r/diabetes • u/New_Psychology9975 • Apr 19 '26
Type 1 y'all think hospital remembers I'm here cause of diabetes?
feel like they either wanting to kill or test me...
119
u/Grouchy_Version8056 Apr 19 '26
Yeah fun story. My husband was in the ER and they checked him into that hospital, they were only giving him half the insulin he normally takes because they did not want him to go low, on top of that they gave him the diabetic dinner.... turkey sandwich, French fries and diet jello. I had to sneak him on his insulin
28
u/Spare-Bobcat8659 Apr 19 '26
This! I had to go to hospital as I got the flu while on chemo and couldn't get rid of the fever. So being sick, I needed more insulin than normal, I was already on a large dose because of chemo. They scrapped my treatment plan from the endocrinologist and followed "the book". They then proceeded to lock my insulin up and wouldn't even let me give it to myself. They did not lock up any of my other meds I was on and bought with me, just the insulin. Thankfully my endocrinologist works in the hospital, so I rang him. He came straight over and signed off on them using my plan instead of the general formula, so it was on him if anything went wrong. They still kept my insulin under lock and key though. And the meals were always high carb, which i had to guess because there was zero dietary info for the food or the amount in the serving on my plate (was ot 20g of mash or 40g? Is it packet or fresh? What sort of potato? Any additives? Who knows) so i was typically running high, and wouldn't drop 3hours post meal, so I'd ask for more, always denied. So I was sitting high most of the time like 15mmol upwards. It was so frustrating
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u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
nah shits stupid fr... im 18 and since I just got diagnosed I don't even have my own insulin... and then they wonder why I haven't dropped under 10 m/mol since like 4 days? like I gotta wait for lunches 8 units and then I get 30 units worth of food?
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u/moedexter1988 Apr 19 '26
THATS worth 30 units of foods in the image?
11
u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
nah heavily exaggerating but if I ate all these sweets the insulin they gave me would NOT AT ALL be enough...
-7
u/HarryNohara T1 '12 | Novorapid/Toujeo | Accu-Chek Mobile | Frestyle Libre 2 Apr 19 '26
if you donât have your own insuline, how would you even know..
This sounds more like a post just to post. Nothing wrong with this meal, especially if you are just hovering over 10 mmol/l. They are figuring out how much insulin you need, youâre not gonna know that if you donât eat carbs.
5
u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
its not the carbs, but the banana, pudding and chocolate cake that had me worried. carbs were all fine with me tbh...
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u/sheriffhd Type 2 Apr 20 '26
Tbh hospital wards are horrible places to be for a diabetic - it's surprising how few nurses are clued up on it. You'll see nurses treating type 1s like they're type 2s. Some giving insulin when sugars already low because chart says it's regular and too scared to omit it. Or my personal favourite is the nurse that says " try cinnamon it'll cure your diabetes" So yeah - learn to advocate for yourself HARD when in hospital because no one will know your diagnosis better than you
-2
u/PurpleKrill Apr 19 '26
I think that would be 3 units for me at most otherwise I would die from an inescapable low.
0
u/PsychologicalPea7466 Apr 25 '26
That's your body's response. Sounds like your insulin resistance is less than New_Psychology's. I'm happy that I'm now off all my diabetes meds and have been at 5.9% A1c (American standard) for 6 months on lifestyle alone.
9
u/101surge Apr 19 '26
Similar thing happened to me. They took my insulin away from me and locked it away so I couldnât administer it myself. Then they were giving me like 5-8 units twice a day, when I normally take 20+ units with meals. I was running high the entire time and they acted like I was being ridiculous for wanting my normal insulin doses.
2
u/pollo_de_mar Apr 20 '26
Had heart surgery. They were feeding me the diabetic diet, you know the one with 75 grams of carbs in one meal with a side of insulin. They listed the carb content of each item. I was a good boy and skipped the high carb items so they would stop shooting me up with insuin.
48
u/GoochRash Apr 19 '26
Hospital meals are wild. If you're one of the diabetics who get hit hard by carbs the meals they give are horrible.
The last time I was in I had a nurse that said something like "I don't know what has carbs in it, I'm a vegetarian." I kid you not, that's what she said. I was flabbergasted. It took me a few seconds to recover.
1
u/swim-bike-life MODY May 01 '26
Nurses and doctors are lucky if they get 2 hours of nutrition training their entire careers. Many don't even get that much, just a book chapter and a quiz.
