I am more careful now. One thing I won’t do is go stomping through the water full of barnacles, sharp sea shells and other unseen things.
I searched diabetes athletes foot “people with uncontrolled diabetes are more likely to get and hold on to fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot, which begins as cracked, peeling, or flaking skin, especially between the toes, and can progress to oozing or crusted blisters.”
Got that AF yuck back in the day when I still wore shoes when ever I was awake, it doesn’t go away so easy. I go barefoot in places exposed to sunlight. Sunlight is death to fungus and infectious stuff. They say athletes foot won’t grow without wearing shoes to give it dark and damp but hotel room carpets, all the indoor places others go barefoot I skip it.
Yes, the warnings are dire, and for many, they unfortunately come true.
I do believe I’m quite lucky with regard to D, as my control has only been very good since I stopped full time work (I did NOT stop full time work because of D, I stopped because I had worked my butt off for many years in a more than full time job and got my finances sorted nicely, and I have too many hobbies to fit in with full time work).
My control was understandably rubbish for the first few years, as I was a small child and had no BSL testing options, then I hit puberty, and growth and sex hormones are rubbish for one’s control. I got my act sort of together after about 15 years of D, in my early 20s, and then things got really good after I turned 40.
So I could well have complications by now, if the genetic dice had thrown a different number. That is the problem. We don’t know who gets the good throw of the dice.
As you’ve been diagnosed as an adult, your nerves and blood vessels might already be compromised, especially as you’ve mentioned over enjoyment of alcohol.
Gather all the facts, keep your control as nice as you can by reading lots, experimenting lots, and then make informed decisions about the well being of your feet.
And seriously have a look at Skinners, I think they’d tick all the boxes for you… I can’t find an actual website, but they are still on the Kickstarter website, and people are still posting reviews.
None of the “barefoot” shoes are the same to me, so I avoid them as much as regular shoes. In the end they carry a lot of the same issues as regular shoes…perfect bacterial and fungal breeding ground, can cause blisters, weaken your sole, and still prevent your foot from truly functioning normally. They are still better than normal shoes I suppose, but I would avoid them unless you are in a situation you absolutely need them, or you end up with neuropathy and loss of feeling which is by far not an absolute.
I agree, though, I do like some of the barefoot sandals, which at least minimize some of those issues, if not eliminate them. Nothing is still better, but not always possible.
I had 4 drinks of pinot grigio wine and didnt seem to mess with me.
The next time with 4 vodkas then a few ounces of bourbon (yuck) I got a reading of 38. Forgot how I corrected but it went up and stayed stable.
Since alcohol got discussed on this thread alot too I guess I will write about how this last time I drank five 50ml “airplane bottles” of Grey Goose Vodka and my sugar fell like a rock dropped from a plane, fast, that time into the 40s.
I was ready to go to sleep but felt hot and checked. I did not notice any of the other signs of a low, in my case usually the visuals the yellow after image like spots and slow thinking and easy frustration. I don’t seem to get the shaky hands anymore falling into the low 60s anymore even without drink.
But this was last time was just too scary. Drank some soda and small a piece of candy made it to 74. Then had more and wasn’t scared to sleep at 150 but the whole experience just sucked. I know I could be more scientific and maybe get it right but I am done with drinking for a wile.
I love it when health care professionals don’t tell you why you should do what they’re telling you to do.
It is possible that you can run around barefoot with impunity.
The risks are that if you have peripheral neuropathy you could injure your foot and not know it, and you could also have impaired ability to fight off infection.
Barefoot? Maybe not. I am a runner and looking at what I pick up on the bottom of my shoes. Bits of glass etc. misc sharp things. I will keep my shoes on👍
My podiatrist recently tried to tell me that the stiffness I’ve been feeling in my feet is a result of neuropathy… He was wrong – Been doing some stretching and other exercises with my feet and, amazingly, that “neuropathy” has been vanishing…
Earthlingcat,
Not sure how much research you’ve done on alcohols of various types, but it wouldn’t hurt to know.
Basically, straight alcoholic non-sweet liquors contain very little or no sugar (or carbs) because the former sugar in the corn mash or whatever has been converted to (ahem) alcohol. Your body…specifically your liver, perceives alcohol and many oral medicines as something to get rid of. Some sources call it “a poison” which seems a bit harsh. The point is, your liver puts the food -burger and fries you just ate at the end of the line to digest (process). So. The insulin you took to cover your burger & fries has no sugars or carbs to work on until the alcohol is finished being processed. So you go low. How lon it lasts depends on how much alcohol you consumed.
