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A Lot Of Questions

E

Eridu

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi
My name is Eridu and I am English but have lived in Spain for 12 years now.

In the UK I suffered headaches daily, was dizzy, fell over a lot and felt very weak. I was told I suffered from migraines and depression, PTSD due to a car crash etc. Everything was put down to stress.
Then I moved to Spain, my new doctor did take blood samples but he just said I was pre diabetic and my sugar could be lower.
Still I was told I had migraines and vertigo which was blamed fr my falling over.
Anyway one Sunday I had such a pounding headache and almost could not see, so I was taken to the ER.
At first the hospital said they could not find out why my head hurt and I could not see, until my daughter mentioned my
father had diabetes. They then tested me and my glucose level was 695, so I was rushed in a bed, put on a drip for 6 hrs.
I was then told that I´d probably had diabetes for years. I was put on 40 units of Lantus insulin and Metformin, which I had to come off because it nearly killed me, I could not breath or move, so they put me onto 2 tablets of Gliclazida.
The thing is when I went to the diabetes clinic I was made to feel like a liar, they treated me quite rudely and did not seem to believe what I ate. I am 5ft 3 and weigh 84 kilos but I ate very little and I d not eat fatty foods yet I have a VERY high cholesterol
level. I was vegetarian at the time, I am now a vegan. The doctor does not really help and does not offer anything but a list of meals, all of which contain meat or fish.
My questions are:
1...I am supposed to keep my levels between 90 and 120, yet if I get as low as 126 I feel weak and nauseas. I actually need to eat something sweet or I feel terrible. So what can I do? Do I just do as my body tells me.
2...I have itching down below, not inside but on my pubic area, it drives me mad at night, the doctor said iit is nerve damage and there is nothing I can do, is it true?
3...I have Urge incontinence and my body does not tell me when I need to wee or poop, not until I move and then I have to rush to the toilet. I get about a 5 second warning, and it is not due to lack of muscle as I can stop mid stream if I wish to. So again is there anything to treat this? I have to wear diapers when I leave the house. Mornings are terrible as when I wake up I do not know I need to go until I go t get out of bed, cold weather is worse!
4....Pain in my toes and fingers, also the side of my face...I cannot take any strong pain killers due to allergies. I cannot have Lyrica due to my kidneys. I have a bad back and was prescribed patches which made me very ill, I passed out and could not breath. Ibuprofen makes me ill. All I can really take is paracetamol. So any suggestions please?

My doctor has basically just given up helping, I do not sleep well due to a PTSD problem, I count and repeat things in my head s I am on Valium at night and Prozac in the day.

I eat healthy, I have skinny legs, no bottom, but my top half is very big. Seems the more I try to hep myself the worse I feel.
I am told not to eat rice, pasta, potatoes, bread or couscous...no cheese (which I do not anyway).
My hospital doctor told me to eat a lot of cheese and yoghurt because of onset osteoporosis (I was menopausal at 28).
So I am confused and no one here gives me any help.

Any one please just tell me if any of my questions have answers :o)

MANY THANKS
 
Welcome to the forum

Eridu said:
Hi
My name is Eridu and I am English but have lived in Spain for 12 years now.

In the UK I suffered headaches daily, was dizzy, fell over a lot and felt very weak. I was told I suffered from migraines and depression, PTSD due to a car crash etc. Everything was put down to stress.
Then I moved to Spain, my new doctor did take blood samples but he just said I was pre diabetic and my sugar could be lower.
Still I was told I had migraines and vertigo which was blamed fr my falling over.
Anyway one Sunday I had such a pounding headache and almost could not see, so I was taken to the ER.
At first the hospital said they could not find out why my head hurt and I could not see, until my daughter mentioned my
father had diabetes. They then tested me and my glucose level was 695, so I was rushed in a bed, put on a drip for 6 hrs.
I was then told that I´d probably had diabetes for years. I was put on 40 units of Lantus insulin and Metformin, which I had to come off because it nearly killed me, I could not breath or move, so they put me onto 2 tablets of Gliclazida.
The thing is when I went to the diabetes clinic I was made to feel like a liar, they treated me quite rudely and did not seem to believe what I ate. I am 5ft 3 and weigh 84 kilos but I ate very little and I d not eat fatty foods yet I have a VERY high cholesterol
level. I was vegetarian at the time, I am now a vegan. The doctor does not really help and does not offer anything but a list of meals, all of which contain meat or fish.
My questions are:
1...I am supposed to keep my levels between 90 and 120, yet if I get as low as 126 I feel weak and nauseas. I actually need to eat something sweet or I feel terrible. So what can I do? Do I just do as my body tells me.
2...I have itching down below, not inside but on my pubic area, it drives me mad at night, the doctor said iit is nerve damage and there is nothing I can do, is it true?
3...I have Urge incontinence and my body does not tell me when I need to wee or poop, not until I move and then I have to rush to the toilet. I get about a 5 second warning, and it is not due to lack of muscle as I can stop mid stream if I wish to. So again is there anything to treat this? I have to wear diapers when I leave the house. Mornings are terrible as when I wake up I do not know I need to go until I go t get out of bed, cold weather is worse!
4....Pain in my toes and fingers, also the side of my face...I cannot take any strong pain killers due to allergies. I cannot have Lyrica due to my kidneys. I have a bad back and was prescribed patches which made me very ill, I passed out and could not breath. Ibuprofen makes me ill. All I can really take is paracetamol. So any suggestions please?

