[HollyB]

HI,

The sleepiness could be due to running too high OR it could be "young guy sloth." My 22-year-old son frequently sleeps until noon, but he stays up late too. So the question might be more, how many hours of sleep does he seem to need? If he's going back to bed and sleeping for hours after a good night's sleep, that could be fatigue due to high blood sugar or even something like depression.

The fruity smell is not "normal" when diabetes is well controlled -- as has been suggested by others, that's a sign of ketones which are a toxic by-product made when there is too little insulin available in the body. It's possible to have ketones and not have high blood sugar -- for example, when you are sick and vomiting or on a super low-carb Atkins-type diet -- but generally they result from high blood sugar.

Which brings me to the question -- when you say his numbers are "great," I wonder what that means? More significant than his occasional highs would be his average or usual numbers. His A1c, which his care team should be monitoring, would give a better idea of his numbers. The most likely reason for that fruity smell would be that he's running chronically high.

Good luck -- it's hard being the partner of someone who is maybe not looking after himself properly. You can make suggestions, but in the end he's the one who has to decide to ask the questions or make a change.