What’s your doctor’s take on all of this? Does he have any theories as to what’s going on?
If he feels that an endocrinologist is in a better position to give a diagnosis, maybe he can help you get an earlier appointment, in light of your changing symptoms and new test results.
Like everywhere, there seems to be a shortage of docs! I’m on an 8 month long waiting list for the endo…so I will see him at the end of March. My primary care doesn’t have the knowledge (or inclination) to do any type of additional testing. He’s offered me to send me to a neuro for the shocks, but I’'m hoping it will not get worse and I can wait on the endo. I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this “parathesias” in early diabetes? I don’t know if parathesias is the correct term but it seems similar to what I read about it. Thanks.
I would recommend extensive testing with a meter that allows you to download to your computer. Test before each meal and 1 and 2 hours after, as well as when your feel weird. You can then use a program provided by the meter manufacturer to better organize the data. I give my doc several charts and graphs that are much easier to read and thus, perhaps, help him gain insight into whats going on. You can search old threads for meter software recommendations. I use a WaveSense Presto and am happy with both the meter and software. An additional benefit is that the strips are cheaper than most, thus making the extensive testing a little easier on the pocketbook.
Sounds like you are already identifying some of the foods that are causing problems. This is one of the benefits of extensive testing. You conduct a science experiment on your body that results in a diet customized to your specific condition.
You can find lots of help in vegetarian low carbing by reading old threads on this site. It’s tough but can be done.
Don’t forget, if you have some flexibility, you can tell the endo’s office that you would be willing to come in if there is a cancellation. Often endo’s schedule months out with a regular rotation of patients in their practice. It takes months to get into that rotation, but “stuff happens.” People need to cancel their appointments, and you can often squeeze in “next week.”
Hey Silver,
Since you are a vegetarian, my guess you might be deficient in Omega 3’s. I don’t know what your daily veg diet is like but Omega 3 for a veg diet are mostly avaiable in flax and walnuts. That said, omega 3s help the nervous system as nerves are wrapped in myelin sheaths and the DHAs in omega 3 are needed for these shealths. This and a combo of B vitamins plus Vitamin B12 (which long term vegetarians are deficient in). It is easy to get your Omega 3 in - just a 1/4 cup of walnuts will do it and they are low in carb, high in fiber and protein…
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=fightdz&dbid=33
I don’t have said problem that you are having but I just started getting omega3 into my diet in the last year and I have been a vegetarian for 20 years so I was probably deficient for a loooong time. Same thing with B12, although with that they say that if you were once a meat eater and then went veg, you would not deplete your stores of B12 for 20 years - for me I am past that point but I never took any B12 untnil recently. I take a sublingual 2500mg one. I think it helps my energy level but not sure about anything.
If you have hypothyroid already, you might be on your way to being diabetic soon. Sometimes that is a precursor to it. Have you had your iron levels checked too? All of these vitamins together play a role in helping each other out.
Right now I take 1/2 Iron Complex (I know I am deficient even though I can’t get the doctor to call back with my results), B12, Vitamin E (I take with my walnuts), D2 (D3 is normally not veg - just found this out) and a veg Hair Vitamin which has all the B vitamins in them plus A and C (hard to get C when you are diabetic and can’t really eat any fruit).
So, finally someone who knows what I’m talking about! I AM a little concerned about getting this so early in the diabetic process (if it is sugar related). The scary movie thing is funny as I had something similar happen last week. I was on the racquetball court playing an aggressive male player and he was charging toward the ball and didn’t see me in front of him. At the very last second, he saw me and rather than the full body slam I was bracing for, he just brushed me. But the electric shocks went crazy…all over me ping, ping, ping. I think the surge of adrenaline I experienced fired off the nerves…? Who knows! Somedays I feel so discouraged about all this new stuff happening and then I try to remember that that kind of thinking will do me no good and will not change my circumstances. Getting diabetes is like a cycle of disbelief, anger, sadness, accpetance and then back to disbelief (and carb eating!!!) etc. etc. thanks again for writing.
KimKat…I’ll look into the O’3s. I do eat almond and pecans often, but not walnuts. I take a fish oil pill most days though. I’ve been autoimmune thyroid for 20 years and both of my daughters are as well. Your last paragraph is SO true…everywhere I turn I can’t take one thing for hurting another. Not to muddy the waters but I started taking melatonin 6 weeks ago for the outrageous insomnia…it has worked miracles for my sleep and I love it! BUT the bottle says not to take it with autoimmune disease however my doc said to do it anyway. I wonder if it is the reason for the increase in thyroid and maybe it even is behind the electric shocks. Like I said, you try to fix one thing and another gets broken…Sigh…
Badmoon…This is the first I’ve heard of software to chart BG…I’m definitely going to look into it. Lately, I’ve just stopped testing; I think I’m kind of back into denial while i wait on the endo appointment. It’s really really nice to have this community to ask questions. Thanks for the info!
just b/c your a1c is 5.5 doesn’t mean you don’t have diabetes. it’s just an average. you are up to 240 and down to 60? you are high and low, so your a1c might look normal. but those are certainly not normal bg readings. i agree with those who think you might be developing diabetes. i would suggest getting a bottle of ketones test strips from your pharmacy and checking to see if you are spilling sugar in your urine. if you are, you need to be seen immediately and you should call the endo’s office and tell them you are spilling sugar and need to be seen sooner. good luck.
