Everything going wrong

When you talk to those who have been through the mill, will use an expression similar to, good days and bad days. And those with a bit of depression relate to things just seem to get worse, or its just one thing after another.
'It's always darkest before dawn!'

I have a couple of conditions that have no cure, no magic pill except for diet.
Low carb is not a cure, it is a treatment to reverse the the onset of severe illnesses. And the more you don't treat it, the worse it will get. Control is vital.
High cholesterol will drop with good control.
You might not need glasses, as it is known that high numbers will enlarge the blood vessels to your eyes and distort the lens, I would wait a few weeks to see what happens, you can buy cheap glasses, instead of splurging out on some that you don't need.
I think there is a treatment for the apnoea.

Things will improve, but you do have to be more positive.

Yes I get it, I was as fit as a fiddle until I got to 55, got to feeling a bit dizzy, my better half persuaded me to see the Dr. It all went downhill from there.
High blood pressure, pills, tests, liver problems, more tests, heart trouble, then diabetes, every time I got to see the Dr he gave me something else. It's like once they get their hooks into you you're done for.
It was quite a shock to realise I wasn't bullet proof, getting old & sick happened to others, not me.
Eventually I just had to accept that things change, you just have to get on with life as best you can, wishing things were different is pointless.
I second the advice about the glasses, believe it or not, when our blood sugar is high it gets stuffed into every nook and cranny, even our eyes. As your levels come down the lens in your eyes change shape, it can take a few weeks but eventually your brain works out that something has changed and your vision improves.
Quite a few people have paid a fortune for new glasses they didn't need a little while later.

Maybe it's because you are taking more notice of your body that these things have been (rightly) picked up? That's a good thing, you are worth taking notice of, and looking after!
Yes, I agree the eye changes might be short and temporary if you have suddenly gone low carb. I had a good few weeks of very blurry vision. It was like I could see the sugars draining out of my body through my eye fluid.
And, I believe but am not medically trained, that sleep apnoea is weight related so that too may well resolved its self in time.

Carry on looking after your body, its obviously been trying to signal to you!

I suffered with sleep Apnea, i snored very badly, i was not actually diagnosed, as on the night i was wired up to a fancy monitoring machine, i had the best nights sleep i'd had for years.
I spent years sleeping with a Mandibular advancement device. (A fancy gum shield to keep your jaw pulled forward).
the only thing that worked for me, was when i lost 5 stone in weight, as i dropped below 14 stone on the way down. My wife remarked that i'd stopped snoring.
All these problems have come to light because now you're being checked for any little thing that comes along. Previously you were ignorant of most of the problems. Far better to find them now, and sort them out, than have them found at a post mortem
Think of like a car, it's not been running quite right for some time, but now it's going through a tune up, and soon will be purring along like it should.
Any respectable optician, should not supply glasses until your diabetes is stabilised.
As for reading glasses i needed these at 40, as my arms were no longer long enough to read.

As we age, we discover all sorts of issues that previously didn't happen or were so small as to be easy to ignore. Sometimes we have a perfect storm of medical appointments and health puzzles. Then we get a good spell. I spent much of last year going from scan to scan and having to deal with the results. Ultimately everything can be improved if not cured - often it's our own attitude that adds pressure or releases it. Ride out the storm or seek safe harbour, just as you feel able. The only unchanging rule is that things change.

Talk to us. What a supportive board this is. I'm so glad I found it, and almost every day I learn something useful.

wozey said:

Since my diagnosis I’ve been sent for test after test, first problem high cholesterol, second i now need glasses and today Im told I have sleep apnea! I’m almost scared to go to anymore appointments just in case they find something else. I’m not particularly overweight, don’t get me wrong I could do with dropping a little bit but I think that’s true for everyone. I just don’t get how I’ve gotten into this state. I feel like giving up, I’ve changed everything I’m eating a low carb diet that if I’m honest I’m not really enjoying anymore. Maybe just a bad day, did anyone else feel like it was all doom and gloom after diagnosis at all these appointments

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Hey Wozey. Don't give up. What is it about your diet your not enjoying? Would looking for different recipes help? How's your activity day to day?

Keep pushing. It can't rain all the time my friends.

wozey said:

Since my diagnosis I’ve been sent for test after test, first problem high cholesterol, second i now need glasses and today Im told I have sleep apnea! I’m almost scared to go to anymore appointments just in case they find something else. I’m not particularly overweight, don’t get me wrong I could do with dropping a little bit but I think that’s true for everyone. I just don’t get how I’ve gotten into this state. I feel like giving up, I’ve changed everything I’m eating a low carb diet that if I’m honest I’m not really enjoying anymore. Maybe just a bad day, did anyone else feel like it was all doom and gloom after diagnosis at all these appointments

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I had undiagnosed sleep apnoea for years as my useless doctor missed the diagnosis despite me giving them a list of about 20 symptoms which perfectly matched the list of sleep apnoea as I was not the typical overweight 40+ presentation.

