High blood sugar/diabetes post heart surgery?

[Greenie93]

Okay, so I'll keep it short and sweet, but I'm almost four months out from my heart surgery, and I'm still getting high blood sugar readings.
I actually had no prior history of blood sugar issues or diabetes, but ever since the surgery, my levels have been running insanely high.
Overall, it's really depressing. /: I already had enough issues to need an aneurysm repair and aortic valve replacement two months short of my 19th birthday, but if I've actually got diabetes now, I don't know how to handle that too.
Did anyone else run into this problem? Did it ever clear up for you? I'm just... I'm frustrated and upset, honestly.
Like I said, living with the heart problems was already hard enough.

 

[escargome]

Hi,
A few questions - Did you run high blood sugars while you were in the hospital? If so were you discharged with either insulin (with injection instructions) or with oral diabetes medication? What do you test your blood sugars with?

Since you are 4 months out from surgery, has your doctor given you the go ahead to resume your normal activities? Are you a sedadentary person or active. Increase in activity plus a balanced diet with an appropriate amount of carbs should lower your blood sugars.

I hope that things clear up for you soon.

 

[ElectLive]

Elevated blood sugar is very common after heart surgery, for anyone, but the severity and duration can vary a lot. For most non-diabetics, though, it seems to usually resolve before discharge, but certainly not always. Some may not even be aware it is even happening. On the other side of the spectrum, for already Type 1 diabetics such as me, I found the effect to last many months, certainly as long as you are experiencing. It did resolve with time.

I think probably the most important thing is how it is evolving. In other words, has it been improving any over time? Always happening or only after meals, etc? Are you positive you didn't have any prior history?

I understand your frustration, but just so know, assuming for the sake of discussion that the worst case is actually true and you might by chance even be a late onset Type 1 diabetic, it is very manageable with education and experience. Heck...kids like me were doing it in elementary school 30 years ago, so it couldn't be that hard, right? :biggrin2: Anyway, I don't mean to make light of the situation, nor do I want to imply I think this is a definite possibility, but obviously as one who has both conditions, just wanted to pass a long a little reassurance just in case. Do monitor and stay on top of it, with endocrinologist oversight if need be, and here's hoping the situation improves, as may certainly be possible. Best wishes to you.

 

[escargome]

Greenie93,
I agree with ElectLive. I forgot to mention that I too have diabetes, but I am Type II. During my hospital stay my sugars were elevated and were controlled with insulin while in hospital. Once discharged I resumed my oral medications, but my sugars still remained elevated for some time. I have an endocrinologist who I spoke with often and was finally able to get back in range about 12 weeks after surgery when I resumed my excercise routine. Do seek out an endocrinologist if you can so you can get some piece of mind. Good Luck with this situation and on your recovery

 

[Greenie93]

I am actually positive I had no prior history. I had many labs and stuff taken prior to the surgery, and they checked for that kind of thing. Never really had elevated blood sugar until after the surgery, and I have no family history of diabetes.

When I was in the hospital post-op, my blood sugar was running high (often over 100-200+), even though I wasn't eating much, so they gave me insulin, but they didn't give me any medication after discharge. After I got back to Norfolk from Atlanta and saw my cardiologist, my blood sugar levels were still high, but they wanted to see if it'd resolve on its own. Now 4 months out, I've been getting anywhere from 100+ to 300 and even one 400+ reading, though since the surgery, I haven't been medicated for my sugar until this weekend, and I wasn't really watching my sugars either. There is evidence that my pancreas is, in fact, producing insulin- just not enough. My doctors said that if my levels were consistently 300+, I should've already ended up in the hospital, so they said that they're trying to figure out what my pancreas is doing. I never had any symptoms until after the surgery either, but I've recently had random times with LOTS of frequent urination and my wounds from where my incisions opened up have been struggling to heal (they'll completely close up, then have a small part where the first layer of skin breaks open again).They said it may possibly still resolve, but at this rate since I'm already this far out, I have to accept the possibility that it may NOT fix, and I may now be a diabetic. They want to figure out what type it may be, so I'm going in for more testing on Monday. My doctors have actually been amazing to me (I love military doctors so much), but it's still a frustrating situation when paired with my pre-existing heart issues (aortic stenosis, newly repaired valve and aneurysm, atrial fibrillation episodes, etc.).

My mother did apparently know someone who was diabetic for six months after surgery though... I can only hope my situation turns out like his.

 

[carolinemc]

Are you on a salt/sugar free diet? Do they have any idea what might be causing the high blood pressure? Are you stressing all the time? Just have to ask. And on the diabetes, did they send you to a diabetic educator? You may want to look into that, it would have you manage the stress and get educated on the disease and the controls needed. The test they did after surgery for diabetes is now a standard since it can trigger an early onset of the disease. I am genetically predisposed for it as well as my bypass setting it off. Have you thought about family medical history might tell you something? Just asking. Hope you do get the blood pressure and diabetes under a managable control. Hugs for today.

 

[Jkm7]

After my second OHS, they tested glucose every set number of hours. Though I never had any history of high sugar, I am told I required two doses of insulin. They continued testing and after my levels returned to normal for two or three consecutive tests, they discontinued testing. I had read about that here on this forum so it didn't surprise me though that was something that changed in the time between my first OHS and the second, four years later. I was told keeping glucose carefully monitored and treating high levels aids in healing after OHS.


Greenie, I can understand your distress at this development and sincerely hope it resolves for you, quickly.
Best Wishes.

 

[Luana]

Most hospitals give insulin to OHS patients and to those undergoing chemotherapy. High blood sugars this long after surgery, are most likely diabetes, and you should see your doc about it.