2 weeks on from diagnosis

[Gobiker56]

My, this has been a fraught 2 weeks. Luckily I have had a lot of good support from the forum that got me through the first few days. Especially as I am in the middle of nowhere in Spain and am not fluent in Spanish, not that it would have helped much. I got very little practical help from the surgery, just give me the tablets and off you go. My friends bought me a meter and I have to say it has been a godsend. I seem to be well within normal limits, in fact going down too much at one stage having to eat something to bring me back to normal.What I don't know is if I am well below normal do I still take the tablets and just eat a bit more?. My biggest worry is my eyes, I still have blurred vision, the doctor doesn't seem too worried and said to go to the opticians. I have an appointment Friday evening. The other thing is I am getting leg cramps and a very severe burning/tearing sensation in my upper thighs, at one point it was excruciating, so I will go to the doctors first thing in the morning. Has anyone else had anything like it?. Once again a big thanks to all on the forum who have helped. I would have had a very hard time without it.

 

[Brunneria]

Hi love, glad you got your meter sorted. They make a huge difference, don't they?

When are you testing? Times of day and frequency? How many strips do you have?

Regarding your eyes, going to the opticians is a good idea. A checkup and a look at your retinas would be really good.
BUT
Don't let them persuade you into spending a fortune on new glasses at this stage. Wait until your blood glucose has settled, and you are in control. Then wait a few more weeks and get another eye test.

The reason is simple : when BG runs high, or fluctuates a lot, it affects the eyes. If you got a new pair of glasses that suit you now, they might be useless in a few months. Wait till things stabilise.

Of course, I don't know how bad your sight is at the mo... You may desperately need glasses to function, but don't spend out much...

 

[Gobiker56]

Thanks for your reply Brunneria. I am testing 6 times a day at the moment. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.Just before each meal and 2 hours after. luckily I have plenty of strips so that is not a problem. a wealthy benefactor has bought me loads as an early Christmas present, probably the best present I ever had in terms of what I need. I am really surprised the doctor has not looked in my eyes, I know it sounds daft but she may not have an opthalmascope, she is also VERY young so may not want to show lack of knowledge, who knows?. I am a Nurse, but unfortunately can't look at my own eyes!. Even if I could, I too would not know fully what I was looking at. It's 01:00 and I have had to get out of bed and sit rubbing my thighs, still got a burning sensation, quite severe at times. This is the problem, I am on my own, apart from my dog, so I have to cope on my own. Your imagination just runs away merrily during the night!. Up to now I have had ::- Glaucoma, retinal myopathy, detached retina, Several embolisms, angina, various cancers, peripheral vascular disease, DVT and possibly green monkey disease, all within the last few hours. A cup of tea seem to have cured most of them.

 

[Nuthead]

Hi, @Brunneria takes a lot of sense. I can't really add much more at this stage. I know and understand about your eyes. Been there. Done that. Get your sugar levels down and stable. Be patient because it can take a while, maybe weeks not days for you eyes to stabilise. Only then can you fully evaluate your eyes. Hard and worrying I know but not something that can be hurried.. Be strong and believe. IT WILL GET BETTER..

 

[beatdise]

My, this has been a fraught 2 weeks. Luckily I have had a lot of good support from the forum that got me through the first few days. Especially as I am in the middle of nowhere in Spain and am not fluent in Spanish, not that it would have helped much. I got very little practical help from the surgery, just give me the tablets and off you go. My friends bought me a meter and I have to say it has been a godsend. I seem to be well within normal limits, in fact going down too much at one stage having to eat something to bring me back to normal.What I don't know is if I am well below normal do I still take the tablets and just eat a bit more?. My biggest worry is my eyes, I still have blurred vision, the doctor doesn't seem too worried and said to go to the opticians. I have an appointment Friday evening. The other thing is I am getting leg cramps and a very severe burning/tearing sensation in my upper thighs, at one point it was excruciating, so I will go to the doctors first thing in the morning. Has anyone else had anything like it?. Once again a big thanks to all on the forum who have helped. I would have had a very hard time without it.

Hi. I am just 2 weeks ahead of you. Once you get your BS leves stable the eyes do settle down a bit. Still get the occassional drying of eyes nd poor vision when I have eaten a high carb meal. I will trust other colleagues who say once the BS numbers are settled in the long term eyesight will return. Cramps are likely to be down to dehydration so .drink lots of water, you are probably sweating more and expelling water more so need a top up higher than you used to. My cramps have improved as my BS has got lower and I have drunk more water. Good luck!

 

[jack412]

a cup of tea fixes most things, it use to be a cup of tea, a bex and a good lie down

what meds are you on? if it's metformin, I wouldn't worry till its under 3.5 and thats because I haven't eaten.

as @Brunneria said, buy cheap reading glasses, till your eyes settle ..get the drops and bright light and photo from optometrist or better and get the pulses in your foot checked and teeth cleaned and checked

add some salt and drink lots of water

 

[Cloudlesssky]

I can identify with you.
My eyesight suddenly deteriorated after I had been diagnosed (and on medication) for about three weeks.
I couldn't read a newspaper or book and needed to enlarge answer booklets to enable me to mark work. Although I knew it could happen it was quite worrying at the time.
All the advice I received from the GP and diabetic nurse was that this was not unusual and told to return if I still had problems after a couple of weeks.
My sight has settled now and a visit to the opticians shows my sight has returned to how it was previously.
As Brunneria says, wait before getting a new pair of glasses!
I hope this will be the same for you.
BeeGee

 

[Gobiker56]

Thanks for that info BeeGee. It's nice to know there is light At the end of the tunnel. Once again it is the early hours of the morning, my thighs still playing up, a moderate to severe burning sensation upper right and left muscles, really bad when I was out with the dog, had to come home, going to doc's later so will see what's what hopefully. Once again my imagination running amok. At least my blood sugar now seems to have gone down and stayed there.

 

[jack412]

have a spoon of salt in water, if it goes away, it's a salt deficiency...when you cut the rubbish foods, you also cut a lot of salt