Sugar level over 500

[renee35]

Hello, my mother was just recently diagnosed with Diabetes 2 last week on Thursday, she is 55 years old.
She was at the doctors office when they diagnosed her and said her blood sugar levels were over 500. Does it seem right that the dr would not have sent her immediately to the ER? Everything I am reading indicates that a blood sugar level over 500 is a medical emergency, that you go directly to the ER.

The dr did put her on medication and she had to go back the next day (Friday) for another reading and it was down to to around 380. She is going again this morning to see her Dr and it is at 240 now which is still high.

Since she has been to the Dr. Thurs, Fri, and again today I guess they are watching it closely but I just don't like that they didn't send her to the ER on Thursday. This same dr apologized to my mother that they did not catch this earlier. We think she has been suffering with with Diabetes 2 for some time.

[Ela]

Hi Renee and sorry about your mother's disease!

I'm not sure of the rules, but I suppose it depends how a person feels at the time of diagnoses? I was diagnosed with 378 and felt just fine. In fact the doctor didn't find out this till a few days later, when test results came in. And her assistant called me and asked to come over, but I said, why, I have an appointment tomorrow? Meanhwile I went to some fancy dinner at my nephew's and ate lots of everything I was not supposed to (and I didn't know that yet) and was still feeling OK. Now I strongly suspect that after that dinner I probably was at 500 too.

And you are right - 240 BG is too high, but it's going down and it's expected to be in higher numbers for a while, they can't just go to the normal in a few days - it takes weeks and months sometimes. And be prepared that your mom feels worse than she felt before for a while too. The thing is that body gets used to the high numbers and when they go down and especially when they go down rapidly - you can expect some unpleasanties as body has to ajust again.

Does your mom has a meter? The best way is to start testing her BG and take the matter in her own hands as knowing what she can or can't eat safely. Diabetes is no fun, but can be managed and your mom still can have good life.

Good luck and hugs to you and your mom!

[dice22]

Yes, in my opion she should have been sent to the E.R. ( where they would have immeditaly given & insulin shot) but Dr's. do strange things; but I can tell you right now she is going to need more than oral meds to bring it down ( let me state I'm no Dr. ,but my Mother had the same problem) of course she doesn't watch her carbs either. & she will deffently kneed a meter.

[puzlnut]

Hi Renee and sorry about your mother's disease!

I'm not sure of the rules, but I suppose it depends how a person feels at the time of diagnoses? I was diagnosed with 378 and felt just fine. In fact the doctor didn't find out this till a few days later, when test results came in. And her assistant called me and asked to come over, but I said, why, I have an appointment tomorrow? Meanhwile I went to some fancy dinner at my nephew's and ate lots of everything I was not supposed to (and I didn't know that yet) and was still feeling OK. Now I strongly suspect that after that dinner I probably was at 500 too.

And you are right - 240 BG is too high, but it's going down and it's expected to be in higher numbers for a while, they can't just go to the normal in a few days - it takes weeks and months sometimes. And be prepared that your mom feels worse than she felt before for a while too. The thing is that body gets used to the high numbers and when they go down and especially when they go down rapidly - you can expect some unpleasanties as body has to ajust again.

Does your mom has a meter? The best way is to start testing her BG and take the matter in her own hands as knowing what she can or can't eat safely. Diabetes is no fun, but can be managed and your mom still can have good life.

Good luck and hugs to you and your mom!

Hello, Renee!

Welcome! I heartily echo everything Ela has said. In addition, I thought that it might be helpful to tell you that as a nurse, it is common to sned patients home from either the office or the ER if they are not having any adverse effects from the elevated blood sugar. 500 is definitely high but I have seen much higher than that and those people also are sent home. Look at it this way---she has likely been walking around with very elevated bllod sugars for some time now and is "okay". She has done a great job of getting it down in just the past few days. The next few days will likely be an overload of information. That is okay----just take a deep breath, help her to do some research (just reading the threads here is a source of fantastic, easy to understand information). As Ela said----the MOST important thing now is to get a meter and have your mom start checking her blood sugar several-many times per day to she can see what her sugar level is and how it responds to various foods. This will seem difficult at first (and perhaps even insurmountable) but it does get easier and very quickly at that. Good luck and keep us posted as to how you are both doing with this new chapter in her life.

[puzlnut]

Yes, in my opion she should have been sent to the E.R. ( where they would have immeditaly given & insulin shot) but Dr's. do strange things; but I can tell you right now she is going to need more than oral meds to bring it down ( let me state I'm no Dr. ,but my Mother had the same problem) of course she doesn't watch her carbs either. & she will deffently kneed a meter.

I have to say I respectfully disagree in regards to the ER visit being necessary. Yes, it prob. would have been a good idea, but trust me, doctors usually are quite careful about watching their own backs and if her doctor felt it might come back to bite him in the butt he would have done what was necessary to prevent that. Let me be clear, though---I am NOT that physician and so cannot speak to what their thoughts/intents are/were.

In addition, you need to know that every diabetic is different and while she may have to go on insulin (and perhaps just short term until the numbers come down to a more reasonable level) that does not mean she will have to stay on the insulin---and they may also try to see how she responds to oral medications. You didn't mention what medication she is taking for it, so perhaps she is already doing the insulin? Or a pill or combination of pills? Just remember that every diabetic is completely different from another one and what works for one often will do nothing for the next person. One food may affect one person one way and then have no effect whatsoever on the next diabetic. For me, this is one of the most frustrating aspects of this disease.

[mcmxi]

Hello, my mother was just recently diagnosed with Diabetes 2 last week on Thursday, she is 55 years old.
She was at the doctors office when they diagnosed her and said her blood sugar levels were over 500. Does it seem right that the dr would not have sent her immediately to the ER? Everything I am reading indicates that a blood sugar level over 500 is a medical emergency, that you go directly to the ER.

My BG was almost that (see below) and not only did I not to go the ER, I was not even given insulin. They did give me a prescription, though, for Met. I walked out of there under my own power and drove away. So, having 500 is bad, but doesn't always mean a trip to the ER.

We think she has been suffering with with Diabetes 2 for some time.

That's true in many, if not most cases.

[Shadawbi]

Mine was over 600 when I was diagnosed & I was just given a prescription for metformin & sent home. No ER & not even insulin until a few months later when it became apparent that I needed help getting my fasting readings down.

[LeadSinger]

I was over 340 when diagnosed. Personally, since the doc was seeing & checking her every day, I think it was handled correctly. ER's probably would have shot her up with insulin (most likely, too darn much & caused a crash). Making her watch the food intake & daily monitoring until she was relatively stable seems to have been the right move. Now, she needs to get to classes (if not yet done) and a Registered Dietician to relearn how to eat and use her new BG meter (I trust she has one...) and things should be(come), OK.

[aggie168]

Hello, my mother was just recently diagnosed with Diabetes 2 last week on Thursday, she is 55 years old.....her blood sugar levels were over 500. Does it seem right that the dr would not have sent her immediately to the ER?

Hi Renee35, welcome to DF. It is up to the doctor. In my book (speaking not as a doctor), yes aggressive insulin regimen to bring it down then reevaluate if long term insulin use is necessary. Hang around and ask questions.

BTW, give us more detail about your mother ...

[Ela]

Renee, how is your Mom doing?