Tagged: diabetes RSS

  • Dave 7:41 pm on November 7, 2007 Permalink
    Tags: diabetes, eye, , retinopathy   

    Retinopathy screening and related subjects 

    Like dustbin lids [17/365]

    On Monday afternoon I went for a combined eye test and retinopathy screening. I’ve done this every year since 2003 and it is one part of my regular annual appointments. It’s a strange thing, having eye drops to make my pupils become hugely dilated so that the examiner can get a good look inside and take photos. The most unpleasant part of this is when they are first put in – there is a very mild sting – but that disappears almost immediately. The strangest thing is how things look afterwards – especially when it’s dark outside – street lights, car headlights and any bright light looks extra bright and vibrant with even a bit of star filter thing going on! It’s a good few hours before things get back to normal. When I’ve had this test done in summer months or daytime winter appointments, I’ve had to wear sunglasses afterwards, but this time, leaving in the dark was the most comfortable without the need to shield my eyes.

    The week prior to the eye test I had my diabetic review at my local GP’s. The actual review is done by one of the nurses there – I actually prefer this to seeing my doctor because I think the nurses have a nicer manner and it’s more relaxing. This review was a follow up to an appointment two weeks previously where I had some blood taken for analysis. I’ve got used to this over the last 4 years but I still don’t watch it happening! The good news was that in every measurable sense, I’m in good knick. This is good news but also slightly surprising given that I’ve been less active over the last twelve months. They didn’t seem to mind that I’d put some weight on in the last year – but I think they would have minded if any of the blood tests hadn’t come back so good. Regardless, that is a blot on my copy book so I need to address that!

    In the next six weeks I’ll have an appointment with the consultant at the hospital. Normally I try and arrange things so that the local doctor’s checkups happen six months after the hospital ones, but due to appointment creep they’re almost at the same time this year so my local doctor’s one has been adjusted to even it out again.

    The hospital appointment will be more blood tests – testing some of the same things that my doctor has tested for and probably other things aside. Although everyone involved with my medical care is happy with the way things are going, it’s still a bit of a puzzle why I presented with Type 1 Diabetes symptoms in late 2003 and the symptoms disappeared as I got healthier due to diet and exercise – so much so that I stopped taking insulin at my consultants request and haven’t needed to take anything to control my blood sugar levels which have stayed perfect.

    I have had DNA tests and glucose tolerance tests as well as blood tests to look at all sorts of things, but it’s still a bit of a mystery. The suspected diagnosis at one point was MODY but that’s not at all certain. Different parts of the jigsaw slot in to place every time I visit the hospital – the diagnosis is interesting and it’ll be nice to eventually find out exactly what my condition really is, but in the mean time, what I really need to be thankful for is that I’m still healthy and that’s more important than working out the name of what I’ve got!

     

    • emdot 2:07 am on November 8, 2007 Permalink | Reply

      That’s an awesome shot, Dave. Emotional, even, somehow.

      Congrats on the clean bill of health. You are very inspiring. :)

  • Dave 7:13 pm on July 20, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: diabetes,   

    Peace of mind from just £10 a year 

    Peace of mind from just £10* a year

    I joined Diabetes UK almost immediately after being diagnosed with Diabetes in late 2003. The only person I knew to be diabetic recommended them to join for the first year after I was diagnosed to help get to grips with it all. It did help answer a lot of questions. I didn’t renew my membership after the year was up though because I felt that I was getting enough useful information from my Diabetes clinic.

    Since then I’ve had the odd letter trying to coax me to join the organisation again culminating with today’s which is the envelope pictured.

    Using scare tactics to sell things seems to be the way of things these days but I find this just a bit distasteful.

    * it’s actually £22 if you’ve got  a job.

     

    • Craig Marston 8:57 pm on July 20, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      I agree with you, but I reckon it’s the only way for organisations to get noticed these days with the amount of crap that can adorn the doormat..!

      Which leads [slightly off topic] to the mailing preference service: http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/ register for free here to stop nearly all your junk mail. There is also a telephone preference service which is linked from the above URL. It is now illegal for telesales companies to cold call telephone numbers that have been registered – woohoo!!

    • Leigh 9:13 pm on July 21, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Whoa!

