MEDICAL MATTERS

[Big Kev]

That's more likely, your relatively low carb intake would probably benefit from a top up first thing in the morning. I have a bowl of cereal every day, for breakfast, and can't remember the last time I went hypoglycemic.

[Stanley]

I shall consider it Kev. I have an idea my reactions to diabetes are changing slowly as I age......

[plaques]

For years Corn Flakes had been a big part of my diet but with lashings of milk. Then I suspected the milk was causing some bladder irritation and dropped it. The irritations cleared up.

Stanley there is something else you have done besides getting older and that is the Covid booster jab. Yes I know I will come under some flack for that statement. Covid is still out there and its easy to overreact to covid if your system is tuned to it. No I'm not happy with the way these medications are being promoted and if they start feeding mRNA based vaccine to animals how long will it take to realise it was a mistake?

Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, but was also cursed by the god Apollo so that her true prophecies would not be believed.

[Sue]

I shall consider it Kev. I have an idea my reactions to diabetes are changing slowly as I age......

On a normal diet we usually store enough glycogen in our liver to last about 8-10 hours ie through the night. This is why breakfast is so important to replace the levels. On a low carb diet I assume the levels would not last as long. I can't remember where fat fits into this, my biochemistry was always a weak point. I bet Tiz knows.

Light headedness is a classic symptom of low blood sugar in the morning often accompanied by nausea. I saw it in students all the time as they tended to skip breakfast. It is normally low BP that causes light headedness and not raised BP. Raised BP has few visible symptoms which is why people are advised to check it regularly. Surely it is some time now since your covid vaccination. I would go with the low carb theory

[Sue]

I have just done a bit of research on this . There are lots of technical papers and a few simplified articles but basically they say if you have been on the low carb regime for some time symptoms of light headedness etc decrease. However one article suggested that they may be become more obvious in older people. It suggested drinking more water and upping salt levels. I am not sure about wether the author meant salt as in sodium chloride or salts as in potassium salts, calcium salts etc. Increase in SALT as in sodium chloride can be dangerous if overdone. I will keep searching for some more definitive advice. Wendy knows more about the keto diet and its positive and negatives so perhaps she knows the answer. As you have been on the diet for sometime I would think your reaction was a one off or may be related to your age.

[Stanley]

Thank you very much Sue for taking the trouble. My low carb diet is just that, but not excessively so. It certainly couldn't be described as keto. I suspect you are right, a one-off and more to do with age than anything else. I am making sure I have a snack later in the evening to cut the overnight fasting time down a bit. It'll be interesting to see what my blood test next Monday will reveal, if anything.....

[Sue]

Always happy to do a bit of research. I don’t know a lot about the biochemistry of this. It is interesting but very complex.

[Tizer]

There are now so many versions and opinions on the role of fats in the diet that I'm not able to help with that, except to say that fat is important not just as a source of energy but also in ensuring satiety so that you're not craving too much food.

Salt - too much and you increase your risk of heart disease (due to high blood pressure), too little and you might feel faint (due to low blood pressure). If ever you have to talk to your doctor about feeling faint or dizzy don't be surprised if he/she asks you exactly what you mean. People often tell doctors they're feeling one or the other but they are very different things. Faintness is a sense of losing consciousness due to insufficient blood reaching the brain; dizziness is upset of equilibrium usually due to an inner ear problem.

[Sue]

There are now so many versions and opinions on the role of fats in the diet that I'm not able to help with that, except to say that fat is important not just as a source of energy but also in ensuring satiety so that you're not craving too much food.

Salt - too much and you increase your risk of heart disease (due to high blood pressure), too little and you might feel faint (due to low blood pressure). If ever you have to talk to your doctor about feeling faint or dizzy don't be surprised if he/she asks you exactly what you mean. People often tell doctors they're feeling one or the other but they are very different things. Faintness is a sense of losing consciousness due to insufficient blood reaching the brain; dizziness is upset of equilibrium usually due to an inner ear problem.

