Isolated Blurt Thread Again

More medical update...

Six-monthly diabetic check shows considerable improvement over last 6 months and better than last two years.

At least something is going right. :rolleyes:
 
Don't mean to overstep my bounds, but...(the inevitable but) I've shared some links you might find interesting. The only reason I'm sharing them is my bil reversed his type 2 diabetes this way and I like you.
He is an omnivore, his doctor recommended it, otherwise he probly would have scoffed at the whole idea.

UK site.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html

https://www.pcrm.org/health-topics/diabetes

As to ear thing and falling have you been checked for vertigo?
 
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Don't mean to overstep my bounds, but...(the inevitable but) I've shared some links you might find interesting. The only reason I'm sharing them is my bil reversed his type 2 diabetes this way and I like you.
He is an omnivore, his doctor recommended it, otherwise he probly would have scoffed at the whole idea.

UK site.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html

https://www.pcrm.org/health-topics/diabetes

As to ear thing and falling have you been checked for vertigo?

Thanks for the links. My diet has led to gradual weight loss; my cholesterol levels are low; and I eat very little meat. My youngest daughter, her husband and my granddaughter are vegan so I sometimes eat vegan while with them but my taste is affected by my current condition. I find most vegan food tastes wrong (I could use expletive deleted here).

Vertigo? Yes, I have been checked for it. Although I am unstable on my feet and tend to fall over I don't have vertigo. I have errors in positional awareness perhaps because of weak signals but not vertigo as usually defined. I have had a twisted spine, tilted hips and head pushed slightly forward for decades. All three, together with fused vertebrae by hips and neck, put strain on my ability to respond to uneven floor surfaces or when changing direction or level.
 
Thanks for the links. My diet has led to gradual weight loss; my cholesterol levels are low; and I eat very little meat. My youngest daughter, her husband and my granddaughter are vegan so I sometimes eat vegan while with them but my taste is affected by my current condition. I find most vegan food tastes wrong (I could use expletive deleted here).

Vertigo? Yes, I have been checked for it. Although I am unstable on my feet and tend to fall over I don't have vertigo. I have errors in positional awareness perhaps because of weak signals but not vertigo as usually defined. I have had a twisted spine, tilted hips and head pushed slightly forward for decades. All three, together with fused vertebrae by hips and neck, put strain on my ability to respond to uneven floor surfaces or when changing direction or level.

From arthritis, a degenerative disease or something else? If I'm being too invasive feel free to tell me to bugger off.
Must be uncomfortable at the best of times. My sympathies.
 
From arthritis, a degenerative disease or something else? If I'm being too invasive feel free to tell me to bugger off.
Must be uncomfortable at the best of times. My sympathies.

The main condition is ankylosing spondylitis but before I had that I had repeated trauma to my spine in my teens and twenties. I was a motorcyclist - on roads and cross country racing - I stopped counting after 18 accidents. I was a surf lifesaver, usually an oarsman in a boat, but I got dumped by waves (with or without the boat). I was a rock climber and a member of a cliff rescue team. As I was qualified for surf rescue too, if the sea was rough I was the one to go down and haul someone (or someone's body) out of the sea. I was bashed against the cliffs in high winds and beaten up by the waves as well. My vertebrae showed signs of the impacts before developing ankylosing spondylitis.

I also rode a horse cross country, and played Rugby and the more vicious sport of Australian Rules. If you still had all your limbs and weren't bleeding too profusely you were fit to continue to play. One of our rugby matches started with 30 players. The referee abandoned the match when there were only 18 left on the pitch. Why? The local hospital refused to send any more ambulances to the match. They had marked our Rugby game as a 'major incident.
 
The main condition is ankylosing spondylitis but before I had that I had repeated trauma to my spine in my teens and twenties. I was a motorcyclist - on roads and cross country racing - I stopped counting after 18 accidents. I was a surf lifesaver, usually an oarsman in a boat, but I got dumped by waves (with or without the boat). I was a rock climber and a member of a cliff rescue team. As I was qualified for surf rescue too, if the sea was rough I was the one to go down and haul someone (or someone's body) out of the sea. I was bashed against the cliffs in high winds and beaten up by the waves as well. My vertebrae showed signs of the impacts before developing ankylosing spondylitis.

I also rode a horse cross country, and played Rugby and the more vicious sport of Australian Rules. If you still had all your limbs and weren't bleeding too profusely you were fit to continue to play. One of our rugby matches started with 30 players. The referee abandoned the match when there were only 18 left on the pitch. Why? The local hospital refused to send any more ambulances to the match. They had marked our Rugby game as a 'major incident.


Not one to sit idle, are we? :)
That story about the rugby team is priceless, only in England, eh?
So repeated physical abuse is a complicating factor.
Surf and cliff rescue? Motorbike cross country racing? Bet you have some wild tales to tell.
The limitations of ankylosing spondylitis must drive you batty after being so active for so many years.
Must admit I looked it up. Interesting that it effects the eyes, as well. Actually, kind of weirdly bizarre.

Eye inflammation (uveitis). One of the most common complications of ankylosing spondylitis, uveitis can cause rapid-onset eye pain, sensitivity to light and blurred vision.
 