      Who wants a drink? That’s depressing! And it’s in bad taste.

    • Diana 12:50 am on August 2, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Geesh…they may want to relook at who they pick for Marketing next time.

  • Dave 3:49 pm on May 3, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: diabetes,   

    Glucose Tolerance 

    I went to the hospital today to do a glucose tolerance test. I had nothing to eat or drink after 10 o’clock last night and then had a blood sample taken at the hospital to measure my current blood sugar level. If this is at a nice healthy level (mine was), you get to drink a large glass of Lucozade to get the blood sugar level up. Then comes the boring bit – having to sit and wait for two hours. I wasn’t allowed to do anything – not even have a walk around the hospital.

    The wait wasn’t that bad – I was reading A Short History of Nearly Everything and learning all sorts of interesting things (like Uranus nearly being called George!). The only down side was that there were several other people doing the same thing as me and a group of these spent quite a long time spouting ill informed tabloid racism – these were all well past retirement age and hopefully that was a sign that some things are changing for the better in the current day and age.

    So, after a few hours of this I was quite relieved to go back for another blood test so that they can tell how my body dealt with it – in theory the diabetics blood sugar will come down more slowly than everyone else. I probably won’t find out the result of this until around August when I see the consultant again.

     

    • Roger B. 9:15 pm on May 3, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Hope you get a good result.

      Here’s a game to play when you next find yourself out-numbered by old farts: see how it takes one of them to say one of the following phrases:

      “Caning never did me any harm” (5 points)

      “Bring back National Service” (10 points)

      “Bring back hanging” (15 points)

      “Send ‘em back!” (25 points)

      “String ‘em up!” (50 points)

    • publicenergy 6:29 am on May 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      This lot scored the 25 pointer multiple times :(

    • Roger B. 8:53 pm on May 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      This afternoon I was talking to an elderly relative who actually said “Enoch Powell was right…”.

      That’s got to be worth 75 points.

    • publicenergy » Bits and 10:10 pm on December 7, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      [...] Yesterday I went for another glucose tolerance test. I’d previously had one in August and by all accounts that turned out just peachy, so yesterday’s was a repeat just to rule out a fluke result. Visiting the hospital yesterday and having to wait around for hours without doing anything wasn’t as bad as the first time I had to do that when I was sat near some old gits spouting racist remarks. Instead I got talking to a guy who was having the glucose tolerance test to confirm a diabetic diagnosis who seemed worried about it but putting a brave face on it. My experience is that I’m much better looked after now that I have diabetes than I was before so it was a positive event for me as strange as that might seem, so I hope it works out as well for him. I go back in February so I’ll find out the results and what happens next then. [...]

  • Dave 7:46 pm on March 14, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: diabetes,   

    We’re testing you – don’t go shopping! 

    Novamix30

    I went to the diabetes clinic today so that they could see how I was doing, making sure that my blood sugar level was ok, my eyes are ok, there’s nothing funny in my urine, I’m still the same height any my weight hasn’t done anything bizarre.

    I didn’t get to see the big cheese consultant and instead saw some young guy who asked me to run through the history of my condition. After catching up he disappeared off to talk to the big cheese to ask some questions leaving me chatting to the nurse. She said to me, “I don’t understand, does this mean your not diabetic any more?” – I’ve been asked that a number of times since my last visit when they suggested I stop taking insulin. I expect it’ll be a while and a number of visits down the line before I know the exactly what is happening when they’ve finished doing all the tests they can think off and settled on a final diagnosis. There doesn’t seem to be a rush though – the NHS isn’t known for it’s speed, but I can’t complain – I appear to be healthy so from that point of view there is no rush to get to the bottom of all this. I’m sure if I had something more serious and in urgent need of attention things would move more quickly.

    At the beginning of May I’m going back to do a Blood Glucose Test. They will give me some sugary drink and see what happens to my blood sugar levels – they’ll be looking to see how they rise and fall. If they rise and fall back to normal within 2 hours then that is in line with normal non-diabetic people, if it takes an extra hour or so and initially peaks higher then that would seem to be consistent with being diabetic. While I’m waiting I’m not allowed to exert myself and I have a information sheet telling me that I really shouldn’t go for a wander around the hospital or nip over the road to do my shopping at the supermarket while the test occurs!

