Feeling a bit overwhelmed

[Mike Sixx]

I got a diagnose T2 diabetes 3 moths ago. I got diagnosed with 15,3 blood sugar and the slow sugar (HbD-what ever) 93.
I was morbidly overweight (BMI 40 at worst a year ago) I had started to lose weight a little ago before my diagnosis (too little, too late). Now 3 three months later I managed to lose some of the weight so my weight is down to BMI 37. Still some way to go before out of the danger zone of >=35 BMI for diabetics. First month I tried without insulin and got by blood sugar to 10 in a week Metaforin and Januvit pills. Then I tried for months to get down to acceptable levels with diet and exercise and got to between 7-9. And accepted I could not fix it with healthy living alone and started insulin.
I took 2-4 units and that managed to drop my morning blood sugar over 1 unit. To 6-7 then at advice of my diabetes nurse I upped the dosage to until it was at 16-18 units of insulin which dropped by morning sugar levels to under 6, holding pretty steady 5.5-5.7. And I was pretty satisfied.
This was about what I expected. My mom have had diabetes 2 for for almost 50 years and does not eat that well and is quite overweight. She never had any secondary problems with the diabetes. She is now 80 and her health has collapsed, but that only happened like at her age 78. So I was expecting fairly minimal impact of the diabetes to my daily life assuming I start taking better care of myself than her, lose weight, take medication regularly and monitor blood sugar. So only with a minor inconvenience. Given that I am (ovo-lacto) vegetarian so I only needed to cut cheese , wheat and sugar from my diet and I should be ok. Exercise is a bit more tricky for IT worker. 1st month after diagnosis was my summer vacation and exercise was not a problem, going back to work turned out problematic for the exercise. So after initial little shock I accepted and adjusted my life.
Everything was ok.
Until I caught a flu, I think, I got fever and blood sugars jumped to 6.5 one morning. And my feet started to lose little feeling and there was this numb area in the ball of the feet. And I panicked. My only hope was to do everything right and not to get the secondary diseases. I was in a pretty dark place. And no support from healthcare system (Finland*). I was in a pretty dark place I mean I was doing everything right and and I was supposed to be doing fine. Now only 3 months after diagnose, all the time I was supposed to improve and be "safe" I started getting nerve issues in my feet. I am only 47 ***!. I though and hoped I would be at least 65 before any secondary problems. At this rate I would not make 50 before I am crippled. I hoped to at least to have some life and to be able to work until pension age before I get crippled by this disease. Also started having little blurry vision. Which scared be even more. I can cope with having both my legs amputated. But having my legs rot away little by little with constant unbearable pain in not what could cope with. I also stared getting tingling and itchy sensation in in my feet, legs and hands. For me brains, eyes and hands are non-negotiable, everything else to a degree I might cope losing. So I got time to diabetes doctor who was on absolutely no use "it should not be this soon". After a week I managed to reach my diabetes nurse and confirm that I can increase the insulin. Increasing the insulin helped the leg issues and lessened other symptons a lot. After 2 weeks fever stared to reside and by legs feel better, almost ok just by time I got to meet the diabetes nurse. She tested my legs an in both there was one area I could not feel the test pin. She told me my legs were bloated, most likely an reaction to the insulin. She also noted my blood pressure was high (Level 1 hypertension) which I have had borderline for 5 years. I noticed and I hope that the fever and stress have made everything much worse and I might recover from this to "normal" health for Type 2. I guess I now have to face it that I need to start blood pressure medication as that is really bad with diabetes. But then again so are blood pressure medication bad for Diabetes and diabetes medication. So I fear it is going to be fairly fast downward spiral for me. I am a bit of a hypochondriac, but to to degree of it manifesting any other symptoms other than itchy feeling on skin and raise hearth beat and blood pressure due to the stress I am causing myself with it.

I am writing this for two reasons; one to tell others about the effects of the fever and feet bloating due to it causing this effects that hopefully are temporary. I was feeling really ok for few days and once the nurse explained it to me I afterwards recognized the general "Stuffy" feeling and numbness up my legs are a them being bloated. I never before had that so I did not recognize the feeling. The few healthy days my legs felt lighter, without the sensation of pressure. And my my toes had almost normal sense of a feel. I started tuning down my insulin intake to 20 and my morning blood sugar dropped to 4.9. I was happy for the 2 days I felt ok. Now Again I am feeling feverish and my blood sugar shot up to 6.5 and now my legs feel pretty unpleasant again. So the other reason I am telling this is to get answers from others possibly going through this: are these effects normal for flu and go completely away once the fever goes away or are these effects the first indications of the already started secondary complications ? What is to be expected ? All the information says Peripheral Neuropathy and other complications of diabetes can get worse within few days, week, years or it might take decades. I would like to hear from someone that had similar experiences and effects.


