Diabetes advice needed...help!

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wazza
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by wazza » January 25, 2011, 1:03 pm

Im presuming the blood test he did for the BSL was " a fasting test " and not just a walk in off the street bsl test with a glucometer, he would have done a liver function also etc.

did he recomend you monitor your BSL 3 times a day for a period of time, before meals. U have stated that your BSL is dropping in the day ? so i presume that is being done ?



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semperfiguy
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by semperfiguy » January 25, 2011, 1:31 pm

wazza wrote:Im presuming the blood test he did for the BSL was " a fasting test " and not just a walk in off the street bsl test with a glucometer, he would have done a liver function also etc.

did he recomend you monitor your BSL 3 times a day for a period of time, before meals. U have stated that your BSL is dropping in the day ? so i presume that is being done ?

Wazza, the tests that I had performed were complete kidney and liver, cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, PSA, CRP, hemoglobin and several others totalling 18. The doc said nothing about taking any meter readings, but just for my own peace of mind I will buy a meter and start keeping track. The low blood symptoms, which is what I am having trouble with, are unmistakable and I don't need a meter to know when I'm having an episode. But what I don't know is whether or not it ever goes hyper, so I will get the meter and find out.

God Bless!

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by wazza » January 25, 2011, 1:55 pm

Ok, good proactive measures, he will appreciate that in a follow up in say 1 month, particularly if your still have some clinical issues.

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maaka
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » January 25, 2011, 5:43 pm

good to hear thingys didnt turn out as bad as your first thought Semperfiguy, and its not all doom and gloom. if you are going to buy a one of these thingys, make sure you keep a diary, and record not only the blood levels, but what you ate and drank that day, hours of sleep, exercise, etc..the causes it might be something as simple as having an allergey to a certain food, or to a metal like silver, or some such thing, or even a food tolerance..keeping a record for say 30 days might reveil that when you have these bouts on certain days, that you ate certain foods..it certainly wont hurt to keep a record for future use if needed..

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by semperfiguy » January 25, 2011, 6:54 pm

maaka wrote:good to hear thingys didnt turn out as bad as your first thought Semperfiguy, and its not all doom and gloom. if you are going to buy a one of these thingys, make sure you keep a diary, and record not only the blood levels, but what you ate and drank that day, hours of sleep, exercise, etc..the causes it might be something as simple as having an allergey to a certain food, or to a metal like silver, or some such thing, or even a food tolerance..keeping a record for say 30 days might reveil that when you have these bouts on certain days, that you ate certain foods..it certainly wont hurt to keep a record for future use if needed..
Thanks maaka, that's great advice! Never thought about that. Maybe is has something to do with all this lead with mercury that I have in half my teeth for fillings since I was a child. Lord only knows what affect that stuff has on ones body.

God Bless!

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maaka
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » January 26, 2011, 2:44 am

now your thinking mate..my teeth are the same, now after all these decades those filling are wearing out, and I can literally taste the metal in my mouth, so obviously that metallic saliva is going into the gut, so I am having those metal filling replaced now with the modern stuff as I go, but yes, things like that can affect ones health..some people are allergic to air conditoners, the unnoticable smell that comes off electric heaters, fly sprays, etc etc, so it doesnt have to be something you put in your mouth. heck sometimes it can be caused be emotions.

my mate down the road is allergic to oily fish, almost kills him, we just about have to airlift him out in a chopper each time. I have instruction to jab him with a special infection he keeps close by, should I call over to visit, and find him lying on the floor. I think his heart rate goes thru the roof, or things start shutting down. he sort of goes into a malaria kind of state.

