Really confused and lost!

[legolgel]

Have you had your thyroid function checked out?
Some of the symptoms you mentioned in your post, is usually a corollary of thyroid issues of some sort.
The cold hands and thinning hair stood out as one of the issues that raises a red flag when the body's thermostat is impaired somewhat.
Take a look at this link it gives an idea somewhat.
https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/hypothyroidism-too-little-thyroid-hormone

The things is I have the difficulty is gaining weight

 

[DCUKMod]

@legolgel - I am going to have to rermove the images of your blood test results as they include the name of your Doctor, and other more personal which we do not allow (or in the case of your personal information, we would discourage).

Should you remove, or names and details rendering you or your Doctors identifiable, then you may post the images again.

 

[legolgel]

@legolgel - I am going to have to rermove the images of your blood test results as they include the name of your Doctor, and other more personal which we do not allow (or in the case of your personal information, we would discourage).

Should you remove, or names and details rendering you or your Doctors identifiable, then you may post the images again.

Ok, sorry about that... I'll replace them

 

[daisy1]

@legolgel
Hello and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful.

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 well over 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

 

[Pinkorchid]

I never saw your results as they had to be removed but from what members said who did see them they said they seemed pretty normal. Really the only good advice we can give you here is to see your doctor again as your symptoms are not necessarily diabetes.

 

[torchman2]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on April of 2018, my h1ac was then 11.5 and a fasting blood glucose of 297 with hyperosmolarity.... They put me on metformin and insuline but I decided not to take insuline and treat it with diet, gym and intermittent fasting.....my weight when I was diagnosed was 230 pounds, and in almost 4 months ended up at 167 pounds, and H1ac of 6.0 and prediabetic blood sugars. It tends to go down instead of going high...
I stopped using metformin because was giving me a lot of problems.....
I feel lost because now I am having a ton of issues: going to once every 3 or 4 days, frequent urination, feeling tired after every food and a constant strong stomach pain after any kind of food, my hair has started to fall and my black area of the eye keeps small all the time......I don't know what to do, somebody have experienced this before?
What it could be?
I went to the doctor and he is even worst than me finding symptoms on Google but I have the feeling that there's something really wrong happening in my body....any advise will be appreciated.
Also I am experiencing cold hands and foot but I don't understand why...getting also a heart burn every time I eat....

How many calories are you eating?

You may be eating far too few, and creating too many stress hormones in your body, which break down protein and fat to create glucose. If you had many years of eating oily fast food, your fat will be releasing the stored polyunsaturated fat, which will stress out your body.

It sounds like a classic case of diet-induced hypothyroidism (bad thyroid), where eating too little stresses out your adrenals too much.

Side effects will be: cold hands and feet, bad sleep, low energy, hair loss, excess urination, loss of libido, constipation. Sound familiar?

Edit: low thyroid also means you produce less stomach acid, hence heartburn when you eat. Big protein meals can cause it too.

 

[legolgel]

I never saw your results as they had to be removed but from what members said who did see them they said they seemed pretty normal. Really the only good advice we can give you here is to see your doctor again as your symptoms are not necessarily diabetes.

Sorry I will upload it later on...thanks to stay with me ... And yes it may be related to something else !!!

 

[legolgel]

How many calories are you eating?

You may be eating far too few, and creating too many stress hormones in your body, which break down protein and fat to create glucose. If you had many years of eating oily fast food, your fat will be releasing the stored polyunsaturated fat, which will stress out your body.

It sounds like a classic case of diet-induced hypothyroidism (bad thyroid), where eating too little stresses out your adrenals too much.

Side effects will be: cold hands and feet, bad sleep, low energy, hair loss, excess urination, loss of libido, constipation. Sound familiar?

Edit: low thyroid also means you produce less stomach acid, hence heartburn when you eat. Big protein meals can cause it too.

I'll glad to hear more about this!

 

[torchman2]

I'll glad to hear more about this!

What do you want to know?

Would be useful to know what you eat now (foods and total calories per day), plus what you ate before you were diagnosed.

Sounds like you went too fast, too soon. Slow and steady wins in the long term.

 

[legolgel]

What do you want to know?

Would be useful to know what you eat now (foods and total calories per day), plus what you ate before you were diagnosed.

Sounds like you went too fast, too soon. Slow and steady wins in the long term.

When I was diagnosed I was used to eat a lot of pizza and for now I am eating small portions of everything but only one refined carbohydrate by meal....
I have been reading about B12 deficiency and metformin but I believe I had this deficiency even before having sugar problems...but all is linked to what you make mention of...and definitely I'll need to learn more about counting carbs !
I wanted to know more about the hypotirodism issue....but don't worry I will research of it on Google.

