Blurred vision

[LucySW]

@Galja, what you say is true, but it is very unlikely. Much, much more likely is the temporary effect of high blood sugar on the lenses of the eye, followed by changes in train with lowering blood sugar. It might not be helpful to terrify the OP.

TIAs have additional signs.

 

[DaveNN]

My comment re sarcasm was regarding your "thank you doctor" remark.

I haven't written anything false. You ignored her other medical issues instead concentrating on reciting a load of unrelated symptoms. The OP has been advised to go and get herself checked out by her GP, an eye test as mentioned is also a good step. That's the best advice we can give her. I don't think blurred vision is a reason to go to A&E when it's not an emergency, do you?

If only A and E was solely used for just emergencies these days..

That's another story though.

 

[Oldvatr]

@Galja, what you say is true, but it is very unlikely. Much, much more likely is the temporary effect of high blood sugar on the lenses of the eye, followed by changes in train with lowering blood sugar. It might not be helpful to terrify the OP.

TIAs have additional signs.

My eyesight has changed for the worse recently. I thinkit is the reverse of what is described above,. I last had my eyes tested while my bgl was running v high. Now i have bought my bgl down to more sensible levels, I think the current prescription is out of date amd that I should go for a retest.

PS I had TIA'swhich affected my eyesight, but rhe effects only lasted a short while. Then I followed up with 2 proper strokes, but these had no effect on my eyesight,

 

[Spirit01]

I posted on here about blurred vision which has improved but not normal yet. I was diagnosed type 2 only yesterday. The Doctor was quite unworried & has given me medication to take once a day. Diabetic Nurse has just made an appointment to see her & she says twice a day. I have started to read the "guide to Type 2 Diabetes & its scared the **** out of me. Think I'm going to struggle going to clinics with this

 

[Oldvatr]

I posted on here about blurred vision which has improved but not normal yet. I was diagnosed type 2 only yesterday. The Doctor was quite unworried & has given me medication to take once a day. Diabetic Nurse has just made an appointment to see her & she says twice a day. I have started to read the "guide to Type 2 Diabetes & its scared the **** out of me. Think I'm going to struggle going to clinics with this

Once you get a routine going, learn how to adjust your diet, and improve your knowledge, then you will become more at ease with yourself. You have posted on the forum, so that is actually a major step forward, This forum is a good source of knowledge gained through the experience of others in similar situation, so come back and join in. I will tag @daisy1 just to make sure you have the basic startup info given to Newbies, and that it is up to date.

 

[RoseofSharon]

Ok I'm completely staggered here! I've worn glasses since I was ten (I'm now in my mid 30's) and if I take my glasses off (or my contact lenses out) my vision is very blurry. I was never given advice to go to a&e about it, and I have only just been diagnosed diabetic. Blurry vision has many causes, including changes within the shape of the lens of the eye. Please don't panic. Vision changes can be scary but they are usually easily dealt with.

 

[Spirit01]

Thank you all. My problems have started already Dr gave me a prescription for Metformin & told me to take 1 a day. Diabetic Nurse rang me to make an appointment and she has told me after first week to take 2 a day. I'm booked in to see her on 7th April so my 28 tablets won't last. Doctor is going to ring me Friday afternoon to advise.

 

[Catlady19]

Thank you all. My problems have started already Dr gave me a prescription for Metformin & told me to take 1 a day. Diabetic Nurse rang me to make an appointment and she has told me after first week to take 2 a day. I'm booked in to see her on 7th April so my 28 tablets won't last. Doctor is going to ring me Friday afternoon to advise.

Oh dear, welcome to the club! You are in the right place, lots of advice and know-it-alls! It is all very daunting at first, you don't know what to eat, what not to eat and it's all very confusing and worrying but stick with the forum, it really helps. Buy yourself a meter (I use a Codefree as the strips are not too expensive), you can get them from Amazon. Your NHS team will know doubt say you don't need to test but you can't work out what is good or bad if you don't test. Stay away from carbs, eg potatoes, rice, pasta and bread in particular. When you get your meter you should test just before you eat and then 2 hours after, if your reading is high you will know you can't eat that particular food.
Good luck and don't panic!

 

[Oldvatr]

Thank you all. My problems have started already Dr gave me a prescription for Metformin & told me to take 1 a day. Diabetic Nurse rang me to make an appointment and she has told me after first week to take 2 a day. I'm booked in to see her on 7th April so my 28 tablets won't last. Doctor is going to ring me Friday afternoon to advise.

