Being Diabetic means a lot of things, one major draw back is the nearly nonexistent immune system. It wasn't so bad when I was younger and more on top of my control but as soon as the control slipped and my levels went up the little bit of protection I had, left.
I would get every single cold and flu going around. The one time I had the flu vacc I was ill for a month (I haven't had it since and knock on wood still going strong), having the flu was what they think set off the first DKA admission that started the whole 'crap hitting the fan' years.
But it was one of the first years I was trying to get everything sorted and back on track that I got quit ill around my birthday, at first it was a cold and like most cold I have had it moved into the flu but this time it didn't get better. I got very bad with fevers and the whole shubang. Ma got very worried and finally bullied me to hospital (I must have been bad to let myself get taken in, I dig in my claws and hold on for dear life before letting myself get taken in).
Turned out it wasn't the flu it was pneumonia. It was horrible, I never felt warm, bone cold and couldn't stop shivering. But it got sorted and I was let out of the hospital and all was well.
It was a few weeks late once all the antibiotics had gotten out my system and I started feeling the same again, bone cold and couldn't stop the full body shivers but sweating so much that I'd drench through the t-shirts I'd wear to bed. I could hardly move and I couldn't sleep properly, mostly because waking up in a puddle of your own sweat is so horrible. I felt terrible and lost.
Ma took me back to the hospital, but they couldn't find anything wrong so they gave me more antibiotics and that was that.
It worked for a little while but as soon as the antibiotics where out my system everything would come crashing back.
The doctors started testing my for everything, weird and wonderful even if it was a long shot, to no avail.
It took 6 months for them to find out what was wrong, by that time my body was trying to fit off what ever was happening on it's own. After all the testing for all the wonderful diseases out there turned out it was just a simple water infection that nobody picked up on when I had the pneumonia. But untreated with the right antibiotics for so long has caused long term damage and now I have to take long term antibiotics.
If I don't take them my fevers come back and everything goes to shit again.
Diabetics don't have the best immune system to begin with, but if we don't look after ourselves and our control then it will all but disappear, leaving the body open to the smallest but deadliest things. I never would have thought a simple water infection could cause so much damage let alone long term damage too. I haven't said this directly in a while, but please look after yourselves. You don't wont to go through the soaking nights and body shakes that hurt so much. It's so much easier looking after yourself.
Sunday 26 July 2015
Sunday 19 July 2015
All the pain.
Following on from last week with the whole nerve damage, obviously it was a great pain in the butt, but not anything like what it would soon turn into.
I started getting this horrible pain in my legs while I was visiting family in Canada, not only the pain but horrible swelling too, so much so that I would have to lay on my back with my legs in the air for 20 minuets or so just so I could get my jeans off. At the time I didn't think much of it, Calgary is at a different altitude then England so swelling is more likely to happen.
But the pain got worse and by the time I got home it had traveled into my hips and lower back. I went to my doctors to see if they could help. I was very lucky my doctor took me seriously, kept sending me for every test and scan that was out there to try and find out what was wrong. In the mean time the pain kept growing, my skin got so very sensitive, I could barely stand anything to touch my legs at all. It traveled up my back and around my ribs, I had to stop wearing wire rimmed bras turning to bikini tops instead as they could be loosed, and I stopped eating.
It hurt to eat, no just aching but horrible stabbing every time I ate anything solid. I had to make do with supplemented drinks, although they hurt too it was nothing like when it was solid. Because of this I lost a lot of weight.
We finally found out that I had Fibromyalgia which is a disorder characterized by widespread pain in the fibrous tissue and muscle often accompanied by chronic fatigue.
By the time I found out I was bed bound. Couldn't walk without crying and defiantly couldn't walk on my own, even to walk 2 meters to the loo I had to have a walking stick and half the time someone to lean on. I could no longer have baths (it has taken me years to be able to have a normal bath, although the water that feels very hot to me, feels quit cold to normal people) and I wasn't aloud to be alone when I had a shower, just in case.
