much. So his sugars wont be that high either. It would be better to make sure that in view of his diarrhea, he is being given more fluid.

In case you test to keep checking sugars, I would suggest do it just once a day. It will be a guide how his sugars are going. A fasting sugar daily can be used a s a guide. Monitoring can be increased/decreased accordingly.

I hope this helps you. Inform the reports mentioned above/if any other so I can be of help further.

I have given you the answer to the maximum considering the information provided. The results of the tests could further enhance my answer to you.

Please do understand that some details could be extracted from a detailed history and examination.

Please feel free to ask another query. I would be glad to help you. Looking forward to your return query with the details asked so that I can help you further.
(If the answer has helped you, please indicate this)
Best of luck.
Dr Mittal.
MBBS, MD (Internal Medicine), CC (Diabetes Mellitus), DNB (Neurology)
Consultant Physician and Diabetologist
JS Hospital
Ex Apollo Hospital, Delhi
Ex Kailash Hospital, Noida
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Should Insulin Be Stopped In Severe Diarrhea?

Hi, welcome to our site. I am Dr Saumya Mittal, MD. Read your query. That is a very significant question and i appreciate your problem. I will try my best to answer your query Technically, I dont see the harm in checking the sugars. But please understand this my friend that the prick for testing sugars is painful. Now your intentions are good, but in that state, the pain may bother him a lot. Besides you have said the diet has dropped a lot and he is not eating much. So his sugars wont be that high either. It would be better to make sure that in view of his diarrhea, he is being given more fluid. In case you test to keep checking sugars, I would suggest do it just once a day. It will be a guide how his sugars are going. A fasting sugar daily can be used a s a guide. Monitoring can be increased/decreased accordingly. I hope this helps you. Inform the reports mentioned above/if any other so I can be of help further. I have given you the answer to the maximum considering the information provided. The results of the tests could further enhance my answer to you. Please do understand that some details could be extracted from a detailed history and examination. Please feel free to ask another query. I would be glad to help you. Looking forward to your return query with the details asked so that I can help you further. (If the answer has helped you, please indicate this) Best of luck. Dr Mittal. MBBS, MD (Internal Medicine), CC (Diabetes Mellitus), DNB (Neurology) Consultant Physician and Diabetologist JS Hospital Ex Apollo Hospital, Delhi Ex Kailash Hospital, Noida