question about nitropaste & diabetes

[lnjr]

Hello,

I am not a nurse and there is probably a better forum for me to have joined to try and learn some information (so I apolgize in advance) about my mother but I have been searching on the internet and can't seem to find the information I am looking for.

My mother was admitted to the hospital last week (very early Friday morning) because my father found her standing naked in the dining room and unresponsive. He called me and we ran up there. She was shaking and did not seem to be able to respond to us. I called 911 and the emt's took her to the hospital. At that time her blood sugar was almost 900, she became combative when they would try to draw blood as well as put in an iv, lay her on her back for an x-ray and still not responding to us or anyone else.

To give you a short amount of info on her medical history....a few years ago she was diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes; she is now 74 years old and her maintenance drugs are 2 for her diabetes, lipitor, detrol, (and 2 others that I just can't remember right now). Anyway, she has never had a problem with her blood pressure until this past week although she has had a heart murmur since she was a child.

About 4 weeks ago she came down with a really bad head cold and her family doctor prescribed an antibiotic, steroids and a decongestant. She was still feeling just as bad (maybe a little worse) when done the medications. So she went in to see him and he prescribed 3 more drugs for her (which I did not know about). That did not work so she saw him again and he prescribed another steroid, antibiotic and decongestant. The last time she went in to see him she asked about stopping her maintenance drugs and just taking the medications for the cold until it was gone and he said that would be fine (well that included her medications for the diabetes - he has never had her monitor her blood sugar and told her she did not have to and he would just have it tested with bloodwork 3 - 4 times per year).

She is doing better now but is still in icu and they cannot get her bloodsugar under control. They are monitoring her heart, bloodpressure, oxygen levels and trying to get the sugar under control. They are telling me that everything looks good except that they need to get the sugar lowered. However, they are putting nitropaste on her a few times a day. Her blood pressure is automatically monitored and checked every 60 minutes with the machine they have her connected to. The last reading I saw last night was 150/50 and the one before that was something like 14?/32. From what I could find on nitropaste it is used for chest pain but she has never complained of chest pain so I'm not exactly sure why she is in fact on this medication.

What I really want to know is exactly what type of questions should I be asking to the nurses and or doctors about this as well as why after her sugar was back down to around 100 it has skyrocketed back up to 487 and keeps fluctuating into the 300 - 500 range. I realize that they need to get the right combination and dosage of medications figured out to control the blood sugar but they seem to be uncertain as to why it will suddenly jump up like it is.

My mother stated just before we left last night that they are going to see about trying to get a dentist to come in to see her because she has a tooth that is bothering her .... they did do a brain scan and sinus x-ray and said that everything was fine.

Any suggestions or information on where I should really be looking would be so very much appreciated.

Thank You Very Much,

lnjr

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I'm so sorry that your dear mother is not feeling well. However, this is not a medical advice board. We can't possibly know what is going on. Here are some resources:

http://www.myicucare.org/Support_Brochures/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.icunurse.org/resources

http://www.personalmd.com/news/intensivecare_070100.shtml

Hope your mother feels better soon.