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Diabeties And Celiac Disease

delawaregirl

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delawaregirl Apprentice
delawaregirl
Posted

My Mom has had adult onset diabeties for years and was diagnosed with Celiac about 2 yrs ago. She is 85 and lives in a continuous care facility (indepentent living now) and fixes some of her meals but eats out or in the dining hall for a large portion of her meals. She is having a horrible time controlling her blood sugar levels. The are steadily going higher but she will also have periodic lows. She is seeing a dietician and an endrocronolgist who have been working on her diabetic diet but are not very helpful or knowledgeable about Celiac. We live in a smaller town with not a lot of choices for Doctors. She never had problems with her blood sugar prior to being diagnosed with Celiac. I can not help but feel that there is a connection but can not get any answers. She is getting very frustrated as I am. My questions are: Does anyone understand what the connection is between the two diseases? How do we balance the two diets? She has a lot of trouble getting in all of the carbs and sometimes does not get in all of the protein. Where do we go to get help? How do we find a Doctor that understands both diseases?

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trents Grand Master
trents
Posted

One thing you did not address is the question of her consistency in avoiding gluten intake in the context of the living situaion she is in. Does the staff there understand what gluten is and how it is hidden in food ingredients they may be using every day as they prepare meals? If she is not yet really gluten-free, it might be difficult to ascertain the impact of the gluten on her blood sugar control as you are dealing with two variables.

Steve

delawaregirl Apprentice
delawaregirl
Posted
  • Author
One thing you did not address is the question of her consistency in avoiding gluten intake in the context of the living situaion she is in. Does the staff there understand what gluten is and how it is hidden in food ingredients they may be using every day as they prepare meals? If she is not yet really gluten-free, it might be difficult to ascertain the impact of the gluten on her blood sugar control as you are dealing with two variables.

Steve

It is up to her to choose her food from a menu and I am sure that at times she may get some gluten that is hidden. She is 85 and none of this is easy for her. She does cook for herself but enjoys going to the dining hall so that she does not always have to eat alone and so she does not always have to cook. What I am really trying to understand is that if she manages to be 100% gluten free will the flucuations in the blood sugar resolve itself.

trents Grand Master
trents
Posted

When she gets glutened does it seem to really upset her system or is she one of those celiacs (like me) who doesn't experience much upset when glutened, symptomatically that is? The reason I'm asking is that certain medical conditions, like infections, can cause blood sugars to be elevated, even in nondiabetics when they are older. If gluten really throws here body for a loop, then it might be having some effect on her blood sugars.

Steve

elye Community Regular
elye
Posted

I am a type one diabetic, and I know that like some of the other type ones on this forum, getting glutened results in skyrocketing blood-sugars for me. I don't exactly know why this happens, but sometimes I'll know I've accidentally ingested gluten because I have a sudden high bs reading, as I normally have very tight control. So from my experience, eating gluten has a definite negative impact on my diabetes control, and I think that this is not uncommon in the world of diabetic celiacs...and there are MANY of us out there! :)

  • 2 weeks later...
celiac sucks Newbie
celiac sucks
Posted
My Mom has had adult onset diabeties for years and was diagnosed with Celiac about 2 yrs ago. She is 85 and lives in a continuous care facility (indepentent living now) and fixes some of her meals but eats out or in the dining hall for a large portion of her meals. She is having a horrible time controlling her blood sugar levels. The are steadily going higher but she will also have periodic lows. She is seeing a dietician and an endrocronolgist who have been working on her diabetic diet but are not very helpful or knowledgeable about Celiac. We live in a smaller town with not a lot of choices for Doctors. She never had problems with her blood sugar prior to being diagnosed with Celiac. I can not help but feel that there is a connection but can not get any answers. She is getting very frustrated as I am. My questions are: Does anyone understand what the connection is between the two diseases? How do we balance the two diets? She has a lot of trouble getting in all of the carbs and sometimes does not get in all of the protein. Where do we go to get help? How do we find a Doctor that understands both diseases?

I have type 1 diabetes and I noticed low blood sugars before being diagnosed with celiac and that was because the food I was eating was not being absorbed so I had low blood sugars. Because I was experiencing low blood sugars I went back to doctor and the doctor changed the amount of insluin I was getting, assuming that I was getting too much. So when I was diagnosed with celiac and I went on a gluten free diet, more food was absorbed and my glucose leverls starting running high. I hope this helps!

-Maggie-

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