All Entries In Health Category
By I weighed myself this morning:
That's a total loss of 14.2kg (2¼ stone) in just 4 weeks.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: Roast Beef Dinner
Tea: Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini with Salad
Monday, 16 January 2012
Breakfast: 2 slices of Toast
Lunch: ½ Bag of Carrot Batons with Hummus
Tea: Sushi
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: Sushi & Cherries
Tea: Chicken Korma and Coconut Rice
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Granola
Lunch: ½ Bag Carrot Batons and Jalapeno Hummus
Tea: Chilli Con Carne with Mexican Rice
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: ½ Bag Carrot Batons and Jalapeno Hummus
Tea: Brocoli and Stilton Soup with 2 slices of Bread
Supper: 6 Crumpets
Friday, 20 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: ½ Bag Carrot Batons and Reduced Fat Sour Cream & Chive Dip
Tea: 1/8 Melon, 2 Bananas and an Orange
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: ½ Bag Carrot Batons and Reduced Fat Sour Cream & Chive Dip
Tea: Tom Yam Nam Khon and Fish Stir Fry
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Organic Cornflakes
Lunch: Tom Yam Nam Khon and Fish Stir Fry
Tea: Roast Chicken with trimmings
Supper: Yoghurt, Banana & Clementine
Snacks: Banana
Monday, 23 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Fruit & Fibre
Lunch: Jacket Potato with Sweet Chilli Prawns
Tea: ½ Star Wrap
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Corn Flakes
Lunch: Jacket Potato with Cheese & Bacon
Tea: 2 Ham Sandwiches
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Porridge Oats
Lunch: Pea & Ham Soup with Chicken, Carrots & Hummus
Tea: Pork Stir Fry and Low Sugar Plum Crumble
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Corn Flakes
Lunch: Potato & Leek Soup with 2 Slices of Bread
Tea: 2 Chicken Breaststeaks & Chips
Friday, 27 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Hot Oats
Lunch: Mixed Grill with Chips
Tea: Clementine, Banana, Oat Cakes
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Hot Oats
Lunch: 3 Pitta Bread with Garlic & Onion Dip, Banana
Tea: Battered Chicken Breaststeaks, New Potatoes and Vegetables, followed by Gingerbread and Clotted Cream.
Just before picking Chrissy up for lunch this afternoon I popped into the local pharmacy to weigh myself.
That's just over another 4kg off in another week; making a total of 11.7kg in 3 weeks.
Whilst taking my sister shopping yesterday i decided to pop into the local chemist/pharmacy and weigh myself.
I've lost 7.5kg in a little over 2 weeks. I know that I'm not going to be able to keep that pace up long term, but, it's a very good start.
Can I really be depressed? Especially when I seem to find things that I can be happy about! I have people who love me, and friends who seem to care and worry about me. Why is it so hard for me to accept that those people are genuine in their feelings toward me?
One example is that I had a friend, Jo, call me yesterday evening to see how I was doing; even though she's been ill herself over the last couple of weeks. Undoubtedly, she was genuine in her concern, but all I could think was "Why is she phoning me? What is she fishing for?" Looking back this morning I feel that I've done her a great dis-service. I've also received a lot of comments and messages both on my blog and on Facebook and am sometimes left wondering "Are they genuine? Or, are they just being polite?"
I've already shut out so many people who I don't consider to be friends, but merely old school friends, workmates and acquaintances, and I've left myself with a core group of family, friends and some acquaintances; people who I may not necessarily but good friends with but would stop and natter with in the street or store.
I now kind of feel that I'm in danger of pushing away those remaining few as well.
I don't like interacting with people; they make me nervous. This even applies to some people that I've known for well over 20 years. I've always felt nervous talking to other people, especially women. What sort of conversation would I be able to carry without boring the ass of the person I'm talking to? I'm frankly rubbish at the inane chitter-chatter that people tend to need to interact with one another. You'll hardly ever see me in a pub or nightclub. I've maybe been to the pub 3 times in the last 5 years or so, and if I do, I'll rarely drink anything alcoholic.
I've always struggled to form new relationships; I don't like opening up enough to let people get to know me, and in group situations I often feel that I'm only included because I'm either there, or because it'd be less obvious than ignoring/excluding me. I'm 42 years old and I've never had the courage to ask a woman out. All my past relationships have either been via a third party, through the woman asking me out, and many times I've turned women down thinking they were just asking as some sort of dare/bet, and there's been 1 or 2 occasions where the relationship has just seemed to occur. One of the most intense relationships I ever had started that way, and when it finished about 18 months later I was totally devastated, and almost inconsolable for months afterwards. I've never let myself get hurt like that since.
