A friend of mine, Joanne, told me that she knew that her diabetes must be "acting up" because her vision was a little blurry in the early evening light on her porch. I asked for clarification and she said that she had noticed that when she had blurred vision, it was time to hydrate, check her sugar and have at least a small snack.
Vision issues are a well known concern of people that have diabetes. At first, I was shocked by what she said, and then I thought back to a very bad cold that I had a year ago. I felt absolutely awful. No matter what I did, I was tired. All that I wanted to do was sleep. A friend called to check in on me, waking me from my sleep. When I went to answer the phone, I had a hard time focusing on the name displayed on the phone screen. At the time, I blamed the vision issue to sleeping so much and being tired. When I was done talking with my friend, I went to the bathroom, had a snack, and got a drink of water. Climbing back into bed, I pulled up social media to have a look at what the world had been doing while I was asleep. The words were still slightly blurred. I grabbed my reading glasses, but there was still a blurred edge to the letters. Frustrated, I went back to sleep, blaming it on being "tired". When I woke the second time, everything seemed to be resolved, and I did not think about the incident again until Joanne told me about her blurry vision incident. When I went to the eye doctor for an exam, I remembered the incident and relayed it to my eye doctor, expecting them to dismiss it as coincidence. They went into detail about the risks of diabetes that is not in good control or monitoring. Blurry vision can occur when a diabetic is dehydrated because the body is doing everything that it can to keeps all systems go. When you are dehydrated, the actual shape of your eye can change. Your body can be so low on fluids that you are unable to tear properly or unable to tear at all. Additionally, dehydration affects your blood sugar levels. As your bodily fluids become more concentrated, your blood sugar levels will rise. It is important to consume adequate water in warmer weather to avoid overheating, which can also spike blood sugar. In cooler weather, we have to be mindful because we may not feel thirsty because we are not hot. When my optometrist and I talked, I asked if the 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water a day was the number to aim for. He suggested that I look at some of the water calculators that are online, and to be very honest when I filled in the information to get a good idea of where I needed to be. The water calculator that I chose is rehydratepro.com/hydration-calculator/ It allowed me to put in all of my information, including the fact that I really don't exersize as I should yet. (Baby steps, but I am not there yet.) With all of the input, 1.85 liters or, 65.11 imperial ounces is the amount that I should consume every day. (Just barely over the 8 ounces per glass, 8 glasses per day recommendation.) There was even a suggested breakdown of ideal water consumption, 3 glasses in the morning, 3 glasses in the afternoon, 1 in the evening and one at bedtime. Here is how I have broken down the consumption to get it all done in a day: Morning
Since I have made it a point of consuming enough water, my vision problems have not occured again. Even if I am feeling under the weather, I make it a point to keep hydrating, which also helps to flush my system. Hydrate for the sake of your vision!
0 Comments
I have been reading up on different sugars and substitutes to be better informed.
Today's product was agave nectar. I thought that would be a good substitute because of all of the health benefits, after all, it is from a plant, and not a chemical plant! I read online about agave nectar. The health benefits of agave don't come from syrup. Only raw, cooked or dried. Syrup isn't that. So, agave is off the list. Apparently, it breaks down into 2 different sugars. One of them processes through the liver, and excess sugar through the liver can lead to diabetes. Imagine if you already have diabetes! Here is the article that I read if you are interested in reading it for yourself: www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/1134994/health-benefits-of-agave-nectar/ I was actually debating replacing Log Cabin ( a very bad choice, but it is what I currently have in the pantry) for this syrup. However, it looks as though maple syrup would be a far better choice. Looking at where sugars are processed is important for sugar alcohol. The journey of diabetes is filled with a lot of good and bad information. I strive to research as much as I can so that I am making the most informed choices possible. I appreciate you being a reader here. What is a sweetener that you learned about and no longer use? Leave your comments below. I wear steel toe boots. I ordered them really carefully by reading the reviews online and the sizing guide. Everything said that these boots were an exact fit, no need to go up or down a size.