    So it’s odd doing this 2 and a half years after initially being diagnosed, but things seem to be a little different with me and diabetes – it’s also like a little detective story as we try and get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, I feel healthy and I’m seriously looking forward to the days getting longer and warmer and getting a lot of cycling in.

     

    • Leigh 12:25 am on March 16, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      That sounds like really good news! (fingers crossed!)

  • Dave 3:34 pm on February 4, 2006 Permalink
    Tags: diabetes,   

    Diabetes 

    Eye Examination

    Warning: This is long rambling post and a rough summary of my original diagnosis and important related events between then and now.

    Since being diagnosed with Diabetes in 2003, I’ve probably never been in better health. That kick started a lifestyle change that has done me so much good it’s hard to imagine now looking back exactly how I used to be. If you click on the little thumbnail on the right you’ll see a photograph from last year that tries to explain some of the changes (that was uploaded to Flickr last June)

    3 Years

    One of the major benefits of having Diabetes is that I get regular medical checkups. There is currently talk of offering regular checkups for everyone – prevention being better than cure as the saying goes.

    Despite my change of lifestyle though, every time I’m being examined by someone there is always the bit at the end when they say “everything’s fine” where you’re relieved despite how good you’ve been! Today I went for an eye test – partly the normal checks but also to examine the eyes for evidence of diabetes / blood sugar related problems in the eye – to do this they put drops in my eyes (0.5% Tropicamide) which make the pupils dilate so they look huge! – they then shine a light in your eyes and have a good look around in there. Of course they don’t say anything until they’ve finished but I never know what they can see in there – although last year the lady described some of the patterns inside my eye and wrote it down just so that the next person the year after would recognise it confirm that the previous test hadn’t been rushed! The downside to these eye drops is that your vision goes a bit crap for a few hours – I remember last year coming out of the opticians and trying to phone someone on my mobile and not being able to see it properly to determine who I was going to phone and no amount of squinting was going to help. It does wear off though, I came out of there at 10:15 this morning and went back to pick up my glasses at 12:30 – by that time my eyes were fine again – my pupils were still large, but I could see clearly which was the important thing! 

    Now that the eye exam is out of the way I’ve got more tests to look forward to next month. In the past I’ve had all sorts of tests done and it has been quite interesting. All sorts of levels in my blood measured and things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels under much tighter reign than if I didn’t have diabetes. Of all the tests I’ve had the highlight for me was listening to blood go around my feet with an ultrasound scanner – that was strange and fascinating at the same time!

    When I was diagnosed in September 2003, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and had to inject insulin twice a day. I’m the kind of person who hates needles but to be fair, things have moved on medically over the years and it was nowhere near as bad as I was imagining. Between then and the summer of 2005 I was injecting insulin and it just became part of day to day business – my doctor at the Diabetes clinic smelt a rat though – he thought that I was using far less insulin than I should be needing if I really had type 1 diabetes. He said to me “Have you tried going without?” – Er, no! I was under the impression that I needed the insulin to stay alive!

    Well, he suggested reducing my insulin intake by half for a few weeks and monitor my blood sugar levels and if they didn’t go up out of the safe range, half my intake again for another couple of weeks and monitor again. This time if after the two weeks the blood sugar level was still safe, stop taking insulin all together.

    So, that’s what I did, a month later my blood sugar levels remained safe and stable and I wasn’t taking insulin any more. This in a way seemed like a bigger change than starting to take it in the first place, I kept feeling like I ought to be doing something!

    So this month I’ll have some blood tests done ready for my visit to the clinic next month. The suspected diagnosis is for MODY which is a rare form of diabetes. Because of this I get to see one of the big cheese consultants which is a nice bonus – every member of staff at the clinic has been great to be fair, but they now think I’m special which is great! hehe!

    Summary of differences between September 2003 and now: I no longer smoke, I’m at least 6 stone (38Kg) lighter, Cholesterol and blood pressure levels perfect, so much healthier due largely to a lot of mountain biking and walking. The weight thing is a bit of a guess, I don’t know how much I weighed initially – at my first checkup, 3 months after being diagnosed was when i first had my weight checked and the 6 stone reduction is from then. However, at that point I was already struggling with trousers being so baggy they’d fall down if I didn’t have a good belt on, so it could well have been a fair bit more weight – I’m just not sure. What I do know though is that I had jeans that were 16 inches larger than my favourite comfortable jeans I wear now! That’s just dawned on me, bloody hell!

