• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Hi - new to the forum

P

palas

Member
Messages
13
Hi everyone

My name's Carolynn, nearly 58 years old and diagnosed with type 2 a couple of weeks ago. Following a bg blood test level of 15 I was called back to the doctor for a test - albeit about an hour after breakfast - and had readings of 23. Was put on Metformin 1 x 1 and this was quickly upped to 2 + 2 over the course of 4 days.

Two weeks on I've got levels of around 5-7 and my eyes are giving me a lot of trouble. Normally I used to wear my reading glasses for computer work - did this for over 10 years. About 4 weeks ago I discovered I couldn't read with my reading glasses and had to wear my varifocals for the pc. This was before I was diagnosed. Distance vision was also blurry.

However, now that my levels have dropped down I've started having the same problem. Eyes briefly returned to normal at the end of last week, but I've noticed again that I can't read with my reading glasses - nor with my varifocals! Having to use a magnifing glass for figure work. Also the TV is blurry exept through the reading part of my varifocals. All a bit bizarre.

How long might it take for my eyes to settle down?

Thanks
Carolynn
 
Hi Carolynn

Welcome to the forum

I think as your sugar levels come down, your eyes should become less blurry. I noticed that my eyesight was better once my levels started to drop, but everyone is different.

Daisy will be along with her welcome post in a bit and Xyzzy with his post which contains lots dietary information amongst other things.
 
Hi Carolynn and welcome to the forum You have made a lot of progress and I hope your eye problems will get sorted out soon. Better BG levels should help.

To help you, this is the information we give to new members and I'm sure you will find it useful. Don't hesitate to ask any other questions as there is always someone here to answer you.

 
Hi Carolynn and welcome to the forum.

Here's the info that Didie mentioned. It worked for me and got my blood sugar levels back to normal within around a couple of months or so. Not a cure as I still have to be very careful what I eat but am now feeling great! I am really happy that I have minimised the risk of all those nasty complications. I was diagnosed in early December last year so just 4 months ago and have now lost 3 stone in weight as well.

A quick bit on Metformin. Most newly diagnosed are put on Metformin. It is an effective and safe medication but you shouldn't treat it as a magic bullet. It will help with your sugar levels but nothing like as much as getting what you eat sorted out. Some people find it has some sides effects (running to the loo, stomach cramps and such like) but in most this goes away after a few days. If it doesn't for you then go back and ask for the Slow Release (SR) version instead. If your doctor or nurse only prescribed you Metformin then you don't need to worry about telling the DVLA about having diabetes as the way Metformin works means it doesn't cause hypo's so you run the same risks as a non diabetic.

Diet wise its really easy. Just drastically cut down or better cut out all things with plain sugar, so biscuits, cakes, sugar in tea and coffee, pure fruit juices, non diet versions of soft drinks. Next try halving starchy foods like rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, cereals and any other flour based products. Replace what's now missing with extra meat, fish, eggs, cheese and especially vegetables. Vegetables that grow above ground are best although most of us find carrots fine. Things like yoghurt are fine as is a small amount of fresh fruit. I find the ones that end in "berry" are the best. If you don't mind artificial sweeteners things like Diet Coke are fine to drink. On the starchy foods that are left swap try brown basmati rice instead of white and brown or tri-colour pasta. The bread that most recommend is actually Bergen soya bread but some do ok with wholemeal as well.

The above diet is close to one you would be one recommended to try by the Swedish Health service. It was introduced in that country last year and the American health service and several other countries health services recommend something very similar. You may find it conflicts with advice currently given to you in this country as we have yet to update and still use older dietary recommendations. In fact we use diet guidelines that are over 30 years old. If you want to read more about this kind of diet and other stuff there is a thread discussing it with some useful links here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=28402

Next most members would recommend you test your own blood sugar levels. Did your doctor give you a meter and strips? Some do and some don't. It's a bit of a post code lottery and we find some progressive surgeries are pro testing and others anti. I'll warn you the anti ones can sometimes be very vocally anti!

The reason testing is important is you should try and keep your blood sugars below 8ish two hours after eating any meal. Above the 8 value is where the dangers of complications do begin to occur according to diabetic experts. So if you can't test how will you now if what you are eating is keeping you safe? The problem is every diabetic is different so my earlier advice to halve starchy foods is just a rough guide. You may find you need to eat less than half (like me) or that you can eat more than half like others.

As you get into it all and read around the forum you may see people talking about carb counting. If you want to understand what that is just ask. It is a powerful weapon that a diabetic can use to control their condition and one that many of us use to great effect.

