A 47-year-old female patient is in for a follow-up visit to monitor her treatment for type 2 diabetes. You added regular insulin to her treatment regimen last month. She tells you that she has not had any symptoms of hypoglycemia with the new plan and her glucose levels have been between 60 and 80. She tells you that her visit to her cardiologist went well and she was prescribed a new medication, atenolol.
1. Discuss the problems and/or complications that might result when a patient with diabetes is treated with a beta blocker.
2. Would there be a difference if the beta blocker was not atenolol?
3. Is there something about the rest of her treatment plan that needs to be addressed?
4. Discuss the possible complications when patients with diabetes are treated with a beta blocker. Are certain beta blockers more likely to create problems than others?
5. What action of beta blockers is a concern if taken by patients with a diagnosis of diabetes?
6. What educational measures must be discussed with this patient if a beta blocker is medically indicated?
7. Describe any changes to the treatment plan that are important to address considering her glucose reading.