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Advice wanted

S

Southernbelle

Member
Messages
11
Hi All,
I have had problems with my vision, headaches,tiredness and sores and blisters on my feet.
Optiction has prescribed me stronger glasses and said the pretty blurry lights were migraine auras.the feet I was given cream for by the practice nurse several months ago still no better and incredible itchy !
My sister was diabetic and my maternal aunt is.
Quite a few years ago I had the hb? Blood test and told it was borderline and given diet advice.
I have several medical conditions
Brittle asthma ( long term steriod use )
Hypothyroidism
Osteoarthritis
Cervical spondylistis
B12 defiencey
Fibromyalgia
IBS
Reflux
So as you can imagine a lot of medication !
I wondered about diabetes re the headaches/vision/feet thing going on so brought a testing kit (accu-chek compact plus) on my first test a couple of hours after I had eaten it was 13.8
So tonight I tested it at 8pm and it was 6.3 , I had a crumpet and a drink (j20) the readings I got after were as follows
20:31 8.4
21:40 12:0
22:36. 14.3

11pm 12.6 3hrs after eating its startIng to drop.

I intend to take it in the morning to see what its like after not eating for 12hrs.

My questions are ( sorry for the essay ! ) when should the level drop ?
6.3 I presume is normal ish, if I go to the dr where he will do a finger prick test and got 6.3 I guess he will say alls ok?
Do the higher readings indicate diabetes ?

Many thanks all
X
 
We obviously can't diagnose you, but if your readings are correct, they sound pretty diabetic to me. You need a proper test at the doctors. Tell him you want an HbA1c test, NOTjust a finger prick test. The HbA1c reflects how your average levels have been over the previous month or two, and is a good way of diagnosing diabetes. A one off finger prick test at the docs tells you nothing unless it's really high.
Good luck!
 
Thanks grazer , I have that sheep gif on my web site

I intend to ring for an appointment Monday,be told the usual it's a 3 week wait ! But when I get there I'll ask them to redo it ,after googling a fair bit, I note there's steriod induced diabetes and having been on steroids more on than off for over 21 years I'm surprised I've not had my bg levels checked.

Thanks again .
 
Hi, i experienced similar symptoms to you. Optician gave me stronger glasses for the blurred vision & said it was my age causing it but the headaches remained. Eventually went to GP about headaches which i thought were stress related. Blood test showed fasting glucose of 14 & HbA1c of 10.1.! Was diagnosed type 2 diabetic. Got blood glucose levels under control fairly quickly, vision got better & glasses were binned as when i went back to optician they refused refund.!
You should check your blood sugar 2hours after eating and if you look up NICE guidelines on diabetes they will give you the range your blood sugars should ideally be.
You really should see GP asap, take a urine sample with you & dont let receptionists (who can be cheeky as they think they know it all ) fob you off.!

Try not to worry & good luck x
 
Hi Suzy, cost me a fortune as I needed varfocals ! (apparently ! )
After 2 hours the levels were 13.8 this afternoon and 14.3. This evening ,The headaches are driving me loopy !
I'll take a sample with me, fortunately most of the receptionists know me as I was one myself there a few years back, but there are a few there who think they know better but I tend to bypass them
I had intending going to see GP re the headaches but just had a niggling feeling about diabetes so wanted to check my levels before going.
Thanks for your post
X
 
Hi Southern Belle, I had terribly itchy feet for a year or so before I was diagnosed with T2, it used to drive me potty. No sores but then a couple of years before diagnosis I had chronic athletes foot which was impossible to shift. Thankfully now I have my blood sugar under control I am not bothered by either of these anymore.
 
Hi Southernbelle, going on your readings i think Grazer is right as those levels suggest you are diabetic. Like you, my headaches were unbearable but be assured once you get your readings under control your symptoms will start to go & although its a shock to be told you are diabetic, its good to get it under control & start to feel healthy & normal again.! You will just need to get to grips with the low carb diet which once you know tends to become second nature & i now dont crave any sweeties etc...

Make sure GP does HBA1c blood test as its the most important.
Let us know how you get on?
 
personally, I wouldn't take a urine sample. He might settle for that, and urine samples don't alweays tell much. Just insist on an HbA1c on the basis of the readings you'ere getting.
 
Many thanks Guys,
I've checked the drs web site and the diabetic nurse is well known to me with my asthma so I'm going to make an appt with her for my b12 and ask her to do the blood test and I knew she'll be more than happy too.
My BG this morning was 4.5 on waking which was reassuring but was 13.8 2 hrs after breakfast.
Fortunately I dont have a sweet tooth but I bet if I'm diabetic I will suddenly crave sweets !
 
What did you have for breakfast Southern Belle? You might be able to bring those numbers down by modifying slightly what you eat in the morning.
 
A bowl of porridge. With substitute sugar sprinkled on sparingly - its been around 5/6/7 all day but just a larger meal so will see what it's like later.
I'm hoping it's probably diet controlled so guess its seeing what foods trigger the higher readings.
 
Maybe you could switch to yoghurt and berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries whatever you prefer) this is quite a popular breakfast on this forum and seems to keep me full for quite a while.
 