Re software: I’d start with whatever meter you currently use. Just go to their website and see if they offer anything. In addition to WaveSense I have also used the Bayer software and liked it. Most require a special cable, although Bayer now has a meter with USB built in. The Free Stuff and Geeks with Diabetes groups on this website are good places to start.In addition to helping my Doc I find it helps me check up on how I’m doing. Software that computes averages and does graphs beats trying to figure out how you are doing by studying a log book.
Good Luck.
I’m LADA, Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of the Adult. I became a diabetic at 56yo and am a normal weight. I have Hashimoto’s, too. As someone said previously, get those antibody tests done. Can’t your GP request them? I had three normal fasting glucose tolerance tests the year I was dxed because I still make some insulin. You were smart to buy a meter and test. That’s what led to my ultimate dx. Oral meds are not good for LADA, so make certain you are typed correctly. My Endo swore I wasn’t LADA until my GAD antibodies came back high. It can be related to Celiac. I do not have Celiac antibodies, but do have one Celiac gene. When those antibodies came back high, the Endo immediately warned me to stay under 120 post prandial, but I knew I was diabetic and luckily, had been doing that already. You will feel hypo for awhile even at normal bg readings because your body is used to higher bg. If you are LADA, you may have success in preserving some pancreatic function for a little longer by not straining your pancreas with high bg. I follow Dr. Bernstein’s protocol, and I’ve still got some function left after two years. I feel much better now. Hashimoto’s, Celiac, Diabetes Type 1 are all related.
Thanks for the info Sheila. My primary doesn’t do any type of endo lab tests. I DO feel hypo if by BG goes below 95…it’s so weird. It rarely goes below 100 anyway… I’ve pretty much stopped testing with meter as everything stays the same every day…wake up with 110 BG, goes up high in the first 30 mins after eating if carbs are involved, then goes back down to 120 until I eat again. I do plan on insisting on antibody testing before I let anyone put me on meds, especially since I’m already experiencing parathesias. I know it sounds stupid and childish, but I’m already tired of this thing, trying to eat right, it seems so much harder as a vegetarian that I eat carbs anyway. I feel like once I get a proper diagnosis, i’ll get serious about all this and do right.
Yes, this does get old real fast, but we have no alternative. I’m doing fairly well, and I didn’t wait for a dx to go uber low carb <30 a day. I exercise more than most. My last A1c was 5.5, and that was my highest. Be extra careful if you get sick because the bg goes higher even before you have full-blown symptoms of your illness. Once the damage is done, it is hard to reverse, so you really want to do what’s best for you, now. Total sympathy about what a pain in the neck this whole thing is. I’ve had to deal with skin cancer wearing layers of sunscreen and protective clothing for the past 25 years along with profound allergies. Then, I got Hashimoto’s. Then, I had a rare adrenal tumor causing Cushing’s Syndrome and was very ill. I had an adrenalectomy, and bingo, it wakes up autoimmune diabetes because I am no longer immuno-suppressed. With the autoimmune onslaught, I got pervasive arthritis. I’m about done. Three years after surgery, I’m still in Physical Therapy from the myopathy that the Cushing’s gave me. Just when I was moving on and trying to reclaim my life, I am spending my free time reading about diabetes. Not my idea of fun, but I want to be ok, so now, I’m a diabetic, first.
I am also thin but a full fledged Type 2. I have always exercised and was a vegetarian before dx 4 years ago. When I was in Body Pump class doing squats or lunges I would get those stabbing , burning pain in my quads and thighs and sometimes lower legs. Since I had no idea I was diabetic I thought it was from too much lactic acid in my muscles. I was probably diabetic or prediabetic several years before I got dx’d. It is a progressive disease and sometimes you can progress from pre diabetes to full fledged in a few months. It sounds like you may be experiencing some type of insulin resistance. A lot of us have it. Our pancreas still produces insulin but there is a delayed response from our cells in accepting it. Meanwhile our pancreas doesn’t get the message to shut off and it produces way too much insulin crashing our bgs downward, making us feel like someone just pulled the rug out from us. Eventually the beta cells and the pancreas get burned out and that is when the fasting bgs start to rise. Hopefully the Endo will do extensive tests to get everything straightened out. In the meantime I would eat smaller low carb , high protein meals that don’t require a big insulin surge. Good Luck.
Wow Sheila, you have had a rough journey! Good for you on the 5.5…that’s a big deal! This autoimmune thing is nasty; my sis has RA and my daughters have Hashimotos. I started on melatonin a couple of months ago and I keep wondering if it is accelerating my autoimmune, but I guess there is no way to tell and it has done miracles for my sleep, so I keep taking it. Thanks for your advice.