 

[torchman2]

I wanted to know more about the hypotirodism issue....but don't worry I will research of it on Google.

Happy to write more about it.

The summary is that the thyroid is the primary determinant of energy production in the body.

Low carb diets and low calorie diets (can) affect the thyroid. Especially low calories ones.

The lower amount of energy your body can produce, the more it is likely to restrict energy output. Which is why calories in, calories out is imprecise, since a huge chunk of calories out is determined by the amount of heat and energy you produce, and low level movements (eg walking, fidgeting). With limited energy production, energy is shunted towards the most important functions: brain, breathing/central nervous system, etc. The lower importance functions are naturally cut out: digestion, sex drive, hair growth, nail growth, skin quality, mood (low mood keeps you less active, so burns less energy).

A diet high in the polyunsaturated fats (liquid oils, except olive oil), leads to thyroid suppression, and stored fat being more unsaturated. Unsaturated fat is highly toxic.

If you suddenly go to a huge calorie deficit and low carb diet, you must burn up your fat and protein stores to create energy. This is why low carb is effective at reducing fat. But there may be knock-on negative effects. If if you have stored unsaturated fats in your body fat, then this is released to overload your blood stream as it breaks down. So you get a loop of bad results.

This is such a big topic. Googling around thyroid forums, "low calorie thyroid", "low carb thyroid" etc will find some useful results.

The thyroid generally requires a steady amount of energy to be at its optimal level. Consistency in amount of food eaten is particularly important.

 

[legolgel]

Happy to write more about it.

The summary is that the thyroid is the primary determinant of energy production in the body.

Low carb diets and low calorie diets (can) affect the thyroid. Especially low calories ones.

The lower amount of energy your body can produce, the more it is likely to restrict energy output. Which is why calories in, calories out is imprecise, since a huge chunk of calories out is determined by the amount of heat and energy you produce, and low level movements (eg walking, fidgeting). With limited energy production, energy is shunted towards the most important functions: brain, breathing/central nervous system, etc. The lower importance functions are naturally cut out: digestion, sex drive, hair growth, nail growth, skin quality, mood (low mood keeps you less active, so burns less energy).

A diet high in the polyunsaturated fats (liquid oils, except olive oil), leads to thyroid suppression, and stored fat being more unsaturated. Unsaturated fat is highly toxic.

If you suddenly go to a huge calorie deficit and low carb diet, you must burn up your fat and protein stores to create energy. This is why low carb is effective at reducing fat. But there may be knock-on negative effects. If if you have stored unsaturated fats in your body fat, then this is released to overload your blood stream as it breaks down. So you get a loop of bad results.

This is such a big topic. Googling around thyroid forums, "low calorie thyroid", "low carb thyroid" etc will find some useful results.

The thyroid generally requires a steady amount of energy to be at its optimal level. Consistency in amount of food eaten is particularly important.

Thanks a lot

 

[legolgel]

Hello people there... Another thing to tell, today I ate potatoes and cheese at 4:10 am ( because I work at 5:00 am, then I ate rice,meat and beans ( I know I am not supposed to at 8:15 am) and at 11:31 went down to 77 ( with the headache, dizziness and hunger, at that moment decided to drink a soda and keep working in the steel foundry)
At home (3:07 p.m) ate pasta and meat and then decided to measure blood sugars at 4:00 pm and stayed on 116 mg/dl Wich doesn't make any sense at all!
In another news my appointment will be on Friday and I will let you know what he said.

 

[New2ThisType2]

Sorry I will upload it later on...thanks to stay with me ... And yes it may be related to something else !!!

One thing I would do in your position, is have your doctor take a blood test for your Kidney creatinine level. Could be anything, I am not a doctor but am familiar with CKD and you have what appears to be, a few more than some of the symptoms. That doesn't mean that it is CKD but unfortunately it is an issue that creeps up very quickly to stage 3 before patients learn that they have it so I would make sure they rule that out.

CKD often also creates a sudden feeling of exhaustion and can lead to lower hemoglobin and red blood cell levels, that dont often show up right away.

CKD at even stage 3 can be controlled but it is striking many people as they get a bit older and as far as I am concerned, patients are not tested for it early enough, in order to catch it before it becomes a bigger issue.