Not only do I hate being the centre of attention, I even hate being in the line-of-sight. This becomes clearer when you consider that I've done a lot of tabletop roleplaying over the years, and always tend to try and blend into the scenery; even if the character I am playing is a larger-than-life 8-foot tall Troll Street Samurai with a gyro-stabilized mini-gun, panther assault cannon and huge, great, fucking Scottish Claymore strapped across her back. And, then there's my GMing style. I like to sit back and let the players drive the plot/game.
I feel like I'm heading off on a tangent, so I'll stop there before I ramble into obscurity.
I hate myself...
I mean, really, what is there to like about me? For a very long time, even before all my health problems and obesity, I've never thought of myself as attractive to the opposite sex, or perhaps even the same sex for that matter. Why would anybody find me in the least bit interesting?
I've never thought of self-harm or mutilation; I don't even like the idea of getting a piercing or tattoo, but I've often had fleeting thoughts about how easy it would be to end the pain things. Thankfully, they've always come at a time when there's been no opportunity to act upon them. I don't consider myself to be a danger to myself or suicidal, but, the thoughts have been, and sometimes continue, to be there.
Even though I tend to be methodical, and perhaps even over-think things, sometimes, not always, but sometimes, I act impulsively and without thinking things through. My big fear is that I'll get a stupid thought in my head at a most inopportune moment, and then act on it.
It hasn't happened yet...
Along with the health problems that I'm now trying to come to terms with, and fight, I think I have other problems that I've never even admitted to myself; let alone other people.
I've been lying to myself, and people around me, for a very long time now, and it's almost become second nature. It's so easy to say "I'm fine." when somebody asks "How are you?" and then just continue as if that's the truth, It's not, and hasn't been for as long as I can remember.
I really don't like myself. I'm not happy, and I think that I haven't been really happy for a very long time. I've had a few moments of happiness, and I do mean real happiness, in the last few weeks, but I feel that I've been generally descending down into a very dark place, for a very long time. And the last thing I want to do is drag somebody along with me; especially when it's somebody I truly care for.
I need help, and I don't know who I can turn to, who I can trust, who will have my best interests at heart, who will believe what I'm saying, who will help me without judging?. Some people will read this and perhaps think that I'm just looking for some attention. If that was so, I would've written and posted this before I deleted my MySpace account, deactivated my Facebook account and protected my Twitter account. I'm not seeking attention, I truly need help!
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Weetabix
Lunch: Pork Shoulder with Trimmings
Tea: 2 pieces of Gateau and Biscuits
Monday, 2 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Weetabix
Lunch: Chilli Scrambled Eggs on Toast
Tea: 2 pieces of Gateau
Snacks: 4-6 Peanut Butter Cookies
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: 4 Sausage Sandwiches with Cheese & Onion Spread
Tea: 2 Battered Chicken Breasts with Oven Chips
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: Mixed Grill with extra Jumbo Sausage and Curry Sauce
Tea: 2 Breaded Chicken Breasts with Oven Chips
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: Cheesey Ravioli with 4 slices of Toast
Tea: Baked Potato with Prawn Mayo and Salad
Friday, 6 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: Ravioli with 4 slices of Toast
Tea: 2 Breaded Chicken Breast with Oven Chips and Carrots
Snacks: Roast Turkey sandwich, Carrott Batons with Hummus
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: 2 Roast Turkey sandwiches with pickle and apple sauce
Tea: Chicken & Mushroom Stir Fry with Rice Noodles
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: 4 Sausages, Mashed Potatoes, Beans
Tea: Nothing
Monday, 9 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: 1 Roast Turkey Sandwich, ½ Corned Beef Sandwich
Tea: 2 Breaded Chicken Breasts and Oven Chips
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Strawberry Crunch
Lunch: 1 Chopped Pork and Cheese Spread Sandwich
Tea: Pork Tikka with Basmati Rice and Flatbreads.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: Kedgiree with Salad.
Tea: ¼ Star Wrap
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Strawberry Crunch
Lunch: None
Tea: Chicken Korma
Friday, 13 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Corn Flakes
Lunch: ¼ Star Wrap
Tea: 4 Corn Crispbreads
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Breakfast: Bowl of Rice Snaps
Lunch: 2 Chicken Breaststeaks and Oven Chips
Tea: Bowl of Tom Yam Soup
Snacks: 2 Bananas. 1 Clementie, ½ bag of Carrot Batons with ½ pot of Caramelized Onion Hummus, 2 Cherries
Medically, it's been rather a stranger week than normal for me. I've started paying much closer attention to what I'm eating and as a result I am tending to eat foods containing a lot less sugar and fat than I have been doing so previously. Anyway, as a direct result of this I have had at least 2 hypoglycemic close calls this week; although, I have also managed to miss lunch, and tea, at least once each. Luckily the first close call I was at a friend's house and she managed to get me stabilised with some Pineapple Juice. Last night I was at home and just ended up falling asleep for about an hour, waking up and realising I was that low that I had to grab my emergency 500ml bottle of Lucozade out of the fridge.
