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Hello Everyone.

M

mogsta22

Member
Hello to all. I have been reading the boards for a few days now ands have picked up some useful information that is very pertinent to my odd situation.

I am 49 years old and female, and about 16 years ago I put on 4 stones over a period of about 6 months. I was feeling very lethargic and not my normal self but blood tests showed no reason. Shortly afterwards I started getting migraine and growing a beard any guy would be proud of. At 40 years of age I was told I had high blood pressure following it being picked up by a neurologist I went to see for the migraine. I have been taking blood pressure medication ever since. I have frequently tried to lose weight to no avail and for the last 10 years have been eating an insufficient diet to maintain my weight at around 15 stones.

Two years ago I developed strange patches around my eyes and was told they were due to elevated cholesterol, a blood test confirmed cholesterol to be 9.2 and I was given Simvastatin. About 15 months ago I developed a strange condition whereby somedays I would become incredibly drowsy and unable to stay awake at around 4PM. It wasn't everyday but often enough to cause me worry. Further medical checks including an endocrinologist turned up no cause for this.
After a routine cholestrol fasting check 3 months ago I was advised that I had fasting blood glucose of 5.9 and as I had had a high blood glucose at the previous test I needed a glucose tolerance test. The result of this was 6.5 fasting and 10.8 2 hours after the glucose drink. My doctor then referred me to the diabetes nurse at the surgery and I saw her last Monday.

She made it very clear that I had been referred to her in error as I did not have diabetes, that I would develop diabetes in 6 months and that I could have another glucose tolerance test in 1 years time to prove I was now diabetic. She gave me some advice about exercise, alcohol consumption (even when I said I do not drink but one glass maybe 4 times a year) and avoiding fats whilst consuming loads of starchy carbs 3 times a day. I discovered many months ago that I could avoid the afternoon sleepiness by avoiding carbs at lunchtime and having some meat with a salad. I left the session with her somewhat angry and made an appointment to see the doctor today.

The doctor explained that I needed to be treated as if I was diabetic to try to prevent me from actually becoming diabetic, which, I agree with. I asked her about some research I did last week that lead me to believe I have symptoms consistent with Polycystic ovary syndrome. She agreed that this was extremely likely and thought that the endocrionologist should have picked it up particularly as he was so interested in my beard! She also said that it was clear to her that I am insulin resistant and probably have been for years. I have agreed to try losing weight and trating this by diet alone and to go back in 3 months to see how I am doing.

I think it may be best for me to try going low carb and possibly buying a meter and strips to see what is actually going on with my body. I know this can be expensive but at this time I will suck it up in the hope of establishing what is really going on.

Thanks for reading this and I look forward to reading any suggestions you may have regarding where do I go from here.

Jean
 
Hi Jean, As I started to read your list of symptoms, the idea PCOS jumped in to my mind.
If it is that, it's probably insulin resistance related and reducing your carb intake would reduce your insulin production. Metformin is often used to treat PCOS.
You may find that reducing your carbs helps with weight and symptoms. Certainly a diet with plenty of carbs won't
How much you reduce your carbs by, depends on what suits you, but there's a full range, from Atkins Induction, to just cutting your portions. Try it and find what's best for you
check in with your doctors along the way.
 
Start here

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/d-day.html

and work outwards!

However I would strongly suggest a second opinion from a competent Endo, your symptoms especially going back to long are suggestive of other endocrine conditions, and getting a proper diagnosis and treatment might well improve your diabetes symptoms as well. Thyroid and adrenal conditions can disrupt the whole of the rest of the endocrine system including BG control.
 
Many thanks for all of your replies, advice and the very good links. I have had a good study of them and plan to go back and read more.

My blood pressure problem and cholesterol have always been attributed to me having a possible genetic predisposition to this since I lost both parents and all 4 granparents to stroke, some at relatively young ages - my dad was 52 when he died, and none lived over 70!

@Trinkwasser. The visit to the endo last August was to specifically test thyroid and adrenal/cortisol. I had some very thorough bloods done, urine tests and a long consultation where he showed a lot of interest in my facial hair growth. At the second consultation to review the test results he told me there was nothing whatsoever abnormal regarding any of the tests and therefore there was nothing wrong with me. My husband who was with me burst out laughing at this and asked him if he was joking. My 2 closest friends were also amazed as they had seen many changes in me over the last few years and none of them were what they would class as normal. I don't think he was particularly good and I am going to ask to be referred to another endo who specialises in PCOS before everything goes down the tubes.

