Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

luvchocolate

dustydigger said:

 There's always something. Just got a phone call from the docs. I had a diabetes test yesterday and the receptionist told me it nwas ''abnormal'' What the hell does that mean? Got to hope it just means my sugar level is very high,and I may have to go onto medication - which I avoided for 5 years,but the covid business plus the thyroid and pernicious anaemia  have diverted me from watching my diabetes.Too much comfort eating and junk food I suppose Looks like trouble,but I am not amused with the term ''abnormal.'' Talk about frightening the life out of patients!

And damn,I have had 2 chinese takeaways and quite a few biscuits since yesterday's test. Results could be even higher. I have to go in tomorrow morning for a repeat test,and then an appointment with the nurse next Tuesday.Not looking good. I rarely hear good things about metformin. Colour me depressed.

Hi I got my blood sugars back to normal by going low carb so avoiding medication 

Wicked_Lady

I was going to say the same as @luvchocolate. I'm also losing weight with low carbing, although, as far as I know, I don't have high blood sugar.

How about getting hold of the Blood Sugar Diet book, maybe from the Library, and giving it a go?
There's an excellent recipe book to go with it.

maddiemay

HI, hope you don't mind me popping my head around the door - The Blood Sugar Diet book is available on Kindle at £4.99.

Also dropping you a PM re Pernicious Anaemia, Metaformin hope that's OK?

weenancyinAmerica

dustydigger - I had trouble with Metformin and they put me on Glipizide. Not sure if it is available there, but there are alternatives available. Good luck.

luvchocolate

The diabetes UK forum is really helpful. Although my blood sugars are now normal, I keep an eye on my diet 

dustydigger

Thanks people for your comments and help. I was diagnosed as diabetic in 2017,but with great effort I lost 4 stone.,and got my blood level down from 49 to 37,and was in remission.,and needed no treatment. Some of the weight slid back on over the next year or so,and when my levels went up again I confidently started to change my diet to low carb once more expecting to once more lose weight quickly and easily.

.So I was greatly puzzled when for a full year I stubbornly stuck at seventeen stone two.,rarely moved above or below. Turned out it was my thyroid,which got me up two stone,and then stuck me there! Aarrgghh!!! Once I realized what it was I tried my best and though the loss was slow I have consistently lost 1 lb a month without fail,till a few months ago when it became 2 lbs a mont,when my treatment for PA began to improve my health.. I am now at 15st 10 lb,lost 2 lb this month and last month. Doesnt sound much to most people but after a year and a half of  sticking firmly at 17 st 2lb,I am grateful for any loss.

However the last year has been very stressful,staying isolated because my surgery warned me to be very careful avoiding covid. If Mr Dusty and I get a cold together,he is better after a few days,mine goes on my lungs and i am ill for 8-10 weeks. Been like that all my life. At 11 I remember hospital visits to an NHS masseuse who would pound my back in a effort to loosen the phlegm in my lungs.

Anyhoo this last year or so,I have had no exercise,and life has been so stressful. The nurse warned me a while ago that my sugar was  very high and I said i would work on it . Mr Dusty's cognitive functions are declining and its a big worry. This winter in particular I have been so upset and worried,and of course gave in to comfort eating - and alcohol,which didnt help the brain fog and depression from PA at all - so I did lose half a stone,but wasnt mentally focused enough to really work at it. I definitely feel I am making a little progress,but thats not going to go down well with the surgery.I will see next week exactly what is my sugar level,but doubt if they will allow me 6 months again to get into remission.I am worried that they will want to put me straight on to injections.Dont know how I'll cope,after seeing the miserable time my sister had. Let's hope for the best,eh?

My dear sister had diabetes for 27 years. She went straight onto insulin injections,first 2 a day,then 3,and finally they were about to increase that to 4 when she died of diabetes complications.. Cant believe that 3 years ago I was in remission,and now have gone back to full diabetes and added thyroidism and PA to the tally of immune issues I have.

@maddiemay - thank you for yourbkind''gift'' of info. I have done a lot of research on these issues,but I will have a look later,when I am calmer and not so much like a headless chicken running around. Not much more than a chickens IQ to be found in my brain today!

dustydigger

luvchocolate said:

The diabetes UK forum is really helpful. Although my blood sugars are now normal, I keep an eye on my diet 

Yeah,I am a regular visitor there. I will no doubt be perusing the different diets yet again . I did do low carb last time,and it worked well. Also it was mostly plant based. 6 months without bread was what helped most - I am so in love with bread - .and masses of veggies all the time. No sugar,no cola. It was a little bit of a struggle the first couple of weeks but then I had no bother,and lost 4 stone in months.

However I know from experience that if I dont walk,I dont lose.And for 2 years I have sat here couch potato par excellence. Must get back into walking,though with a stick isnt any fun. I remember when I started out I could only walk 2 or 3 minutes in the garden because of knee pains.,and gradually increased it .Will need to start again from scratch,even if the worst comes to the worst and I am on injections.

I am just coming out from frain fog etc,I am hoping my health will improve with each B12 jab. Fingers crossed.

Right enough of all this moaning and self pity,I am off to watch videosm of Queen on You Tube. Watching Freddie's antics and  hearing his fantastic voice is a perfect pick me up.

Pink12345

I have type 2 diabetes and at the moment I am controlling it by diet alone.  There are to my knowledge at least 6 different types of medication besides metaformin.  I know as I have tried 6 of them, but they all had horrible side effects, for some reason my body does not tolerate any medication well.  Can you get your gp to prescribe, a testing kit and you can test daily so you know exactly what is going on with your bloods.  I live in southern Ireland and the kits  testing strips and lancets are free to diabetics, one of the few things we get free on our medical system.  Doctors appointments cost €60, blood test cost €30, just to put things in perspective.

dustydigger

@Pink12345

Ouch,thats expensive,Pink. Good old NHS,we are so fortunate that  in UK its all free at point of use.The NHS and I are the same age,and I am very fond of it!

Your reaction to metformin and the rest is quite common actually,which is why I am reluctant. Like you my body probably will not do well with it. I'll surely come to be using the strips. My poor sister used them numerous times a day,her poor fingers were always so sore. :(None of that new fangled using your phone on your arm around then!

dustydigger

Right,11.15 appointment for repeat test. I am fasting to try to mitigate if at all possible

I will go early,and get off at the bus stop next to the shopping centre,and take in my first bag of books  from behind the couch.One down,at least 10 to go.. There is a free bookshelf there,and their standards are not as high as our snooty charity shops who faint in horror if you try to give them a rather tatty book.

The butcher's is only a few yards away from there ,will get Mr D his favourite beef sausages. Then I can sit on a bench on the shopping street before walking to the surgery. 5 mins for most people,nearer 10 for me and uphill.Need to sit to get the BP down,as I can have really bad results . At home it could be 130/78,at the doc's 30 mins later its about 145/85

Annoyed this morning when I was refused online to order medication for Mr D. He needs a review of his meds by a doctor before we can order. Will try to sort that at my appointment this am. Could have phoned in theory,but its a nightmare getting through. Last time I was number 14 in the queue,and waited 18 minutes before I got through.I am climbing the walls by time I have heard the recorded voice say ''we thank you for your patience''  a gazillian times.Any patience I started with is long gone after the hearing this every 30 seconds