All of that was very annoying, especially the food, but the most frustrating was the walking, it hurt so bad and I couldn't go far, a change of scenery was to hobble from my bedroom to my mum to watch TV.
The doctor put me on very strong painkillers and sensitivity tablets, which helped a lot, which in turn gave me the strength to try and walk further each day and soon short distances without help. The thing with Fibromyalgia is that yes it hurts, hurt sooo bad, but the more you move the less it hurts over time. You have to be willing to put your mind to it and get over that initial hump of pain to get started, but it's all up hill from there.
I did have my own walking stick for a long time (all decked out of course) and for the longest time I did have to lean on someone for support, but 3 years after I was diagnosed (we had moved house by then) I was walking past one of the charity shops that was looking for volunteers and decided I'd had enough and went in to apply.
For the next year I worked for a hour 3 times a week, walking in and back home to get myself stronger and ready to go back to work. It hurt and it took everything I had to keep going in but a little over a year from my start I got a normal retail job.
I still have my bad days and I still hurt after a long day of work, that will never go away, but I no longer need the help of a walking stick or a person to lean on when I walk, recently I've only had one horrible day where I couldn't go to work. I've a normal diet (although once I did started to eat normally again I gained a lot of weight) and unless it is one of those absolutely horrible days I don't need to use my meds anymore, which is so rare now and the only real skin sensitivity I have now is water temperature.
It's a horrible thing to have and I will never be rid of it, but it is manageable, it is so easy just to give up and give in to the pain, but you can't do that to yourself. I did later find out that because of the nerve damage I had that triggered something that brought on the fibromyalgia. I am still very grateful to my doctor though, because he kept on looking and he believed me, not a lot of doctors believe in fibromyalgia although more do now then they did.
I started getting this horrible pain in my legs while I was visiting family in Canada, not only the pain but horrible swelling too, so much so that I would have to lay on my back with my legs in the air for 20 minuets or so just so I could get my jeans off. At the time I didn't think much of it, Calgary is at a different altitude then England so swelling is more likely to happen.
But the pain got worse and by the time I got home it had traveled into my hips and lower back. I went to my doctors to see if they could help. I was very lucky my doctor took me seriously, kept sending me for every test and scan that was out there to try and find out what was wrong. In the mean time the pain kept growing, my skin got so very sensitive, I could barely stand anything to touch my legs at all. It traveled up my back and around my ribs, I had to stop wearing wire rimmed bras turning to bikini tops instead as they could be loosed, and I stopped eating.
It hurt to eat, no just aching but horrible stabbing every time I ate anything solid. I had to make do with supplemented drinks, although they hurt too it was nothing like when it was solid. Because of this I lost a lot of weight.
We finally found out that I had Fibromyalgia which is a disorder characterized by widespread pain in the fibrous tissue and muscle often accompanied by chronic fatigue.
By the time I found out I was bed bound. Couldn't walk without crying and defiantly couldn't walk on my own, even to walk 2 meters to the loo I had to have a walking stick and half the time someone to lean on. I could no longer have baths (it has taken me years to be able to have a normal bath, although the water that feels very hot to me, feels quit cold to normal people) and I wasn't aloud to be alone when I had a shower, just in case.
All of that was very annoying, especially the food, but the most frustrating was the walking, it hurt so bad and I couldn't go far, a change of scenery was to hobble from my bedroom to my mum to watch TV.
The doctor put me on very strong painkillers and sensitivity tablets, which helped a lot, which in turn gave me the strength to try and walk further each day and soon short distances without help. The thing with Fibromyalgia is that yes it hurts, hurt sooo bad, but the more you move the less it hurts over time. You have to be willing to put your mind to it and get over that initial hump of pain to get started, but it's all up hill from there.
I did have my own walking stick for a long time (all decked out of course) and for the longest time I did have to lean on someone for support, but 3 years after I was diagnosed (we had moved house by then) I was walking past one of the charity shops that was looking for volunteers and decided I'd had enough and went in to apply.
