So, I’ve got high blood sugar, Doctors say Type 2 Diabetes mellitus . . Uhm, my blood sugar is often 300 - 350 and, I’ve started to have burning pains, under my skin, down arms and, on legs . .
Doctor says exercise, to burn sugar . .
What do you recommend, I only found out 2 - 3 weeks ago, I know nothing . .
My hBaC1 was 103, that was Danish units, Please help
Welcome to the forum. Always happy to see new members.
You may want to explore a Keto diet, not necessarily as a permanent solution but as a starting point as eating a low carb diet will bring your blood sugar in line much faster than exercise. This would not only reduce your blood sugar levels within a very few weeks but also bring down your weight if you can afford to lose weight. Every time your weight goes down, even a little, your blood sugar will as well.
Once you get to know your body better and know the effects of your diet and exercise, then you can add some oral medications as needed. At that point you can review your diet and decide best diet and exercise plan and medication to meet your specific needs.
At this point diet is more important than exercise to get quick results so concentrate on your food plan, and exercise when able.
Again, welcome and feel free to ask us anything and we will do our best to help you out.
here is a Swedish site, it has gone commercial, but there is still free stuff there. I found everything you need to know is free on the net. google LCHF or keto
the first week is really hard
For those unfamiliar with the IFCC units for A1c described in this post, 103 mmol/mol = 11.6% or an estimated glucose average of 285 mg/dL.
I agree with @CJ114; diet is your most potent lever to bring down your high glucose levels without using insulin. If you want to have the quickest effect, eliminate bread, potatoes, pasta, noodles and starchy vegetables like squash and carrots.
Don’t drink any carbohydrates, including soda pop/soft drink (Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew) or fruit juices. Your meter will quickly reveal just how badly liquid carbs drive your blood sugar levels high. Even milk can do this. The same goes with vegetable juice like V8 or tomato juice.
If you don’t have one already, get a blood glucose fingerstick meter and monitor before and after every meal. Keep a written log so that you can review your glucose levels and see the effects of particular foods for you. Some people can eat some higher carb items and avoid high blood glucose but you won’t know until you eat them and check your blood with a fingerstick.
I’m sure all these new requirements seem overly demanding and difficult to cope with but you will be amazed at how much better you will feel when your sugar levels return to a more normal level.
Your burning pains in your arms and legs is called peripheral neuropathy and is the result of extended exposure to high blood sugar. This has likely been going on for a long time, maybe years. The good news is that a return to more normal glucose levels will likely see your symptoms ease and maybe even disappear.
I second @jack16’s recommendation of the Diet Doctor website. It is high quality information.
Good luck and welcome to TuDiabetes, @jbb79! Please keep us updated on your progress.
Good title. It got my attention.
I am hesitant to say that diet and exercise are going to fix this without medications. It is possible that diet & exercise may help, but I think its a irresponsible for a Doc not to provide medications in this case.
I agree with CJ114 that cutting carbohydrate out of the diet is a good place to start (if you can manage that). You can buy a blood sugar machine over the counter and check to see if that improves your numbers. If you don’t see improvement, or if the numbers get higher, you need to return to the Doc right away.
Can you tell us your age?
I ask because I am an American of Swedish, Finnish, and Danish decent. I have type 1. The Finns have the highest incidence of type 1 in the world. Thats where my great grandmother was from. My last name is Danish. There are special kinds of diabetics that only come (genetically) from the Faeroe Islands, called LADA diabetics. You just want to be aware that at some point, if you start drinking and peeing like crazy, you might need insulin right away (that would mean you are becoming a type 1). They suspect that you are a type 2, but sometimes people are misdiagnosed.
Exercise alone is not going to take care of this with an 11.6% a1c. You need to start on metformin and insulin or just insulin. Adjust your diet eliminating as many carbs as possible. Try to get most carbs from non starchy veggies and lower carb fruit like berries and consider eliminating grains. Maybe over time you can stop meds or reduce.
The pain sounds like neuropathy. Alpha lipoic acid and b12 helps some people.
Good luck!
That blood sugar level needs to be brought down sooner versus later, do you know to test for ketones? If you start feeling nausea or vomiting go to the hospital, you could have DKA and that can be very dangerous. I copied the symptoms of DKA from this site below.
That’s a high Blood Glucose level, I would be suspicious of type 1. Type 1/LADA are still commonly misdiagnosed as type 2’s. I was!!! The problem is you make insulin and slowly you don’t, it can take years to fully develop. So it’s too easy for doctors to mistake. Insulin is the only treatment for type 1. I would ask for an antibody test and a c peptide test.