That diagnosis is not one to be scared of at all. The improvement in sleep quality with cpap is a life changer.

Sleep disruption is a major contributory factor in T2D, heart disease and a whole host of other condition, but cpap as all you will need there to completely control it.

Did they give you an AHI number? That is like the HbA1c of sleep apnoea.

wozey said:

Because of the high cholesterol I’m second guessing the whole thing, it’s not a case of “rather being unhealthy and at risk of blindness “ I’d also rather not have a heart attack, yes I understand that a lot of this stuff is now being questioned and may not be true but I’m no doctor or scientist

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Again with you on this, I'm already there with the heart problems, they came along before the T2.
I've got a sneaky suspicion that the statins I was taking for the high cholesterol, contributed to the T2.
It's difficult to go against everything we've been told about the dangers of a higher fat diet. But my reasoning was that high blood sugar not only affects your heart, it messes with just about everything, liver, kidneys, eyes, causes nerve damage, poor circulation, after years of poor control it can lead to blindness and amputations.
The truth is diabetes worries me more than a little extra fat in my diet, so that's the thing I decided to tackle.
Strange thing is cutting carbs and upping the fats caused my cholesterol to be lower.?

wozey said:

No just said it was severe and I need to go on CPAP I’m not massively overweight but I have very large tonsils, they’ve been like that for years

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In that case you'll be fine.

Oddly enough it is the boderline cases that tend to struggle with getting used to cpap as the benefit isn't so stark. For severe cases the improvement in sleep quality is huge.

You might want to ask what your AHI was next time you see them just to know where you are. Mine was 70 odd, meaning I was sleeping for as long as I could hold my breath.

I invested in an air filter device that sits by the bed and supplies a steady stream of filtered air past my face as I sleep. The result is I now sleep through the night, do not need toilet breaks at 4am, and it seems to be good for me as my bedclothes are not disorderly or heaped on the floor in the morning. In this recent cold weather I turned the unit off and gave it a rest, and my sleep disruptions have come back.

Hi @wozey. Before I got diagnosed with type two, I had a whole list of health issues and basically thought I was falling apart. Now I have a manageable wee list! Changing the way I ate and increasing my physical activity had such a big impact on my general health, well, apart from the type two, and the... well - there is a wee list for sure. For myself, I am fit, although I am not healthy.

Re your heart health issues - of course check with your medical professionals but my understanding is that's a fitness issue, as in the oxygenation of your blood, and muscle use at the base of it. Folks get heart attacks with high cholesterol, and folks get heart attacks with normal cholesterol. Cholesterol is not the big predictor of cardio vascular disease (CVD) that we have been led to believe. I suggest to people that they do their own research into this, as there is an enormous amount of it. And, there are great online tools that help you figure out your CVD risk, and really good tests that can be done if you are concerned - ones that see how your arteries are doing.

Sleep apnea can be scary indeed. At least for our loved ones/bed companions who witness it!

My snoring, and then my sleep apnea was directly related to my weight - snoring lightly when I was plump, snoring more when plumper, and then sleep apnea in the years directly preceeding my diabetes when I put on lots of weight. With myself, it must be the fat on my neck and face that narrows the airways to that extent. It might not be much extra that puts the pressure on your airways? But sleep clnics work this out for you, and suggest the right treatment...

Apart from the odd snort, with a low-carb diet and normal weight (very little fat on my neck) - this issue completely disappeared. And I too had been imagining sleeping life with that air machine, the CPAP. That air machine- a seems to be great gift though - according to my friends who have used it to get good nights sleeps. And it is amazing how much better life is when you are sleeping well!

wozey said:

No just said it was severe and I need to go on CPAP I’m not massively overweight but I have very large tonsils, they’ve been like that for years

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Ha yeah I just got a letter saying “significant” sleep apneoa, whatever significant means. Now on waiting list 8 months for a c-pap. Luckily I don’t drive.

I think this was going on even when I was a slim 18 year old many years ago as an ex girlfriend said to me at the time “you know you “hold” your breath when you are asleep?” And I just said okay and brushed it off as a curiosity.

Only years later I find out it can have many negative affects on your health.

Think mine might be cause Ive always had a wide neck, even when slim, I used to have to either get a shirt that I could never button up that actually fitted me in the body or wear a shirt that was like a tent in the body which I could button up at the neck.

With you in the cholesterol thing, don’t think my levels have improved yet after starting low carb in jan but had test in Feb and doc agreed to wait 6 months and take test again. As might take a while for things to come down maybe, who knows I’m not expert either.

Did start worrying what I could and couldn’t eat again too.

Re food with cholesterol in it, or food with saturated fat, and CVD risk - if you read anything, my suggestion is Nina Teicholz's
‘The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet’ (2015)
And visit her website - ninateicholz.com

Her references/studies referred to are fabulous.

(I really miss bulkbiker! He would have come in here and be direct, but on the nose in a good way.)

And this thread has just scored me 67 points in Scabble for "apnoeas" !!!
Thanks guys