I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in October 2007, and with Hypertension in January 2008. Both have remained steady for the most part, with the occasional dip, giving the impression that progress was been made. However, after my latest check, last Tuesday, it's obvious that progress isn't being made, and if I'm brutally honest it's gradually been getting worse over the last couple of years. Anyway, I mentioned in my previous post on the subject that the nurse had spoken about adding a couple of tablets; and the Doctor has agreed. My new regime is now as follows:
For Diabetes:
6x Metformin 500mg (3000mg)
4x Gliclazide 80mg (320mg)
1x Sitagliptin 100mg
For Hypertension:
1x Irbesartan 300mg
1x Amlodipne 5mg
To Aid Slimming:
3x Orlistat 40mg (120mg)
I am going to try and keep better track of my progress and will weigh myself on the first Monday of each month. My primary aim is to get back down to 20 stone, and will set myself un-timed 1 stone decrements. It'd be nice to get back down to the 15 stone that I was when I was running and playing football, but those days may be long gone; we'll see how well I get on though.
I wasn't going to post any resolutions this year; not that I normally do anyway.
However, I had my most recent diabetic check this morning and I'm not happy. Whilst virtually everything was okay; one thing, probably the most important, wasn't! My blood sugar levels have gone up from 7.7 to 8.0. I've asked about an appointment with the dietician, and the nurse spoke about adding another tablet to the mix and talking to the Doctor regarding getting me put back on Orlistat. The nurse also noted that my blood pressure was 130 over 90; the diastolic reading being a bit higher than she would've liked. I also got my flu vaccination for this current flu season; maybe a bit late, but better late than never.
With the scales at the surgery only going up to 150kg, I estimated that I probably weighed about 160kg, but the nurse requested that I weigh myself at the local pharmacy and let her know. I did!
That's just over 27¼ stone. Even fully clothed, and with a decently heavy jacket, that's totally unacceptable! I hereby resolve to lose weight this year. I am, therefore, setting myself a preliminary target of getting down to 25 stone (160kg) as a first step, with an aim of actually getting down to 20 stone (127kg) as soon as I can; but I'm going to take it in 1 stone steps. I'm not saying that I want to lose the weight by a certain date, but I am saying that I want to lose the weight!
I've been a wee bit under the weather recently. I've been full of cold/flu symptons since the middle of last week and finally succumbed yesterday. I spent the majority of yesterday in bed, and had planned to do so again today; until next door started doing some DIY. Dosing up on lemsips seems to have broken the illness somewhat; enough so that I'll be back into work tomorrow, although, I will continue to dose up on lemsips.
However, truth be told, the lack of blog entries recently has nothing to do with any illness; rather just a lack of motivation to post anything here. And, it's not as if I haven't done anything recently...
I broke my glasses last Tuesday evening; the plastic nose support/lug snapped off whilst cleaning them. I popped into the optician the following day and they quickly replaced the support free of charge. Whilst there I made arrangements to have an eye test that Friday, the 25th; it had been 2006 when I had last had my eyes tested, and the coating on my current glasses was starting to break down. The eye test last Friday showed that my prescription showed a very minor change to my right eye and no change to the left. I could probably have got away with continuing to use my existing glasses but with the coating starting to fail I decided to order a new pair anyway.
The last pair of glasses I bought were in a half-price sale and still cost over £200; but came with a free pair of prescription sunglasses. I'd ordered ultra-thin lenses and an anti-scratch and anti-reflective coating. Thanks to vouchers and a rather kind assistant, my new pair cost £65 and had the same coatings as the previous pair, but the lenses aren't as thin; they're 1.6 rather than 1.67! Being unemployed, and claiming benefits, has some uses. However, I had to settle for a different style of frames to my existing glasses, since they no longer stock that frame, which was a bit disappointing.
Anyway, I picked up the new glasses yesterday and am happy to say that I haven't had a headache yet. I know it's been less than 2 full days but I think the coating failing in my old glasses might have been contributing to the increase in headaches I had been suffering lately. I vaguely remember a similar rise in headache frequency when the coating on the previous pair started to fail; way back in 2006. I shall defer passing judgement for a couple of weeks. Depending upon how things work out I may order a second pair in the summer; which I'll probably have to pay full price for.