I have had gut problems for years, I lost weight all of a sudden, started getting weird skin conditions, and thought the worst. I went to 8 doctors and got 8 different answers. I had ever test under the sun, but I always thought it was worms, so swallowed heaps of worming pills, but no..then as a last resort I went to see a naturopath who gave me some sulphur pills, ten days later there was a ruddy big worm in the loo, which I had picked up somewhere and somehow years ago in Thailand, so you never know what half these ailments are caused by..next time you have a bout of whatever you have, record what you had or been doing especially five minutes prior to it happening..generally most allergies hit home five minutes after coming into contact with the source...I am no doctor matey, just giving you a different line of thought..but yes keeping a record of what you eat and do, may help should the s..t hits the fan at a later date..

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by wazza » January 26, 2011, 9:14 am

maaka wrote:my mate down the road is allergic to oily fish, almost kills him, we just about have to airlift him out in a chopper each time. I have instruction to jab him with a special infection he keeps close by, should I call over to visit, and find him lying on the floor. I think his heart rate goes thru the roof, or things start shutting down. he sort of goes into a malaria kind of state.
He has a hypersensitivity or allergy to a protein in the fish. What he is carrying is an Epipen, Epinepherine / Adrenaline ( depends what country your from ) a preloaded injection with needle , and a simple jab into the muscle of the skin will be sufficent to manage it.


If he has collpased and unconscious it 90% due to a drop in BP due to vaso dilation, causing the blod to pool in the extremeties , leaving his brain with a BP of less than 80 mmHG and it allows the body to collapse to lie down and then auto transfusion occurs and the BP can stable. Or the nasty nasty analphlactic reaction that causes your airway, tongue, throat to swell up and actually block off your upper airway completely. Once you at that stage u have only vital seconds to get the adrenaline in , but then u need to get the airway open, and a cricoid puncture or trachy stab is your only option, and thats dont by trained Paramedics and Doctors only ( forget Holywood ! )

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maaka
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » January 26, 2011, 9:50 am

thats the one Wazza, and all that because my mate is now allergic to oily fish..( sorry about the spelling in my last post, it should have said injection, not infection..)

anyway semperfiguy just work your way thru things, perhaps you will find an answer to your low sugar level, perhaps not, but I suggest the 30 day diary just to see if something stands out..

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semperfiguy
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by semperfiguy » January 26, 2011, 10:28 am

maaka wrote:anyway semperfiguy just work your way thru things, perhaps you will find an answer to your low sugar level, perhaps not, but I suggest the 30 day diary just to see if something stands out..
Thanks maaka and all the others who continue to advise me. This morning I started keeping a daily log of all events and food intake for the day. I gave up coffee a few months back because I was having a horrible time with the affects of caffeine on my body. That's been going on for years but I was in denial because I really enjoy the coffee. I started substituting with the Nestle NesVita drink, and it just dawned on me this morning that I always start feeling the symptoms associated with low blood sugar immediately after finishing my morning cup. I'll stay off of it for a couple of days and see if the symptoms persist. It's a wheat based drink so maybe that's the culprit; however, I've eaten bread all my life until coming to Thailand last June and it has never bothered me. I still eat a couple of peanut butter sandwiches per week using whole wheat bread and I've never had any reaction to that. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to all!

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maaka
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » January 26, 2011, 1:39 pm

your welcome mate..ideas are free..

if you can go five days without your Nescafe, and then try a cup, if it is the culprit the reaction will come on fast and strong within five minutes..five days is a good period to rid the body of toxins.. and also just because you have eaten something for years without any effects, doesnt mean that you are safe to eat them, sometimes it is that continual use over years that comes back to bite you in the arse later in life....wheat. and flour is a big one for allegries.. milk is another.some of that thai /dutch milk in the little cartons with the brown cow on ther front, really gives my guts hell, because our milk back home isnt so thick and sweet..obviously something is added to that cartoned milk so it can stay on the shop self..indeed how old is it...

once we were cavemen, and our gut system is geared to that, not to all these processed, package, frozen thingys of today....like I say, work your way thru them..if you can stick to a simple diet of meat and washed veges, or rice and veges, and you still have complaints, then slowly take out one of the foods and see if things improve..if you get down to finally meat and water and still get the systoms, then I doubt if it is a food allergy...someone posted a topic here about pesticide use in thailand, so wash your vegetables, and steer away from any chinese milk products..as they can all sorts of nasty crap in them..

