# I'm New.  Hello....



## Mrs Moose (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi, I'm very new to all this.

A (rather nice) GP from my group practice has only just referred me to blood tests after I went in wondering why I'd got dry eyes and throat, and was feeling thirsty and tired.  There's going to be a bit of a delay getting the tests done.

But she made some reference to diabetes during the appointment.  And I've been Googling - and thinking 'Oh that's why I've been going to the doctors off and on for the last few years with tingling in my hands and feet.'  I had tests for carpal tunnel syndrome (negative) and referrals to a podiatrist and physio. (Collapsed arch in my right foot.)  Part of me feels a bit cross that nobody at the practice, or the private podiatrist I also saw, flagged up diabetes as a possibility earlier. 

I am torn between thinking, 'I don't want to have diabetes thank you very much.' and feeling it would be good to have an explanation for all the symptoms making me feel older/less well.  (I'm 52 and had just been wondering if I was mildly depressed, getting menopausal, not taking enough exercise etc etc..)

Anyway not only do I wake in the night because I'm thirsty, want to go to the loo etc - I am now waking wondering about life with diabetes, wishing I didn't have to wait a few weeks to know one way or the other etc etc..


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## Mark T (Feb 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forums Mrs Moose 

I don't think anyone wants to join this club.  Hopefully your test results will come back quite quickly and you will know one way or the other.

There isn't really any good reason why it should take a while to do the blood test and get the results.  I would be surprised if it took more then a week.

In the mean time you might want to consider that it is carbohydrates that drive your blood glucose levels up, so therefore you might want to cut back on them a little.

This: http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-to-eat-until-you-get-your-meter.html is a helpful guide to what foods to avoid.


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## Steff (Feb 3, 2012)

Mrs moose hi and a warm welcome to the forum, good luck with the test results


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks.  The surgery couldn't offer me a blood test appointment till the 14th - then I have to book again to see the GP.  (I'm wondering whether to ring the surgery and ask them to let me know when they have a cancellation, as I just feel a bit edgy about the whole thing.)

I clicked on the diet link and thought it looked horrendous! (I tried Googling a bit more re diet.)  I'm assuming that the general idea is about keeping your weight down, and avoiding loads of sugary stuff.  I am an average weight for my height - a bit too tired at the moment to take up running again.  

I don't like or eat much fast food and am relatively modest in my consumption of sweet things, so it would be no great hardship to limit them.   However the link above is very down on pasta, rice, grains etc - which are staples in my household, which I enjoy - and which the other sites I searched don't seem to object to...


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## Mark T (Feb 3, 2012)

Well, for Type 2 it seems to be assumed that it is down the Insulin Resistance.  From what I?ve read this usually occurs when a person is overweight and is thus improved by loosing weight and eating less saturated fats ? thus the focus on the low-fat diets and weight loss.

But if you are already at normal weight, this might not help all that much.

However, it is carbohydrates that are converted to glucose that directly raise blood glucose levels (the insulin resistant just means the body is less able to deal with the sudden influx of glucose).  Starchy food like pasta, bread, rice and cereals contain lots of carbohydrate!  It doesn?t mean you can?t have any of these, just that it?s better to eat less of them.

I had the option for my blood test of also heading up to the local hospital to have it done (which I could have done that day, since it was a turn up and wait/queue arrangement).  Do you have a similar option?

There is a book in the newbie links page by Gretchen Becker ? that is very useful to have a read of.


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 3, 2012)

Ah thanks for that. 

When I was younger I had post viral fatigue syndrome - and got absolutely fed up with people trying to get me to adopt weird diets...

However I do see - at one point I did an A-level in Human Biology - that suddenly loading a body which isn't 'doing' insulin properly with lots  and lots of lovely carbohydrate - is not the way to go.

Anyway, I'll ring the surgery in a bit and see if there's any way they can test me earlier. Or ask about going to a hospital. (That's helpful).  I am feeling absolutely horrendous today, after lousy interrupted sleep. Mouth drier than ever. Raging thirst. So it would be good to feel I was moving onward and upwards....


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## ukjohn (Feb 3, 2012)

Welcome Mrs Moose. Your blood tests should take no more than a week. in the meantime as regards to foods, a diabetic can eat the same healthy foods as anyone else, its portion size is the important thing, and anything in moderation, I am a pasta lover, but I use wholemeal and also brown rice, the only way to check which foods are ok for your own body is to check your blood sugar levels before and after meals, because we are all different,and what may be ok for me, might increase your levels.Good luck with your tests.

John


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## slipper (Feb 3, 2012)

Hello Mrs Moose, lets hope you get your tests quickly, at least then you will know were you stand. Welcome to the forum


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks.  Have rung surgery and got my blood test appointment brought forward to this coming Tuesday. Which feels rather better.  I think it's mainly a matter of keeping busy till then!  (But will probably check this site from time to time for info too...)

The rather greasy ointment my GP prescribed yesterday is also making my eyes feel a bit less dry - which is good.


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## trophywench (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Mrs Moose

Had you been diagnosed 40 years ago you would most definitely have been told to limit your carbs.  However later we adopted the American style of heart-healthy diet and for whatever reason somebody in their wisdom  decided globally if it was healthy for hearts it must be healthy for diabetics and everyone else.

Then Americans had an epidemic of obesity.  And guess what? - so do we, now!  What an strange coincidence that is .... NOT!  I've only got O level biology to fall back on - which we agree told us that carbs increase blood glucose, so not stuffing your face with them does actually make sense.  And you don't need O level Maths to add 2 and 2 together to make 4, do you?

Please don't discount Alan Shanley's Blog.  He eats bloody well!  Just not boatloads of carbs.  (and in any case even if you doubt what he says 'diabetically' - his Travel stories and photographs are fantastic, well worth a read)  And - he's a very nice bloke!