For the first time in absolutely ages I was headed to the regular Saturday afternoon rpg last Saturday when I decided to pop to the bank and get some money out. Mainly so that I could pay Scoot the money I owe him for the Rammstein and Machine Head tickets that he purchased. I got to Paul's and realised that my wallet was missing. As I went back down to the car to see if it was in the car I slipped on his bottom step and went over on my ankle. Anyway, the wallet wasn't in the car so I went back round to the bank and it wasn't there either. So, I went to the police to report it lost, returned to Paul's to let them know I would have to give the game a miss and went home so that I could call the bank etc to cancel cards and such.
I got up Sunday morning and went to the hospital to get my ankle checked out. It turns out it's not broken just sprained. But, it still hurts like ****. Anyway, I got home and about an hour or so later a guy calls at the house with my wallet. He had found it in the car park outside Paul's flat. So, it must have dropped out of my coat pocket when I got out of the car the first time the night before. The money had gone but everything else was still inside it.
I had a diabetic check earlier this week and my blood test results were a bit higher than was hoped. As a result I have been prescribed Gliclazide along with the Metformin that I am already taking. Gliclazide stimulates the Pancreas to produce extra Insulin; which will hopefully get my sugar levels back down to recommended levels.
My blood pressure is also a bit higher than they would like. Rather than make any changes to the medication I'm taking for that they have given me 3 follow up appointments to keep an eye on it.
I've been perservering with some pain in my left calf for a while now. It feels like it's constantly cramped. I had just assumed it was probably a muscle strain but after talking to a friend I decided I better get it checked out in case it was anything more serious. Anyway, I went to see the Doctor about it last Thursday and they referred me to the Nurse Practioner's Unit at the local hospital. They looked at the leg and said that it was likely to be a muscle strain rather than a clot but since my Dad has a history of DVT they would arrange me to have an ultrasound on the following day.
I had the ultrasound on Friday; it involved a couple of hour wait during which time I made inroads into Bret Hart's autobiography. They only scanned the top of my leg and when I mentioned that the pain was in my calf they said that they were more concerned of a potential problem further up and would only scan the lower leg if the pain continued to persist. The results show that I don't have a clot in my upper leg; which is a relief, but doesn't leave me any the wiser about my calf.
Anyway, it's been almost a week since I first went to the hospital and the pain in my calf has abated somewhat. It's not gone; but, it's nowhere near as bad as it had been.
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As mentioned previously, I haven't been at all well the last couple of weeks. I've still managaed to keep up with all the little jobs and odds and ends I have to do but I haven't been feeling at all well. I haven't gone out of my way to court sympathy but have nontheless received some, which is always nice.
I've had a headache almost constantly for the past two week along with a sore throat, some abdonimal pains and a persistently annoying cough. After struggling with these symptons for about a week I started using a vapour rub and taking Blackcurrant Lemsips to ease them and ended up feeling better over the weekend.
Sunday evening, however, I was back to being as bad as I had at any point previously. Anyway, doing some shopping for Dad on Monday I stocked up on some medication for myself. I spent most of yesterday and all day today sipping Hot Lemon & Honey Beechams, taking doses of a mentholated bronchial balsam, sucking cherry flavoured Olbas menthol lozenges and Ibuprofen.
I feel better now than I have any point in the last fortnight. I won't tempt fate but will continue to self-medicate the rest of this evening and tomorrow and hope that I have finally beaten the dreaded lurgy.
After more than a week of feeling like absolute crap I am finally starting, bit by bit, to feel better; just in time for the annual RPG club party. Chrissy, however, seems to have gotten off a lot worse than I and has spent most of the last 48 hours with a temperature of about 103-104°C. I still have a bit of a sore throat but Lemsips seem to be helping with that. My headaches are back under control, and seem to be normal run of the mill, well for me anyway, headaches. I've even managed to go do some shopping today and did some baking for the party. Although, I played safe and actually supervised my kid sister baking. She's done an excellent job.
I've been struggling on and off with a headache since yesterday morning. Medication has failed to completely deal with it and I have spent most of today also suffering with a sore throat. And to top everything off my N95 is bust. I must've had the phone in the same pocket as my keys and the LCD screen has cracked. I've sourced a replacement and am awaiting delivery. In the meantime I have no idea who is phoning me and cannot send or receive text messages.
I've not been able to get much done today. First thing this morning I had to take my brother-in-law to the dentist to have a tooth pulled. After that I had to pop into the job centre so that they can keep an eye on me now that I've been out of work for a year. Chrissy dropped a couple of things off at lunch time and then I took Jim into Whitehaven to do some shopping. Michael was supposed to take me to the hospital for my retina scans but he forgot so I had to get my sister to do that. I've had to sit twiddling my thumbs for most of today as a result of the eye drops I was given. My pupils have been widely dilated all day and I haven't been able to focus close up or able to drive. In fact I've only just got home now after picking the car back up.
