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

Lots of symptoms, Doctor Never clued in

noreversegear

noreversegear

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had a lot of symptoms related to diabetes and I kept telling my doctor, but she never said anything about my blood sugar. I felt so weak in my muscles that it was difficult to even walk, but I could walk, so she just dismissed it, even though I had to take a lot of breaks and couldn't walk far because my muscles felt so weak and heavy.

I had a lot of tingling in my feet when I was sitting at a desk. This went on for a couple years.

I also started suddenly developing a lot of floaters in my eyesight.

I felt like I couldn't get enough air in with normal breathing. (I guess that might have been part of the muscle fatigue)

I was very very very very thirsty and had terrible dry mouth in the mornings (especially).

Also, very frequent urination, to the point that I was almost peeing my pants because I couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough.

So I switched doctors. Then the new doctor dismissed my symptoms but I asked for blood work to be done and she ordered some, and I "made" her checkmark blood sugar and A1C. She did. It came back that I was just over the reading of pre-diabetes... so she diagnosed me as being diabetic. She sternly warned me that I must go on pills because without it, I will die. And I said but I was just diagnosed, I was hoping I would be able to try diet... and she insisted I take Metformin.

Anyway, if she had listened to me before, we would have caught me in prediabetes, and maybe reversed it, by losing weight, because I have a lot of weight to lose.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. It is never too late to reverse diabetes. I most probably had diabetes for 6-7 years before I was diagnosed. My HbA1c was 100 on diagnosis in Feb "14 and in Jan "15 it was down to 44 and I am due to go for my next check and I am hoping it will be lower again. The first thing is to start cutting down or cutting out completely the obvious carbs and sugars like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, biscuits,cakes ect. A lot of us here follow LCHF, it is great for lowering your BS and loosing weight. I will tag @daisy1 and she will post some good information for you to look over. If you don't already have a meter it might be a good idea to get yourself one as it is essential to determine which foods spike you and which you can tolerate. A lot of the advice you receive on the forum may contradict what you will hear from the professionals but everyone here is speaking from experience so you are in the right place to get yourself on track. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
 
Hi. Yes, do follow the low-carb approach that 4ratbags has posted and do get a meter. This will enable you to lose weight and your blood sugar. Metformin is a god safe drug and does help if you have excess weight and insulin resistance. I suspect if you can shift that weight then your diabetes will fade but not finally go away.
 
@noreversegear

Hello and welcome to the forum :)

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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

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.
 
4ratbags said:
Hi and welcome to the forum. It is never too late to reverse diabetes. I most probably had diabetes for 6-7 years before I was diagnosed. My HbA1c was 100 on diagnosis in Feb "14 and in Jan "15 it was down to 44 and I am due to go for my next check and I am hoping it will be lower again. The first thing is to start cutting down or cutting out completely the obvious carbs and sugars like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, biscuits,cakes ect. A lot of us here follow LCHF, it is great for lowering your BS and loosing weight. I will tag @daisy1 and she will post some good information for you to look over. If you don't already have a meter it might be a good idea to get yourself one as it is essential to determine which foods spike you and which you can tolerate. A lot of the advice you receive on the forum may contradict what you will hear from the professionals but everyone here is speaking from experience so you are in the right place to get yourself on track. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
Click to expand...

4ratbags - I would be extremely wary of making ultra-bold statements like, "......It is never too late to reverse diabetes....." Unfortunately, not everyone can reverse diabetes, depending on the root cause, for that individual, and even Professor Taylor's transformational work find that although his subjects achieve a significantly high percentage of normo-glycaemia, he did not achieve anything near 100%. I would certainly support a statement stating it's never too late to get the best possible outcome from your diabetes.

However, onto @noreversegear 's initial post. Noreversegear, the thing about diabetes is that the symptoms you, and so many others experience are not solely symptoms of diabetes. Muscle weakness, fatigue, visual changes and shortness of breath could be for a whole raft of reasons, from congestive dehydration, cardiac failure, extreme BP issues, probably even MS.

If you suspected diabetes, and your statement that you insisted blood work on your blood sugars was completed suggest you did, why did you just not get on and begin living a diabetes-appropriate lifestyle? You didn't want to take any medication, and understand losing weight could be beneficial. I'm confused.
 
It must be frustrating, but to be honest I would not worry about taking metformin, I am pre diabetic and would have been quite happy to take it if prescribed.
But surely you know the way forward is to lose weight, who knows if you will reverse your diabetes but if you are only just in diabetic numbers it can only be a good thing. Also I understand it is hard to lose weight but surely this is the motivation like no other. Get a blood glucose monitor and test your blood to see what spikes you, I found it was most carbohydrates, I reversed my prediabetes by low carbing, however it is still there if I eat like I used to.
 
4ratbags said:
Hi and welcome to the forum. It is never too late to reverse diabetes. I most probably had diabetes for 6-7 years before I was diagnosed. My HbA1c was 100 on diagnosis in Feb "14 and in Jan "15 it was down to 44 and I am due to go for my next check and I am hoping it will be lower again. The first thing is to start cutting down or cutting out completely the obvious carbs and sugars like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, biscuits,cakes ect. A lot of us here follow LCHF, it is great for lowering your BS and loosing weight. I will tag @daisy1 and she will post some good information for you to look over. If you don't already have a meter it might be a good idea to get yourself one as it is essential to determine which foods spike you and which you can tolerate. A lot of the advice you receive on the forum may contradict what you will hear from the professionals but everyone here is speaking from experience so you are in the right place to get yourself on track. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
Click to expand...
THANKS!!!
 
Low carb higher fats and oils eating combined with self-testing are powerful tools in your armoury, get meter and test before and after meals. Test strips for meters can be expensive but the SD Codefree meter has by far lowest running cost of the meters around.
 
I wouldn't be alarmed about your doctor encouraging you to take metformin. For most people the benefits outweigh the side effects/risks and many people have had no noticeable side effects with it. If you're overweight, metformin can really help, especially with reducing your risk of serious complications. Eating healthier, losing weight, exercising, and taking metformin, can all help you get diabetes under control. If you get your HbA1c back within healthy levels for a good amount of time, you may be able to go off metformin, but it sounds like your doctor thinks you need it for now, at least.

IMO you also need your blood pressure checked, and the set of routine blood tests diabetics should have, such as liver, kidney and thyroid function. Fatigue and shortness of breath caused be caused by anything, even just by being overweight. Possibly your doctors haven't paid much attention so far because they think your weight is likely contributing to these symptoms.

Do you know if you snore at night or stop breathing for short periods while sleeping? Are you sleepy during the day and do you fall asleep easily while sitting reading or watching TV? Being overweight and having T2 diabetes are risk factors for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. If you have this, it could explain the other symptoms you have. Like diabetes, for most people this condition is relatively easy to treat.
 
Back
Top