My doctor has basically just given up helping, I do not sleep well due to a PTSD problem, I count and repeat things in my head s I am on Valium at night and Prozac in the day.

I eat healthy, I have skinny legs, no bottom, but my top half is very big. Seems the more I try to hep myself the worse I feel.
I am told not to eat rice, pasta, potatoes, bread or couscous...no cheese (which I do not anyway).
My hospital doctor told me to eat a lot of cheese and yoghurt because of onset osteoporosis (I was menopausal at 28).
So I am confused and no one here gives me any help.

Any one please just tell me if any of my questions have answers :eek:)

MANY THANKS
Click to expand...

I will give some answers to your questions
1. This is known as a false hypo. Your body is used to high values so it starts to complain relatively early and well before you are actually having a hypo. I am afraid you have to push through them and not have something sweet as you are feeding the addiction
2. Bring your sugars down and it will go away.
3. This could be your kidneys having to dump large amounts of glucose. However, this may not be the only reason. Again bring your sugar levels down and it may well improve
4. This could be caused by many things. High blood sugar levels for extending periods can cause peripheral nerve damage. Bringing your BG levels down into normal levels may improve but not cure. I am afraid I cannot help with the pain killers

Actually I think you got some great advice with the "rice, pasta, potatoes, bread or couscous" It is carbs that are the problem. You need to reduce them. Oh and fat is you lifesaver btw.

I will tag @daisy1 who will provide some excellent balanced information

If you have a large torso as you state then I would recommend looking into the newcastle diet. Following a similar low calorie diet brought my levels back to normal within 3 months
 
To back up the great advice that @Andrew Colvin gave you, you might find this video helps make up your mind to embrace a low carb, higher fat way of eating:


(The lady has a great Youtube channel called "Cooking Keto with Kristie".)
 
@Eridu

Hello Eridu and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. This will help you with starting a low carb diet. In here there is a link to the Low Carb Program which you may want to follow. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to 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.
 
Hi. As others have said to start with you need to greatly reduce the carbs in your diet as they can and usually do cause weight gain and raise blood sugar. Proteins and fats are fine. Being vegan will make your food choice more difficult but that's your decision.
 
My problem is I just do not know what to eat as I do not eat pasta, potatoes or couscous any more, I have not since being told 3 years ago. If I do have bread, I have brown with 5 seeds, I have been told to have this for breakfast with olive oil on it and a touch of salt. If I eat rice it is maybe once a week, I eat quinoa and I use chick pea flower. There is not a lot of fat in my diet and I would not know how to introduce more, also if I did have more the doctor would moan about my cholesterol levels. I am quite well behaved food wise and I also have a form of OCD, so I will eat the same meal day after day for a few weeks. I make my own soya cheese, I do not have eggs or real milk. My taste buds stopped working years ago and I was told it was normal for some people so it put me off food. At one time I took to just drinking food shakes made with spirulina. I hate eating and just do it because I need to now, it is no fun. I can only taste something if it is really salty, sweet or spicy like a curry. I eat a lot of veg curries, I have tomatoes, onion, garlic and green peppers in my meals nearly every day. I make my own pizzas with soya cheese and veggies on a very thin brown crust base. I have salads, like I said no animal products. I drink only filtered water and assorted teas such as green, mint, Darjeeling and Jasmine.
My one treat is a half pint of frozen chocolate soya milk once a week and a bag of crisps which have been cooked in olive oil.

I just feel fed up to be honest and I will try what people have suggested, the doctors definitely do not care or believe me.
My mum has high cholesterol and yes she eats meat and a lot of dairy and sweet things, but I do not.

The doctor thinks my body just went to pot after the car crash I was in when I was 22, I lost my baby boy and my husband. It made me into an insomniac and I had a lot of health issues. I also went into menopause at 28. My doctor is not a lot of help really, she is nice but just looks at me sadly. Some months my sugars are perfect, almost got rid of diabetes 2 once then it came back, no diet changes. Then another month it will be high again, so confusing!

So I will look into how to eat more fat and less carbs...thank you!
 
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