I fell asleep at about 11pm last night whilst reading in front of the tv in my 'media room'. I woke up at about 3am and after a quick check of emails and rss feeds decided to call it a night and went to bed. Or, at least, tried to. Even though I climbed into bed at about 3:30am it wasn't until around 6:30am that I finally managed to fall asleep. I woke up again at about 10:30am and am now feeling tired again.
A research team from Oxford's Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics working with colleagues in Norway examined the relationship between cognitive performance and the intake of three common foodstuffs that contain flavonoids (chocolate, wine, and tea) in 2,031 older people (aged between 70 and 74).
Participants filled in information about their habitual food intake and underwent a battery of cognitive tests.Those who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had significantly better mean test scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who did not. The team reported their findings in the Journal of Nutrition.
The researchers caution that more research would be needed to prove that it was flavonoids, rather than some other aspect of the foods studied, that made the difference.The effect was most pronounced for wine.
However, say the researchers, those overdoing it at Christmas should note that while moderate alcohol consumption is associated with better cognitive function and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, heavy alcohol intake could be one of many causes of dementia - as well as a host of other health problems.
I'm feeling rather dodgy today. I woke up this morning with a headache and took some paracetamol for it. It didn't seem to do any real good so after I got home from my blood test I decided to have a lie down. I got back up just about an hour ago and went back downstairs. I found the lights in the living room way too bright and instantly ended up in the toilet, vomitting. I have since returned upstairs and am sat with the light off but with the door open so I can get some light from the landing. I have also taken some more paracetamol but to no effect so far.
The BBC News website is reporting that the journal Nature Genetics has found that the workings of our internal body clock appear to be directly connected to our risk of diabetes.
The research apparently found faults in a key 'clock gene' were linked to blood sugar levels and type II diabetes. Some scientists already believe that our circadian rhythms (body clock) have a role to play in the condition, which affects millions worldwide.
But one expert said more evidence was needed, before a link was proved.
I having been feeling all that well for the last couple of days. It's nothing I can lay my finger on; just a general feeling of illness. I've had a sore throat since yesterday and a dull headache. I had to virtually drag myself out of bed aty Noon today. I really didn't want to get up but thought I had better do so. Kind of wish I hadn't bothered. So, rather than going roleplaying this evening I am instead going to curl up and have an early night. Michael will have to take Dad and Catherine shopping if they need to go. I am definitely not up to it.
My back spasmed whilst I was in town with Chrissy earlier and I've been in varying degrees of pain ever since. It was blinding agony when it happened to a dull ache when I got back to Chrissy's and got a heat pack on it. It still feels a bit tight now and is also still twinging occasionally.
Been in bed virtually all day with a headache and temperature. I feel considerably better now for the extended period in bed.
Got home from roleplaying about 1:30am this morning and more or less went straight to bed. I was asleep not long after 3am; I remember listening to the 3am news on the radio. Anyway, I woke up a few times this morning but really wasn't feeling great so went back to sleep. It was finally just after 1pm this afternoon when I finally emerged from bed. I really didn't feel like getting up but thought I better had. As a result, I've felt pretty tired all day and am just going to sit and watch a wee bit of wrestling before calling it a night again. It'll definitely be this side of midnight tonight.
I had some blood tests done last Tuesday, along with checking my blood pressure, and went back today to get the results. The Nurse is rather unhappy with my blood sugar levels, the tests show an average of around 8.1 rather than the less than 7.0 that she was hoping for. Rather than up my dosage of Metformin, she has instead given me another 8 weeks to get them down. She also wasn't too happy with my blood pressure readings from last week and decided to check it again. Testing on my left arm brought figures of 170 over 120 and an immediate referral to the Doctor. He checked my other arm, less than 20 minutes later, and got figures of 190 over 114. As a result, he has doubled my Irbesartan dosage and ordered me to visit him again in 3 weeks. He outlined his concerns over the fact that if I don't get my weight, blood sugars and blood pressure down then he feels that I'm only a couple of years away from either a heart attack or a stroke. A sobering declaration, to say the least.
Today has mostly been pretty good. I've spent the whole day at Geoff & Chrissy's. We made Flapjack this morning and Bread Rolls this evening. Between picking the kids up at lunchtime and mid-afternoon we also managed to pick up some more paint for the outside of their house, do some shopping at Tesco and have a really nice Ham Salad in JJ's Cafe in Egremont.
However, I have an intermittent twitch on my left eye for the last week or so and it really irritates. It's not a case of it'll twitch, be fine for a while, and then twitch again. It'll actually twitch for a good 10-15 seconds at a time and will do so anywhere up to a dozen times an hour when it's really bad. Nothing has seemed to help and it leaves my eye feeling very heavy and puffy; although it physically looks fine. It's got to the stage where I am now getting headaches all the time and my right eye will similarly twitch for 5-10 seconds every once in a blue moon.