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by wayne747 » January 31, 2011, 3:36 pm

Hi Semperfiguy

I still worry a bit about you have some form of diabetes.
It is nice the hospital test shows no problems, but it doesn't fit with reality, where you report you have several symptoms.
I copied these symptoms for diabetes 2 off Lilly's website for diabetes.

increased urination
blurred vision
problems with sexual function
feeling tired
dry, itchy skin
frequent infections
slow healing of cuts or sores
increased hunger and thirst
numbness or tingling in hands or feet

http://www.lillydiabetes.com/pages/symp ... sis-2.aspx

It seems to me several fit with your symptoms.
I am well aware that one may get quite hypochondric by reading the net, and think one suffers from all manner of diseases. Lilly is a major pharma company, so the list here is "valid" (there are many other sites where you think people don't know what they are talking about).

The symptoms you describe do not seem to be food allergy.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-a ... N=symptoms
Maybe I should mention I have a degree in chemistry, but as said before am not a doctor.
People often think various illnesses are caused by "factory processed food". I dont mean to get into a long discussion about that with anybody, I respect people who want only natural foods, I just mention it should not cloud the search for what might be wrong with you.

The test did not yield a diagnosis or "result" like "this value is bad, it shows you suffer from XYZ, and here is how we will treat it". The test was inconclusive, and is not the same as showing "you are healthy". Because clearly something is wrong, according to what you describe. It may be something you can live with, but it is not normal.

It is good advice you got to get a glucose meter and keep a diary. It seems something is going on with your blood sugar.

From the same Lilly page the following is mentioned about diagnosis of diabetes
.........
Diagnosis
In the U.S., type 2 diabetes is frequently not diagnosed until many years after it begins, when complications appear. Approximately one-third of all people with diabetes may be undiagnosed. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that people age 45 and above be tested for diabetes at least every three years. Adults who are overweight or obese and who have one or more additional risk factors for diabetes should also be tested at least every 3 years.

The preferred test for diagnosing type 2 diabetes is the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test.1 This blood test requires fasting (no food or drink except water) for at least 8 hours and is usually done in the morning. Other tests are the casual plasma glucose test (a blood test taken at any time of day without regard to time since last meal), and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT; a blood test taken at 2 hours after drinking glucose dissolved in water).

A diagnosis of diabetes is made if a person has any of the following test results1:

FPG is 126 mg/dl or higher; or
Diabetes symptoms exist and casual plasma glucose is 200 mg/dl or higher; or
Plasma glucose is 200 mg/dl or higher at 2 hours during an OGTT
If any of these test results occurs, testing should be repeated on a different day to confirm the diagnosis.


What is pre-diabetes?
Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have "pre-diabetes" — blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. There are 54 million people in the United States who have pre-diabetes.2 A diagnosis of pre-diabetes is made using the FPG test or the OGTT. Depending on which test is used, pre-diabetes is categorized as either impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT):

IFG: FPG is 100 mg/dl to 125 mg/dl
IGT: plasma glucose is 140 mg/dl to 199 mg/dl at 2 hours during an OGTT
Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes. Research has also shown that if you take action to manage your blood glucose when you have pre-diabetes, you can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes from ever developing. Much of the same advice for good nutrition and physical activity that is given to patients who have diabetes can benefit people with pre-diabetes. See our Nutrition and Fitness section of this website to begin learning about the positive steps you can take.
........

So, a long reply. I don't mean to scare :-)
Cheers

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » January 31, 2011, 5:21 pm

i will come back in here and rejoin the post, just to say that my previous suggestions re allergies, were just that, mere suggestions. I am not a doctor and therefore cannot say what is causing semperfiguy's systoms...obviously something is amiss, and as such no stone should be left unturned in tracking down the cause of the problem, even a second hospital opinion in relation to possible diabetes should be considered by semperfiguy if systoms continue...my suggestions were to keep a diary no matter what, and to consider allergeries as a possible cause if all other avenues had been extinguished..please keep on top of the situation semperfiguy, and talk with other diabetes sufferers..everyone with diabetes has different systoms, so one case doesnt fit all..the last thing I wont semperfiguy to beleive, is that he has an allergey just because I might think he has one....it is just something to be consider in with all the rest..