For the next year I worked for a hour 3 times a week, walking in and back home to get myself stronger and ready to go back to work. It hurt and it took everything I had to keep going in but a little over a year from my start I got a normal retail job.
I still have my bad days and I still hurt after a long day of work, that will never go away, but I no longer need the help of a walking stick or a person to lean on when I walk, recently I've only had one horrible day where I couldn't go to work. I've a normal diet (although once I did started to eat normally again I gained a lot of weight) and unless it is one of those absolutely horrible days I don't need to use my meds anymore, which is so rare now and the only real skin sensitivity I have now is water temperature.
It's a horrible thing to have and I will never be rid of it, but it is manageable, it is so easy just to give up and give in to the pain, but you can't do that to yourself. I did later find out that because of the nerve damage I had that triggered something that brought on the fibromyalgia. I am still very grateful to my doctor though, because he kept on looking and he believed me, not a lot of doctors believe in fibromyalgia although more do now then they did.
Sunday 12 July 2015
To Have the Nerve..
This week I'm going to talk about Nerve damage.
I have nerve damage in my lower legs, from the knees down and majorly in the bottom of my feet. It got so bad that it was difficult for me to walk purely because I couldn't feel where my feet where going. My legs weren't so bad, I had patches where I could feel and others not so much.
It was bad (apart from the obvious reasons) because at the time I used to get little infections on the side of my toenails, when your blood goes high and you start try and get out one way or another. So half the time I couldn't feel them happening and I couldn't feel blisters building (I've had 2 cases of very bad blisters, one I had to go to A & E for because we thought I had blood poisoning, couldn't put any pressure on my foot at all).
When things get that bad, your in the area of being in danger of having someone turn around one day and say we need to lop off that foot.
I have this bad habit of breaking my little toes (although knock on wood I haven't broken any toes in months) bless their little cotton soaks but they've slightly discoloured now from so many breaks and all the blisters, but at the time I couldn't feel the proper damage. My little toenails used to fall off because of the damage.
I stepped on a nail walking around town once, it wasn't till I got home that I realized that I had and not only that it had been poking me in the bottom of the foot too.
But also from this my circulation went to crap too, so my feet where always cold (not that I felt it) and my skin got so incredibly dry, so much so that I'd being smothering my feet with moisturizer on in the evening and I would wake up like nothing had been slapped on.
I started noticing that I was getting other places of numbness too, it started to spread.
I know thankfully don't have it as bad. It started to get better slowly but surly when my bloods started to get under control (and possibly when my Hypertension got under control to, it certainly helped the circulation). I still have the odd numb patch on my calf and shins and I don't think my feet will ever go back to normal .. as next week you will find out why, but everything has gotten so much better.
It was really quit scary for awhile, certainly when they thought I had the blood poisoning. It's horrible when you can't feel the floor when you walk. But now I feel every small blister blooming, which is both good and bad lol.
I never would have thought that my blood sugar control would have an impact on my nerves, certainly never thought I would have the troubles I did have. As diabetics we have to be soooo careful with our feet, it's so easy to forget the things we most rely on from day to day. They can't be fixed if their not there anymore.
But my nerve damage did trigger something else that both heightened and made things so much worse.
Please look after your feet, pretty shoes are very nice, but your feet are more important, so be careful.
I have nerve damage in my lower legs, from the knees down and majorly in the bottom of my feet. It got so bad that it was difficult for me to walk purely because I couldn't feel where my feet where going. My legs weren't so bad, I had patches where I could feel and others not so much.
It was bad (apart from the obvious reasons) because at the time I used to get little infections on the side of my toenails, when your blood goes high and you start try and get out one way or another. So half the time I couldn't feel them happening and I couldn't feel blisters building (I've had 2 cases of very bad blisters, one I had to go to A & E for because we thought I had blood poisoning, couldn't put any pressure on my foot at all).