This advice is normal for people starting Metformin. The dose starts low, and is increased in steps to make sure you can tolerate it, Some can't, and it takes a while to get used to it. Dr should up the dose especially with Easter looming. I also recommend getting a meter to monitor your blood glucose levels (bgl).

 

[Spirit01]

It goes without saying that this forum is going to be so useful and I'll certainly follow advice and I will put on what I'm told so that you know what's going on with me. I am truly grateful for all advice. I did ask the Doctor if I needed to test and he said no and I think the reason for that is because for the last 6-weeks I've been eating Paleolithic and to be honest I've cut out all of the refined carbs such as bread, rice, etc, and have toned down the amount of fruit I eat. I drink mainly water anyway or green tea so there's not a problem there and like tonight for dinner I have chicken & vegetables which I love. Every morning I start my day with a "power coffee" but this is my own concoction of coffee, Cinnamon, Aloe Vera juice, Coconut Oil. I know that someone is going to be telling me to eat a lot more carbs i.e. the Diabetic Nurse but at the moment I don't feel that this advice I would be willing to take purely for the fact that I'm losing weight and getting rid of this horrid fat.

 

[daisy1]

@Spirit01

Hello and welcome to the forum You seem to be on the right track already, especially by limiting the carbs you eat. Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions 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.

 

[Spirit01]

Thank you everyone for all the generous advice.

 

[LucySW]

It goes without saying that this forum is going to be so useful and I'll certainly follow advice and I will put on what I'm told so that you know what's going on with me. I am truly grateful for all advice. I did ask the Doctor if I needed to test and he said no and I think the reason for that is because for the last 6-weeks I've been eating Paleolithic and to be honest I've cut out all of the refined carbs such as bread, rice, etc, and have toned down the amount of fruit I eat. I drink mainly water anyway or green tea so there's not a problem there and like tonight for dinner I have chicken & vegetables which I love. Every morning I start my day with a "power coffee" but this is my own concoction of coffee, Cinnamon, Aloe Vera juice, Coconut Oil. I know that someone is going to be telling me to eat a lot more carbs i.e. the Diabetic Nurse but at the moment I don't feel that this advice I would be willing to take purely for the fact that I'm losing weight and getting rid of this horrid fat.

Power to you. Paleo is good, and the critical thing is carbs. Avoiding starches and eating lots and lots of green leafy veg and salad will get you well and strong.

Have you looked at the diet doctor site? His tone is a bit OTT these days, but in the how to of low carb he is very good. His stuff is reliable.

 

[Spirit01]

I did Paleo about 3 years ago and lost 3 stone so I'm quite genned up on it & there are lots of Paleo sites & they all have different ideas I do love Paleo & my cholesterol level is good so I must be doing something right. With this diagnosis I have to turn up the heat a bit but I have no problem with that. I will post a typical day in a mo

 

[Spirit01]

Black Coffee first thing made with a tablespoon of Aloe Vera juice & coconut oil. Mid morning an apple. Lunch is a salad with some kind of meat, usually chicken covered in spices. Dinner is meat & lots of Broccoli & Cauliflower and that's me done until supper when I have a nettle tea. I do drink about 4 pints of water a day.

 

[Spirit01]

Paleo kicking in, and 2nd day on tablets. Wee seems quite dark, is this normal?

 

[Spirit01]

Sorry for being a pain but I'm very new to this. I've just read that berries are good for the Paleolithic diet & also excellent for type 2 diabetes. If anyone knows different please let me know

 

[Oldvatr]

Sorry for being a pain but I'm very new to this. I've just read that berries are good for the Paleolithic diet & also excellent for type 2 diabetes. If anyone knows different please let me know

Don't know about Paleo with berries, but generally berries are low carb. Avoid crystallised or dried berries. Fresh is best, but frozen are a good standby. Obviously there are some berrries one should NOT eat on any diet (e.g. Deadly Nightshade)

 

[Oldvatr]

Paleo kicking in, and 2nd day on tablets. Wee seems quite dark, is this normal?

Are you taking Vit B supplement? or brewers yeast? Or folic acid+ iron supp?

 

[Spirit01]

Are you taking Vit B supplement? or brewers yeast? Or folic acid+ iron supp?