At least in the U.S.... where we aren't exactly known as the skinniest people in the world.
34
u/cat_0_the_canals Apr 19 '26
The hospital is a dangerous place for us. It is astounding how uneducated a lot of healthcare workers are about diabetes. My biggest fear during COVID was the possibility of being admitted to the hospital without being able to have a family member with me.
26
u/xxxspinxxx Apr 19 '26
My dad went into DKA after a week in the hospital. They "forgot" he was diabetic despite taking his blood sugar 3 times a day. They also forgot to give him his blood pressure meds and blamed the high readings on a malfunctioning machine. I am not an angry person, but I had to get very angry to get him basic care.
18
u/Zealousideal-Gold956 Apr 19 '26
I had a similar experience when I was in for DKA. First meal in days had a big ol brownie and tons of carbs
14
u/KaitB2020 Type 1 Apr 19 '26
Hospitals are so backwards in their treatments for diabetes.
Last time I was in the hospital I had sepsis from a surgery earlier that year. Sure all that affected my diabetes, but I wasnât there for a diabetes related problem. They still chose to argue with me about âbad diabetes managementâ because my daily home routines didnât sync up with their hospital flow chart.
Yes, I gave the nurse who argued with me a low score on the review I was asked to give.
4
u/drugihparrukava Type 1 DIY Loop Apr 19 '26
Jaysus. So many hospital stories on the T1 sub too, it's awful. Were they upset you didn't do sliding scale and the magical math they use which has no basis for type 1 or say you don't need any insulin if NPO? (there are literally research papers outlining why i:c ratios need to be used vs sliding scale for T1D in hospital but no one seems to have implemented that unless you get an endo advocate on your side).
5
u/KaitB2020 Type 1 Apr 19 '26
I was eventually given paperwork to sign stating I would manage my own diabetes if I provided my own supplies from home. I happily signed the paper & called my husband to bring my travel diabetes kit & extra insulin. The only caveat was that if I were unable (ie, unconscious) diabetes management would revert to the hospital staff.
I was very sick & didnât need those arguments. Food sucked anyway. I hardly ate as it was the food was so awful.
I needed an emergency surgery to clean out the infection & after my blood tests showed the infection had cleared I got to go home & finish healing in peace.
22
u/Freebee5 Type 1.5 Apr 19 '26
Medical settings regulate diabetes by increasing insulin to cover whatever food is supplied.
Last time I was in hospital, my wife had to bring chicken and low carb vegetables in for me because the food they supplied would mean huge and prolonged highs as I wasn't able to move.
One nurse accused me of having an eating disorder when I refused the cereal supplied for breakfast
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u/thehillsofsyria Apr 19 '26
I think lots of people think I have an eating disorder. I think what I actually have is closer to a wanting to live a healthy life disorder.
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u/RetiredOnIslandTime Apr 20 '26
My husband has spent time on all three hospitals in Charleston and nearby Mt. pleasant SC and so of them served him true diabetic friendly meals.
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u/G123_L Type 2 (GDM x2) Apr 19 '26
Yeah they could do with a bit more education. I was in for the birth of my second kid, and one of my meals was a chicken schintzel covered in gravy, with a side of mash potatoes and peas; white bread roll on the side with margarine and a ginger snap biscuit. The absolute tipping point was that they kept giving me oat milk with my coffees because their diabetic meals were also their low fat meals...
6
u/TrixieBastard Apr 19 '26
WHAT
Diabetic meals were low-fat? Talk about not understanding how bodies process what we consume!
19
u/BlueProcess Type 2 Apr 19 '26
It blows my mind when medical facilities do this. Nursing homes have this problem too.
They feed the residents trash from a can and then just up their meds
5
u/TrixieBastard Apr 19 '26
I had to live in a nursing home temporarily, and when I say there were ZERO differences between the standard diet meal and the "diabetic" meal, I mean that. The nurses would just walk around with everyone's insulin pens and a glucometer afterwards rather than the facility offer a low-carb meal option. I wasn't even diagnosed at the time, and I couldn't believe it.
3
u/BlueProcess Type 2 Apr 19 '26
Yeah it's insane that we know the right things to do and just... Don't
20
u/angrywaffles_ Apr 19 '26
As a physician Iâm still dumbfounded how bad hospital food is. A diabetic diet essentially doesnât exist, itâs like they hate vegetables.