* I came to UK forum as I lived for a while in UK and our supposedly great healthcare system is in ruins. Like now the national Diabetes union forums are down with "Bandwidth exceeded".

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome,

I don't know whether you have read around on this forum but if not I encourage you to do so

What you may think of as a healthy diet many not be the diet that will help you manage your blood sugar levels. The thing is - all carbs turn to glucose and so increase your blood sugar levels. I eat very low carb- less than 20grams a day and my blood sugar levels have gone down substantially.

Yres illness, stress and lack of sleep have effects on your blood sugar levels- as does exercise.

The good news is that with some more information and changes to your diet the disease does not have to progress the way you are anticipating.

Read around- I suggest in particular read about LCHF (low carb high fat) way of life and think about it- that way of eating have brought m y levels into non-diabetic range in less than 3 months.

Good luck, welcome and ask any questions you like. There are some amazing people here who can give you the information you need to change your life for the better.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @Mike Sixx,

Welcome to the forum.

So sorry to read about your confusion and fears. I definitely remember feeling like you did in the beginning ... as probably did most of us.

With respect to loss of feeling in your legs, have they looked into a possible B12 deficiency? It can mimic some of the effects of peripheral neuropathy. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-b12-deficiency-symptoms

Also, some had good results with the supplement R-ALA to help improve peripheral neuropathy. Generally speaking, it might also get a bit better as you reduce your blood sugars, as you already have.

Have you tried lowering the carb content of your food? Many of us T2s have been helped tremendously by this. My blood sugar levels were even a bit higher than yours at the beginning and have now been back to normal (without any medication) for the last four years by eating low carb. So, I can definitely echo @VashtiB's advice. Low carb does also very often help blood pressure and weight loss. If you are interested, here's a link to the Virta Health studies who also use a low-carb approach https://www.virtahealth.com/research.

If you decide to embark on this, it is probably a good idea to keep tightly monitoring your blood sugar levels. Low-carb can be a very powerful instrument, so combined with the insulin, it can easily cause your blood sugars to go too low. So, would recommend having a talk with your nurse about adjusting insulin if go this route.

Good luck and congrats on the weight loss and the improved blood sugar levels. Great achievement.

 

[ianf0ster]

Given that I am (ovo-lacto) vegetarian so I only needed to cut cheese , wheat and sugar from my diet and I should be ok.

Hi Mike Sixx,
From what you have said I strongly suspect that the doctors in Finland peddle the same 'healthy diet' **** as they do in the UK, US and most other countries. And that is what it is - ****!

So my first suggestion to you is for you to have a look at threads in the Low Carb Forum part of the website especially 'Low Carb Success Stories'.

You should definitely not be cutting out cheese from your diet (unless you are lacto-intolerant, or a vegan). Since being diagnosed with T2D I have dramatically increased my cheese consumption from around 200gms per month to 600gms per week! Eggs, Cheese, Cream, Full-Fat Yogurt, Avocado, Nuts (together with fatty fish and fatty meat) are the staples of my new ''Way Of Eating' - which is completely the reverse of the High Carb Low Fat so-called 'healthy' diet over 15yrs of which at least contributed to (if not outright caused) my 3 x Bypass and my T2D.

A healthy diet for T2D's is Low Carb High(er) Fat which may also be called an anti-inflammatory diet. The problem for Vegetarians is getting the required Protein without eating too much Carb in Beans, Lentils etc.

I strongly suggest that you also do to the DietDoctor website and read up about the carb contents of different foods. Remember that all carbs are problematic for a T2D.
This includes Fruit whole grains (even Oats), milk (especially semi-skimmed) and below ground vegetables. All carbs (except 'fiber' turn into Glucose very quickly when digested. This means that a so called 'healthy Breakfast with no -added sugar at all, consisting of cereal with milk, 1 round of Toast and a glass of fruit juice can be the equivalent of between 16 and 21 teaspoons of table sugar !

So my usual breakfast is 2 large boiled Eggs drizzled with a little Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper - for a total of less than 1gm of carbs!
Similarly I could eat up to 200gms of hard cheese for up to approximately 50gms of Protein and less than 1gm of Carbs!


Edited by moderator

 

[ianf0ster]

I just started to watch a video by Dr Gary Fettke who got into big trouble with the Australian Medical Association for telling the truth about how dangerous a high Carb diet is. He has been cleared of all charges!

He starts off by saying: "Sugar makes you HUNGRY, Carbohydrate makes you FAT, polyunsaturated oils make you INFLAMED & SICK". Unfortunately, although that is the truth, the vast majority of the medical profession still don't accept it!

