[ANON POST] Managing Diabetes Without Supplies or Medical Care

[orange_fell]

Edit by mod: For some reason both versions of this anon's post were marked as suspicious comments, so I didn't see them right away. Edited to reflect the additional question from the later post.Setting: YuGiOh (Duel Monsters/Second Series canon, somewhat altered to suit my own ends

Comments

[syredronning]

Not being diabetic myself, but going super-low-carb/into ketosis by eating mostly meat and very low level of anything else should solve his problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_K._Bernstein <- has type 1 diabetes himself!

EDIT: Okay, I read your entry once more and obviously you want him to have problems :) Sorry, can't help in that regard, but I let my comment stand anyway, as it's a very interesting subject.

[sidheag]

Um, didn't see any suggestion that RKB had reduced insulin to 0, and the only ref to diabetes in the first link is to type 2.

[full_metal_ox]

Indeed, Bernstein recommends the regular use of insulin, and and scolds needle-phobic Type 2s for putting it off. And the ketogenic diet described in the Wikipedia link was developed for the treatment of something altogether different, epilepsy.

All evidence points to Yugi being a Type 1; he's young and within a normal weight range. (Type 2 diabetes, aside from commercials and PSAs, is a blue-moon rarity in popular media--possibly because it tends to happen to older and overweight people, and because Type 1 lends itself so much better to ticking-clock ZOMG stranded-without-insulin drama.)

[box_of_rocks]

You cannot treat full-blown Type 1 diabetes with diet - Type 1 means that the person does not produce insulin. Without insulin injections, the person cannot live. A low carb diet *may* make it easier for a person to control their blood sugar levels, but they will still need insulin injections, generally many shots a day (or a continuous infusion via pump).

[sidheag]

I think you're in trouble here. My type 1 diabetic friend who accidentally got on a train without his insulin was pretty ill by later the same day when he managed to get back to it, anyway. On that basis, you might have 24 hours at best. I don't know how much this might vary, but your character with established type 1 suddenly completely deprived of insulin is in a worse state than someone newly diagnosed, anyway. Why do you think fruit would ever bring him round? Some of what you say sounds as though you may be confusing hypo with hyperglycemia and/or type 1 with type 2... Eg he's going to develop death rather than complications, seizures are more associated with hypo than hyper... But maybe I'm misunderstanding what you have in mind.

[full_metal_ox]

Seconding the sentiment--it sucked to be a Type 1 diabetic before the advent of insulin treatment.

Why do you think fruit would ever bring him round? Some of what you say sounds as though you may be confusing hypo with hyperglycemia and/or type 1 with type 2...

My thoughts exactly--damn you, similar-sounding but diametrically opposite medical terms!

[box_of_rocks]

A type 1 diabetic (who isn't in the early stages and "honeymooning") would be able to last maybe days before dying. Fruit would not work to treat them - if they don't have insulin available, hypERglycemia would be the problem, not hypoglycemia. The body wouldn't be able to use sugar in the blood to power the body's cells, and the sugar would just circulate uselessly. A low carb diet would still not allow for glucose products to go into the cells. The patient would develop diabetic ketoacidosis within a fairly short time period of no insulin (days) and that can be fatal.

HypOglycemia is low blood sugar, a common complication of TOO MUCH insulin. THis can also be deadly, in a short time period. What you are describing sounds more like hypoglycemia/an overdose of insulin. That is treated with quick sources of glucose, like fruit juice.

[box_of_rocks]

Here's a very thorough explanation of what can happen to an insulin-dependent diabetic without insulin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis

[princealia]

My sister is a terrible type I diabetic, so I've dealt with all of these scenarios XD

About how long before Yugi starts developing complications? It depends, really. There's a few factors to consider

[princealia]

What kind of long-term effects could come out of this? If all goes well in the scenario, the PCs should get everyone back into the Human World soon, at which point Yugi will be hospitalized right away. Is this incident likely to cause any lingering damage that I should keep in mind and do further research on? Depending on what it was that caused him to drop to begin with, which in this case sounds like it's a rare thing and series of unfortunate events, they'd adjust his insulin intake/what kind of insulin he's taking and tell him to lay off the fighting for a while. If he kept going in to states of near comas and keeping up his body in this condition for years though, he'd face the same problems other diabetics would if they don't take care of themselves. Sight would be one of the first things to effected (worst case scenario is going blind), limbs not working as well as they should (worst case scenario is losing them completely), organs wouldn't do what they should be doing (worst case scenario is needing new ones/losing them - my

[anonymous]

OP here, and wow, thanks for all the swift answers