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## slipper (Feb 3, 2012)

trophywench said:


> Hi Mrs Moose
> 
> Had you been diagnosed 40 years ago you would most definitely have been told to limit your carbs.  However later we adopted the American style of heart-healthy diet and for whatever reason somebody in their wisdom  decided globally if it was healthy for hearts it must be healthy for diabetics and everyone else.
> 
> ...



Thats what worked for me, however my results were good so just got told to see nurse in 6 months.

good news about earlier appt., Mrs Moose


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 7, 2012)

I am really uptight this  morning - and all I am doing is going to have my blood test.  (It is probably really rather previous of me to have joined this forum before any formal diagnosis, but I have been feeling increasingly 'not right' over the last couple of years - in particular in relation to all the weird pains in my feet.  I had put most of the 'not right' feelings down to menopause, and it was only when the dry mouth/eyes started that I went to my GP.)

So once I realised these could be diabetes related, there was a sort of feeling of Oh. Right.  Pennies dropping etc etc)

I suppose it's just getting through one stage at a time, at the moment...


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## Northerner (Feb 7, 2012)

Good luck with the appointment Mrs Moose. Remember that, if it does prove to be diabetes, then there is a great deal these days that can help you manage it well. For many, once-diagnosed and treated (whether by medication or diet and lifestyle changes) they find themselves feeling much happier and healthier than they did previously - especially if they have had symptoms for some time. Let us know how things fo


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## Sazzaroo (Feb 7, 2012)

_Welcome Aboard Mrs Moose, It's not so good having diabetes but it's not all bad either. 

Wishing you all the best and keep us posted we are here for you_


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks.  It just seems to be taking longer than I want to find out one way or the other.  First there was going to be a delay getting the blood tested.  That got sorted, but now the surgery won't actually give me an appointment to get the results.  They don't know when the doctors are in next week yet, and the GP who I originally saw may be away because it'll be half-term....  

Hard to be patient when you're feeling a) lousy and b) anxious.

But in the meantime I shall try and get on with ordinary stuff...


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## Mark T (Feb 7, 2012)

Mrs Moose said:


> Thanks.  It just seems to be taking longer than I want to find out one way or the other.  First there was going to be a delay getting the blood tested.  That got sorted, but now the surgery won't actually give me an appointment to get the results.  They don't know when the doctors are in next week yet, and the GP who I originally saw may be away because it'll be half-term....
> 
> Hard to be patient when you're feeling a) lousy and b) anxious.
> 
> But in the meantime I shall try and get on with ordinary stuff...


It can get worse before it gets better, in the first few weeks after diagnosis I felt that I was shuttling from appointment to appointment and blood test to blood test.  After a few months it all calmed down.  Of course, you haven't reached the point of diagnosis yet.

Have you had your blood test?  If you have you could always ask them to read out the results over the phone to you.  I believe that you do have a right to know the results - so they can't withhold them.  Of course you need the GP to go through them with you - but seeing the results in advance might give you a good guess at what that discussion will be like and time to research a few questions to ask.


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 9, 2012)

Can I just ask if sleep problems/disturbances are common with diabetes?

I've always had patches where I don't sleep well - and the fact that I'm finding it hard at the moment waiting for the blood results, can't help.

But I don't know if it's  thought-related anxiety - or the physical stuff (dry mouth, thirst, need to go to the loo, hunger as well...) - that is waking me in the small hours, and keeping me awake , at present...


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## Northerner (Feb 9, 2012)

Mrs Moose said:


> Can I just ask if sleep problems/disturbances are common with diabetes?
> 
> I've always had patches where I don't sleep well - and the fact that I'm finding it hard at the moment waiting for the blood results, can't help.
> 
> But I don't know if it's  thought-related anxiety - or the physical stuff (dry mouth, thirst, need to go to the loo, hunger as well...) - that is waking me in the small hours, and keeping me awake , at present...



I imagine it's very much a combination of factors for you at the moment. I know I was very similar for a while after diagnosis and have suffered from similar restless nights since - but so do people without diabetes. I have also had periods when I have slept very well, so although you may currently be having extra stresses I wouldn't say having diabetes would disrupt your sleep too much unless you had problems with, for example, neuropathy, or needing the loo.

As your management of your levels improves, hopefully your anxiety and other associated problems will reduce and you will sleep more easily  Many people find that the improvements in diet and extra exercise etc. give them an overall better health so this should also help you sleep better.


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## Mrs Moose (Feb 9, 2012)

Just feel I'm really battling/having to push to know what's going on.

I'd been told to ring the surgery today to get an appointment next week to see a GP for the results.

And they told me there were no appointments free, and they couldn't book me a date for the following week either.

At which point I got politiely stroppy. So now I have a (Valentine's Day) appointment with the nurse who does all the diabetic stuff, who will tell me what the blood tests do - or don't - indicate. 

End of rant.


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## Northerner (Feb 9, 2012)

Mrs Moose said:


> Just feel I'm really battling/having to push to know what's going on.
> 
> I'd been told to ring the surgery today to get an appointment next week to see a GP for the results.
> 
> ...



I'm afraid it can be a battle at times, depending on who you are having to deal with  I found I had to become very (polite, but) assertive very quickly! I am surprised they couldn't have offered you an appointment earlier than two weeks, or even that you are having to wait until Tuesday for one with the nurse. My surgery has an 'open surgery' a couple of days a week, where you can wait to see any available doctor, but I suppose you have no choice now but to wait for the nurse - hope she is a good nurse, some of them are better than the GPs, so might not be a bad thing!


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## Mark T (Feb 9, 2012)

Poor you, not the most exciting thing to look forward to for Valentines Day...
Hope you get some answers at that appointment rather then a wishy-washy one.


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