When things get that bad, your in the area of being in danger of having someone turn around one day and say we need to lop off that foot.
I have this bad habit of breaking my little toes (although knock on wood I haven't broken any toes in months) bless their little cotton soaks but they've slightly discoloured now from so many breaks and all the blisters, but at the time I couldn't feel the proper damage. My little toenails used to fall off because of the damage.
I stepped on a nail walking around town once, it wasn't till I got home that I realized that I had and not only that it had been poking me in the bottom of the foot too.
But also from this my circulation went to crap too, so my feet where always cold (not that I felt it) and my skin got so incredibly dry, so much so that I'd being smothering my feet with moisturizer on in the evening and I would wake up like nothing had been slapped on.
I started noticing that I was getting other places of numbness too, it started to spread.
I know thankfully don't have it as bad. It started to get better slowly but surly when my bloods started to get under control (and possibly when my Hypertension got under control to, it certainly helped the circulation). I still have the odd numb patch on my calf and shins and I don't think my feet will ever go back to normal .. as next week you will find out why, but everything has gotten so much better.
It was really quit scary for awhile, certainly when they thought I had the blood poisoning. It's horrible when you can't feel the floor when you walk. But now I feel every small blister blooming, which is both good and bad lol.
I never would have thought that my blood sugar control would have an impact on my nerves, certainly never thought I would have the troubles I did have. As diabetics we have to be soooo careful with our feet, it's so easy to forget the things we most rely on from day to day. They can't be fixed if their not there anymore.
But my nerve damage did trigger something else that both heightened and made things so much worse.
Please look after your feet, pretty shoes are very nice, but your feet are more important, so be careful.
Sunday 5 July 2015
The Heart
Hypertension is another thing people need to look for. It doesn't seem like it would do much but have a high blood pressure, but it does a lot other then putting you pressure up.
I had Hypertension, luckily I don't have it anymore, although to begin with it was hard to know that I had it. I have a naturally a higher heart rate and because of that it's a little more dangerous because it puts it higher.
There isn't really a lot to say about Hypertension it's self, it's high blood pressure that the symptoms don't show for years. It can cause heart attacks and strokes if not looked after. But the good thing is, it's easy to control and look after (with the help of meds) once found.
With my blood being so high and my naturally high heart rate anyway things happened a bit quicker for me. I was put onto medication to try and help with the control. My body temperature ran quit high (I get cold a lot quicker now lol) and it would be hard for me to do high impact exercise because of how hard my heart had to work. It also was very dangerous when I was admitted to hospital with DKA, it would be working so hard it would feel like it was trying to drum out of my chest.
It was scary, but things got sorted and now it's nearly back to normal, I don't think it will ever go back to normal but at least it's not life threatening.
You need to look after your ticker. Keeping healthy and keeping your bloods under control can help that.
Sorry it's a really short one this week, but hope it's still helpful.
I had Hypertension, luckily I don't have it anymore, although to begin with it was hard to know that I had it. I have a naturally a higher heart rate and because of that it's a little more dangerous because it puts it higher.
There isn't really a lot to say about Hypertension it's self, it's high blood pressure that the symptoms don't show for years. It can cause heart attacks and strokes if not looked after. But the good thing is, it's easy to control and look after (with the help of meds) once found.
With my blood being so high and my naturally high heart rate anyway things happened a bit quicker for me. I was put onto medication to try and help with the control. My body temperature ran quit high (I get cold a lot quicker now lol) and it would be hard for me to do high impact exercise because of how hard my heart had to work. It also was very dangerous when I was admitted to hospital with DKA, it would be working so hard it would feel like it was trying to drum out of my chest.
It was scary, but things got sorted and now it's nearly back to normal, I don't think it will ever go back to normal but at least it's not life threatening.
You need to look after your ticker. Keeping healthy and keeping your bloods under control can help that.
Sorry it's a really short one this week, but hope it's still helpful.
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