The eye has just started twitching now and I really need to make an appointment to get it checked. In the interim, I'm feeling exhausted and had intended to have an early night this evening. But, problems with Dad's PC and Kev's 360 scuppered my plans to go to bed when I got home at 9pm.
One of the things that I have been neglecting recently that I should have been doing on a regular basis is the self monitoring of my blood glucose levels. I hadn't realised how long it had been since I had last checked them and was shocked to discover that prior to today, the last time they were checked was August 4th; a full two months ago.
Anyway, back in late July and early August my levels were fluctuating between 6.6 and 7.6 which was a little bit higher than ideal, but not much. This morning's measurement was a 7.0 and is just about bang in the middle of what the levels had been.
Time to knuckle down and see if I can get the readings down by at least another point to 6.0 or even lower. First thing to do is change back to a plain breakfast cereal.
I feel like crap today. My stomach is killing me, my back is playing up, I have a headache both at the front and rear of my head, my neck feels stiff and my eyes feel sore. Top that with a slight feeling of nausea and if I didn't have to pop to the roleplaying club to hand out a couple of things I would already be lying on/in bed.
Oh, and I've got indigestion.
One of the things I've struggled with over the last 15 years or so has been my weight. Ever since I severely injured myself playing football. I tore the cartilage in my left ankle, twisted/pulled the ligaments in my right ankle and hyper-extended my right knee. When I played football regularly my weight never fluctuated much from about 13 stone (182lbs / 82½kg). Depending on how much running I also did it sometimes was even less. In the first couple of years after stopping my weight went up to 15 stone (210lbs / 95½kg), it eventually went up to about 17 stone (238lbs / 108kg). My weight remained pretty steady there until about 7 years ago.
Within a year of starting work at Perkins my weight had ballooned to over 20 stone (280lbs / 127kg) and in the following five years it went up to approximately 24 stones (336lbs / 152½kg). After embarking on a new diet and taking some weight loss medication I got back down to under 20 stone (280lbs / 127kg) within a year. Unfortunately, I have very poor dietary control and really lack the desire to stick to a managed diet plan and am now back above 24 stone (338lbs / 157½kg) again.
Anyway, after doing some reading on the internet I've come across a few sites suggesting a regime of intermittent fasting as a potential solution. The beauty of the plan is that you don't have to strictly manage the kinds or amount of food that you eat. The plan relies on intermittently fasting, much like palaeolithic man did and most wild animals do. The plan calls for a period of fasting followed by a period of eating in a cycle. I'm going to give it a try.
My plan is that I will eat normally today until 6pm. I have already had my breakfast and will eat our main Sunday meal sometime between 4pm and 5pm as usual. I may then have a small snack before 6pm. I will then fast until 6pm tomorrow eveing at which point I will have a normal evening meal and perhaps snack a bit later. On Tuesday I will have my normal breakfast and then eat normally in the afternoon until 6pm at which point I will fast until 6pm Wednesday. I will have a normal evening of eating on Wednesday after 6pm and then have breakfast and normal afternoon eating until 6pm on Thursday at which point I will again fast until 6pm on Friday. Friday 6pm onwards to Sunday 6pm I will eat normally and then repeat the cycle next week.
- Sunday: Breakfast, Lunch, Nothing After 6pm
- Monday: Nothing Until 6pm, Dinner/Supper
- Tuesday: Breakfast, Lunch, Nothing After 6pm
- Wednesday: Nothing Until 6pm, Dinner/Supper
- Thursday: Breakfast, Lunch, Nothing After 6pm
- Friday: Nothing Until 6pm, Dinner/Supper
- Saturday: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner/Supper as Normal
I've had a splitting headache all day. I had planned on getting some serious work done on a friend's website today but only managed to get 4 or 5 pages converted before giving up. I've taken some tablets for the headache but to no real avail and ended up going for a lie down about 3pm. I woke up briefly as a thunderstorm rumbled outside with rain pelting down, before falling back asleep. I finally woke back up just before 6pm to discover bright sunshine splitting the curtains and just a slightly damp ground to suggest that any rain had actually fell.
I think I've just put my back out. My Dad was in the back garden in his wheelchair and ended up slipping backwards down the path and out of it. Luckily, he hasn't injured himself beyond one or two little scrapes but he needed help getting back into his chair. I felt something give as I was helping him back into his chair and now any twisting motion causes pain in the lower left of my back.
I had an appointment with my podiatrist this morning; and as it turns out, it was my last one. She's happily informed me that the toes are fully healed and I don't need to dress them anymore. The bits of dead skin that are on top of the toe matrices will disappear over time. I'll still have annual check-ups with the diabetic podiatrist but don't need to visit my normal podiatrist unless something crops up. It feels weird just wearing socks with no dressing but I'll get used to it.