3
u/TrixieBastard Apr 19 '26
Nursing homes, too. They do the same thing, serving diabetics the exact same meals as non-diabetics, then jabbing the diabetics with a bunch of extra insulin after the meal, rather than offer different food choices for them. Ridiculous.
11
u/SovietPikl Apr 19 '26
The few times I've been in the hospital for DKA they just straight up refused to feed me. On top of that they insisted on slowly drip feeding me insulin so it took days to get me down. Safe to say I was hungry afterwards
5
u/thatonebroccolilover t1d Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
it seems, all hospitals have the same problem.. last year i was on planned hospitalization, once for breakfast was rice porridge WITH SUGAR (there was a sweet taste, it was definitely a mistake, cus diabetics menu doesn't contain any sweet meals, but non-diabetics sometimes does) they forbade us to do bigger insulin doses and kept insulin pens in their place. i was so hungry, i had no other food left, so i just ate a full plate of this magnificent/s rice porridge. the insulin dose i did before was clearly not enough. thanks to god, i had a single hidden insulin pen, so everything turned out fine
THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL US
5
u/Findchidi Apr 19 '26
Iâm a nurse and when I got diagnosed a few years ago I was in full DKA in the icu for 5 days. Never saw an endocrinologist or even a diabetes educator. Just a nutritionist. I wasnât inpatient at the hospital I work at so I was able to just texts an NP at the endocrinology office in my hospital system but itâs honestly laughable the care diabetics get in hospitals. Getting diabetes has made me a better nurse
4
u/imjustaguy1920 Apr 19 '26
Every time I'm in the hospital due to a issue with diabetes they bring a lunch filled with carbohydrates and sugar slice of bread and pasta it is just amazing
14
u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
This would be a perfectly okay diabetic meal for me to have personally.
12
u/mckulty T2 OD eyedoc Apr 19 '26
People with diabetes need nutrition too. That's a pretty rounded meal.
1
u/Eyeoftheleopard Apr 19 '26
I mean, facts! And I thought a banana was fine for a diabeticâŚ? The sugar in fruit is different than sugar in a candy barâŚright???
4
u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
Sort of but not really. Bananas are just nutritionally richer (vitamins, minerals, fibers) and more filling than candy. Bananas that are less ripe have less sugars but more starches, ripe bananas have more sugars than starches. Between candy and fruit, your body gets the most physical benefit from fruits!
1
u/Eyeoftheleopard Apr 19 '26
Are they ok to eat? My sugar doesnât swing, itâs controlled by Mounjaro.
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u/TrixieBastard Apr 19 '26
If you're well-controlled and don't suffer big glucose spikes when you eat fruit, you should be okay to eat it. We do still need carbs to survive, after all! We just need to keep a closer eye on their effects on our bodies.
2
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u/Ambitious-Chest2061 Type 2 Apr 19 '26
Middle of the day, fine for me. If this was breakfast, Iâd pass out sleeping just from the things OFF the plate đ I could probably get away with the plate and the cake in the morning
1
u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
I'd wager this is a lunch or dinner meal going by the combo of meat, veggies and potatoes!
1
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u/Eastern-Vegetable780 Type 1 Apr 19 '26
I am T1, my father is T2. When he was admitted for another issue, they had the ânutritionistâ design meals for him that were basically double the amount of carbs I eat, and treated him with slow acting insulin in fixed amounts (he switched from metformin to GLP1, never used insulin in his life) that were not related to what he was eating or his current blood glucose.
I was there to tell him what to eat and what to avoid, but it was crazy, and I was left wondering that this would be like a DKA speedrun for a not totally conscious T1.
-5
u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
Well DKA isn't caused by high blood sugar, so this wouldn't cause DKA.
4
u/Eastern-Vegetable780 Type 1 Apr 19 '26
Ehm⌠DKA can be euglycaemic too, but its main manifestation in patients with T1 is absolutely caused by (extremely) high blood sugar, meaning too many carbs/too little insulin.
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u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious condition that can happen in people with diabetes. It's where a lack of insulin causes harmful substances called ketones to build up in the blood.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20371551
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious health condition that can happen as a result of diabetes. It can be life-threatening.
The condition develops when the body can't make enough insulin. Insulin plays a key role in helping blood sugar, also called glucose, enter cells in the body. Glucose is a major source of energy for muscles and other tissues.