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semperfiguy
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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by semperfiguy » January 31, 2011, 7:50 pm

Thanks wayne 747 and maaka for your concerns and especially for the additional info on diabetes wayne 747. I may have mentioned before that I gave up coffee about 2 months ago because the caffeine was really giving my nervous system a fit, so I substitued it with Nestle NesVita drink. It's a wheat based nutrition drink, and I have been using the less sugar brand. The night and morning that I fasted before going for blood tests, I didn't have my morning cup. I didn't have an episode of low blood sugar symptoms all day, so I decided to eliminate that drink from my morning regimen for the next week to see if perhaps I could be allergic to something in it. So, for one week I haven't had an episode of low sugar type symptoms. I'm back to the doctor tomorrow morning for the results of one other blood test, a CRP, that had to be sent to Bangkok for analysis, so Wednesday morning I will drink the NesVita and see if the symptoms come back. If so, then perhaps that is the culprit and I'm just allergic to it. We'll see!

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by maaka » February 1, 2011, 2:37 am

good one mate. good to see you are working your way thru things..if it is the Nescafe stuff,the systoms will come on hard and fast with your next cup ok, be aware of that ok, so just try a teaspoon first, wait, then try a mouthful, then the whole cup if you have to go that far..do you have sugar and milk with your drink???..if you have sugar and milk during the rest of your day and nothing happen then ok, but if the only time you have such things is with your morning nescafe, then it might be allergic to one of those items .in which case you will have to do away with one of them for awhile and check for results.if you have a black nescafe later in the week and nothing happens, then you will have to wait afew days, and try a teaspoon of milk, then repeat the process with the sugar....lets see what happens on wednesday anyway, and with your other hospital results..however is good to see a pattern maybe forming..keep that diary going and in detail, even about non food issues..how much sleep, etc etc....god bless matey.

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by wayne747 » February 1, 2011, 4:21 pm

You are welcome :-)
You know, living in Thailand you are blessed with access to healthy and cheap fruit and vegetables.

From what I can see, Nesvita contains quite a bit of sugar - but I couldn't find the low sugar brand you mention.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calori ... ita-370721.
I wonder if the low sugar episode you talk about are really high sugar episodes ?
If you have the sugar meter, you can try measuring morning and 1-2-3 hours after drinking a good amount of Nesvita.

Regarding possible allergies, there is also the possibility of getting an allergy test.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_allergy_test
I did that once. First as a blood test - it seemed I was allergic to everything - but at borderline detection.
Then a skin test, which showed I wasn't really allergic.

Take care !

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by rickfarang » March 13, 2011, 7:35 pm

Semperfiguy,

Your symptom sounds like your pancreas may be secreting too much insulin when insulin is called for, thereby depleting the glucose in your bloodstream. When the glucose is depleted, you are hypoglycemic -so you eat something, and that starts the cycle over and over again. In the mean time, you're eating more starchy and sugary foods which helps keep your blood glucose levels high, causing excessive urination as your kidneys try to clear the blood of ketones, this in turn, leads to drinking more fluids...

The doctor may have missed something. Did he measure something called Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)? If he did not, then he might mistakenly conclude that you are not diabetic. (HbA1c is a very good indicator of diabetes) If he did have it measured, and the figure is under 7.0, then you have nothing to worry about (opinions vary on the threshold of "worrying").

I hope you are not diabetic, but if your HbA1c was not checked, you would do well to get that tested.