More or less my thinking , but so much out there on the biochemistry of low fat diets. Its beyond my learning and expertise

[Stanley]

I understand the difference between dizzy and faint. Mine was incipient faintness.
Incidentally, since I began favouring the overnight fast being the root of the problem and eating a snack late at night before bed to shorten the gap... I have not had any repetition and my BP hovers in 120/80 territory.

[Sue]

[Stanley]

One thing that this week has demonstrated is that when there is a puzzling little circumstance the quickest answer is not in making an appointment to see the doctor but in using your head and trusting knowledgeable friends. Thanks to all of you my problem is solved. Only question now is would a small bag of crisps just before bed be a good thing?
Answers on a post card please....

[Tizer]

I'm still having problems getting my prescriptions. I left Patient Access which had a 10 day delay from ordering and approval to being available at Wells Pharmacy and moved to the NHS Access app but that still takes 7 days. Now it's all in a mess because Wells and the GP sugery don't seem able to recognise that I've changed my phone number. They each keep telling me to contact the other party! So much for the health services going digital.

[PanBiker]

I use the MyGP app Peter. Repeats are normally approved the same day or the day after, prescription goes straight to the pharmacy of choice, (in my case the online pharmacy2U). I next get an email to say that it has been received and is being processed and then another when it's dispatched. I normally get the meds the day after. so about 3 to 4 days max. They do recommend that you order repeats 10 days before your existing stock runs out to cover for any items that may be out of stock. That would still be the advise if you were using a local pharmacy.

[Big Kev]

Same process for me Ian but I do the whole thing in the Chemist4U app (it communicates with the surgery via MyGP).

[Sue]

One thing that this week has demonstrated is that when there is a puzzling little circumstance the quickest answer is not in making an appointment to see the doctor but in using your head and trusting knowledgeable friends. Thanks to all of you my problem is solved. Only question now is would a small bag of crisps just before bed be a good thing?
Answers on a post card please....

Small piece of wholemeal toast perhaps

[PanBiker]

Or an odd oat biscuit.

[Tripps]

I find one of these usually suffices. . .

► Show Spoiler

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[Stanley]

Of the three the oat biscuit makes most sense and is the route I have already gone down, Oatcakes with apple and cheese.

[Stanley]

I am on the slate for blood test at the surgery this afternoon. The young lady who informed me of the appointment over the phone was remarkably uninformed about what other tests would be done so I am assuming it's the normal list of urine sample, 7 days BP readings, weight and foot inspection.
(She didn't seem very interested when I asked her so I didn't pursue the matter.)

[Big Kev]

I am on the slate for blood test at the surgery this afternoon. The young lady who informed me of the appointment over the phone was remarkably uninformed about what other tests would be done so I am assuming it's the normal list of urine sample, 7 days BP readings, weight and foot inspection.
(She didn't seem very interested when I asked her so I didn't pursue the matter.)

It was just blood, bp and weight when I went last week. Foot inspection only seems to be every 12 months for me.

[Stanley]

Yes and that's what it should be for me but as the young lady who told me the appointment time had no idea and wasn't interested I am covering all the bases..... Can't do any harm!

[Stanley]

The young lady who dealt with me had no idea why I was there and I had to tell her all I knew. In the end she just did a blood sample. I get the feeling that the internal management of the practice isn't all it should be.

[Stanley]

Word that my sister is in hospital again after a fall. Worrying reminder of our mortality. She is 13 months younger than me. I shall raid the burial fund and order a set of engine castings.... That's the only response I can think of!

[plaques]

The Covid -19 inquiry has started. The BBC news this morning quotes that they had prepared for the WRONG sort of pandemic.
In 2016 Exercise Cygnus was started to pre-empt a future pandemic. Although based on an Influenza type outbreak it was the SARS virus that triggered the exercise. I have heard it said that because flu was a seasonal infection Boris Johnson cut the funding under the opinion that no extra spend was necessary. I don't know if this is true or not. It looks like another Not Me Gov, exercise.