 

[Mike Sixx]

Thank you for your great suggestions, especially the B12 and LCHF diet is something I will definitely be looking into. I am a bit suspicious of diets, but I do realize having T2 does mean that normal diet is not good for me. I thought my diet now was pretty ok, bye bread, lots of veggies, low fat cheese. And try to keep daily calories in check to lose weight. And I will be paying more attention to carbs, so far I have only been looking at sugars.
My main meal usually consist of rye bread, cheese and veggies. Most days I eat salad. I know salad dressings are a pretty much pure sugar and I am working of getting rid of them by now trying to get the 2 table spoons of them to one. Then try to switch to oils or vinegar.
Big problem I have is exercise, I do not seem to find strength and time for it.

And the biggest problem is that I have chronic sinus infection so it means pretty constant inflammations and fever. And during these I get problems wit my legs. Last month I have had like one week of not having fever, during that time my legs were pretty ok. SO what I am looking for is information on effect fever and inflammation on T2.

 

[bulkbiker]

bye bread, lots of veggies, low fat cheese. And try to keep daily calories in check to lose weight. And I will be paying more attention to carbs, so far I have only been looking at sugars.

That's the orthodoxy which rarely leads to prolonged weight loss I'm afraid..
Carb restriction and eating to satiety rather than caloric restriction is both easier and more enjoyable.
Proper cheese, bacon and eggs, meat and green veg are both more satiating and tastier than what you have been eating.

 

[ianf0ster]

@Mike Sixx,
No need to restrict calories - in fact that is counter-productive until you are fat-adapted.
Why counter-productive? Simply the reason why 'Crash Diets' almost always fail. When you reduce your calorie intake over long enough to make a difference to your weight, you also lower your resting metabolic rate i.e. you burn fewer calories in the process of just staying alive. So it only need a much smaller increase in Calories to make you put that weight back on in a relatively short time, plus you will not stop there, your weight will keep increasing until your body finds a new balance at a heavier weight!

But when 'fat adapted' after at least weeks, possibly months on a Low Carb High Fat diet, your Insulin is then low enough to allow your body to start using your excess body fat as fuel. You are carrying around a large internal store of 'food' which has suddenly become available for use. So you burn your own fat to make up for the lack of calories in your daily food.

Note that LCHF is anti-inflammatory, so it will tend to improve your inflammatory diseases and even your mood. Thus you will have more energy and more motivation to do more exercise as well having less pain to discourage you.

 

[poemagraphic]

Hi Mike Sixx,
From what you have said I strongly suspect that the doctors in Finland peddle the same 'healthy diet' B*S* as they do in the UK, US and most other countries. And that is what it is - B*S* !

So my first suggestion to you is for you to have a look at threads in the Low Carb Forum part of the website especially 'Low Carb Success Stories'.

You should definitely not be cutting out cheese from your diet (unless you are lacto-intolerant, or a vegan). Since being diagnosed with T2D I have dramatically increased my cheese consumption from around 200gms per month to 600gms per week! Eggs, Cheese, Cream, Full-Fat Yogurt, Avocado, Nuts (together with fatty fish and fatty meat) are the staples of my new ''Way Of Eating' - which is completely the reverse of the High Carb Low Fat so-called 'healthy' diet over 15yrs of which at least contributed to (if not outright caused) my 3 x Bypass and my T2D.

A healthy diet for T2D's is Low Carb High(er) Fat which may also be called an anti-inflammatory diet. The problem for Vegetarians is getting the required Protein without eating too much Carb in Beans, Lentils etc.

I strongly suggest that you also do to the DietDoctor website and read up about the carb contents of different foods. Remember that all carbs are problematic for a T2D.
This includes Fruit whole grains (even Oats), milk (especially semi-skimmed) and below ground vegetables. All carbs (except 'fiber' turn into Glucose very quickly when digested. This means that a so called 'healthy Breakfast with no -added sugar at all, consisting of cereal with milk, 1 round of Toast and a glass of fruit juice can be the equivalent of between 16 and 21 teaspoons of table sugar !

So my usual breakfast is 2 large boiled Eggs drizzled with a little Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper - for a total of less than 1gm of carbs!
Similarly I could eat up to 200gms of hard cheese for up to approximately 50gms of Protein and less than 1gm of Carbs!

Great post my friend!

 

[Mike Sixx]

The thing I learned the very hard way is quick changed are very, very, very, very bad with Blood Glucose levels. Dropping too fast is much worse than even long high values. So if my kidneys survived this I will definitely be dropping amount of my medication according to my new diabetes doctor. but sloooow.
Turns out I might have triggered complications my dropping my Blood Glucose levels too fast. Or the fact that the constant sinus infection push the BG up too fast up and down. If it is later then I am pretty much...