I’m really surprised he just said exercise, whether it’s type 1 or 2, that’s a high level. . Can you get into another doctor for a second opinion? If you have a walk in clinic, you should be able to go there with those symptoms and they might be able to give you an insulin shot to bring down your BG and get you a quicker referral. Either that or a hospital emergency with your symptoms, they might refer you to someone like an endo too.
Good luck! I hope you solve the issue soon!
" Diabetic ketoacidosis (also called ketoacidosis or DKA) – a condition that results from a lack of sufficient insulin in the body, leading to high blood glucose levels and ketone formation. It is an extremely serious and life-threatening condition that may lead to coma and death. The symptoms of ketoacidosis are nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, chest pain, rapid shallow breathing, and difficulty staying awake. (“DKA” on TuDiabetes)."
Ok, thank you . . Sometimes I pee 10 - 12 times, per day, that’s happened in last 6 months . . I’m 39 years old . .
I have bought a Freestyle Free Lite measurer . . It says my blood sugar is 300 - 350, and after a meal, it was 430 . . It’s not in Danish units . .
Thank you, I’m very scared . .
Don’t be scared, but this is not OK. You need to go to another doctor ASAP and see about medications.
I’m in Psychiatry and, I get Clozapine, it’s known to cause diabetes . .
I got my first shot of Insulin a few days ago, I was forcibly admitted because I got suicidal and, threatened to take my own life, for other reasons but, also from Diabetic pain in, arms, legs, feet . . I got scared and, threatened to take many pills . .
My doctor saw my 103 hBaC1 and, first said he wanted to give me drugs, some injections with stomach hormones that lowered diabetes but, when I told him about the burning pains he said, I’m giving you rushed order, to see some endocrinology specialists . . After I got insulin my blood sugar dropped to 12.3, from over 20, I think . . But, a few hours ago it was 18 again . .
You’re saying I can lose weight, I’m a bit over-weight right now and, my doctor said exercise an hour a day, I’m doing that I used to be some-what active, now I’m in psychiatry and, have mania, OCD and, autism . .
So, I’m getting insulin, they have this pen, I twist it and, if my blood sugar is 12 - 16 I get 4 units, over that I get 6 units Insulin . .
The burning pain in my hands isn’t so bad, any more but, I was very scared . .
I get metformin and, janumet . .
I switched to diet coke and, no more candy or, cake . . I probably won’t be able to help any-body here in return, I know so little . .
Thank you . .
Nothing to be very scared about. On the contrary, relax. Anxiety will cause your blood sugar to go up.
Your numbers are too high to get into a normal range right now with diet alone. Go see an endocrinologist that will give you a script for oral medications. You do not appear to be in Insulin required territory yet and may be able to stay on oral medications for several years, especially if you do some lifestyle changes including your diet and then light exercise. Over time depending on your lifestyle changes, you may be able to get off the medications too.
It should just take you very few weeks to get back into normal range.
We are all here to help, so feel free to ask us anything and then you decide what works best for you.
Remember starch turns to sugar very quickly, so you will probably need to eliminate starch too. Test 2 hours after meals, you should try to limit the rise to 140 or less. This may not be possible without some medication. Exercise will also help.
I had the same symptoms of burning and pain, my initial A1C was 13.2, so worse than you. By changing my diet to Low Carb High Fat and taking medication I was able to lower it to less than 6.0 and the pain got much better.
So don’t despair, you can deal with this as many here on this forum have done. Your meter is your best friend and will give you a glimpse into what is happening with your body and guide you about how the changes you make are working.
I see where you are saying you are taking insulin. Have you tested to see what the insulin brings down your blood sugar level to? Test 2 to 3 hours after you eat to see if you are coming into a more normal range.
You might need an adjustment in dosing. You can call the doctor with the figures and he should be able to tell you an adjustment amount.
It gets better as you learn.
I wasn’t aware of that side effect of Clozapine. Interesting.
Your BG might not be perfect in the hospital. They are not diabetes specialists there and they are very nervous about making your blood sugar too low. That is bad, too.
You will have to get the mania fixed first in order to manage the diabetes. I would take the insulin that the hospital staff recommended and focus on getting better. Once they figure out the psych meds, you will have a better idea of how to manage the diabetes. This stuff takes some time to figure out.
This is also helpful information to share with your doctor. If your before meal BGs are over 150 (US), on most meals, you probably need some meds or insulin to get lower numbers. If your doctor thinks > 200 are fine, you might want to consider a new doctor.
@jbb79 Agree get tested for antibodies as well for sure, are you losing weight? That is a sign you are heading to dka.