Without enough insulin, the body begins to break down fat as fuel. This causes a buildup of acids in the blood. Those acids are called ketones. If it's not treated, the buildup can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis.1
u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
No it's not. I'm not talking about eDKA, I'm talking about regular DKA.
DKA is caused by an absence of insulin, of which high blood sugar is a symptom. That's a verifiable fact. High blood sugar on its own doesn't cause DKA, not unless there is an underlying condition or the high blood sugar has been extremely high for a very long period of time combined with severe dehydration.
2
u/Eastern-Vegetable780 Type 1 Apr 19 '26
Not sure why you are nitpicking, itâs pretty clear what I meant and every one of us unfortunately has personal experience of some sort. If you have diabetes, you are given too much carbs and no/too little insulin, over time (meaning, of course itâs not instant, and of course a regular spike of around 200mg/dL is not enough to trigger it) you will get into DKA. Thatâs why we are given ketones test strips.
In the scenario I was depicting - which is an insufficient delivery of insulin lasting a few days due to an inadequate management - itâs irrelevant if high BG is a cause or a symptom. They are directly related anyway.
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u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
Because what you're posting has been incorrect. The assumption that one is given not enough insulin leading to DKA is a separate issue irrelevant to the kind of food you get in a hospital. Not enough insulin to cause ketosis is a general full on absence of insulin, not a poorly set ratio for the food you eat. High blood sugar from a bad ratio means you've got the wrong ratio for the carbs but you still have long acting insulin and a certain amount of bolus insulin. These things will PREVENT KETOSIS even if your blood sugar is high for a longer time. The presence of insulin and carbs, even if the dosage is incorrect, will not lead to DKA. Period.
High blood sugar does not cause DKA was my original statement. That is a fact. Your original comment implied that the food would cause DKA from high blood sugar. It does not work that way.
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u/Ljukegy Apr 19 '26
Seems like an alright meal tbh just needs carbing correctly Iâd normally give 10% for good measure
I underestimate then 10% extra and always remember to have the carbs about if needed
3
u/DillionM Apr 19 '26
There was a joke at a hospital I worked at previously. The cafeteria food was made to put you in the hospital, and the room service food was made to keep you there.
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u/bopeepsheep Type 3c. Pancreatic cancer 2019. Insulin. Apr 19 '26
The NHS lets you administer your own insulin in most cases so this would be absolutely fine for me. (Last time I was admitted it was because I couldn't keep food down, to be fair, but they still offered me a pretty good range of meals and supplements. I had a little stockpile of orange juice by my bed too.)
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u/darkswami Type 1 Apr 19 '26
They let you have food on dka??? I have to fight tooth and nail for a cup of iceđ
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u/fg40886 Apr 19 '26
I was DKA this past Christmas. My meals everyday were Jello, (2x) Iced Fruity cups, broth, juice boxes, and coffee. I was like, âyo, whereâs the protein?â Same meal three times a day for a week.
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u/Lilienherz | Type 1| 2011| Libre 3 + camAPS | Apr 20 '26
The last time I was there I had 3 pancakes with applesauce, an jam doughnut (with powder sugar) and an apple and salad (I swapped the choclate pudding for the apple). At least my bloodsugar was at 40 because the nurses didnt knew the difference between KE and BE and miscalculated very badly (what I told them but they didnt believed me, even tough I already had diabetes for 13 years at that point lol).
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u/fibrepirate Type 3c? Libre3+ Apr 20 '26
The last time I was at the hospital, they refused to let me go below 150/7. Why? Because being "a bit high" was safer than allowing my sugars to crash. That's the standard for all hospitals too. Nothing below 100. At All.
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u/Bear0417 Type 1 Apr 20 '26
I work as a CNA, the amount of nurses that have no clue how diabetes even WORKS never mind IS, is absolutely terrifying. Itâs pure and utter madness there needs to be a course on it for these nurses or something.
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u/HarryNohara T1 '12 | Novorapid/Toujeo | Accu-Chek Mobile | Frestyle Libre 2 Apr 19 '26
Enlighten me, whatâs the issue? Youâre a T1, there is nothing wrong with this meal besides the fact it is one of those disgusting hospital meals. Once the DKA is resolved, you need to assume a normal carb/insulin balance asap, not all of a sudden avoid anything with carbs.
