It is estimated that there are over a million people in the UK living with undiagnosed diabetes. For a good while I was one of those people.
I first noticed a problem with my feet when skiing, my toes were really cold whilst out on the slopes. I put it down at the time to the fact it was very cold, -10 to -15C, and thinking I probably needed to replace my boots as the liner might be getting worn. Poor circulation due to diabetes just never occurred to me.
Neuropathic pain is a classic symptom of diabetes, but it is not the only cause. So when I started to get pains in my feet, I didn’t think diabetes but associated it with trauma caused by the freezing of my toes. As a reasonably fit and active person with a “normal” BMI, a reasonably healthy diet and no family history of diabetes, it still didn’t make me think that this was my issue.
As an aside, recently filled in my details (as they were when I got diagnosed) on the Diabetes UK risk score calculator available at https://riskscore.diabetes.org.uk/start. The result suggested that I had a pretty low chance of being or becoming diabetic. It’s worth doing, over 3 million people have, but the calculator is limited in scope so don’t rely on it.
Other common symptoms of diabetes are, feeling very tired, urinating more than usual, feeling thirsty all the time, and losing weight without trying to. I was a no to all of these!
Other synptoms
Less common symptoms include blurred vision, cuts or wounds taking a long time to heal, susceptibility to athletes foot, dhobie (jock itch) and thrush. Again I was a no for the first two.
Having recently just had surgery on my hand for Dupuytren’s contracture, it was interesting to hear a couple of physiotherapists expressing surprise at how quickly I was healing, since I was diabetic! For anyone who is interested in Dupuytren’s, which does have links to diabetes, you are welcome to check out another of my blogs at https://thevikingfist.com .
Fungi and me.
I did however have some problems with fungal infections, initially athletes foot but a bout of thrush too. Thrush is usually associated with women’s health but is also pretty common in men. Candida balanitis can be a particular problem for uncircumcised men, causing an itchy rash on the penis head. Been there done that and it is not pleasant although easily treatable.
The problem is that the sugar levels in sweat and urine are raised due to diabetes. This provides a lovely breeding ground for candida (a yeast) and other fungal infections in between the toes and other folds of the skin. Stopping athletes foot, for me just meant paying more attention to drying between my toes after showering. Similarly, candida can be kept at bay (once treated) by improved hygiene after urination. As you age the muscles around the bladder and urinary tract don’t work as well as they used to. Shaking the last drops out and preventing a drop or two leaking gets harder unfortunately. So, my advice is either don’t get old or pay more attention to your penis.
I had some stresses at work and was drinking too much alcohol, both of which could be linked to either foot problems or type 2! Overall, however I was still not considering diabetes as the underlying cause.
Eye test and diagnosis.
The change came when I went for a regular eye test, I make a point of going every couple of years. The optician’s I visited did various test including taking a picture of my retinas. The optician viewing the images referred me to my GP as there was visible damage consistent with diabetes. The GP confirmed the diagnosis following the results of my blood test which showed an HbA1c level of 90 mmol/mol, basically about twice what it should be!
My journey into the world of diabetes had begun. The good news was that the blood analysis showed that my liver function was fine, despite my drinking habits , as was my cholesterol. Despite this the GP was insistent I should be taking a statin along with my metformin.