 

[legolgel]

One thing I would do in your position, is have your doctor take a blood test for your Kidney creatinine level. Could be anything, I am not a doctor but am familiar with CKD and you have what appears to be, a few more than some of the symptoms. That doesn't mean that it is CKD but unfortunately it is an issue that creeps up very quickly to stage 3 before patients learn that they have it so I would make sure they rule that out.

CKD often also creates a sudden feeling of exhaustion and can lead to lower hemoglobin and red blood cell levels, that dont often show up right away.

CKD at even stage 3 can be controlled but it is striking many people as they get a bit older and as far as I am concerned, patients are not tested for it early enough, in order to catch it before it becomes a bigger issue.

That is the thing, finally a got a better doctor (thousand times better than the other one I had and he checked the results and says that the only thing he is really concerned for now is the thyroid function that may be too slow or to fast... but he also want to discard every possible reason, from hormones to organs....which is really good....love this new doctor...
I did the creatinine test month and half ago (at that time I was feeling like that too) and are normal...and the EFGR came out normal ... but everything is possible.
My next appointment will be in two weeks.. I'll keep you updated with everything.
For know he asked me to make the thyroid blood test and muscle destruction blood test ( to see creatinine levels I suppose) so he gonna be working on that too....thanks for posting and very glad to see the support from everyone here.

 

[New2ThisType2]

Whatever it is, they should find it but from my own experience, it can take time as frustrating as that can be for you. If a creatinine test for GFR was in the normal range just 6 weeks ago, chances are that is not your issue then. I went through a similar experience as yourself and one point I wish I had known earlier, was to have made sure that any or all doctors, hospitals, specialists, etc, were on the same computerized health network. They weren't, in the beginning. I was being sent here and there and most of them were not "talking to one another" short of a few notes the referring doctor sent them. But that only told a small part of the story. Too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak and without proper direction, they were making a larger mess than was necessary. Once I was on a network that allowed each doctor to have all my records at their fingertips, seeing the whole picture rather than 5% of it, I was finally, and properly treated. Best wishes. Keep us posted. You will get there!!

 

[legolgel]

Whatever it is, they should find it but from my own experience, it can take time as frustrating as that can be for you. If a creatinine test for GFR was in the normal range just 6 weeks ago, chances are that is not your issue then. I went through a similar experience as yourself and one point I wish I had known earlier, was to have made sure that any or all doctors, hospitals, specialists, etc, were on the same computerized health network. They weren't, in the beginning. I was being sent here and there and most of them were not "talking to one another" short of a few notes the referring doctor sent them. But that only told a small part of the story. Too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak and without proper direction, they were making a larger mess than was necessary. Once I was on a network that allowed each doctor to have all my records at their fingertips, seeing the whole picture rather than 5% of it, I was finally, and properly treated. Best wishes. Keep us posted. You will get there!!

Exactly, I feel it like a race against the time! Anyway he (the doctor) was really concerned about my situation and that by itself made me happier but still worried because there are a lot of things occurring at the same time .... And I don't really know the original cause of all this mess....but I won't surrender until I find an answer ....If I give up it will be even worst than playing the ignorant card.... I need to cause as less damage as possible...

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @legolgel, From my reading and as a patient/health consumer, not as professional advice or opinion:
You have a range of symptoms and signs which could fit a number of health conditions but your BSLs readings are in the normal range.
You have a GP who seems to be thinking like an amateur mechanic (it's the diabetes or it's the carburettor, cannot be anything else) without bothering to check out other possibilities.
You started feeling unwell when you lost weight. Weight loss is a 'red flag' to any competent doctor (so my GP says).
So please see a competent doctor who will check things like your thyroid as @brassyblonde900 suggests.

 

[legolgel]

Hi @legolgel, From my reading and as a patient/health consumer, not as professional advice or opinion:
You have a range of symptoms and signs which could fit a number of health conditions but your BSLs readings are in the normal range.
You have a GP who seems to be thinking like an amateur mechanic (it's the diabetes or it's the carburettor, cannot be anything else) without bothering to check out other possibilities.
You started feeling unwell when you lost weight. Weight loss is a 'red flag' to any competent doctor (so my GP says).
So please see a competent doctor who will check things like your thyroid as @brassyblonde900 suggests.

It is true, that's why I decided to change to another doctor and decided to work with all the possible reasons with the respective tests, the first one was a waste of time....the first doctor was working for himself to get paid for the pills and not for me....and I am going to kick him out, he was going to set me on ansiolitics and metformin....knowing beforehand that metformin wasn't working for me. And I am a person who likes to question everything...most doctors try to make money from other people's disgrace breaking any hippocratic oath.