Good luck and keep asking questions.
 
So sorry to hear that not only you got the diagnosis but also that your eyes are playing you up... but on a positive note knowledge is power and this forum should help you a lot, it was a boon to me.
That said.... my reaction is this, I presume your vision was OK up until shortly after your diagnosis? The conclusion is that it is either the fact that your levels are coming down OR the meds are affecting the vision. It strikes me that you, like me and many others, were "carrying" diabetes for some time before your diagnosis and suffered no vision impairment. Ironically it is what they have done to you since then that has caused this imho.
My presumption is that your vision was "stable" while you unwittingly had diabetes and the higher blood sugar levels. You have now quite drastically dropped those levels and inevitably your vision has changed.
My doc told me to leave getting my prescription for spex checked for a few months as a course of met (and new lower sugar levels) will change your vision. It did but not too drastically for too long. Diabetes affects everyone in different ways as do the meds.
Also, I am surprised you have not complained about the usual side-effects of metformin.... I can still recall those!
Get an appt and attend the retinopathy check as well....
Best of luck!
 
They upped my metformin from 1 x 1 to 2 x 1 to 2 x 2 within 4 days, which was fun. I feel sick every morning about an hour after taking the tablets for about an hour. Also having occasional runs. So I'm afraid I do have the side effects of metformin. Currently still on 2 x 2

I'm very confused on diet at the moment. I've had one meeting with the diabetes practice nurse and she told me to eat carbs with EVERY meal, no more than 3 eggs a week + 3 x fruit/day. I've pretty much kept to my normal diet, without all the cakes and biscuits and sweet stuff. Writing down everything that I eat at the moment. I've read on the internet that carbs can cause these vision disturbances because they're metabolised fast so am I eating too many carbs, or when I do eat them are they the wrong ones, i.e. oatcakes, the odd baked potato, wholemeal bread, rye crispbread.

Would I be better with protein and f + veg and no carbs?

She also pretty much said there WOULD be complications at some point. I've got a meter, but only 50 test strips a month and advised to test 2 x day, before breakfast and before dinner. Funny, that makes 60 or 62 strips by my calculation. I've bought some more strips and am testing before those meals and 2 hrs afterwards. She was anti testing because she said I might become obsessive.

Also advised to get bg levels under 10 post meal (how I'm supposed to do that without testing I'm not sure?) but I thought that over 8 was still too high? Since last Wednesday every reading has been under 10 with the lowest at 4.8. Currently testing as above.

No chiropody treatment unless I fit certain criteria - but she wouldn't tell me what the criteria was, so I paid for a chiropodist appointment on Saturday and got a baseline check for my feet.

Eyewise I did have glasses and noticed that my vision was changing a about 3 months ago. Went to get an eye test and was told that my prescription had not changed. However, at moment I can see perfectly well for long distance from my usually blurry reading glasses, and I can't read except with a magnifying glass. I'm wondering if this is what my eyes should be and the "not changed" reading was a false reading because of high sugar levels. Just not sure how long to leave it before I get another eye test, as vision seems to be changing day to day.

Sorry, so many questions.
Carolynn
 
Hi Carolynn

Sounds like you're doing really well if you care getting under 10's already! Well done :clap:

Looks like you've got one of the old guard like me and a many others, what with the starchy carbs with every meal and the testing WILL SEND YOU MAD :lol: Don't want to disparage your DSN too much but did you realise a lot of diabetic nurses are just practice nurses who have been told to be the practice diabetic nurse. Ask to see her certificates.

The NICE UK guidelines state under 8.5 two hours after eating look here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html that is actually seen as a bit high nowadays and many on the forum will tell you to aim for under 7.8 after two hours. There is a lot of modern research been done to show that its regularly going above 7.8 that does cause complications to begin.

See you got the "It IS progressive and you WILL get complications" message. Sorry not the case according to the majority of forum members. There are 36000 of us but hey what do we all know. Really not a very inspiring message to be telling people is it?

What target you aim for is entirely up to you but do it from an informed view. Who's eyes and feet are they? Yours! They are not your nurses or gp's.

The honest answer is if you want to manage by diet + metformin only the vast majority of us have cut starchy carbs until our meters start telling us we're safe. Like I said in my earlier post the info you are told in this country is viewed by many to be very out of date and other countries would be telling you to cut the starchy carbs.

Of course the easiest way for you to see IS to cut your starchy carbs and see what happens to your readings. In some new people it can take a few weeks for levels to drop and in some others normal levels have been restored in days.

