Hello All

[Rabmac1]

Hi all, a type 2 person here. I wish you all well and sincerely hope to find informative posts here

 

[Rabmac1]

Then I have come to the right place
It is not clear if I need to to post a new thread...Lord knows I struggle with computers
Nice to hear from you

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

The more information you can provide the more appropriately we can respond to any queries you have, but if you are not comfortable sharing information that is fine too. Make yourself at home. The forum is a goldmine of knowledge and experience from people who have "been there and got the T-shirt".

Diabetes can be highly individual, so it is often a case of picking and choosing things to try and seeing if they work for you and if not, trying something else. Good luck with yourdiabetes journey and let us know if you need any help.

 

[Rabmac1]

Hi, to update I went for a normal blood test some years ago, and the nurse said I looked grey, and shuffled me into the DB nurses resulting in HbA1c = 50, so onto gliclazide which at the time came with a finger prick machine, and it swiftly came down to normal, so they changed meds to metformin only and the test strips were withdrawn, £20 a pop for a new tube which I never could understand...I was controlling it well.
Anyhow, time passed and the 6 monthly reviews showed I was regularly ok, congrats from the nurses, and then, about 4 months ago my right leg suddenly became red, halfway up my shin. I saw the Nurse Practitioner yesterday and she said it was Hemosiderin staining, and was irreversible.
All the pictures I have seen of this, the staining is brown, and yes I know it is due to red blood cells dying and releasing Iron into the flesh under the skin, and that makes sense. She confirmed it was not Cellulite, but my leg is swollen, I have been taking 'water pills' for some time. At the same time that the redness appeared, the sensation on the bottom of both feet became, not sore or pins and needles, or numb, it feels like someone has been rubbing the soles of my feet with sandpaper, that's my best effort at describing it. NP prescribed Gavopentin 300 mg and as of yesterday upped to 500 mg in doses of 2-1-2 100mg. She said it was Neuropathy.... but for several years I have controlled the type 2 through diet only...that is a mystery.
Anyway, Thanks for the welcome, I hope to be useful here as well as a recipient of support.
All the best
R

 

[Docb]

Hi @Rabmac1 and a welcome from me as well. Interesting that you were put on gliclazide to start with, the standard protocol says metformin and escalate to gliclazide if the metformin has no effect. I'm wondering if you are one of us "slim" diabetics, that is somebody for whom losing some weight would not be the best bet for getting blood glucose levels down.

 

[Rabmac1]

Hi @Docb....I only wish I was slim, 16 and a half stone at five foot 7.....
I may have misremembered my initial HbA1c to be honest, I don't think, upon reflection, that 50 would make my nurse say I was 'grey looking'. I will look it up, thanks for noticing. The original post may need an edit. I was 37 for months and now it jumped to 43, diet I suppose.
Thankyou very much for your reply

Rab

 

[Docb]

No problem @Rabmac1. Sometimes we look as if we are being plain nosey but T2 is such a variable feast that the questions are needed to narrow down the field a bit.

Am I right in thinking that you got your HbA1c down to 37 from whatever it was and it is now gone up to 43? Those are not bad numbers suggesting that you must be doing something right!

 

[Andy777]

hello Rab and welcome to our forum on this brilliantly bright, sunny day.

 

[Burylancs]

Hi @Rabmac1 and a welcome from me as well. Interesting that you were put on gliclazide to start with, the standard protocol says metformin and escalate to gliclazide if the metformin has no effect. I'm wondering if you are one of us "slim" diabetics, that is somebody for whom losing some weight would not be the best bet for getting blood glucose levels down.

Gliclazide could be used to start with slim diabetics under the old Nice guidelines.

 

[Grace1961]

Hi, to update I went for a normal blood test some years ago, and the nurse said I looked grey, and shuffled me into the DB nurses resulting in HbA1c = 50, so onto gliclazide which at the time came with a finger prick machine, and it swiftly came down to normal, so they changed meds to metformin only and the test strips were withdrawn, £20 a pop for a new tube which I never could understand...I was controlling it well.
Anyhow, time passed and the 6 monthly reviews showed I was regularly ok, congrats from the nurses, and then, about 4 months ago my right leg suddenly became red, halfway up my shin. I saw the Nurse Practitioner yesterday and she said it was Hemosiderin staining, and was irreversible.
All the pictures I have seen of this, the staining is brown, and yes I know it is due to red blood cells dying and releasing Iron into the flesh under the skin, and that makes sense. She confirmed it was not Cellulite, but my leg is swollen, I have been taking 'water pills' for some time. At the same time that the redness appeared, the sensation on the bottom of both feet became, not sore or pins and needles, or numb, it feels like someone has been rubbing the soles of my feet with sandpaper, that's my best effort at describing it. NP prescribed Gavopentin 300 mg and as of yesterday upped to 500 mg in doses of 2-1-2 100mg. She said it was Neuropathy.... but for several years I have controlled the type 2 through diet only...that is a mystery.
Anyway, Thanks for the welcome, I hope to be useful here as well as a recipient of support.
All the best
R

Hi Rabmac
Welcome, I am a comparatively new member and everyone has been very kind and supportive.
it's lovely to have somewhere to share and gain advice and support.
All the very best.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Rabmac1

Glad to have you here! 🙂