Thanks again to all.

Jean
 
mogsta22 said:
Many thanks for all of your replies, advice and the very good links. I have had a good study of them and plan to go back and read more.

My blood pressure problem and cholesterol have always been attributed to me having a possible genetic predisposition to this since I lost both parents and all 4 granparents to stroke, some at relatively young ages - my dad was 52 when he died, and none lived over 70!
Click to expand...

Yes that's not uncommon, "metabolic syndrome", but once you know you have the genes you can learn how not to express them.

@Trinkwasser. The visit to the endo last August was to specifically test thyroid and adrenal/cortisol. I had some very thorough bloods done, urine tests and a long consultation where he showed a lot of interest in my facial hair growth. At the second consultation to review the test results he told me there was nothing whatsoever abnormal regarding any of the tests and therefore there was nothing wrong with me. My husband who was with me burst out laughing at this and asked him if he was joking. My 2 closest friends were also amazed as they had seen many changes in me over the last few years and none of them were what they would class as normal. I don't think he was particularly good and I am going to ask to be referred to another endo who specialises in PCOS before everything goes down the tubes.
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised! Unfortunately some areas consider thyroid to be "not treatable" when the numbers are way out of line, and when patients move to a different area where they *are* treated the results can be spectacular. Likewise for adrenal and other hormonal problems (there's a possibility the lab may have cocked up the tests, one of them is very sensitive to how the blood is treated between collection and analysis) when there's self-evidently *something* happening a second opinion is a must.

(I once met a redhead with a surprisingly cute moustache, but it's too long ago for me to remember what caused it)
 
I got my glucose monitor and some test strips today. I am looking forward to seeing how what I eat affects my glucose levels and how I feel.I plan to eat what I normally eat for a few days before making changes to my diet. We need to eat some food we already have and then begin to change to lower carb. I am off to do the shopping tomorrow and have some ideas for new stuff to get and old stuff not to get anymore :D

My first test before eating lunch today was 6.9. This was 3 hours after a breakfast of cereal with semi-skimmed milk. Not sure if this is good or bad at the moment. I will be keen to see where I am 1 hour after lunch and again at 2 hours.

Jean
 
Hi Jean.

The Bg numbers you need to remember as a T2 are these.
Fasting (waking)..................between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals..................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.

Try to stick within those figures and you won't go far wrong.

Ken.
 
Just wanted to add an update to where I am now.

I am doing a low carb diet. I found that if I ate starchy carbs then my BG would go up to 14-16 one hour after eating and fall to 10-12 after 2 hours. I have stopped eating potato,pasta,rice and bread. I eat meat of fish with plenty of green veg and or salads. This gives me 1 hour reading of around 8.5-10 and 2 hour reading of 7-8. I am still experimenting with the food a bit but I feel there has been real progress made and over time I am sure I can get this to more stable levels. I keep a food diary to help me spot trends. I have lost 2 kilograms so far in about 1 month.

I went and saw a different doc and specifiacally asked to talk about what the nurse had told me. The doctor said she had just had a good laugh reading what the nurse had written on the screen about my refusing to eat bread at lunchtime due to afternoon sleepiness and straight out with no prompting told me to do a low carb diet. I was very pleased with her, she has referred me to the dietician and I was there when she dictated the referral and know exactly what she said and didn't disagree with her. She has also referred me to Action Heart to see what they can do to help me with fitness as I find walking a problem due to hip and knee pain and I have recently had an injection into my shoulder because of problems there. She agreed that swimming isn't a great idea with only one arm that works although that may change as the injection takes effect.

She did offer me orlistat but after a discussion about the side effects we decided to hold that one back for the future if necessary.

So overall I am very encouraged by the changes I have made and the attitude of a different doctor. I really felt she wanted to help and was prepared to talk through the options and help me to decide what was best for me. We will see what the future brings!

I will continue to visit here every day since I find many of the posts to be very useful and educational and I will update again when I have something to report such as what the dietician said.
 
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