Quick Question

[Orlando00]

Hello Everyone,

I was diagnosed 2 years ago and with diet and excercise I got my diabetes under control. Since I was taken to hospital in January this year with pleurisy and my depression pills being put up I've been having a few problems.

I have noticed for the past few weeks I have always been tired and just faint asleep randomly during the day because I have insomnia and can't sleep to 5 am. My bloo sugar levels use to be excellent but lately they have been 11.5 and this morning 8.

When I wake up though I'm still very tired. I haven't been eating well either as I feel I'm going to be sick and get a sore stomache once I have ate something.

When I do eat I sweat a lot and always need a fan on all the time because my body temperature has been ruined by diabetes I'm told by the doctor.

I always have this weird dry caugh and my chest is perminately sore, the doctor gave me ibuforen for that and it helps now and again, but not with the caugh.

I don't know what to do as when I do eat, I test 2 hours later and it's up in the 11s. I use to be 5.5 solid.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated as the doctors don't seem that concerned. I haven't been out the house in over a week due to this falling asleep thing.

 

[DeejayR]

Hiya, welcome. I'll give this a bump to draw attention to your situation.
Your symptoms are those of high blood sugar levels but what's causing them is a mystery if you're eating the same things as before.

Since I was taken to hospital in January this year with pleurisy and my depression pills being put up I've been having a few problems.

I wonder if there's a clue in that? Other health issues and drugs can affect the way diabetes behaves. (That's a guess.)
Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Orlando00]

I have checked today and in the morning it was 8. Before dinner it was 7.5 and 2 hours after with some more vegetables it went to 5.5 which I'm so happy about. I think it happens when my chest gets extremely sore from whatever this mystery thing is.

 

[ladybird64]

Your chest would still be affected by having had pleurisy? You said you haven't been eating well either (with depression, who does?) so it's probably a combo of these things. What kind of stuff have you been eating recently? Sounds like you are going through a difficult time but don't worry, you'll get support here, no judgements.

 

[Orlando00]

I have fallen off the wagon and I admit I need to change some stuff but hear me out.

I have ocd, depression, social anxiety, sciatica, pleurisy and diabetes.

I got sciatica this year and my spine bends to the right at the end so that does a lot of pain. I'm meant to be going to a physio appointment soon but it's too sore to walk at times and I can't make it to the appointments. I use to be into the gym and lost 6 stone and was a lot better than I am now. Since my back and chest hurts after 2 minutes of doing anything I find it hard to excercise or the gym so I went aback to 19 stone , I don't eat much vegetables any more and when I do eat it's crisps.

I never have breakfast no more which is wrong and leave having nothing to eat to about 1pm, so I go from 10pm to 1pm with no food at all, have a big super of mince or spag or knorma, I never use to be this way but I don't know what to do , doctors etc don't help and tell me just to take ibuforen etc. I'm
Just a little down. I eat chocolate as well because of the depression and again it's wrong.

 

[Totto]

Hi @Orlando00

Change doctor.
Skip carbs like spaghetti, rice, bread and potatoes, including crisps.
Go for 70% chocolate or higher.

Have you had B12, thyroid, iron, liver panel, kidney and vitamin D tests recently? If not, ask for them to be done.

 

[Pinkorchid]

You are still recovering from your illness and it will probably take a while for you to get back to where you were before and your appetite should get better I expect at the moment diet is the last thing on your mind. As you have other problems as well as diabetes these are all a factor in how you feel and you really need a doctor who will understand what you are going through and help you is there not another doctor in your practise you can see

 

[mfactor]

I have fallen off the wagon and I admit I need to change some stuff

Yep you have but nothing that cant be fixed

12 months ago I was in the same boat Anxiety Depression, way overweight , blood sugars haywire multiple health problems etc ....

I still am not "well" but have come a long way and feel almost "normal"


But its a long old road and its 100% up to you , but you will get loads of support on here


Will tag @daisy1 as thats a good startting point.....

I never have breakfast no more which is wrong and leave having nothing to eat to about 1pm, so I go from 10pm to 1pm with no food at all,

Dont worry too much about "when" you eat its more about "what"....................In fact you are pretty close to 16/8 Intermittent fasting which a lot of people use with great results..............

I am not a brekky person myself and tend to have "brunch" about 11ish....

 

[Larissima]

You've got a lot on your plate, so the most important thing is to be kind to yourself.

Make every possible effort to get to your physio appointments, as physical pain is debilitating and contributes to depression. (I've been there too) Doctors really can't do much about it - your body can heal but you need to be shown how to help it along.

Try to choose the freshest, most nutritious food you can to nourish your body and mind. No empty carbs, plenty of healthy protein, fat and veggies. There's plenty of advice on what to eat on the food & nutrition boards here.

Take care of yourself, and we'll be here to support you.

 

[ladybird64]

Long post warning coming up lol!

Orlando - I get it, honestly. You're not going to be shouted down here, some people can be forthright but that's because they care. Now then..
A lot of what you have spoken about is familiar to me. I too have depression, I have GAD, although luckily I don't need to cope with OCD and SA. I had a rare Cancer last year and although I'm now in remission, the aggressive treatment has left me the legacy of neuropathic pain and awful stiffness in my hips, lower back and legs. This has been hard to accept, and I've felt resentment that I now find myself in this position at 51 years old. The depression and GAD is unrelated and lifelong.
Before my illness, I had started to deal with the diabetes and have had it under control for a couple of years. Your numbers really aren't terrible, and given that your weight has gone up, I bet you could get your levels down quickly.

First things first - honesty. You know that the bigger you are, the harder it is to move and the more strain it will put on your back and your sciatica. You will need to push through that pain, and move. Not the gym, nor running a marathon, but get to your physio appts. You and I both know how easy it is to completely lose motivation to do anything, but if you don't get moving, even walking for 5 mins, you will get worse. If you're eating loads of crisps (they were my downfall too), you will feel ill and then more depressed. Same goes for the nega meals with the pasta and rice with the sugary Korma.
If somebody is badly depressed, I feel it isn't about telling them to drop this, that and the other food. They already know all that. It's about supporting somebody to move forward, to get them into the right state of mind to address the changes they need to make.

We can support you Orlando but you know what you need to do. Start thinking about the changes you can make - Yep, you really can do it - and make a plan of action. Figure out what you're going to tackle first.

How does that sound? X

 

[Orlando00]

Thank you so much everyone for the kind words and advice. I was expecting to get some harsh words because I myself would of given me some haha. I think what has happened is I've lost the will power because it's one thing after another, I try and eliminate 1 thing and then to the next but with depression and ocd that isn't possible. I've just rang the diabetic nurse because I want to nip this in the bud. When I was on metraformin I felt so much better and lost weight quick, however when I went off it I noticed weight coming back in very quickly, that might of been in my head though.

I haven't bought no chocolate or crisps today and won't be buying for awhile. I think because I fall asleep during the day and stay up all night that is what makes me hungry and boredom as everyone is asleep.

 

[daisy1]

@Orlando00

Hello Orlando and welcome to the forum Read through all the advice members have offered you. It is always like this on the forum so you did the right thing to join. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope this will help you to improve your diet so you can keep your levels lower than now. Carry on asking questions and someone will help.

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 150,000 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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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.