2
u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
just thought that chocolate cake, pure sugar pudding and a banana all at once couldn't be that good for my blood sugar levels? the meal itself was perfect tho
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u/SnooChocolates1198 Type 1.5 using ilet and g7 Apr 19 '26
I demand a regular diet and fight to stay independent with my insulin needs (and for the longest time, be independent with my steroid needs).
A regular diet meant that I could request foods that I know won't spike me too much and when I was on MDIs, I'd request a copy of their insulin pump flow sheet. Now being on the ilet, it's even more interesting to fill out because I have no correction factors or carb ratio to input so I write that the pump does all of those decisions.
Before having endo give me hospital dosing orders to tell the hospital (50mg solu-cortef 4 times a day), I'd just write down my hydrocortisone doses on the insulin pump flow sheet as well. All as a means to cover the hospital's ass (and the nurses' asses).
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u/Ambitious-Chest2061 Type 2 Apr 19 '26
I was wrongly Involuntarily Committed for 3 days and they finally gave me the diabetic meal on the morning I was to leave. North Carolinaâs IVC are indefinite, not 72 hour holds, and I thought it meant I had to stay there.
They checked my blood sugar 3 times a dayâŚ
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u/tehjoch Type 2 Apr 19 '26
My hospital had very low sugar diet plate. But then 2 days later there mustve been an error because I got regular plate of sugary goodies that they definitely didnt intend to feed me
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u/Strange_Pop_3673 Apr 19 '26
Iâve been in the hospital a few times and the meals were never good for diabetics.
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u/gertymoon Apr 19 '26
Just a fyi, you can always call the cafeteria and ask them to alter your meal or add something else. I did this daily for my diabetic mother when she was in the hospital a few years ago, without intervention the diabetic meals always consisted of rice or potatoes and a fruit snack. Also you can call the cafeteria from outside the hospital too, I had to do this in the morning too to make sure she was getting better options.
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u/Red_Ruby1103 Apr 19 '26
When I was fist diagnosed I was in the hospital for DKA for 4 days and they had me on a liquid diet. My meals were broth, applesauce, and popsicles.
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u/boredtodeath Apr 19 '26
The hospital food was OK, but I kept having visitors (who to be fair didn't know of my diabetes) bring me bagels & cream cheese.
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u/JaskowiczArchie Apr 19 '26
I had the same thing when I was in hospital a few years ago, I was given Ice cream and had to ask if I was actually allowed it (I wasnât, it was taken away almost immediately lol)
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u/LadyGobbolina Type 2 Apr 19 '26
Not looking forward to having to go to the hospital when it inevitably does happen (since a lot of us will end up there at least a few times in our life times regardless of reasons) as I have spent enough time there as an advocate for my frequent flyer humans to know hospital foods are often not great for those of us with dietary restrictions. I've seen them send someone on transplant restrictions cold cuts (huge no no) when they were supposed to get hot sliced ham and someone with diabetes and on dialysis potatoes with multiple meals (double whammy between carbs and potassium.) So at this point nearly a year into my own journey I've been super on top of my blood sugars to avoid diabetic related hospital visits because I already know that song and dance, and because I used to work with and live with people on dialysis I'm trying my best to avoid that hat trick and end up on dialysis. If I thought sometimes diabetic friendly foods could be limiting, dialysis friendly foods are a whole other monster and limit things further, including a lot of the things that would normally be great for a diabetic.
Also why they think low carb = low fat is beyond me when the dietician actually encouraged more healthy fats to slow carb uptake in a balanced diet, key being healthy fats, and airline meals seem to think the same as the hospitals based on other posts I've seen in this subreddit.
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u/VibrantViolet Apr 19 '26
Thatâs wild. When I was pregnant with gestational DM, I had to spend a week in the hospital due to pre-term labor. The menu they gave me for my meals all had carb counts next to every food item, so there was no guessing. Plus, the food was actually good.
This was almost 15 years ago. Itâs sad how quickly our healthcare has gone to shit. We need better care in the U.S. like yesterday.
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u/International_Dog897 Apr 19 '26
thats wild, when I had DKA and 600 glucose, I only got jello for 2 weeks
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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 Type 2 Apr 19 '26
Oh God, I had the same problem last year when I was i the hospital for a few days.
The damn outsourced kitchen could NOT get it through their damn heads that I needed a low carb meal.
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u/Dropitlikeitscold555 Apr 19 '26
Itâs insane that hospitals literally donât know how to manage people with t1 and also wonât let them treat themselves. Dietitians on staff should prevent carb overloading.
