Hello, I'm 29 and live with my 66 year old dad. A little over a year ago, he suffered a minor stroke while camping. We think it may have been heat-related but it could have been a number of factors. He came home and got an MRI and blood test from the doctor who said that he is a diabetic and his A1C levels were in the 12 range. Like, he could have had a MASSIVE stroke, but he only wound up with some facial paralysis, no loss of motor functions at all, he's very lucky.
So for the last year, I've been trying to decrease his blood pressure and help out with his sugar by doing more around here. I've been doing a lot of the shopping and paying close attention to labels. We'd already done a lot of healthy things, like switching to wheat pasta whenever possible, wheat bread, diet soda, etc. But now I started looking for reduced calorie, low sugar, all healthy options (and me myself having a few extra pounds, it helps me too) and his A1C levels have been dropping, though he hasn't been to the doctor since September due to COVID cancelling his appt in March.
A little under a month ago, my dad started having these problems where he'd wake up in the morning and throw up and we figured out it was when he would have an actual solid meal the night before. If me and my sister would get takeout or just have a casual dinner, he would have a bowl of soup. When he woke up the next morning he felt great. When we would make an actual meal, like spaghetti or steak/potatoes/vegetables, he would wake up the next morning and throw up and/or have diarrhea. When he wakes, because his stomach is so touchy, he doesn't want to eat anything, sometimes only having a handful of Cheerios in order to take his pills. Sometimes he doesn't eat or double pills himself because he can't remember if he took one or not and it drops his sugar so low that he immediately has to take a nap for a couple hours. He tests his sugar with a finger tester a few times a week and is always in a good range, low 100s. If it's high (highest I ever saw was 170ish one time, rarely it gets up to the 140s) we usually know why, like he ate candy or something real sweet.
The doctor has him on Metformin, Losartin and Glimepiride. I don't know if they have anything to do with it, or they worked and maybe he can stop taking them or what. But this is troubling. I googled around and found gastroparesis might be one of the causes, and I saw someone on this sub say they were on Metformin.
I don't know what the solution is. I'm trying to keep an eye on him, make sure we have healthy foods, try and make sure he gets proper nutrition even with the way he feels and how he can't stomach food, but it's hard because even with a nice healthy dinner he can't keep it down or wakes up with diarrhea all morning.
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