Keep asking questions as everyone here wants to help!
 
palas said:
Would I be better with protein and f + veg and no carbs?
Click to expand...

Here's a bit more detail on what your statement implies. Many of us would agree with what you just wrote.

Our differences would simply be how much carbohydrate to leave in your diet. Some members say very little, some more, hardly any would recommend "starchy carbs with every meal". What many think is you just have to reduce to the point your levels are safe which seems pretty obvious to me and is my standpoint. If you want to reduce further then that's an option and there are expert posters who can advise you on that. Likewise there is a system called GI which simplistically is a measure of how FAST foods raise your levels so if you can eat foods that take a long time to process they might still have some carbs in them. Again there are expert posters who will help you with that method, or combine both, that's what I do! What both "sides" agree is that eating so that you are safe after two hours is the important thing to do.

Here's a idea towards the diet your statement would imply. Its a low carb, high fat approach (LCHF). Don't worry too much about the "fat" bit as it doesn't contain the nasty dangerous fats. It's the diet I've been following and I've lost 3 stones in 4 months, normalised my blood levels and REDUCED my cholesterol levels back to normal. The forum has hundreds of low carb recipes which are absolutely lovely.

 
Thank you so much for the advice, particularly the low carb diet. If you eat carbs at all - would hate to cut out toast and marmite completely, what would you consider acceptable to still stay within the low carb diet. Would one carb meal or snack a day be acceptable for example?

Also sometimes I've tested 2 hrs after a meal and my BG has been less than before the meal. Is that good?

Sorry for all the questions.

Carolynn
 
Poor you.... and here we go again with the eating carbs with every meal etc. It is up to the recipient of this advice to take it or leave it. You do not have to do what they say. One of the essentials of DM is control and self-management. Too often I found this advice was conflicting. Plus it does not suit everyone.
When I was diagnosed the nurse wrote down on a scrap of paper the regimen for reaching the target dosage for met and this was over a month. Plus you should not take them on an empty stomach she said. You have read the instructions in the packet I presume? Lotsa fun.
Your meter is your friend of course. But it is early days so do not worry too much about anomalies. A few weeks and you will get a much better understanding but early on it is all daunting and confusing. But nothing is going to happen to you overnight. You are allowed some mistakes and treats. As they show here try out some foods and do the meter but do not overdo it and get paranoid. The obvious things should apply. For example it is probably not a good idea to help yourself to a curry along with lotsa rice and whatnot, most of those are highly processed carbs which you should eat less of. Of course you should eat some carbs with every meal, without them it would impractical and boring.
Experiment and try your faves. If the meter reading is a little high then next time eat half the first amount and recheck. You will soon see what your body can cope with.
Personally, I try to mix them and for instance would have a fry up every morning - egg, bacon, tomato, mushroom, onion, green pepper etc. Plus one slice of toast and then chuck the lot on a plate maybe with some sauce. Within an hour I go for a half hour bike ride. Meter readings for me are ok seldom over 6. My only reservation is the fat and salt.
As to your eyes I would probably go for an eye test anyway, I think they are free for us. You do not have to act upon it.
One thing also puzzles me and that is why your optician did not pick up on your DM.
All in all, take it easy, I got into quite a state in the early days. Now I see that while it is a life-changer it is not a life-threatener. One step at a time and keep coming back here - no matter how dumb or trivial you might think your questions might be, someone will answer.... this is the best place on the planet for DM folk! 8)
 
Hi I am no 'expert' as I am nearly diagnosed as well but with regards to your eyes I too had changes.

I went to the optician with blurry eyes that I had noticed for a while , up until then had no known problems with my eyes. Was given my first pair of glasses for distance.

Fast forward a few weeks and had a blood sugar reading of 18.8 started diet and a few weeks later my distance sight came back but a few days later I couldnt read small print, so got a magnifying glass for reading, especially the food labels. A week later I can now see close up and distance.

I have spoken to the optician and told me that changes do happen to eyes when the blood sugar is high, my GP also said the same.

Hope things settle for you soon
 
Hi Carolyn

Many people have said similar things to you about their eyes. It is all to do with your sugar levels changing. Given you seem to be getting really good safe levels at the moment then so long as you continue to keep get them I would hope your eyes begin to stabilise soon. Try not to worry too much it looks like you really are doing great.
 
Hi everyone my name Christine face book chrriss88

New comer much appreciating the info on site. I will be getting my eyes tested my vision is blurry and I feel dizzy alot of the time!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…