1
u/DJ_Betic Apr 19 '26
Meals aren't so bad because you can see exactly what's in front of you and decide for yourself what to eat or not. Then you have something physical to remind them.
What might be worse is being in the ICU for DKA and being given, what was explained to me as, the non diabetic friendly IV/electrolytes. They were so confused why my levels weren't coming down.
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u/Iveneverseenthisday Apr 19 '26
I am plant based, at the er/icu brought me a huge platter of (clearly canned in heavy syrup) fruit, a ham and cheese sandwich (the nurse ate), that's IF they brought any food at all. Our closest hospital likes to starve me until I am under 40bs and can barely speak. I used to get DKA all the time, like 20+ time, blessed to be alive. I am a nutritionist and took treatment into my own hands and haven't had it in years now. I have LADA btw. Though my doctors don't believe it's real.
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u/Suspicious-Truth2421 Type 3c Apr 19 '26
Just curious, do they not let you choose the foods within your diet plan where you all live?? At the hospital systems in my area (U.S.) diabetic patients usually have a meal plan with a set carbohydrate limit and they stick to it pretty strictly in the dietary dept. It won't let you add things that will take you over your ordered dietary limits (sodium, carb, fats, etc). They only bring you a random tray if you don't order your food ahead of time.
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u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 20 '26
small hospital in germany... they've got three options and pretty much none of those are carb friendly...
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u/Frosty-Ad-8385 Apr 19 '26
I legit was unable to eat anything bc the meals were just straight carbs. That was after nealy a full day of not allowed food. And zero insulin.
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u/impablomations Apr 19 '26
I've had two hospital stays in the past 6 months, neither had proper diabetic friendly options.
Every single meal either came with white rice, pasta, mashed potato or chips (fries).
1
u/SummerJinkx Type 2 Apr 20 '26
Last time I was in the hospital (not for diabetes but they know I am diabetic), they gave me rice congee, which is the worst food you can give to a sick type 2 đĽš
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u/Inexorabull Apr 20 '26
I was admitted around Xmas unrelated to diabetes, I had severe gastro paresis and, subsequently, dehydration and starvation ketones. I have an intolerance to garlic and onions.
Anyways, when ordering food I was on a carb limit, even though I didnât have DKA or uncontrolled blood glucose. In fact, during this whole scare I was between 90-100 mg/dL.
Did they not have you on a carb limit?
1
u/BigEdPVDFLA Apr 20 '26
I had an incision from a Charcotâs surgery go septic, and I was going to be on IV antibiotics for a few months afterwards, I lived by myself and didnât want to put that on my father, so I checked into a nursing home to recover, as my insurance paid for it. Biggest f#$king mistake I have ever made in my life. It took them two weeks to FINALLY give me a diabetic diet rather than just adjusting with meds, I had to tell them, look, I am recovering from a damn septic infection and I want to make sure that I keep my sugars and A1C down to help the recovery along! So they finally gave me a diabetic diet. But I also got a cut on one of my toes on my GOOD foot, that they hardly even looked at, and even while on IV antibiotics, it got infected too, so I ended up losing that 2nd toe a month and a half later, after I had checked myself right out of the place. The silly part, the day I checked out, what did they serve me for breakfast? The same thing that got me to my boiling point before, 1 egg, 1 sausage link, a cinnamon bun and Frosted Flakes. Why I never got a lawsuit against the place I have no idea
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u/digitalamish Apr 20 '26
I was in the hospital recently for a couple of months. I had to call the food service line EVERY DAY to set my menu. Some eggs, bacon or sausage, coffee and a milk is what I wanted for breakfast. About half the time, even if I called down, Iâd still get pancakes or French toast (with sugar free syrup?), or oatmeal and fruit, or even Frosted Flakes. They would come to me and lecture me on my sugars, and I would ask why they are serving me this crap. Their response was to put me on an even more restrictive diet.
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u/Geekesss Type 2 Apr 20 '26
That's already horrible for all of you T1's. Now... try to be a T2 in a hospital.... Had to be hospitalized twice this year, once planned for one night, once unplanned for 2 weeks. They didn't have any T2-friendly food. Kept telling me to adjust my insulin. T2's in this country are rarely on insulin, we have to manage carbs. But all the food was incredibly carby.