I really can not be bothered with the world in general today.
My head is pounding, nothing I've taken has worked and I feel like I'm at the bottom of a deep, dark pit. I just want to crawl back into bed and let the world pass me by. I hope my sister's kids are quiet when they turn up later.
Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow; if I can be bothered!
One of the pieces of advice I was given when I had my toes done was that I should refrain from having a bath whilst they were still healing. The information suggested at least 2 or 3 weeks as a minimum. I've gone 2 months. Now, before you go 'ugh' I've not gone 2 months without any form of bath/shower. I've had regular showers during that period. Although we don't have a shower my sister does and I've been popping round to her house regularly in the last 2 months.
Anyway, I've obviously been paying close attention to the state of my toes whenever I've soaked them and changed the dressing. I had planned to go round to my sister's house yesterday evening but her shower is now broken; apparently the pipe from the unit to the head has come away from the shower itself. I decided that my toes were sufficiently healed and I had a bath instead. It's quite remarkable how you can miss something as simple as a bath. It felt so relaxing just lying there and having a soak; and my toes came out of the process relatively intact. I even took the opportunity to tidy up some of the scabbing when the scabs were suitably soft. Now you can go 'ugh'.
I had a bit of a late night last night, no drinking involved however; I was actually playing about with my website a wee bit more. I woke up just after 9am this morning with an absolutely pounding headache and decided that rather than get up I would give the headache another couple of hours. Anyway, went back to sleep and roused again at about 11:15am, still with the headache. I once again decided that I'd give the headache a wee bit more time and went back to sleep. I finally woke up just before 1:30pm, still with a headache. I decided that I'd wasted enough of the day and got up. I've taken a couple of tablets and to be honest I feel okay now.
I was back at the Podiatrist this morning for a quick checkup and dressing change. She's really happy with my progress and indicated that they may take less than the estimated three months to heal. She's advised me that because of the way that I walk and the fact that my toes tend to turn/point upwards rather than lie flat that I should try and take pressue off them as much as possible. She's suggested that I should stop wearing slippers around the house and either walk around in socks or, due to how sore my toes still are at times, barefoot.
Forgot to take my Metformin yesterday.
I'd normally take one with my breakfast and one with my tea; which covers my current dosage. Anyway, I had breakfast in the kitchen yesterday and hadn't taken any Metformin down with me so was going to take it when I went back upstairs. The post landed and I spent an extra 20 minutes downstairs before going back upstairs to hook up the recently arrived iPod to the PC. I forgot all about the tablet. Later on it was a similar story as I was distracted by a phone call after my tea and likewise forgot to take my tablet then.
I only realised that I'd forgotten my tablets when I was going to bed and spotted my Irbesartan on the side and thought "Damn, forgot my tablets" or rather, thoughts similar to that effect. Anyway, it was too late to take my Metformin then so just took my Irbesartan and went to bed. I've checked my bloods this morning and surprisingly enough they are still pretty low at 4.6; which shows just how little sugar I now have in my diet. You can guarantee that I remembered to take my tablet after breakfast.
Anyway, as a side-effect of not taking my tablets yesterday, I've woken up this morning with a headache which feels similar to hypo/hyper headaches I've had in the past. The current plan is not to take anything for the headache and hope it'll fade as the day progresses. I've gotten pretty good over the years at determining how badly a headache is likely to affect me and this one doesn't feel like it's going to have a debilitating effect on the rest of my day. Although, I do occasionally get it wrong.
As mentioned previously, my doctor has been concerned about my high blood pressure and he prescribed Irbesartan to try and solve this just under a month ago. He gave me instructions to have a blood test after three weeks to check that kidney function wasn't adversely affected and to see him again within a month.
Well, I had a blood test last week and was back to see the doctor again this morning to check the results and have my blood pressure checked again. Thankfully, there is no concern for alarm with my kidney function and the tablets have successfully brought my blood pressure down to a manageable level. They are keeping me on the tablets and have told me that they don't need to see me again for another 3 months and even then I just need to see the practice nurse.
So, with my blood sugar down around 4.5 - 6.5; it was as low as 3.6 this morning; and with my blood pressure within acceptable limits, the only outstanding issue at the moment; other than my weight, are my toes. I'm currently changing their dressing every other day and have started to notice a lot of discolouration seeping through from the wounds themselves. They do seem to have finally started to scab up and I don't think there's any cause for alarm and will be seeing the podiatrist as planned on Friday. However, it would be nice if they weren't so sensitive; not only is knocking/stubbing them painful but the dressing seems to grate against the toe matrix whenever I move my feet whilst either in bed or wearing footwear.
