I'll start with the generics. I'm a 22 American Male. I'm obese—290 lbs., 6'3", 36 BMI. My grandfather is a type 2 diabetic who controls with light medication and a low carb diet, but does not regularly test.
There's much to say but first I suppose you should know I'm a bit of a hypochondriac—though not your average. I'm the type that becomes unhealthily preoccupied on discomforts and perceived abnormalities/changes but avoids the doctor at all cost because I'm afraid of poor diagnosis.
Bearing that in mind, I'll begin about two years ago. I went on a hiking trip in a pair of boots that apparently I shouldn't have been wearing. By the end of the day my feet were hurting, but nothing too bad. The day after, though, I noticed the left side of my big toe and almost all of my second toe on my right foot were numb. Over months, I noticed it less but I don't think it's ever gone away completely. Diabetes has always been in the back of my mind but I've always attributed it to the hiking trip.
About eight months ago, I was sitting in my office when I noticed my heart was racing and pounding. Concerned, I checked my heart rate. 145. Confident that the app on my phone was wrong, I checked again. 160. Off to the emergency room I went partially convinced I was dying. Several tests, medications, and hours later, my HR was under 100 and I was sent on my way instructed to follow up with my GP.
Not much to note about what happened during my ER visit other than that a nurse said my blood sugar was high and asked if I had just eaten. I said yes, and it wasn't mentioned again. I don't know what my reading was and I've lost all my copies of my reports to various doctors since. Also, in hindsight, I'm not sure having eaten within about an hour and a half of the blood test qualifies as "just eaten" but she wasn't specific so I answered as best I could.
After seeing a cardiologist for more tests, I was diagnosed with Inappropriate Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). Inappropriate in this case means that there is no underlying cause for my condition (tumor on adrenal glands, additional electrical pathways in my heart, etc). I take 150mg of metoprolol tartrate (beta blocker) daily to control it. I'm now aware that rapid heart can be a symptom of diabetes.
Recently I've noticed a bit of a catch or dryness in my throat that's alleviated with water. At first I assumed it was due to changing temperature or humidity, but it's persisted for a few weeks. From my previous googling of numb toes I knew that increased thirst could be an indication of my body trying to eliminate excess glucose through my urine, which seems to have increased appropriately given my intake of water. I wouldn't describe this sensation as thirst as much as I would a dry throat. There is not a sweet odor from my urine, though.
Circling back to numbness, I began to prod my trouble area on my right foot. Still slightly numb, but sensitive to temperature and pricking. It more feels like there's a thin layer of wax over the area, not anything close to a deadening like you'd get at the dentist. Additional worry let me to prod elsewhere. It seems that the same area on my left may also be a bit numb but less than on my right. I also perceive some numbness in my right ankle on the right side and maybe even on the bottom of my foot a bit, though I've been intentional in recognizing what's normal for callus areas.
The problem is, is that I can't tell what's normal and what not anymore because I'm so worried. My fingertips have been cold lately and I've been prodding and rubbing my fingers (particularly my pinkies) to compare their sensitivity to one another to see if they are going numb as well.
After irritating my fiancé with consistently conveying my worry to her (she's great and very patient with me, but I just pushed too much onto her), I bought a glucose meter and decided to finally see for myself if I had anything to worry about.
I ate a dinner of fried rice and orange chicken followed by an old fashioned (I normally eat relatively low carb but had indulged at lunch for my mother's birthday and gave way to the "what the hell" effect). About an hour or so later I drove the store and discretely picked up a Bayer Contour Next kit with enough strips and lancets for 10 tests. The one I took in the car that night was 133 mg/dL (7.4 mmol/L). I slept a little more easily because I was sure with that many carbs in my system I'd be well over that 140 mg/dL safe zone.
The next day I kept a record of my measurements.
7:30: 84—Fasting
9:00: Finished one serving of steel cut oats and banana
10:10: 95—1 hour after meal
11:10: 98—2 hours after meal
1:45: Finished lunch of roast beef and veggies. Serving of ice cream to test.
2:30: 99—45 minutes after meal
3:15: 80—1.5 hours after meal
I was really perplexed by my low numbers after eating such carby foods to really test my reaction. I started digging around on the web to see if I could figure anything out. Alcohol affects the body's production of human growth hormone and increases insulin production which has been shown to lower fasting blood sugar, even into hypoglycemic levels for type 1 diabetics (http://m.care.diabetesjournals.org/content/24/11/1888.full). So I saved my last two tests for next day where I could take a fasting measurement without alcohol playing a part. I got a reading of 110 (6.1), so to be sure I tested again and got a reading of 100 (5.5).
That was two days ago. That day I went to get more lancets and strips, but the entire store staff was stocking the health area of the store and I was too embarrassed to pick up more, which I hope doesn't offend anyone here. I realize that logically there's nothing to be ashamed of but I've struggled with self image issues my whole life.
My grandfather has assured me that nothing's wrong and that he wishes he could have levels like mine, but I'm not sure. It seems like a blood sugar issue would have come up when I was getting my SVT diagnosis (I had blood work done at least 4 times), but other than in the emergency room, it wasn't mentioned. Perhaps no one was looking for that. I've been trying not to let it preoccupy my mind as much, but I'm definitely worried. I've made a plan to adopt a more official low carb lifestyle, exercise, and supplement regimen based mostly on advice from:
http://wellnessmama.com/1440/reverse-diabetes-naturally/
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/diabetic-neuropathy-preve_b_527647.html
http://draxe.com/how-to-reverse-diabetes-naturally-in-30-days-or-less/
Ultimately I'm looking for the opinions and advice from others here. I never really sure I can trust myself when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've been able to prolong symptoms just by worrying about them. I'm really hoping I can get this under control myself and not through my GP so I can avoid any official label for as long as I can.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
There's much to say but first I suppose you should know I'm a bit of a hypochondriac—though not your average. I'm the type that becomes unhealthily preoccupied on discomforts and perceived abnormalities/changes but avoids the doctor at all cost because I'm afraid of poor diagnosis.
