Three years ago I inherited a beautiful black Labrador from my daughter who had emigrated and the dog trained me back into walking. At first a half hour walk seemed long , but the dog needed more outings so at least twice a day I did my duty to the dog and my daughter and in doing so slowly got fitter. I was tired though sluggish, a fact I put down to my age. On more than one occasion I’d mentioned it to the the doctor when visiting for various infrequent ailments but nothing was said about blood sugar levels until my post 60 check up.
“There seems to be an anomaly “ I was told at my first blood test. By this stage I’d hit google in a big way and realised the possibility of diabetes.
The classic symptoms for type 2 diabetes are many : Hunger, tiredness, peeing a lot, thirst, dry mouth, itchy skin, yeast infections, slow healing , feeling sick etc. Apart from the tiredness which I’d put down to being post 50 I dont recall any of the other symptoms. A few years before I had blood tests done for what I thought might be a prostate problem. I was peeing a lot, however I was told everything was ok.
This time however a second blood test confirmed that I was diabetic and so from the doctor I was rerouted to see the diabetic nurse who gave me free of charge a blood glucose kit. I had of course by this stage purchased my own ! - Two years on from diagnosis my doctor now considers me cured however I still test on a regular basis . It costs me less than a cup of coffee to do multiple tests ever day if I need to. The test is quick and pretty much painless. Its a small but significant piece of science in a system which is stuffed full of believes and nonsense about what is healthy and what isnt.
No one at my surgery told me how to use this device! Fortunately theres a very useful site where many thousands of diabetics share information.
Heres the link
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-glucose/how-to-test-blood-glucose-levels.html
The artwork is on a very very old page from a bible
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/understanding-diabetes-symptoms#1