I had a job interview this morning with Allerdale Borough Council; for the position of Benefits Clerk, based at Allerdale House in Workington. Allerdale is the borough north of Copeland; where I live, and has a population of approximately 95,000. It includes the towns and surrounding villages of Workington, Maryport, Cockermouth, Keswick and Wigton. I think the interview went okay and hopefully I managed to answer all their questions to a satisfactory standard. My only concern is that I don't know a lot about Council Tax or Housing Benefits but I'm hoping that a lot of the people interviewed are going to be in a similar position. There's actually 2 positions up for grabs so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I must admit my feet were really sore first thing this morning when I put my shoes on and I was hobbling around the house grimacing and thinking "This isn't going to work." After all, it's the first time I've worn socks and shoes since getting my toes done. However, by the time I'd reached Workington my feet weren't anywhere near as sore as they had been and although there was a fair bit of discomfort, it wasn't enough to cause me great hardship. I managed to limp through the morning okay.
It's been just over two weeks now since I had my toenails removed and I was back at the podiatrist yesterday to get the dressings changed. I've changed the dressings a couple of times myself but this was the first chance for the podiatrist to have a look at my toes since they first changed the dressings themselves the day after the procedure.
Anyway, the podiatrist was fairly happy with my progress but decided that I should change the dressings more frequently than I have been; every other day rather than every third day, and to continue using Inadine dressings on both toes for the next 4 changes to give them a better chance to heal. They still haven't started to scab up properly and do still weep a wee bit. They don't look at all pleasant at the moment.
My toes tend to hurt most of the time at the moment; although, not mind-numbing agony, but rather a dull ache. There are times during the day when they hurt a lot more and I end up taking a couple of painkillers to try and ease it. For example, I didn't need to take any painkillers at all yesterday but took 2 earlier this afternoon. I'm usually averaging 4 painkillers a day but there's been a couple of times when I've ended up taking either 8 or 10 in total and a couple of days when I've taken none. The weird thing is that it's rarely both toes at the same time and it's also interchangeable as to which toe is sorest at any given moment; although, it's mainly been the right toe for the last couple of days.
Wearing socks is painful and I currently tend to avoid doing so unless absolutely necessary. I can just about get my normal trainers on but when I put weight on either foot they hurt enough to persuade me to take them back off. My new slippers, although really soft and comfortable tend to crowd my toes so I'm currently wearing my old slippers, which have a nice, wide toe area, in the house and my really old trainers; which are more like a laced plimsol but very loose fitting when undone, if I have to go anywhere. Luckily I haven't needed to try and put shoes on since the procedure but I guess if I get an interview I will have to endure a couple of hours of extreme discomfort.
Thankfully, I've become a lot more aware of my surroundings and have taken great care to avoid knocking my toes in the last week or so. I've even gone so far as to place cushions/pillows in the bottom of the bed to raise the bed clothes off my feet at night and avoid scraping my toes on them. I tend to limp on both legs at the moment and driving any distance longer than a couple of miles is currently beyond my ability.
It's slow progress but the healing process is going in the right direction. I just hope it's far enough along by the end of March when we intend travelling down to Birmingham to see Nightwish.
I don't know if it's just me but has anybody else ever noticed how many times you stub your toes during a normal day?
Obviously, my toes are rather sensitive at the moment and I've been taking it easy and trying to pay attention to where I'm placing my feet. However, I'm still managing to stub at least one of my toes once or twice every day. And, it bloody hurts...
Hopefully, they won't be quite so sensitive when they finally start to scab up.
The doctor has decided that my blood pressure is high enough to warrant concern and has prescribed Irbesartan to try and bring it under control.
I had a follow up appointment with my Nurse today. Although she's happy with my self-testing results my blood sugar levels are higher than she'd like and she's upped my dose of Metformin.
She feels that sooner rather than later I will have to switch over to Insulin injections; mainly due to my relatively young age for diabetes.
She also has concerns over my blood pressure and has arranged me an appointment with a Doctor for next week to check it and discuss the possible prescribing of some medication to also control that.
Both of my big toes have ingrowing toenails. I'm scheduled to get them treated under local anaesthetic tomorrow morning. Apparently they are going to burn out the sides of my toenails with phenol which should prevent the problem recurring.
Just been recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Quite a shock to the system and a significant change to my lifestyle.
I went roleplaying yesterday, as I do virtually every Saturday.
I read on Pixie's blog that he'd been feeling ill at the start of the week and felt a wee bit of sympathy for him. It was only a wee bit. because, after all, it was him that was ill and not me. Now, in a case of you get what you deserve... I'm full of cold. It sucks! That is all...
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