Bearing that in mind, I'll begin about two years ago. I went on a hiking trip in a pair of boots that apparently I shouldn't have been wearing. By the end of the day my feet were hurting, but nothing too bad. The day after, though, I noticed the left side of my big toe and almost all of my second toe on my right foot were numb. Over months, I noticed it less but I don't think it's ever gone away completely. Diabetes has always been in the back of my mind but I've always attributed it to the hiking trip.
About eight months ago, I was sitting in my office when I noticed my heart was racing and pounding. Concerned, I checked my heart rate. 145. Confident that the app on my phone was wrong, I checked again. 160. Off to the emergency room I went partially convinced I was dying. Several tests, medications, and hours later, my HR was under 100 and I was sent on my way instructed to follow up with my GP.
Not much to note about what happened during my ER visit other than that a nurse said my blood sugar was high and asked if I had just eaten. I said yes, and it wasn't mentioned again. I don't know what my reading was and I've lost all my copies of my reports to various doctors since. Also, in hindsight, I'm not sure having eaten within about an hour and a half of the blood test qualifies as "just eaten" but she wasn't specific so I answered as best I could.
After seeing a cardiologist for more tests, I was diagnosed with Inappropriate Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). Inappropriate in this case means that there is no underlying cause for my condition (tumor on adrenal glands, additional electrical pathways in my heart, etc). I take 150mg of metoprolol tartrate (beta blocker) daily to control it. I'm now aware that rapid heart can be a symptom of diabetes.
Recently I've noticed a bit of a catch or dryness in my throat that's alleviated with water. At first I assumed it was due to changing temperature or humidity, but it's persisted for a few weeks. From my previous googling of numb toes I knew that increased thirst could be an indication of my body trying to eliminate excess glucose through my urine, which seems to have increased appropriately given my intake of water. I wouldn't describe this sensation as thirst as much as I would a dry throat. There is not a sweet odor from my urine, though.
Circling back to numbness, I began to prod my trouble area on my right foot. Still slightly numb, but sensitive to temperature and pricking. It more feels like there's a thin layer of wax over the area, not anything close to a deadening like you'd get at the dentist. Additional worry let me to prod elsewhere. It seems that the same area on my left may also be a bit numb but less than on my right. I also perceive some numbness in my right ankle on the right side and maybe even on the bottom of my foot a bit, though I've been intentional in recognizing what's normal for callus areas.
The problem is, is that I can't tell what's normal and what not anymore because I'm so worried. My fingertips have been cold lately and I've been prodding and rubbing my fingers (particularly my pinkies) to compare their sensitivity to one another to see if they are going numb as well.
After irritating my fiancé with consistently conveying my worry to her (she's great and very patient with me, but I just pushed too much onto her), I bought a glucose meter and decided to finally see for myself if I had anything to worry about.
I ate a dinner of fried rice and orange chicken followed by an old fashioned (I normally eat relatively low carb but had indulged at lunch for my mother's birthday and gave way to the "what the hell" effect). About an hour or so later I drove the store and discretely picked up a Bayer Contour Next kit with enough strips and lancets for 10 tests. The one I took in the car that night was 133 mg/dL (7.4 mmol/L). I slept a little more easily because I was sure with that many carbs in my system I'd be well over that 140 mg/dL safe zone.
The next day I kept a record of my measurements.
7:30: 84—Fasting
9:00: Finished one serving of steel cut oats and banana
10:10: 95—1 hour after meal
11:10: 98—2 hours after meal
1:45: Finished lunch of roast beef and veggies. Serving of ice cream to test.
2:30: 99—45 minutes after meal
3:15: 80—1.5 hours after meal
I was really perplexed by my low numbers after eating such carby foods to really test my reaction. I started digging around on the web to see if I could figure anything out. Alcohol affects the body's production of human growth hormone and increases insulin production which has been shown to lower fasting blood sugar, even into hypoglycemic levels for type 1 diabetics (http://m.care.diabetesjournals.org/content/24/11/1888.full). So I saved my last two tests for next day where I could take a fasting measurement without alcohol playing a part. I got a reading of 110 (6.1), so to be sure I tested again and got a reading of 100 (5.5).
That was two days ago. That day I went to get more lancets and strips, but the entire store staff was stocking the health area of the store and I was too embarrassed to pick up more, which I hope doesn't offend anyone here. I realize that logically there's nothing to be ashamed of but I've struggled with self image issues my whole life.
My grandfather has assured me that nothing's wrong and that he wishes he could have levels like mine, but I'm not sure. It seems like a blood sugar issue would have come up when I was getting my SVT diagnosis (I had blood work done at least 4 times), but other than in the emergency room, it wasn't mentioned. Perhaps no one was looking for that. I've been trying not to let it preoccupy my mind as much, but I'm definitely worried. I've made a plan to adopt a more official low carb lifestyle, exercise, and supplement regimen based mostly on advice from:
http://wellnessmama.com/1440/reverse-diabetes-naturally/
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/diabetic-neuropathy-preve_b_527647.html
http://draxe.com/how-to-reverse-diabetes-naturally-in-30-days-or-less/
Ultimately I'm looking for the opinions and advice from others here. I never really sure I can trust myself when it comes to this kind of stuff. I've been able to prolong symptoms just by worrying about them. I'm really hoping I can get this under control myself and not through my GP so I can avoid any official label for as long as I can.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
