Ya, I know it sounds very drama-queen-ish. But it’s still basically correct. I went to see my family Doc yesterday to have him check me out. I’ve been having some swelling in my feet and legs recently (6 months to a year)… got really bad during a recent hot spell - resulting in blisters. So, not good! I knew it was going to be something big, heart/circulation problem … or diabetes. Well, it’s both. lol.
Preliminary diagnosis is middle to late stage undiagnosed Type II Diabetes combined with really high blood pressure and rapid pulse.
Now there are about 20 million people in the US with diabetes, most of them with type II diabetes. So I am not alone. And the connection with, high blood pressure is also pretty common, with about 65% of diabetes having high blood pressure. normally, this fact would make me fell a lot better. However the more research I look at, the worse this seems. “Atherosclerosis (vessel disease) can be accurately described as the end stage of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, since the vast majority of diabetes patients will die from an atherosclerotic event (cardiovacular, cerebrovascular or microvascular.)” I’m already at the stage where my diabetes limits by bodies ability to heal, as evidenced by this scratch by cat gave me in May that still hasn’t healed right. So many problems accompany this, for example: with poor circulation in my legs and feet, an small infected cut or large bruise can result in amputation of toes or legs. The high sugar in my blood has also likely already done some serious harm to my vital organs: eyes, liver, kidneys, gallbladder (increased gallstones), and nervous system. I now this because I feel the effects now, and looking back, I’ve been having slowly increasing problems with these organs for some time. Eye sight failing, gallstones getting worse, peeing like a race horse, etc. Basically, my body is shutting down due to it’s inability to process sugar.
Pretty scary, eh? definitely. And the short and long term methods I’ll have to use to cope with this are going to be very difficult. But it does explain a lot of ambiguous problems I’ve been having the past few years. Lack of energy, loss of interest in social activities, difficulties sleeping, constant tiredness, irritability, food cravings, the list goes on and on. I’ve been attributing these problems to some mental/logical failing on my part - and while that may still be the case, it’s clear that this medical condition I’m in is a huge contributing factor to my general malaise about life.
So what am I going to do? Well, in the short term, I have to lower my blood sugar and shed some excess water that has been building up in my body. Diabetes causes increased thirst - body trying to get rid of the excess sugar in the blood stream. But apparently it’s to the point where I cannot keep up with the water intake, even with increased urination. So my blody has been storing water, leading to increased pressure on my circulatory system and blood vessels. So …
1) no sugar. like none. zero. includes sweets, drinks and (I think) fruits. I think I can do this, even though I’ve been having some pretty serious cravings for sugar, especially at night.
2) decreased water intake. This one seems impossible to me. Doc says I need to limit myself to 6 * 12 oz glasses of water a day! That’s not a lot, especially in hot weather. Just a guesstimate on this is that I drink at least 3 times as much now. Doctor has given be a prescription for some pills to help with the de-watering (which of course I have to take with water, and cause thirst. lol)
Other stuff that I have to do.
3) no salt. Now this is a no brainer for me. I’ve never really used much salt or eaten food loaded with salt, docs long ago told me to stear clear of that and I listened. Only recently since I moved back home with my sister have I been having any salt at all in my diet. And from what I can gather, I’ve been having A LOT of salt. 
The meals they cook here are loaded with salt (added in by the tablespoon or in boullion, etc). I’ll probably end up having to eat on my own because I don’t trust my sister and especially her BF not to add any salt to the meals.
4) Along with sugars, carbs and starchy foods have to come down. Right now, I’d guess that well over half the food I eat is carbs or starchy. Pasta, potatoes, corn, bread. That has to drop to less than 1/4. That’s not going to be easy. I can’t supplement with protein (meats, nuts, dairy, etc) because of my heart and gallstone problems. And I can’t (at least right now) eat a bunch of fruit. Just veggies. No dip or cheese on them. just plain. and I dred that like nothing else. I mean I really like veggies … but they get old quick and there are few good veggies available in the market at a given time of the year.
5) Increased activity. This is supposed to help all the above. Still boring as shit though.
So I’m pretty down right now. Not only do I have all this to deal with. But I also can’t really do much about it right now. I have orders to get blood tests, ECG, and xrays but I can’t get them yet. I let my medical coverage lapse while I was living in the USA and now I have to do all this insane shit (paperwork, signed+notarized declarations, pictures, history of travel, etc etc) so I can it back.
And today is rainy and my feet are really sore from running around yesterday and not keeping my feet elevated. I hope ot get half the stuff I need for my medicare card this afternoon. Other half tomorrow …
I will always have this disease (AIH- autoimmune disease), but if things continue as they have been over the next year and eventually stabilize at a reasonable level, then I should be able to manage it’s effects for a very long time. Read More »
