What a Day!

[joner847]

So having had the symptoms over the last 7 weeks; battling Thirst (been getting through 6 x Wadsworth 6X (pint) glasses of water a day and still gasping, peeing for England (including twice nightly), tired (nodding off in front of the telly; much to the annoyance of my wife especially last Monday when we were meant to be watching a couple of BBC D-Day documentaries!). But no weight-loss (pah! just my luck!)I decided to get myself looked at.

Tuesday was a rather fraught day, as my 11 year old daughter managed to burn her finger on a hot glue gun (long story..perhaps for another day!) so spent most of the afternoon at a minor injuries unit and then me off to see my GP; I knew that something was up as I noticed the Urine test showed up green (never seen green before) on the "litmus" paper and my finger prick test revealed a Blood Glucose level of 30 (Is that high?...my mother pretty much fainted when I told her! And I noted the maximum permitted reading on my BG monitor is 33!). Plus I had a GP consultation there and then...they never do that normally!

So here I am! I've also been diagnosed with ADHD as well (the "Attention Deficit" flavour) as I have no working short-term memory (yes I will forget where my keys are, I can forget what I'm talking about mid-sentence and today I poured cold water in my tea mug as I forgot to turn on the ruddy kettle!), so remembering to take pills and regular BG readings at specific times of the day will be interesting! My diagnosis is so new that I haven't yet seen the Diabetic nurse to discuss what this all means, so I'm in somewhat of a daze, with lots of questions, What can I eat? Will I go blind? if I get something wrong will I now explode? How do you lot cope with all this? Is it something that you get used too?

Anyway....Hi!!

 

[Drummer]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Yes 30 is high - but with any luck you can lower it.
I can commiserate on the memory thing - when I was taking Atorvastatin for a few weeks I was in a state - could not remember where anything was, burnt the dinner several times, forgot I needed to cook food - lost the car in the car park, but it was the tablets and once I stopped taking them my brain got better.
A definite diagnosis is usually done after a blood test to find out your Hba1c, but the less interesting cases can sort out the high blood glucose just by avoiding sugar and starchy foods, whilst there are tablets and other treatments for those needing them.

 

[Gwynn]

I've never heard of anyone with diabetes exploding, so you will probably be ok.

To be a bit more serious. I too suffer from a very very poor memory. So how have I coped with sorting out food and (when I was on them) meds, at the right times and amounts, day on day. I have had this memory problem all my life (and yet I have a photographic memory under stress, like for exams). I got through most of my life by writing everything down in little note books. A source of some ridicule at work for 30+ years (my, they were unkind) !

When I was first diagnosed I carried on using note books but quickly found them to be too messy and I kept losing Pages/books, couldn't read my terrible unreadable writing, forgot to enter any details, etc. So I decided to use an App to record and guide me through each day. The app enables me to create meals, take meds, record health stuff, remember appointments etc etc. Without it I would be lost. And my laptop, with the App, sits in front of me, in the lounge, all day. I can't ignore/forget about it !

I do understand where you are coming from.

The App method works a treat for me. I believe there are Apps on the internet that may be able to help with the different aspects.

If not then Amazon sell Pukka pads A5 books 6 note pad bundles, really cheaply. I still use them for other stuff.

Hope this helps. Hope you don't explode 🙂

 

[Vonny]

Hi @joner847 and welcome from me also 🙂 It's a minefield to start with but you'll soon get the hang of it, even with a poor short-term memory. The main thing to remember eating-wise is to cut down on the carbs. I eat exactly the same as the rest of the family but I just cut out potatoes, rice, bread and pasta. I didn't think I could do it (my dream dinner was a chip butty!) but after a couple of weeks I found I didn't miss them. To protect your sight you are best reducing carbs gradually, something I wasn't aware of and luckily I'm fine, but I understand that dropping your sugars suddenly can cause problems with eyesight in the long run. I'm sure there are more knowledgeable people who will clarify this!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I've never heard of anyone with diabetes exploding, so you will probably be ok.

Nobody on the forum has reported exploding (that I can remember) anyway.