Not one to sit idle, are we? :)
That story about the rugby team is priceless, only in England, eh?
So repeated physical abuse is a complicating factor.
Surf and cliff rescue? Motorbike cross country racing? Bet you have some wild tales to tell.
The limitations of ankylosing spondylitis must drive you batty after being so active for so many years.
Must admit I looked it up. Interesting that it effects the eyes, as well. Actually, kind of weirdly bizarre.

Eye inflammation (uveitis). One of the most common complications of ankylosing spondylitis, uveitis can cause rapid-onset eye pain, sensitivity to light and blurred vision.

I have had ankylosing spondylitis for over 40 years, even if only diagnosed for 30 (average time from first onset to confirmed diagnosis in UK is 8.5 years now - was longer!) but until December 2018 I had very mild symptoms compared with most people with AS. I kept moving, did twice daily exercises, and went to a private physiotherapist every 5 weeks. I still do. The twisting of my spine and forward inclination of my head are obvious but hadn't got worse in the last five or more years. My stiffness had increased but age more than AS is the likely cause of that. Despite my current symptoms of instability, blurred speech and sometimes double vision, the musculoskeletal changes have been nil.

Rugby? In Australia where they play all sports to win...
 
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Next specialist...

As advised by the ENT specialist I saw on Tuesday 30 April, I arranged an urgent eye test with an optician for today.

No problem with diabetes affecting eyes. Mild cataracts I was already aware of - years from needing surgical intervention BUT left eye muscles are weak causing the double vision.

New glasses to be ready within a week should fix double vision but may deteriorate so monitor for any changes. I will be referred to eye specialist to examine my eye muscle condition regularly but double vision should be fixed with new glasses.

Still don't know why falling over or why speech is affected.

Monday - foot check
Wednesday - back to GP to review consultants' negative reports. I am disgustingly fit and healthy - just falling over.
 
Just a bit more, Og...

Minor neuropathy, particularly in the feet, can leave with short on the nuances of keeping steady, and slowness of joints and muscles with aging can make responding to balance shifts more difficult, all of it combining to leave one falling over. Do you sense a loss of balance before you fall?

Best wishes, of course, for your upcoming med checks.
 
Just a bit more, Og...

Minor neuropathy, particularly in the feet, can leave with short on the nuances of keeping steady, and slowness of joints and muscles with aging can make responding to balance shifts more difficult, all of it combining to leave one falling over. Do you sense a loss of balance before you fall?

Best wishes, of course, for your upcoming med checks.

Thanks again. All ideas are welcome as possible causes to investigate.

But my feet are in excellent condition, with good blood flow and very sensitive to any reflex stimuli with no indication of any problems. My feet will be checked again on Monday when I go to an elderly person's clinic to have my toenails cut because I cannot reach them myself. I now go there every five weeks but only started in February - my instability finally pushed me into accepting that I was dangerous trying to cut them myself. My feet have been monitored as part of the diabetic check-ups, and also by the neuropathic specialist. As part of the toenail attention all aspects of the feet are examined as well. The only comment is that they are the largest they deal with at US size 14. Most of their clients are elderly ladies with tiny feet.

Do I sense a loss of balance before I fall? Yes, but too late to do much unless I have something to grab on to. My spine and hips cannot correct imbalance in time because of very reduced flexion (or none!). I cannot correct myself without an aid - chair, wall, door, stick etc. Sometimes I take the chair with me as I fall, and one door has had to have the hinges repaired although it stopped my fall at the time.
 
The life of a medical anomaly. Good times, good times. :D
All kidding aside, best of luck with your seemingly endless checkups. Who knows? Maybe you'll be a footnote in some future, cumbersome, medical tome.
Well, we all know what Monty Python says...

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. ;)
 
Had a shitty day work. Came home a drank WAY too much. Drunk-posted to the AH about whst a shitty day I had. Deleted half of it, because even though I haven't held a security clearance in several years, God DAMN do they drill that into you.

If the pattern hilds, I'm about to go calculate how many years I have left until I can retire. Then, I'll switch from gin to bourbon, even though I know I have to get up in the morning.

This is becoming a bad habit.
 
Had a shitty day work. Came home a drank WAY too much. Drunk-posted to the AH about whst a shitty day I had. Deleted half of it, because even though I haven't held a security clearance in several years, God DAMN do they drill that into you.

If the pattern hilds, I'm about to go calculate how many years I have left until I can retire. Then, I'll switch from gin to bourbon, even though I know I have to get up in the morning.

This is becoming a bad habit.

You need to re-assess what about work you like, and whether you can do anything (short of assassination!) to change what you don't like.

Gin and bourbon are likely to make you feel worse about your day, not better.
 
You need the girls to look after Uncle Loqui ;).

You need to re-assess what about work you like, and whether you can do anything (short of assassination!) to change what you don't like.

Gin and bourbon are likely to make you feel worse about your day, not better.

Thanks for the sympathy, fellas. When I feel the occasional need to scream into the void, it's nice to know that someone hears.
 
I've just fitted clips to my walker to hold my walking stick but Murphy's Law applied. If there is a possibility of fitting the pieces the wrong way round - I did, and had to take them off again to get them to fit properly.

Why didn't I read the instructions first?

There weren't any...
 
My mother would have been 95 today. She's been gone over 20 years so it's hard to imagine her that old. :rose:
 
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