Type 1 Feet, Hands & Eyes

[VsUK]

I've been a type 1 diabetic for around 13 ish years now as I was diagnosed at 25 with it. Since then my ability to read has diminished & to focus on things. I've had different glasses as I do wear them & I have now ended up with a pair for very short distance, a par for long distance & a pair for every day, out & about sort of thing but still I find reading text straining. I have had screenings & some damage is apparent but I was told this is typical for a diabetic.

My hands & feet I have noticed a change. I still have all sensations in my feet & toes as I have yearly checkups & all is ok. But I have noticed if I am standing for a considerable period of time or walking around for around 30 mins or so, I start to get pins & needs in my feet & after a while it goes but so does the feeling in my feet & is a very uncomfortable feeling walking & not feeling your feet properly. Been to the doc's & had a checkup on them & still have a strong pulse & sensation & so forth so they are unsure to the cause.

With my hands I have noticed increased cramp or numbness when carrying things. I recently moved house & was carrying box's to & from, nothing too heavy but I started to worry as I wasn't sure if I was holding the box as I couldn't feel my fingers. This & the cramp I get where my hands sorta goes stiff & painful for a while after doing such things.

All of this I never had before as a spent time in the army & after worked in the steel industry. Used to enjoy reading & model making but now I cant do such things anymore which has lead to sever depression my doc & counselor say I have now which just gets better.

Anyways, just wanted to know your thoughts on this & if anyone has had the same thing happen because its lead to me being unemployed & finding employment is difficult because of these problems & I'm starting to think people are thinking I'm just making these up because its nothing visible & we all know what society is like, if they can't see a disability they think your lying about it.

 

[daddys1]

Hi I don't know too much re type 1 except to say I have looked back at your posting when you joined and you had some very high numbers then.

Have you got your type 1 under control now with your insulin. Nice recommend no higher that 9.0 for a type 1
Type 1 diabetes4 to 7 mmol/L after a meal under 9 mmol/L

if you were maintaining these sorts of numbers then some of these complications you mention, should be held at bay.

What are your numbers?

I also understood that with the regular eye checks that any start of eye damage then there was particular laser treatment which could improve and if not, certainly stop the progression of the damage have you not been offered any treatment.

It's the depression which is not going to help you, and I understand having type 1 and now not working things can probably look very bleak.

How is your diabetes control at the moment?

I think also you maybe should visit the Type 1 forum and ask as many questions as you can. There are lots of people that can help you here.

Did you ever get the post of helpful information from @daisy1 when you joined in 2008? I've tagged her so she maybe along to help.

Neil

 

[daisy1]

@VsUK @daddys1

Hello VsUK and welcome back

Here is the information we give to new members. You may remember it from way back but it did change a while ago so I'm repeating it. Hope you get the help you need from other members.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 130,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[noblehead]

There's a condition called Peripheral Neuropathy that can effect the hands & feet with the symptoms that you describe, but it could be something else completely unrelated to your diabetes, so your best bet is to go back to your gp and ask for further investigations if they can't find the cause of your discomfort.

 

[CarbsRok]

Have your vitamin levels been tested?

 

[VsUK]

Vitamin levels have never been tested.

I was lead to believe that laser eye surgery wasn't an option for diabetics on top of the fact its very expensive. I do try & watch what I eat & things get under control & then I have a wobble when feeling down or whatever but my sugar's are usually around 5-7 on average. I do get the odd spike but soon drop as I keep forgetting to take insulin 30 minutes before I eat & sometime's its a risk as if what I'm cooking take's longer or something happens & I've already taken my insulin i'm in trouble.

I do my yearly blood checks & full checkup & the eye screenings. I go to options every few months because i do worry about my eye sight & it's the main thing that effects me with not being able to read correctly or do my hobbies & so forth.

I'm a meat & veg person so I try & cook fresh veg & a bit of meat. Don't eat sweets or have sugar in the house, only sweeteners.

 

[daddys1]

Vitamin levels have never been tested.

I was lead to believe that laser eye surgery wasn't an option for diabetics on top of the fact its very expensive. I do try & watch what I eat & things get under control & then I have a wobble when feeling down or whatever but my sugar's are usually around 5-7 on average. I do get the odd spike but soon drop as I keep forgetting to take insulin 30 minutes before I eat & sometime's its a risk as if what I'm cooking take's longer or something happens & I've already taken my insulin i'm in trouble.

I do my yearly blood checks & full checkup & the eye screenings. I go to options every few months because i do worry about my eye sight & it's the main thing that effects me with not being able to read correctly or do my hobbies & so forth.

I'm a meat & veg person so I try & cook fresh veg & a bit of meat. Don't eat sweets or have sugar in the house, only sweeteners.

I would really like to help you VS but as I said I am type 2 following a very strict Low Carb somewhat high fat diet, no insulin, I really think you should just copy you first post and place it in the type1 forum and you will get load of replies I'm sure.

Normally it's the highs that cause the complications some people have been type 1 for 4o years with no complications so I think you need to really ask a lot of questions in the type 1 community.

I had understood that the laser surgery was on the NHS, but I must say before this diabetes I had had some eye trouble and it had worried me considerably, so I am fully aware of how you feel when your thinking you may be going blind.

really think you need to hang in there get in touch on this forum with some type ones.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-1-diabetes.19/

Go to this and post your initial query there will be people which will fully understand where you are at.

Neil

 

[CarbsRok]

Vitamin levels have never been tested.

I was lead to believe that laser eye surgery wasn't an option for diabetics on top of the fact its very expensive. I do try & watch what I eat & things get under control & then I have a wobble when feeling down or whatever but my sugar's are usually around 5-7 on average. I do get the odd spike but soon drop as I keep forgetting to take insulin 30 minutes before I eat & sometime's its a risk as if what I'm cooking take's longer or something happens & I've already taken my insulin i'm in trouble.

I do my yearly blood checks & full checkup & the eye screenings. I go to options every few months because i do worry about my eye sight & it's the main thing that effects me with not being able to read correctly or do my hobbies & so forth.

I'm a meat & veg person so I try & cook fresh veg & a bit of meat. Don't eat sweets or have sugar in the house, only sweeteners.

Just a thought are you on statins? If so read the side effects of those, in fact any meds you are on read the side effects.

I've been type 1 for almost 50 years and never had laser surgery, because it isn't needed. If your scans are clear then you do not have retinopathy thus do not need laser treatment. As you are so worried about your eyes (who wouldn't be) please ask your GP to refer you to the eye clinic so a consultant can have a very good look in them. S/he can reassure you or find the problem and hopefully fix it for you.
Do you have gritty eyes? This might be caused by dry eye and simple drops will fix the problem in that dept.
You haven't mentioned seeing a consultant, if you haven't got one or see one then ask to be referred. Take a list of all your symptoms and concerns with you.
Instead of 3 different types of glasses try veri focals a lot more convenient if you can wear them.