My dad is 84 and was just diagnosed with type II diabetes. He is in a memory care. His NP put him on metformin. His fasting glucose is 120 and his A1C is 6.3.
He loves to eat so we agreed to giving him Metformin so we don’t have to change his diet. The metformin is giving him a lot of diarrhea. He was also prescribed immodium to take when the diarrhea occurs. He’s in bed today because of the diarrhea.
I messaged his NP to discuss alternative medicine, but has anyone else had something similar and decided not to treat? His numbers are still pretty low, and I’m worried about the constant diarrhea being a quality of life issue (and possibly a skin irritant even with diaper cream). He’s in the next to last stage of Alzheimer’s- wheelchair bound and incontinence but still talks a fair amount.
The other alternative is he is 84 with dementia. Let him enjoy his life and food and don't worry about his type 2 diabetes.
My two options are far better than his staying stuck in bed because of his diarhea.
With his dementia and relatively low Hg A 1 C, he doesnt need to be treated for the Diabetes
The target A1 C for older adults, specially nursing home and dementia u it residents is as high as 8 or even 9 %
pls discuss this with his NP and ask her to d/ c the metformin
giving Imodium for metformin induced diarrhea is ridiculous prescribing cascade
The facility your dad is in is run by idiots for making a med mistake of that magnitude. I'd take him off Metformin completely and bring him a bag of chocolate truffles. But that's me. Let him leave this earth with a smile on his face in the last phase of AD, cruel as it is, and enjoy himself a bit. No PT, no nothin. Nobody's fixing this.
Best of luck to you.
He finally gave in at age 82, he hated doing it, it made him a nervous wreck.
He died at age 84, after he started the injections, his body just broke down, I feel that the injections had something to do with it. He was just too old for this change.
Quality of life isn't continual diarrhea.
Thanks for being Dad's advocate !🥰
Good Luck.
Why add to his misery? What is NP trying to accomplish he has Alzheimer's and other medical issues, there is no way I would agree to this.
And it might be that he may actually be better monitored and cared for in Skilled Nursing rather than Memory Care for the very reasons that I mentioned in my comment to "Chris101" below.
now
Is there any way you could find an endocrinologist to have a telehealth appointment with you and dad to discuss his blood sugar numbers and his current medication? I'm sure the NP is doing what the recommended treatment says to do, but it might be in your dad's case for his general overall health, age and life expectancy his numbers pre-metFormin were fine. An endocrinologist would have a better idea about treatment options for your dad's condition.
The older someone gets, the more dangerous hypoglycemia becomes, which, I'm sure, is why metFormin has been prescribed, because it rarely causes dangerously low blood sugar levels. The down side is the digestive issues it can cause. Maybe dad doesn't need to be on such a high dosage in order to keep his levels in acceptable territory.
Good luck!