Fraddycat said:
Maybe you could switch to yoghurt and berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries whatever you prefer) this is quite a popular breakfast on this forum and seems to keep me full for quite a while.
Click to expand...

Oh my life yes!! My absolute favourite diabetic meal. I have Fage full fat Greek yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, then I add some flax and chia seeds. On my naughty days, I have a little stewed rhubarb on top (I stew the rhubarb with 2g of Splenda). I love this meal, and it's SO nutritious.
 
Hi you need to see your GP for him to sort out your problems. You say that you have been on steroids for over 20 years. It's a well documented fact the steroids and in particular cortisol causes elevated blood sugars and can lead to diabetes.
However it could also be cushings syndrome, this is easily mis diagnosed as diabetes, giving identical symtoms, and the elevated blood sugar levels giving positive results for diabetes .
Make your doctor aware of the fact that he needs to also check for cushing syndrome given your symtoms and the length of time you have been on steroids.
Hope you found this of help, Be interested to hear the results . Best of luck
 
The reason i mentioned urine sample is so GP can check for glucose & ketones to gauge how your kidneys & body are coping at this stage.! Originally i had lots of glucose & ketones in my urine so was monitored bit more closely but thankfully urine cleared within few weeks. They also should be sending urine sample to labs to check for microalbumin & this should become part of your routine checks.
Good luck
 
Thank you, you've all been a great help.
I don't usually have breakfast, bad I know but usually rushing about to get to work. But I'll try the berries and yogurt it sounds delicious .

Hi paragliderpete,I will certaintly ask the GP to to check the possibility of Cushings,I did a quick google and I do have some of the symptoms listed but as I have several conditions they tend to overlap already,so they could just be because of pre existing conditions, but I'll ask to get checked out, have to tread carefully as I do find drs don't like to be handed a diganosis as it were, I once had a rheumatology consultant tell me I had asked the GP's I work with what the symptoms were of lupus and so had made up the fact that I had them, in fact my respiratory consultant has mentioned the possibilty of lupus several times over the years as I get a facial rash, joint pain etc, when I pointed out the facial rash and said I have hardly made up this symptom he replied ahh well yes, you say you don't drink.
Needles to say my faith in Drs is limited. ( I went on the get the diagnoses of fibromyalgia /b12 def and under active thyroid all within a few months ) another one when I went to him and said I think I have oral thrush can I have some antibiotics looked in my mouth asked why I thought it was thrush I said I worked with drs and they had told me it could be thrush and so he promptly told me in front of my 5 year old son at the time, that he thought it oral cancer and if it wasn't he'd have egg on his face - rushed appt to see a specialist at the hospital who told me to take half a dozen eggs next time I visit my GP

My chest consultant however is brilliant and I'm seeing him next on October 8th so if no joy from the GP I'll chat to him as well.

Thanks again all x
 
I saw the nurse today for my b12 shot and also had a word with her re the BG readings I had been getting and headaches / constant trips to the loo/ foot problems etc , she's booked me in Thursday am for a fasting bloo test and to do some other stuff, I presume wee test and the hb1ac she looked up my previous test result it turns out it was 7 years ago and it was 6.2 then,the impression she gave was with the symptoms / family history / readings / steroid use it was a fairly foregone conclusion
But I shall await the results of the hb test .
As it was 6.2 so long ago ! Should it not of been retested since given fairly constant steroid use ?
 
I you're saying your HbA1c years ago was 6.2, then that is officially pre-diabetic and yes, you should have been checked again (regularly) as without a change in lifestyle and diet at that stage it is likely to progress to full blown diabetes, which you may have now. You say you're booked in for a fasting test and @ither things" - MAKE SURE those other things include an HbA1c otherwise you are likely to be wasting your time. A fasting test on its own, as we've said already, can tell you nothing unless its really high. I have normal fasting sugar levels but I'm diabetic.
One more thing - don't start some sort of low carb diet, or even modify your diet, until AFTER your tests, otherwise the tests may just show how well you've controlled things with a change in diet. You need to know what the tests show on your normal high carb diet.
 

I was diagnosed T2 with an HbA1c of 7 so yes 6.2 would be pre diabetic as Grazer said. It should have been watched, but you will read over and over on the forum things that 'should' have been done but weren't. Try not to worry, once you get your results, let us know, fingers crossed they are kind to you.
 
Thanks, my GP tends to leave things with my respiratory consultant and to be honest as I see him often I tend to avoid the GP if I can help it so I suspect the whole hb1ac thing was just completely overlooked !
The nurse said she would do it again so I'm quite happy that she seems on the ball, if not I shall def push for one anyway on Thursday.

Think now I've seen the nurse and her reaction was one of not being surprised that I could be diabetic it's hitting home a bit, that plus tiredness from lack of sleep due to asthma playing up so needed to use my nebuliser and waking up for the loo ( be helpful if they were at the same time though !! ) I'm feeling a tad sorry for myself today
But I am trying to remain optimistic till the results are in black and white !
I will try to resist cutting down though I must admit at work ( I work in a children's home ) today one of the kids made a very very gundgy covered in icing , stuffed with cream and jam and then smothered in chocolate buttons cake !! And I did resist ! As my BG had been 12 2 hours after lunch I thought better of it, but I do see your point .

Thanks again for the help and advice
X
 
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