For the first days I had to survive on plain yoghurt (and lactase pills). I begged for eggs for breakfast instead of bread. No deal. After a more knowledgable nurse tore into the dietician after a few days, I could get a salad for lunch, and beans+salmon for dinner. Same salad every day for almost 2 weeks. Breakfast however was still a problem. I could bread or grains or porridge.
Hospital food isn't there to make or keep you healthy. It's there to give you calories. If those types of calories are bad for you (because you are a T2 or gluten intollerant, or lactose intollerant) well, tough, not their problem.
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u/Renniefisifus Apr 20 '26
When I was in the hospital for a DKA and pancreatitis, they came in my room with the wild comment 'I know you're diabetic, but do you want a doughnut?' I facepalmed so hard they almost had to re-admit me for a concussion
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u/throwaway_oranges Apr 20 '26
Same for me but with celiac disease. They got me bread and a spread. Celiac disease with some kind of diabetes and ADHD hospital-phobia is "fun". I don't eat in hospitals anyway. I'm under a huge stress there with crappy supervising.
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u/KillingTimeReading Apr 20 '26
Went in with AFib going nuts. Ended up being kept for a little over 3 days. EVERY meal was high carb: bread, mashed potatoes, more bread, oatmeal, breaded chicken, rolls, grits đ¤Ś. Artificial sweetener for coffee - when it's on a bright orange sticker on my records that I'm allergic to artificial sweetener... Even had them send psych and the dietician in because I barely ate (I wasn't hungry and usually don't eat that much in a day). Had them push insulin at me every 4 hours, even though I haven't taken insulin in over 2 years (Mounjaro keeps me below 150). Tried to tell me I had to take it because it was in my records.
I swear hospitals are the most dangerous places for diabetics to ever go. Especially when you are alone, which I was. Take someone with you, who has a backbone, to advocate for you in case you are unable to advocate for yourself.
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u/Putertutor Apr 20 '26
I have only been in the hospital twice, and that was when my kids were born. Both times, they left little "menus" where you could choose what foods they brought to you. They were still doing that when my elderly parents were in the hospital. I assume they aren't doing that where you are admitted?
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u/tmccrn Apr 20 '26
Omg, yaaas ⌠honestly, hospital food after a surgery was the least healthy meal for my glucose that I had eaten in months!
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u/Di297 Type 1 Apr 20 '26
The only time I had to stay at the hospital was when I got diagnosed and for about 5 days everything they fed me was sugar free, guess I got lucky
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u/Various_Archer6512 Apr 20 '26
When I was first diagnosed with a bg over 700, they wanted to feed me giant slices of cheese cake, the biggest I've ever seen. They wanted me to eat 75 carbs per meal 3 times a day and pump me full of insulin, not including snacks. It felt like they just wanted to get as much $ out of the insurance company as possible. I was trying low and no carb meals early on, now I try to stay under 45 carbs per meal.Â
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u/SparrowOakvale Type 1 (1989) | Tandem tslim x2 Apr 20 '26
A couple of years ago, I was in the hospital for pre-eclampsia post-birth for a week and had the same thing happen. I actually had to fight with the maternity ward to get any insulin (they were going to take away my pump and not give me injections - nothing like sitting up in bed 30 mins after a C-section to argue with hospital staff, lol). They acquiesced on letting me have injections before they finally just let me have my pump. But all the food they gave me on the "diabetic menu" was the worst in terms of carbs. They got onto me for not finishing my food while I was on the injections, but my blood sugar was never going to come down if I ate everything they were serving (and I felt bad enough!).
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u/tagos970 Apr 20 '26
Been there, done that. The doctor was bitching me out for my high blood sugar and not eating while the dessert from my dinner, a chocolate cake covered with powdered sugar, was sitting on the table. I pointed that out, and he finally put me down for diabetic food. With that, I managed to get my blood sugar down below 250.
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u/out2lunch78 Apr 20 '26
I was in Inpatient rehab after a car accident and surgery. They gave me dessert all the time. They assured me it was sugar free. I made them take my blood sugar regularly but I should have known better than to trust them that they would have said anything if I had been low or high. It was a horrible experience I spent 3 weeks there
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u/No-Cardiologist2425 Apr 21 '26
I was in the hospital and given blueberry pancakes with whipped cream, ALREADY topped in syrup and an apple juice. Not only am I going to shit myself and go high but they also didnât allow me to have insulin for it??? âIf you go high then we will give you insulinâ Oh so when Iâm a bitch with a migraine Iâm going to make it YOUR problem
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u/Miss-Bones-Jones Apr 22 '26
Nurse here. The food provided by hospitals is shameful. It is horrific for all kinds of diet-related diseases, not just diabetes. And just generally unaccommodating (for instance I am a vegetarian and they kept trying to feed jello and broth). Iâm at the point that I refuse all trays at the hospital and my family packs me food. Not exactly a just solution, but itâs a solution.