    I don’t think I’ve been as active this winter as previously and I’m really looking forward to spring and more daylight so that I can really go to town and get fitter throughout the year.

    diabetes,mody,eyes,health

     

    • premiump 6:49 pm on February 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Respect fella, RESPECT!

    • Leigh 7:27 pm on February 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Wow! I am so impressed by this. I know how all the health scare stuff goes. Been there, but with thyroid problems for the past 25 years. It’s amazing what cycling and walking does to the body.

      Keep up the good work!

    • Talysin 8:33 pm on February 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Whoa look at you and your achievement, way to go….very impressed…..now I understand what you were saying to me…..

    • Diana 5:17 am on February 5, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      You’ve come so far and doing so great! You inspire me regularly. What does having MODY hold for the future? will you have to change things more?

      I see my doc on Feb 22nd and will have my blood drawn again and tested. I hope to hear that my blood sugar levels are out of the pre-diabtetic range.

      Keep up the good work :)

    • publicenergy 9:16 am on February 5, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks so much everyone.

      I had been posting here for around 5 months and not mentioned this on here before – but the eye test was probably the first related event in all that time so I thought I’d post, in part so that I had this written down to look back at in the future.

      MODY is a bit of a puzzle, but practically, I’m able to live my life pretty much as I like whilst taking the same care that most diabetics would. So, watching what I eat and eating meals at regular times and getting exercise. I’ll know more after my next visit to the consultant next month.

      I’m really looking forward to spring this year though – I’ve found this winter difficult to motivate myself to get out cyling in the evenings when it’s dark and very cold. It’s strange though – because I ALWAYS enjoy it when I’m out regardless of the weather or how cold it is. In fact, some of my favourite trips out on the bike have been when the weather has turned out to be dreadful! Still, looking forward to spring! :)

    • christa 10:09 am on February 5, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      I read in the news yesterday (the Swedish news, I might add) that insulin will be available in spray, like the kind that people with asthma is using.
      I only read about it briefly, so I can’t tell you when it will be available for everyone to use, or if it’s just for the kids or something….but obviously the needles won’t be necessary in the future :)

      And thanks for stopping by at my blog btw :D

    • paul B art assci 10:26 am on February 12, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Well done you. You seemed to have reacted in a robust and sensible way to the issue. Hanging onto reality and the things you can do is the way to go as you clearly have.
      Big cheese consultant definitely a bonus.
      6 stone – amazing.
      I lost 1 a few years back and stabalised at 13 stone. It’s only if I pull alcohol that I can get below this. Maybe, after the ski holiday, it’s time to get to 12 and a half again. Less flickr more cycling/gym/swimming.
      Anytime you pop by M1/Junction 25 do pop in.

    • publicenergy 10:34 am on February 12, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for all the kind comments. I’ll have to take you up on that offer too Paul :)

    • publicenergy » We’ 7:46 pm on March 14, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      [...] I didn’t get to see the big cheese consultant and instead saw some young guy who asked me to run through the history of my condition. After catching up he disappeared off to talk to the big cheese to ask some questions leaving me chatting to the nurse. She said to me, “I don’t understand, does this mean your not diabetic any more?” – I’ve been asked that a number of times since my last visit when they suggested I stop taking insulin. I expect it’ll be a while and a number of visits down the line before I know the exactly what is happening when they’ve finished doing all the tests they can think off and settled on a final diagnosis. There doesn’t seem to be a rush though – the NHS isn’t known for it’s speed, but I can’t complain – I appear to be healthy so from that point of view there is no rush to get to the bottom of all this. I’m sure if I had something more serious and in urgent need of attention things would move more quickly. [...]

    • lizzie 7:39 am on April 12, 2006 Permalink | Reply

      Well you look you pretty fit to me ;-) i have diabetes type 2 i have no idea how much weight i have lost as i hate weighing my self. but the sensible eating has meant my blood glucose readings have improved drastically and i have gone down nearly 3 clothes sizes now.
      keep up the good work.

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