Recently diagnosed - living abroad - need assistance!

ColinBhoy said:

Hello All,

I am currently living and working in Angola, Africa. I am a Scottish man by birth but have been traveling the world for the last 20 years or so. Before I left for Angola in December last year, I was diagnosed by my local GP as diabetic. I haven't seen the results yet (expect them on email today), but my doctor called me as he hadn't heard from me. I will not be back in the UK until August this year, and then only for a brief 3 day visit. I will have another blood test at that point. In the meantime, I intend to speak with our Occupational Health Department here and arrange for them to take some regular blood samples so that I can then email the results to my doctor. I have been advised to have these samples taken monthly.

I would like to ask the Experts in the forum for some dietary advice. I know there is a plethora of information available on the internet, but some if it is very confusing and conflicting. As my diet will be the only means of managing my condition until I see my doctor again (who insists, by the way, that I only have Type II Diabetes and that we should be able to manage it by diet alone), I would like to ask you for a simple 'heads-up' overview of my condition (I am a chemist so can understand the 'techie speak' on this!), and provide me with a general guideline of what my diet should be. Some simple things that I do not fully understand yet are: do I need to stop eating sugar completely?
Sugar is a simple carb,you need to avoid this and also reduce the intake of complex carbs like bread,potatoes,pasta and rice,also any flour based products



Can I drink fizzy soft drinks?
Look on the labels,anything that says 'ose' or 'ole' is also a form of sugar so most soft drinks are out!


What about carbohydrates and proteins and my intake of them ...I have seen some info about ratios of these and 'splitting' them in the diet.

If you are controlling this with diet only you need to reduce the amount of carbs but still eat a good diet of proteins,natural fats,and plenty of vegetables.Can you get hold of a blood testing monitor? With this you can check just how certain foods are affecting your blood sugar levels.


How about alcohol intake? I haven't taken any alcohol for about three months now, precisely because of this condition, but I admit to being a helluva party animal in the past (which has probably led me to where I am now!).

A lot of members on here drink one or two glasses of red wine because it can help bring down blood sugar levels
Hope this helps.

As a newby in this forum, if anyone has this information, could they please PM me. Other than that I will try to get back to the forum to check when I can.

Many thanks for your attention.

Colin.

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ColinBhoy said:

Thanks for your input guys!

I really feel quite well apart from general tiredness (is that related to the diabetes, and will it improve with the cut-back in carbos?), so I am cutting all carbohydrate intake to a minimum today, to see if it makes a difference.

I also appreciate the concern of the person who responded saying that it was dangerous for me to be in another continent and leave this untreated until I return to the UK in August. I appreciate the advice, but I am in constant contact with my GP back home on this (at least NOW I am!). I have been assured that I should have nothing to worry about as long as I obey the dietary menus for my condition. I will also be setting up meetings with my OH department here and they will monitor and help to manage things for me, as well as provide advice.

Two more questions, if you don't mind?!
I used to enjoy diving, but put it off for several years due to my disgust at my weight and fitness. Now that this is 'beginning' to come under control, will I be okay to retake my open water diving certificate in Indonesia in July? This would be followed by taking part in some very 'easy' diving sessions from some of the islands around Indonesia. I read somewhere that we (as diabetics) should be very careful when doing anything in or around water??? Not sure I fully understand why this is!

The reason diabetics have to be careful in water is because of hypos.Some medications can cause hypos.If you are eventually put onto metformin then this particular drug does not cause hypos but you should still be aware of your blood sugar levels as the exercise can make your blood sugars drop.Also ,when diving,there is a risk of injury which,especially in a badly controlled diabetic,may take a long time to heal.

Finally, for the last 18 months or so my feet have become very dry-skinned and I was getting red blotches mainly around the big toes, which while not painful in the least, were very itchy. I was based in Siberia, Russia at the time this started and put it down to the poor water quality and dry air conditions there ...perhaps I was wrong! My recently changed habits and abstention from alcohol have seen drastic improvements to this condition and although still fairly dry on the soles of my feet, I am having great success with some hemp based foot ointment (from Body Shop!). Would this condition have been related to my diabetes?

It could be,especially if you have had high blood sugar levels.Keep your feet well cleaned every day and keep applying cream to keep them soft and avoid cracked skin as this can allow infection into the feet which may be slow to heal if your levels are high.

Once again, grateful for your inputs.

Colin.

Click to expand...

ColinBhoy said:

I really feel quite well apart from general tiredness (is that related to the diabetes, and will it improve with the cut-back in carbos?), so I am cutting all carbohydrate intake to a minimum today, to see if it makes a difference.

Click to expand...