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Lollipopman

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Hi all,
I have come onto this site desperate to get advice on foods to avoid, i am type 2 and have been for about 8 years, overweight by about 4 stone. You may think why ask about food now, well things have happened this week that has frightened me very much. 5 weeks ago i got cellulitis on my right foot and the pain has been unbearable, not being able to weight bear on it and have been sat with foot raised ever since. Long story short, no improvement so sent for xray and found to have charcot foot and now in walking aid boot. Got appt with consultant in Diabetic foot care clinic next week, having neuropathy am now worried might have done more damage with having to do bit of walking needed for stairs etc. Sorry if i have rambled but getting the message accross that if anyone with type 2 and neuropathy has trouble with foot pain MUST GO TO PODIATRY.
Thanks for listening!!!
 
Lollipopman said:
Hi all,
I have come onto this site desperate to get advice on foods to avoid, i am type 2 and have been for about 8 years, overweight by about 4 stone. You may think why ask about food now, well things have happened this week that has frightened me very much. 5 weeks ago i got cellulitis on my right foot and the pain has been unbearable, not being able to weight bear on it and have been sat with foot raised ever since. Long story short, no improvement so sent for xray and found to have charcot foot and now in walking aid boot. Got appt with consultant in Diabetic foot care clinic next week, having neuropathy am now worried might have done more damage with having to do bit of walking needed for stairs etc. Sorry if i have rambled but getting the message accross that if anyone with type 2 and neuropathy has trouble with foot pain MUST GO TO PODIATRY.
Thanks for listening!!!
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Keeping you blood glucose well managed is important to avoid the complications that you are now unfortunately suffering, but now is not too late to get to grips with some dietary changes but what you do may depend on what medication you are on for your diabetes and what your HbA1C is.
Many find a low carb approach is successful at both losing weight and reducing blood glucose, this link may help you with some ideas for menu changes. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/product/freshwell-low-carb-manual/. whether this is suitable depends on where you are with meds.
If you have not had a recent HbA1C that would be a good idea to ask for.
Exercise will help but you may struggle with that but there are seated exercises that you may be able to do, just search for NHS seated exercises.
 
Hi @Lollipopman and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to here that you are having serious diabetic complications. Unfortunately ignoring Diabetes (of whichever type) is never a good idea in the longer term.

A Low Carb way of eating can bring down Blood Glucose levels in a nice controlled way, even all the way down to normal non-diabetic levels like mine - depending upon which medications you are taking. A warning that Insulin and some others require you to take a certain minimum amounts of carbs to avoid hypos. So extra care is needed for those on such medications.
 
Welcome to the forum @Lollipopman

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis with Charcot Foot. It’s not all that common a condition, but one of our members @Flower has been living with Charcot for a number of years and may be able to offer you some pointers.

Don’t be to hard on yourself about delaying seeking help - the last few years have been pretty extreme for the healthcare system, and I think that has led many (including me) to delay asking about various things, because of the pressure in the system and scarcity of appointments.

The ‘right’ selection of foods can be a very individual thing, and it’s frustratingly difficult to get clear advice from anyone that isn’t based on averages, which means it may not apply exactly like that for you - because the human body likes to throw some curve balls and diabetes likes to add some fickleness into the mix.

Many here find a moderate or low carbohydrate menu works well to reduce their glucose instability and variation, but precisely how low, and which sources of carbohydrate remain on the menu is very personal. Low/moderate carb doesn’t have to mean ‘no carb’ (there is carbohydrate in small amounts even in things like eggs and cheese along with all vegetables), so to retain a flexible, enjoyable, and nutritious menu just involves finding the portion sizes and sources of carbohydrate that work well for you as an individual.

Many members looking for a ‘reset’, find it can be really helpful to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Note down everything you eat and drink, along with a reasonable estimate of the total carbohydrate content in your meals and snacks - it doesn’t have to be gram-perfect, the nearest 5-10g is fine. It might sound like a bit of a faff, and will involve weighing portions, squinting at the fine print on packaging, and possibly looking up things on the internet, but it will give you a really good idea of which foods are the main sources of carbs in your current menu. Once you can see which meals or snacks are your ‘big hitters’, and where carbs might be unexpectedly lurking, the diary might also suggest some likely candidates for swaps, portion reductions, or using lower carb alternatives (eg celeriac or swede mash, or cauli ‘rice’).

Good luck, and keep us posted with how younare getting on 🙂
 
Hi and welcome @Lollipopman

I’m sorry to hear about your Charcot foot diagnosis. It is a difficult condition to diagnose as it presents as a hot, red swollen foot and can be misdiagnosed initially as cellulitis, infection or in my case a sprain. Initial XRays can be clear until bony destruction starts to show so caution and early immobilisation are vital if Charcot is suspected to try & protect the bones & joints in the foot and prevent fractures and permanent bone dislocation from happening.

This is good information on Charcot foot from the Diabetes UK site

Charcot foot and diabetes

If you have diabetes and peripheral neuropathy, also known as nerve damage, you’re more at risk of developing Charcot foot. Charcot foot is a serious foot problem. But having treatment as early as possible can reduce your risk of further complications like developing a foot ulcer or needing an...
www.diabetes.org.uk www.diabetes.org.uk

The pain you have in your foot will hopefully have limited any walking you were doing prior to diagnosis and will have protected your foot from damage. Charcot is a long term chronic complication & you have to be patient whilst the temperature and swelling subsides. It can mean a long time in either a cast or protective boot using crutches. Charcot foot goes through stages from the initial flare up and the aim is to get to a normal temperature foot without bone destruction.

As said above keeping your glucose in range is vital to help good healing, prevent infection & limit ongoing damage.Keeping blood pressure & cholesterol in range & stopping smoking if you do smoke also help in the healing process. Being vigilant and checking feet daily for skin changes, blisters & cuts is also vital.

Charcot can happen with any type of diabetes and neuropathy. It isn’t specific to one type.

I wish you well and hope things settle down for you.
 
Thank you all so much for your response, the good thing is that the swelling and redness is starting to come down and it is a bit easier to walk on (only when needed), I shall report back after i have seen the consultant in the morning. I stopped smoking on the 13 Feb after 50 years of using those filthy sticks, and in case anyone is wondering wow!! how did you manage that? well, the answer is through past attempts at trying to quit you have GOT TO WANT TO DO IT. Once again, many thanks for all your comments.
 
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