Your blood glucose drops a lot or a little according to your insulin dose.
Later, after all of the alcohol you’ve consumed has been processed by your liver, it starts to work on the burger and fries and you blood glucose goes up. Now you’re high.We’ve all been there.
This, briefly is the balancing act we insulin-dependant types all must deal with. It’s not easy to get the insulin needs, glucose levels and timing of the alcohol being processed to come out correctly. Sometimes it seems like a roller-coaster when you nibble snacks and siip drinks for a while. The more alcohol consumed… Well, you get the picture.
As for elevated glucose levels and foot infections setting in. Geez, I get a mirror & check my feet each day after my shower.I keep them clean and dry. I Use neosporin and band-aids if in doubt. And I am not a fan of goatheads.
Here is thr
e deal. You are a type 2. AND YOU CANNOT GO BATEOOT. At least you do not have an amputation. Count your blessings. It could always be worse. You should not drink anyway. What are you lamenting for?
A note on Neosporin, many (including me) have developed allergic reactions to the ingredients (usually neomycin ). Which causes the applied area to turn bright red. Very hard to understand what is going on with an injury It seems doctors and nurses and pharmacists know this. There are other options.
Just ask your pharmacist.
Lots of replies since my last visit. More good info , Thanks.
Had some things happen since I last posted anything, including another drinking episode, 6 drinks of Pinot Grigio wine and fell asleep without taking my 20 units once daily Lantus at night.
First time ever fell asleep accidentally without taking it. Wake up next morning BG like 95. Long story short I just did not eat all day, nothing just coffee and tested constantly and was within 10 points of 100 all day. Steadiest numbers since I started doing this 6 months ago.
6 PM I ate an Italian sub bread and all, went from that 100 to 267 2 hours later and had enough of that experiment so in goes 20 units Lantus and I fell back to 118 had a few crackers and went to bed.
it looks like I replied to [quote=“T2Tom, post:49, topic:69761, full:true”]
Barefoot? Maybe not. I am a runner and looking at what I pick up on the bottom of my shoes. Bits of glass etc. misc sharp things. I will keep my shoes on👍
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I guess it depends where you live but it really is amazing how with little conscience effort you learn to scan the ground and watch your step.
I probably wrote it on this thread already but until I got it in my head to try and see if I could adapt to barefooting I hating going barefoot as I felt fragile without my shoes on.
In a way I completely forget I am barefoot now as it is as natural as going bare handed. There is lots of ways to hurt hands too but we all have the natural instinct to watch out for them. Quit wearing shoes that natural instinct is either learned or kicks back in with your feet too. Doesn’t take long.
Ok, I’m not going to address drinking in depth. I have been type 1 for 28 years. Diagnosed at 11, am 39 today. I partied in college. But I had a lot of highs and lows.
Today I usually have 2 glasses of dry red wine at a time (I’m a small lady) and it’s never really been an issue, I do have a higher blood sugar rise in the am after I have alcohol than when I don’t.
About going barefoot. I’m not so worried inside my house. You are regularly exposed to the germs in your house, so there’s less of an issue than outside your home. I wear a lot of flip flops and sandals in the summer. I don’t have neuropathy and feel things touching my feet so I’m not going to wear socks and shoes all the time until I have to. I will say, if I have a few days of high blood sugars, I usually end up with at least one really bad blemish, sometimes it will be in an unusual place and get infected, like with staph. You might find that is an issue for you as you age.
Learn to count carbs. Buy a book for this or download a phone app. If you get a pump, use the bonus wizard that takes your active insulin into account when you eat something else. It’s complicated and this will do math you aren’t capable of. (We got along without it before, but it’s just so much more accurate!)
Funny how no one ever seems to question people being bare handed lol. I always get a kick out of that. No so much in the diabetic sense, but in the general sense.
I cannot believe you waste timetalking about drinking and going barefoot. You are diabetics. In Canada, we are just lucky to be alive. Get a lfe. It could be a lot worse.
I thought the barefoot thing was about forming cracks in the skin of your feet and not feeling it when your feet go gangreen and stuff. What is this now about drinking alcohol? Does that help?
And I am not a fan of goatheads.