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by Khun Paul » March 14, 2011, 8:16 am

Pardon me did I miss something, initially Semperfiguy you asked for assistance and most of us gave help I even suggested that a certain hospital in Udon would be the best option.
Now we have further problems, now IF you had sought advice ( professionally) I would assume that your problems would have been noted, good though many members are in giving advice unless I am mistaken NONE of them are fully qulaified in that particular field and they are offering advice some based on experience.
I reiterate that the only way to deal with this medical problem is to seek correct professional advice and stick to it. No matter what you think of Thai doctors or even Consultants, they do actually have a pretty good record of dealing with Diabetes as in this country it is higher than in many others due in part to their diet.
So although much good advice has been given to you and I am not going to decry it, you SHOULD seek and HEED the advice PROFESSIONALLY given to you.
Else we are all going to event which will celebrate your life rather than live it.
Now some amy say Paul you shouldn't say that, but I remember my brother, who after dealing with a patient for Diabetes abuse for the n'th time said quite simply, 'Do this or die your choice, I give advice but you must deal with the problem with my help, or else '.. he was the Senior Consultant for Diabetes at a very well known UK Hospital for 20 years.
So Semperfiguy it is your choice really isn't it. Take care

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by nkstan » March 14, 2011, 8:40 am

KP,although it happens quite often,I didn't read any amaturish advice given that would cause him any problems.Those that have diabetes and are being treated are great people to seek advice for hospital and doctor choices!He did follow some direction advice and sought treatment.

When getting a ''clean bill of health'',there is a tendency to worry since there were problems that were not sorted out!

I have worked with hundreds of doctors and after all that,I can only think of one that I would have absolute confidence in!Picking a good one in Thailand,can be a challenging proposition,at best,so seeking the the advice of others on the selection is very prudent! =D>

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by semperfiguy » March 14, 2011, 9:41 am

[quote="Khun Paul"]Now we have further problems, now IF you had sought advice ( professionally) I would assume that your problems would have been noted, good though many members are in giving advice unless I am mistaken NONE of them are fully qulaified in that particular field and they are offering advice some based on experience.
I reiterate that the only way to deal with this medical problem is to seek correct professional advice and stick to it.

Dear fellow forumites,

Some of you have continued to give me advice towards my original post, and I sincerely appreciate your concerns. I did go for professional advice and posted the results shortly thereafter. Perhaps some of you missed that post, so I am attaching it below. To rickfarang...the HbA1c test that you suggested was one of those test performed and the results came in at 5.5, so that is normal. I am sure that I posted a follow up report wherein I pinpointed my problem as an allergic reaction to a morning drink called NesVita which contains wheat and some other ingredients which are not familiar to me. I had been taking the drink every morning for the previous 3-4 months. It appears that the reactions that I was getting from the drink seem to mimmick the symtoms of low blood sugar. I stopped taking the drink and the symtoms disappeared. I haven't had a problem since.

From my January 25th post: Well, I just returned from the Military Hospital after having seen a doctor this morning for my concerns about the low blood sugar episodes and possible diabetes. The lab performed a battery of 18 various blood tests and the doctor gave me a clean bill of health, with the exception of my cholesterol being elevated just a bit, but no cause for concern and no medication prescribed. I suppose I should be very happy with the final analysis, but I am still concerned about what is making my blood sugar drop so often during the day. The doc couldn't give me an answer and only suggested that I make sure to eat between meals and before bedtime. I'm already eating the proper foods and exercising adequately, and I don't smoke, drink alcohol or consume any caffeine. My blood pressure was normal and the doc seemed to be impressed with my overall health for a 62 year old man.

Total bill: 2070 baht. Doc's fee is free since we ordered lab tests. Lab alone back in the States would have easily been $500 (15,000 baht) or more for such an extensive profile of testing, and that doesn't include the doctor's fee.

I want to thank all you fellow forumites for your concern, your advice and your encouragement.

Regards and God Bless!

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Re: Diabetes advice needed...help!

Post by rickfarang » March 14, 2011, 11:03 am

=D> The best outcome we could imagine!

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