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Monday, April 28, 2008

Bipolar and Diabetes

I can't tell you how worried I am about DH being diabetic. With all the pop he has been drinking these last couple of years, I'm not surprised, but I'm worried. There are so many things he needs to remember to do and not do, and with his memory problems and his mood issues, it's very scary.

But so far, so good. I am so glad this happened AFTER he started the Lithium, I feel like if it had happened before, when he was so depressed, or so out of control, he might even be dead now and I would never have had any way to help.

Anyhow, we had a talk about "That Guy" and me "nagging" him. DH told me he had a headache. Normally I would have asked him if he wanted an aspirin, or if he had drank enough water, but I didn't say anything except "oh." I think he was starting to see that maybe he had gotten angry about something that he really didn't want to stop. 10pm came, I didn't bother asking him if he remembered to take his pills. I just let him forget. And when he told me that he didn't take them until 3am, I just said "oh." I didn't wake him up for his appointment the next day, so he missed that. Later that night, he came up to me ("That Guy" was gone by now, but his effects were still there) and said "I'm hungry." and I just said "oh." And he sat down right there and said "when you do that, I don't feel like you care." So I asked him how he would like me to respond. He couldn't answer without saying that he likes when I "remind" him of things. So I knew that "That Guy" wasn't around any more.

Anyhow, I've still been kind of unsure of myself as far as "reminding" goes, I really don't want to do something that upsets him, and even though I know it was "That Guy" that was upset, I'm still kind of gun-shy. So that has been another worry for me with the diabetes, how on earth is he going to remember to do what he's supposed to do? And how much reminding A]am I going to have to do?

But he's been doing really good. He's been looking at labels and being really careful about his carbs, and, did I mention that he's switched to sugar-free pop?
I think his next appointment with the nurse practitioner re: meds is on May 1. I'm hoping there's something they can tweark so that we get rid of "That Guy" once and for all.

2 comments:

jennifer said...

I have borderline personality disorder (similar to bipolar), and my medicine (Seroquel) makes me crave sugary stuff all the time. I drink so much pop and eat sweet stuff alot. I'm really getting worried about getting diabetes. Seroquel seems to be known for causing it. I wish you guys luck!

Carol said...

Wow, thanks for telling me that! I don't know if you've seen me mention it here, but DH is also on Seroquel right now. We are hoping that since the Lithium has made such a difference, that he will soon be able to get off of some of these meds that aren't helping as much.