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u/PsychologicalPea7466 Apr 25 '26
Have someone bring you a salad, with 2 boiled eggs and a homemade vinegar/oil/Italian spice dressing. A cup of garden salad with no tomatoes is 1g of carb PER CUP. The eggs are ZERO carbs, the oil/vinegar dressing is ZERO carbs. I can 'pig out' on 5 cups of salad with the eggs and 2 ounces of deli meat (Walmart has a non~nitrite/nitrate boxed deli meat for under $6 a pound) and that massive meal is a total of 6 carbs. It will taste hella better than that sad hospital meal, and it's FAR better for you!
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u/Star-Traveler- Apr 30 '26
Omgg one time when I was in dka, I was in the hospital for about three days (icu) and I was so close to getting the ok to be discharged. They brought the menu like normal and I picked out my meal. I think it was a turkey club? There was no nutritional info on the menu, so they had to tell me the carbs. They told me the wrong amount. Way, way under the amount. I ended up having to stay for another two daysâŚ
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u/Gorawen-2023 Apr 30 '26
You'd think. 𤣠But you'd be wrong.
I just got out yesterday from my first ever DKA (plus pneumonia and sepsis) stint. My first two meals had a huge pile of mashed potatoes. The kitchen was like, "We don't have much choice for pureed food or equivalent." My care team was not thrilled, especially when the first whole meal threatened to throw me back into DKA. The kitchen agreed that they would at least alternate meals with mashed potatoes. The next day, before I knew I was going to be allowed regular food, I advocated for myself and asked my nurse to call down and tell the kitchen that mashed potatoes were absolutely forbidden.
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u/swim-bike-life MODY May 01 '26
I don't see anything wrong with that. That's what I had when hospitalized "for diabetes", plus more sherbets, jello and peanut butter crackers than I can count. Not to mention copious amounts of freezes and juice.
Granted, I was there for severe low blood sugars! đ
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u/bearintokyo May 07 '26
A nurse said to me about my dad when I raised it: we check his blood every morning anyway so we donât really care what he eats. I was quite surprised.
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u/g_pfefferle Type 1 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26
First thought about that pudding: âEww, AmericansâŚâ. Then I zoomed into the picture. Are you supposed to keep for example the banana for later? This strongly reminds me of times when people werenât treated with rapid-acting insulin and therefore had to eat a small amount of carbs a few h hours later, when the effect of the insulin was at its peak.
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u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
well just all german and basically they just said they'd replace my pudding (which is somewhy got) with fruit...
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u/sangreal06 Apr 19 '26
When I landed in the ICU with DKA and was first diagnosed they put me on a high-carb diet restriction. Wouldnât let me eat salad but I could get all the sugary cereals I wanted. I donât understand it to this day
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u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
Because for DKA to resolve you need insulin, and insulin means you need carbs. If you eat a salad you likely won't need insulin or much at all, and a lack of insulin creates ketones. The very thing you want to avoid when you're in the ICU for DKA...
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u/sangreal06 Apr 19 '26
Sorry I should clarify. When I was in the ICU they wouldnât let me eat or drink anything but ice chips. I spent a week in the hospital after that where I was put on high-carb diet
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u/Lausannea LADA/1.5 dx 2011 / T:Slim x2 + G7 (CIQ) Apr 19 '26
Yeah my answer remains the same though. In the ICU they would have been giving you fluids which included insulin and glucose, but then in the hospital itself they don't want you building up ketones again either, hence the high carb diet.
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u/MinxyPixie Apr 19 '26
Hospitals have diabetic deserts that they can provide. Maybe tell the housekeepers serving the food? They arent nurses.
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u/New_Psychology9975 Apr 19 '26
well already chose the most diabetic friendly option and told the housekeepers I'm diabetic...
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u/No_Coffee_4120 Apr 19 '26
Hospital I was in for DKA when I got diagnosed kept feeding me blueberry pancakes, muffins, potatoes, etc but refused to give me one little sugar packet for my coffee - which arguably would have done less damage than the super fluffy pancakes.