My First Post

[maryjaneholland]

@Cher welcome to the forum, sorry to hear you are struggling, I think moderation and portion size is good way to start rethinking food and diet, so one apple at one time is healthy as it's fresh fruit fibre Vitamin C, but if you were to eat whole bag of large apples in one go, that would most likely cause your blood glucose to spike just like eating large bar of milk chocolate at the same time, similarly I am trying to swap out unhealthy junk foods for health shop wholefoods alternatives as they are more filling and even those with carbs and sugars are generally giving you more fibre and protein in your diet, but still in moderation with dried fruit and dates as they are high sugar too... Even something simple like swapping out high sugar fruit juice, full sugar fizzy soda drinks, high sugar coffees and cordials with hidden sugars for filtered iced water, coconut water, kombucha, herbal teas and unsweetened plant based milks will help to lower blood glucose levels, I dropped nearly twenty points on HBA1C by cutting out most obvious high sugar high carb refined processed supermarket foods over several months...

Have you tried wound healing remedies like zinc compound plasters and bandages, pure organic aloe vera gel (NOT the same as "aftersun lotion"), pure tea tree essential oil (I have used this to heal bites, cuts, wounds, fungal infections, acne, been used by humans for thousands of years to heal skin and not just for teenage spots etc!), and calendula/marigold extracts or dried flowers in compress, think Neal's Yard Remedies sell various products and the dried flowers too? Sometimes you just need boost to heal, oh and, as queer person, it's so fabulous to chat with someone with same name as the famous musician actor star Cherilyn "CHER" - hope that gives you boost you deserve too! If you believe in life after love!! 😉

 

[Leadinglights]

Many thanks. I made some soup today - parsnip, ginger, apple. I only had half a bowl. Within a short time, I had pain in my leg - which has troubled me for six months. I felt quite ill. I wonder if it was the sugar in the apple - though it was a green apple. I question whether I am prediabetic. I have been going to the doctor for over six months - with skin that is not healing, and severe itching and pain and numbness in my legs. But they have said: "use cream" and "probably its a trapped nerve." I had to ask for a test for diabetes. I have had symptoms, including vision problems and feeling so tired, sick, and generally ill. I hope I am able to sort out my problems myself, because I am concerned that the NHS can't cope, and I don't think I can rely on the doctor. I have looked on threads on this site, and there is a lot of good advice, so I don't feel totally lost. But I do wonder why the doctor isn't thinking "diabetes" and I am concerned about care available and wonder if others are finding they are not being diagnosed. Because I thought I would be termed diabetic if I had so many symptoms for such a long time. I wonder if this situation is prevalent, with people just not being diagnosed.

You say 'skin that is not healing' is that from a wound or more general. There are several natural things you could try, manuka honey or silver impregnated dressings. What might be suitable may depend on the cause, infection? allergic reaction to something?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Awwwww! Big hugs to you Cher. You do sound like you are feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed by it all

I asked the nurse if she could check for diabetes and she said she would. That's when I found out that I was "prediabetic". So I don't even know what HbA1c checks are.

An HbA1c is the check they will have run to say that you are at increased risk of developing T2 diabetes (sometimes called prediabetes). It measures changes to red blood cells exposed to glucose levels in the blood over their lifespan, which is about 3-4 months. The more glucose you have in circulation the more red blood cells will have been ‘marked’, so you get s sort of rolling 3 month measure of overall glucose concentrations.

I have not heard anything from the surgery about what I should do. I am trying to find out myself.

That’s not all that uncommon I’m afraid. Lots of newcomers arrive here feeling a bit overwhelmed, without much information to decide what to do next. But you’ve come to the right place, we have literally centuries of lived diabetes experience you can tap into 🙂

Now I am worried it is too late to reverse it. Because if the damage to veins and organs is already done, how can it be possible to make this all work again?

It’s understandable, but try not to get caught in a spiral of doom. Prediabetes is an indication of your metabolism beginning to struggle. It doesn’t mean you can’t improve things, make positive changes, or turn your glucose levels away from the diabetes diagnosis line (prediabetes isn’t a diagnosis as such, it’s more a sort of wake-up call).

The cut on my hand is never going to heal, by the looks of things. I just think doctors should take certain things more seriously - a cut not healing for over six months is surely not normal, and tingling and itching in the leg for four months, can't be put down to a trapped nerve. I've got every intention of making changes to try and help myself. But when you keep on going to the surgery about the same thing and no one listens, it is very worrying.

I completely understand. Elevated glucose levels can slow down the healing process, and changes in nerves can cause unusual sensations such as tingling.

It might be helpful to get the results of your HbA1c that was mentioned to you as ‘prediabetes’. It would usually be a number between 42-47mmol/mol

 

[Cher]

Thank you so much for all your help here. I will find out the HbA1c result. As soon as I heard the news I panicked - got rid of everything I had in the cupboard and fridge that had sugar, salt, fat, processed etc. I think I may have had some reaction to the sudden change in diet and exercise. It's a bit of a shock to the system. It is pointless blaming the doctor - I was the one eating the junk food! LOL. I don't know why I was waiting for someone to tell me it was doing harm. I just got an audio book about diabetes. I hope it won't scare me too much. I'm so grateful for this forum, I've found out a great deal over the last week and it is so helpful. It is very generous of you all to give your time like this to help others. Take care.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I just got an audio book about diabetes. I hope it won't scare me too much.

For a friendly, personal take, you might also enjoy Maggie Davey’s letter to the newly diagnosed. One woman’s recollection of her own diagnosis experience, and the things she wishes she had been told at the start. It’s free and can be read here:

Maggie Davey's letter to newly-diagnosed Type 2s

This disappeared from the original site, but @Alan S has managed to track it down. Rather than risk losing that link I'm posting the text here. I've had to split it over a few posts, as there is a size limit for each post and it wouldn't all fit in one! :) An open letter to the newly-diagnosed...

forum.diabetes.org.uk