lost and bleeding under toenail

[patriciaw5]

first i lost the toenail from the toe next to my big toe, now my big toenail started bleeding. my toes are heavily  caloused . I am diabetic, morbidly obese and arthritic. Any word on this?

[jemma116]

Make an appointment to see your doctor urgently so that he can refer you to a podiatrist or make an appointment to see a podiatrist yourself.

With being a diabetic any problems with the feet and also with any wounds that do not heal properly need urgent medical attention.  

Through the diabetes, it is highly likely that you already have nerve damage, and the feet are usually the first to feel the nerve damage by feeling numb or sensations of pins and needles.  When this happens, you loose normal sensitivity and will not be able to feel any damage that may occur.  It is very important that you get this medically examined and dealt with because infections can set in with a possibility of any wound getting septic leading to gangrene and possible amputation.  And this is what you want to avoid.

With regard to your weight ask the doctor to refer you to a dietician to help you with regard to eating healthily and portion sizes.  

Fruttibiscotti has some good advice with regard to healthy foods to eat and the healthy types of fat that our body needs to stay healthy.   But unfortunately being a diabetic, you cannot eat as much as you want and stuff yourself silly.  This is where the dietician will help you.  Personally, I was doing fine before the holidays and now have to seriously get back on track.

Even before you get to see a dietician, you can help yourself by eating healthy foods (avoiding all processed and sugary foods, fizzy drinks, you can still have some, but small amounts occasionally).  Even fresh fruit juices need to be portioned.   Choose brown seeded bread instead of white bread.  Choose breakfast cereals that contain no sugar.  Wheetabix, Shredded Wheat and plain porridge are all good choices.  You can make your own porridge on milk or with water and add fruit or cinnamon (no sugar).  Choose a natural Greek set yogurt and add your own fruit to it rather than buying the fruit yogurts - even the low fat ones contain too much sugar.

You may be able to find a diet diary on the web that you can print off and write down everything that you eat and drink.  It is better to eat smaller portions spread out throughout the day, rather than eat 3 large meals.  Eat healthy snacks in between your main meals.  Healthy snacks are: vegetables, nuts, fruit, egg,  (if you eat bananas only eat a small one).

Having a healthy diet will not only help with your sugar control, but will also help you to lose weight and also may help with regard to any inflammation that you have with your arthritis.  Although losing weight will not cure any damaged bones, losing weight will help by relieving the stress on the weight bearing joints (hips, knees, feet).  

If you are able to walk and move about, go for a walk a couple of times a day.  Start of by doing a few minutes and gradually build up the length of your walk and pace as your health starts to improve.  If you are not able to walk, do some type of gentle exercises at home.  Swimming is an excellent form of exercise and even if you cannot swim, doing exercises in the water and walking in the water to exercise your knees will also help.  Your doctor may be able to refer you to a physiotherapist or a pain management clinic that will be able to give you specific exercises for you to do and specifically for any troublesome arthritic joints.

Exercise will also help with using up energy and help with the diabetes.

As this is the start of the New Year, this is a good opportunity to start taking control of your own health and strive to lose weight and get healthier (with help and support from your doctor/dietician or other support groups).

Wishing you all the best.
Let me know how you get on.

[CP3kids]

While that type of diet will surely help to lower her sugar level, it will ultimately lead to cardiac arrest!  High fat diets in the diabetic is never a good thing because they are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease anyhow!  Low fat and low cholesterol diets are needed for diabetics.  If they are brittle diabetics, protein is needed for the lows, but moderation in everything is the way to go!

[Fruttibiscotti]

Adopt a low carb, moderate protein and high fat (healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, grass fed butter, coconut oil, etc) diet.  Thus will stabilize your blood sugar, making your diabetes more manageable, and help reduce inflammation in your body.  You will also enjoy eating this way because the foods you were likely told not to eat (like bacon and whipped cream) are on the good list.  To do this, eliminate all grains from your diet, like rice, bread, pasta, flour, and high starchy stuff, like beans.  Eat meals containing non starch veg with meat/fish/eggs,and don't be shy with fats (from healthy sources).  Choose only natural fats (like butter, coconut oil, avocado, etc) and stay away from fake fats, like margarine.  Opt for high omega 3 containing fats (salmon, olive, nuts, avocado, flax) while not high omega 6 oils (grape seed, canola, sunflower).  Eat non starchy veg frequently, and limit fruits (because they are full if sugar) to rare occasional treats (like once a month).  Stay away from all sugars (white table sugar, honey, agave, fruit juice, etc).  Have as much non starch veg, meat and healthy fats as you want in each meal.  Eat whole foods, and stay away from processed foods.  Eat full fat cheeses and yogurts, and stay away from low or no fat stuff.  Especially stay away from low or no fat yogurt (it has same effect as candy in your body).  With this way of eating, you will stabilize your blood sugar (needed for diabetic condition) and it will reduce inflammation in your body.  Good luck.