Today I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the thing that made me say WHAT!, was the nurse said she would make an appointment for my feet to be checked, what has my feet got to with this
Tagging @raisy1 for the welcome pack. Welcome to the forum. This is the best place to learn how to control your T2.Today I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the thing that made me say WHAT!, was the nurse said she would make an appointment for my feet to be checked, what has my feet got to with this
Others in the forum can explain much better, but in the meantime, don't panic, this is a routine test ordered for newly diagnosed diabetics, to make sure there are no issues with the feet (where diabetes can do a lot of damage) - same thing happened to me.Today I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the thing that made me say WHAT!, was the nurse said she would make an appointment for my feet to be checked, what has my feet got to with this
Since you are newly diagnosed, checking the feet for possible symptoms of nephropathy/nerve status will be good for you.Today I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the thing that made me say WHAT!, was the nurse said she would make an appointment for my feet to be checked, what has my feet got to with this
I can understand if % figure is also indicatedSorry, but I find that a really unacceptable answer to a new member in a panic ... do try to tone it down a bit. Please.
sorry, I will learn to be polite, thanks for pointing outI can understand if % figure is also indicated
Hey Rob,Today I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the thing that made me say WHAT!, was the nurse said she would make an appointment for my feet to be checked, what has my feet got to with this
Hey Rob,
Welcome, and I'll tag @daisy1 for the info-sheet.
Your feet? Well, if your bloodsugars have been high for a long time, two things can happen: the nerves in your extremities could get damaged, (diabetic neuropathy) so they want to check whether you still have enough feeling in your feet, that they're not burning or tingling or anything. And they want to check for ulcers and the like, because wounds in T2's with high bloodsugars don't heal well, and if you get a double whammy of a wound AND no feeling in your feet, it can get out of hand really quick, because you don't feel something's wrong. Doesn't usually happen to people who are just diagnosed, but a long-term diabetic with badly controlled bloodsugars... (Often through no fault of their own) Well, yeah. It can happen. The good bit: this is a standard test they do with all new diabetics and it will be repeated at least once a year, maybe every 6 months. So nothing to immediately worry about, your toes aren't about to fall off or anything. They'll probably also take pictures of the insides of your eyes to check for diabetic retinopathy, little bleeds in your eyeballs which might damage your eyes. (Not to mention checking bloodwork for kidneyfunction and liverfunction, plus cholesterol. Be sure to requests ALL your testresults. If you know where you came from, you know where you're headed!)
What you can do: Re-learn how to eat. As T2's we don't process glucose out of our bloodstream efficiently anymore, and as it happens, practically all carbohydrates turn to glucose once ingested. So it's not just straight sugar you have to watch out for, but starches too. I don't know how high your HbA1c was at diagnosis, but you might want to start with cutting out bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, fruit (save for berries, avocado and tomatoes), and cereal. Anything wheat-ey is out-ey. With one macronutrient down, you want to up the other two, fats and protein, but especially fats. Fat has two perks: It doesn't raise your bloodsugars, and it mitigates the effects of carbs you do eat. (I lost 25 kilo's eating bacon once or twice a day. Go figure.).
So what can you eat without raising your BS? Meat, fish, above-ground veggies/leafy greens, extra dark chocolate (yay!), mushrooms, olives, cheese, butter, full fat greek yoghurt, nuts, etc. If you want meal ideas, there's a bunch on this site and even more over on dietdoctor.com, where they tend to be really good at explaining things. But I'm guessing eating eggs with bacon and cheese for breakfast won't be much of a punishment. I know I love it.
You're probably perscribed medication, and that's all fine, but the thing is... With meds only, diabetes T2 is per definition a progressive disease. Meaning you'll need more meds as it continues, and the risk of complications becomes bigger every year. If you add diet to your treatment regime, T2 can actually be reversed. I have done it, so have quite a few others here. I'm medication free, and have been for 2 years, (Only took meds the first 3 months, and could drop the statins for cholesterol too). I'm still a T2, the moment I eat carbs my bloodsugars rise, but I've been in the non-diabetic range for those two years now, with a HbA1c of 34. I'm a T2 for life, I suppose, but a well-controlled one without medication or insulin, hopefully for the duration.
Do yourself a favor and get yourself a meter. Check before you eat and 2 hours after the first bite. If your bloods go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could handle. "Eat to your meter" is a golden rule.
If you have more questions, shoot!
Jo
It seems like it's not just India where it's hard to find a knowlegdable doc. I'm in the Netherlands, most people here are British... We run into medical proffessionals who don't know about the latest treatments or what to look for, all the time. Considering there's a global diabetes epidemic, that's a sad state of affairs. (Though it is a lot to keep up with, I suppose.) Sometimes you run into someone who's clued in though, and when you do, they're an absolute gem. I got lucky, my GP wants to learn about low carb eating and is following my progress. It's nice to be able to discuss things with someone who takes an interest and would like to implement it in her practice.Well, for the new comer, there is lot of guidelines. I wish to share some of my experience. In India finding a good diabetic doctor is an herculean task. I was diagnosed 7 years ago,due infection and undergone surgery in reputed Hospital by a very good doctor who was referred by a general physician after about 10 days investigation and failed to spot the spot infected area and reason for infection. Well I recovered fully after bed rest about 6 months.. There after due change in residence location to different state I was just on Metformin500 mg 2tablets one after breakfast and the other after dinner. Now I stated getting tingling /numbness in little finger. Went for HbA1c -10 Started with one more Metformin 500 at Lunch and working on low carbohydrate/literally reduced portion or nil corbohydrate diet and learning to know more about. Will report progress in this forum.
It seems like it's not just India where it's hard to find a knowlegdable doc. I'm in the Netherlands, most people here are British... We run into medical proffessionals who don't know about the latest treatments or what to look for, all the time. Considering there's a global diabetes epidemic, that's a sad state of affairs. (Though it is a lot to keep up with, I suppose.) Sometimes you run into someone who's clued in though, and when you do, they're an absolute gem. I got lucky, my GP wants to learn about low carb eating and is following my progress. It's nice to be able to discuss things with someone who takes an interest and would like to implement it in her practice.
When I lived there most people were Dutch..I'm in the Netherlands, most people here are British...