BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Diabetes Diabetes or not?

I think I may be pre-diabetic, but not sure. My father is type 2, but was not diabetic until into his 60's. I take no meds, only herbs and fish oil and flax. I'm in great health, (or so I think). But I am always constantly thirsty! I avoid anything with bread or pasta, because it makes me groggy and tired, and what I call "blurry". I eat mostly fruits and veggies--lots of salads, because I don't get tired and groggy with those foods. I have no insurance, and do not want to go to the Dr. Could this be symptoms of diabetes?

Come on, there aren't any diabetics out there that have any advice? Now my feet are swelling and cramping and tingling. I am not overweight at all. I took some aspirin and some B12 just cuz I found something somewhere that said cramping can come from a b12 deficiency, but could this be a precursor to diabetes?

I'm very sorry no one has answered you - this really is not a very active site.

I am also sure you won't like the advice I give. I think you need to seek the help of professionals. The really rotten part about all diseases is that they are different for each person. Some of the symptoms you mention sound like diabetes, some do not. If you are self-treating for diabetes but have an entirely different problem, you could be causing more harm than good.

Balanced small meals several times a day with mild exercise should be enough for pre-diabetes treatment, but won't be enough if your body has completely stopped producing insulin. And you won't know if that is the case. Short of seeing a doctor, ask your father to take readings for you with his meter. Take a reading just before a meal. It should be 100 - give or take 10 points. Then take a reading 1 hour, 1 1/2 hours, and 2 hours after that meal. And note how long it took to return to the pre-meal reading. If it didn't within the 2 hours, continue each half-hour until it does. If it doesn't return to normal in the 2 hours you really have to see a professional.

Finally food - you need to actually count the grams of carbohydrates you eat per meal. Don't cut whole food groups out of your diet - every group has a purpose - so eat balanced meals. There are many sites on the internet that will help in food choices. Here at Bella you will find a lot of advice in the "Low-Carb" threads.

YOUR HEALTH IS IMPORTANT - DON'T TAKE CHANGES.

Type 1 Diabetes

* Frequent urination
* Unusual thirst
* Extreme hunger
* Unusual weight loss
* Extreme fatigue and Irritability

Type 2 Diabetes*

* Any of the type 1 symptoms
* Frequent infections
* Blurred vision
* Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
* Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet
* Recurring skin, gum, or bladder infections

*Often people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms
This was taken from the website of the American Diabetes Association.

3step6total: I hope you come back and let us know how you are doing and what decisions you end up making. I wish you well in working through your health issues.

Definitely it is possible due to the get tested. The proof is that you do not eat anything and go to the doctor and give you the juice of high glucose (sweet) and wait an hour or two after a blood sample is taken from you. You also require to control on the food.

I have gestational diabetes, which is basically a form of type II. I had n symptoms before being diagnosed. Getting tested if you suspect there may be a problem is very worthwhile. Diabetes and Prediabetes are often treatable, but can be devastating without treatment.

Yes, those are diabetic symptoms but they can be symptoms of other diseases or conditions as well. The only way to tell for sure is to get tested.

If you don't have medical insurance or can't afford a lab test, have your father use his glucose monitor to test your blood first thing in the AM before eating or drinking anything. If it is over 120, you're courting diabetes and need to get medical attention.

I let my diabetes go untreated for years and years and now have diabetic neuropathy in my legs and kidney damage.

Thanks for all the replies! I haven't gotten tested yet. I'm eating smaller, more frequent "snacks", not really meals, and all are healthy. The cramping went away, but then appeared again last night, and only in one foot. Very weird. I have started to take a calcium supplement at night, since I probably do not get enough, since I don't really drink milk or eat dairy products much. I have a huge organic garden, so I am mainly eating vegetables and fruit. Maybe I'm getting too much of those! My father does not have a tester, so I can't do that. I have started to take royal jelly. Has anyone ever taken that?

Hi again, I'm not even going to pretend to be a dietitian, but I will say that you are not eating healthy if you're eating just/mostly fruits and vegetables. I said it my earlier post - you need to get ALL food groups into your diet - they all have a purpose. If you cannot get to a diabetic dietitian then maybe you should go to the 'd-life' web site.

Just some facts:

1) All fruits and vegetables have natural sugar in them and sugar is sugar as far as diabetes is concerned; but that doesn't mean that you don't eat them. (Fruits have a higher counts than veggies so some dietitians recommend no fruits.) You just need to count them.

2)Protein is very important for you, in fact it is recommended that you eat a protein every time you eat a carbohydrate to keep your blood sugar from spiking. It has something to do with the interaction of the two.

3) I know many diet plans say no grains (breads and pasta), but they are also a food groups that you need - You need fiber. Just a simple comparison - a slice of whole grain bread has fewer carbs than an apple.

4) There is much more that you need to know to control this disease. It is definitely a food-related problem.

I sometimes think the most important thing I have learned through all this is to 'eat' normal, easily obtained, readily available foods so you can still enjoy eating out or at friend's homes.

Good luck to you.

You need to see a doctor. This isn't something you want to mess with plus if you guess and let it go and it turns out to be diabetes you can end up in the emergency room practically dead. Happened to my exhusband and not fun.

There are free screening in your town. Find one and get tested! Your health is so important. It's the one thing you can improve with diet but you need to know what's wrong and guessing is just guessing.

Even those of us who have diabetes get confused over what's good to eat and what isn't. My doctor is not a fan of fruit because it spikes blood sugar up quickly then drops it back down too soon. The diet I follow has 30 grams of carbs 6-7 times, is low-fat, and has 2 servings of protein during the day. I do get that "blurry" feeling and my eyes hurt if I exercise without enough carbs.

Years ago whenever I had milk in the evening my legs would cramp up at night. I gave it up and no more cramping. Your blood doesn't circulate as well laying down. A small bowl of low-fat ice cream doesn't cause the cramping and seems to help keep my blood sugar stable at night.

Hope some of this helps. I was miserable for years and my first doctor kept looking for sleep disorders. It wasn't until I switched doctors that it was caught. Sometimes you have to look after yourself. Good luck!

Thanks for the info :)

Don't forget to eat the good fats. They help slow the metabolism of the carbohydrates. Good fats include olive oil, flax oil, and macadamia nut oil.

Well, I still haven't seen a doctor. Didn't realize it's been so long since I first posted this. I do not have insurance. I did test my sugar once on a friends tester and it was 81, which is in the normal range. I still feel tired all the time and thirsty constantly, but I do not have the swelling anymore, or the cramps. Now I'm craving VICKS for some weird reason. I have one eye that is extremely dry, the other is fine. I am so tired all the time, that I've tried taking iron, b12, eating more meat, getting more sleep, but so far have not found a solution. I am "foggy" and feel like I have lost all passion for the things I used to like to do. I just don't care as much anymore. Maybe it's pre menopause, maybe depression, maybe just stress. I don't really know. I cry for no reason. I feel like I'm in an alien's body.

Please find a free clinic in your area and see a medical professional. It sounds like you have done a lot of good stuff to help fix the problem, but since you have not found a solution, I think you need to see a medical professional.

Good luck to you!

I'm with Connie on this one. You have got to see a professional. The single reading you took tells you nothing about your health. A meter test only tells about that point in time - nothing about 30 minutes before or even 30 minutes after.

All the problems you are having could be diabetes related, or they could be from any number of other health conditions. You can't self-treat if you don't know what you're treating. But the longer they go untreated the worse they will get.

I'm really wishing you well.