I work in a warehouse and the floors are poured and polished cement. The first days I was at the new job, I noticed that at the midpoint of my shift, my toes were really aching and when I got home, they were sort of numb. I had done everything I could to make my feet as comfortable as possible. Orthotic inserts, a pair of thin compression socks topped by a pair of thicker socks to prevent rubbing and chafing, and a couple of gel wraps for my little toes so that they did not rub along the side of the leather boot. Remember what I said? The boots were right on size. I was basically wrapping them like mummies to provide comfort and cushioning. So, I was cramming a bunch of stuffing and feet into a boot. If I was going to do this, I should have ordered a size up, and gone to a wide boot as well. I noticed the small little blister when I was washing my feet. Since being diagnosed, I make it a point to go over my feet really carefully at least one time a week. I look for injuries, blisters, nail and cuticle health, and make sure that each toe is in good condition as well as clean each foot carefully during this little health inspection. I had never found anything suspect, but I kept up with it. The blister was on my left foot's second toe. It didn't hurt. It was pretty small, and comparing it to where my composite in my "steel toe" boots hit, it seemed that the blister was at the edge between the regular boot and the toe guard portion. I marked it on my "diabetes calendar" so that I could accurately follow the progress of the blister. I then thought about all of the stuff that I was jamming into those doggone boots and decided to remove everything, including the orthotics and just wear a pair of diabetic socks until I could get a larger pair of boots ordered. The next day, my toes did not began being numb at the middle of my shift. Coming home, I took my boots off and looked at the toe with the blister on it. I had taken a photo the day before. I took another and looked at it. My blister was actually looking deflated and less angry. I monitored this blister carefully for the next few days. By day five, there was no blister, the skin was just ever so slightly more wrinkled than the other toes at the place where the blister had been. I did not apply anything that would soften the skin, such as ointments or lotions. I wanted to have the blister dry out and be absorbed, not apply a humectant to draw or trap moisture at the site. By day seven, all traces of the blister were gone. Since that point, I carry moleskin, the felt like protective fabric with a gentle adhesive backing in the trunk of my car with a small pair of safety scissors so that I can protect any tender skin areas on my feet and rest of my body. I feel that by doing these frequent inspections of my feet, I avoided what could have been a significant issue. I do not have neuropathy, so the issue was not one of not feeling the injury. Instead, by monitoring my skin closely, I was able to catch something happening at early onset. The fall was spectacularly stupid. I was trying to maneuver a cracked plastic laundry basket that was too full around a corner of the bed. I tripped over a corner of the bedspread that was out of my siteline because of the basket. I fell to the ground, and a huge gash was bleeding on the middle of my outer calf.
Everything hurt. The fall was hard. I must have literally laid there for at least 5 minutes, assessing each part of my body that hurt, because there was no one else home at the time. Gingerly, I began flexing and releasing fingers and toes, and then moving onto larger and deeper muscles. I knew that I was pretty banged up. When I went to move my head, the back of my head roared to life with pain receptors. I was assuredly injured. Going into the bathroom, it was shocking. I had blood going down my face, and from my leg. I bandaged myself up, threw some petroleum jelly on the wounds to stanch the flow of the blood and took some Aleve for pain. The next few days were filled with the pain and soreness that you would expect. In about a week to ten days, the cut in my scalp was only a hardened little bump and scab that hurt only if I brushed or shampooed without giving a little tender treatment to the area. By the third week, my head was pretty much healed. The bumps and bruises all over my body were pretty much gone, save for the especially deep ones that were still present, but faded. The gash on my calf, though. That was a problem. No matter what I did, that gash was still an ugly purple and burgundy, with literal shades of blue and green in places. It was closed, but with a scab. I did not know that wound care was an issue with people that have diabetes. I researched cuts. and finally, at the one month mark, I decided that I needed to go see the doctor. The doctor looked at the cut, asked how it happened, and looked at the healed cut on my head as well. He gave me a couple of prescriptions, some instructions on bandaging and wound care, and I was sent home. At the two month mark, when I was finishing the last of the cortisone cream that I was prescribed, the cut really didn't look any better. It was sealed, but still very angry deep red and purplish at the cut. The skin felt thinner there, and I was embarrassed to wear shorts, dresses, or anything that showed my calf, because it was so shocking that strangers would ask what happened. So, I basically lived in leggings worn under a dress or anything else. I called the doctor, and he said that I should come back in, because it should be healed by now. At that visit, he said that I might have something call fragile skin. That meant that it could take me a little longer to heal. He said that because it was sealed close, we were just in a waiting game for the discoloration and sensitivity to heat and cold to come to and end. It took that wound nearly 8 months to heal completely, to where there was no discoloration, and no abnormal sensitivity or numbness. Here is what I would have done differently now, knowing that I am a diabetic:
If you have a wound, call your doctor and do what they tell you. Ask if they have hand outs about wound care for diabetics, and any other resources to make sure that you are doing all that you can do for your health. If you don't get help from your physician, ask for a referral. Your doctor should be a partner in your well being. A concern that I have read about again and again for people with diabetes is vision problems, including blindness. My older sister has to have injections in her one eye because of complications from diabetes. My younger sister no longer wears contact lenses for the same reason.
I had LASIK surgery about 20 years ago. About 15 years ago, my vision started changing. I noticed it first when I was cleaning a pair of glasses for a family member. As I looked through the lens to make sure that it was clean, I was seeing a sharper image. I was surprised because my vision had been constant since my surgery. I went to the eye doctor, and sure enough, there was enough of a change in my vision that I needed glasses. I got glasses and I also got fitted for contact lenses. I decided to go for the lenses that had the most positive reviews in terms of comfort, because at the time, I was working at the airport, and the constant changes in temperature/air pressure from opening and closing doors, etcetera was something that the optometrist was a little concerned about. The first few days of wearing the contacts, I was told that there would be an adjustment period. I called the eye doctor because the first day was absolutely miserable. My eyes felt dry all day long. I called the doctor and he told me that I should come in and let him have a look. During the visit, he said that it looked like I had eyes that were a little dry, and that wearing contacts to work would probably not be good for my eye health. He changed the contacts I was wearing, and I have it a second try. I was unable to wear them at home because it was just too uncomfortable. In doing research, I discovered that vision problems are a massive problems in the diabetic community. Fear of blindness made me change how I handle my eye health. Here are the changes that I have made:
|
Hi, my name is DixieI have diabetes and this is the place where I share all of the discoveries that are part of my journey. ArchivesCategories
All
|