 

[trophywench]

Hey @Bruce Stephens - there's a first time for most things though! 😉

There are 'pill wallets' you can get - Pete's mother used to have a 7 day one, with 4 compartments for each day and his bro used to divide a week's worth at a time up for her every Friday. Have a word with your pharmacist and see if he can suggest something to help you take your meds regularly?

 

[trophywench]

PS - you may well find that when you start to get lower BG readings on a regular basis, your memory and your concentration improve - but like a lot of things - it takes time and will not be instant or even quick.

 

[goodybags]

Hi @joner847
welcome to the forum

diet wise cut down on obvious sugar laden foods but also starchy carb rich foods
bread pasta potatoes rice etc, I now eat wholegrain rice and pasta (when I eat it)

and to answer your question how do we cope
before I didn’t, but like many others this forum has been a great help

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @joner847

Thanks for your lively introduction - made me smile

Hope your daughter’s finger is on the mend.

Sounds like your symptoms came on quite suddenly? It might be worth remembering that over the next few months, just in case your body doesn’t seem to be responding to a lower carbohydrate eating plan, and any medications you are offered as you might expect. Sometimes people get put in one category of diabetes eg T2 almost by default, when in fact they end up being one of the rarer snazzier types (LADA, MODY etc). Not saying this has happened to you, but we do have folks arriving on the forum fairly regularly who are later reclassified with a diabetes that needs a different treatment plan.

Hope your symptoms subside soon, and you begin to feel more yourself 🙂

Ask any questions you have in the mean time - folks here will be happy to offer suggestions and share their experiences

 

[joner847]

Thank you all for the kind replies! Apologies that I haven't replied recently! A mixture of getting my head around the new arrangements, working out eating plans (I recognise this isn't a "diet", as "diet" denotes "temporary"!) and enjoying the sunny weekend.

@everydayupsanddowns ; yes my symptoms did come on suddenly, it took me around 6 weeks to notice and when I started to get up more than once in the night then I thought this ain't right...better get myself looked at! Daughter's finger is a lot better, she has a further check and re-dress on Friday...hopefully the last.

I've had a brief with the diabetic nurse and my Gliclazide and Metformin doses were increased Friday. My last finger prick test (taken this morning) showed a BG level of 8.1 so it has come down a lot. The symptoms have subsided too so I'm enjoying sleeping through the night. You guys are talking about "HbA1c"; what is that? I currently don't know what mine is! I'll ask the diabetic nurse when I have a proper face-2-face tomorrow. Is it something I can test myself (if so, how!?).

 

[Leadinglights]

The test you had which gave the reading of 30mmol/l would have been from a finger prick I assume, so was your blood glucose levels at that moment in time and yes it was alarmingly high.
The HbA1C is a test done from a blood sample taken from the arm and sent to the lab, this gives the average blood glucose over a 3 month period and that would be anything from 48mmol/mol upwards, 48 puts people just in the diabetic zone and they would usually be able to bring the level down by changes to lifestyle. However with a spot test and you having been prescribed those medications you are a fair way into the diabetic zone. The medications will help to bring down your levels but you will also need to make some changes to your diet to reduce carbohydrate intake. If they also took blood from your arm then you may have had the HbA1C test done so you should ask for that result as this would be the test required for diagnosis. Other tests are normally done to check kidney function etc at the same time.
Check out the site for explanations of the various tests and levels and have a list of questions for your nurse. As you have been put on gliciazide you should be prescribes a glucose monitor and test strips as that medication can cause hypos and you should be testing especially before you drive. She should explain all that to you and I hope she will be recommending a low carbohydrate dietary regime but going slowly to avoid any eye issues from dropping blood glucose levels too quickly.
Good luck with your appointment.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

You guys are talking about "HbA1c"; what is that? I currently don't know what mine is! I'll ask the diabetic nurse when I have a proper face-2-face tomorrow.

@Leadinglights has given you a great explanation - this page might help too?

What is HbA1c?

HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. If you have diabetes, an ideal HbA1c level is 48mmol/mol (6.5%) or below. If you're at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, your target HbA1c level should be below 42mmol/mol (6%).

www.diabetes.org.uk

🙂

 

[pmailkeey]

So

I've had a brief with the diabetic nurse and my Gliclazide and Metformin doses were increased Friday.

What dose of gliclazide are you on now ?