Adventures in self-diagnosis

I'm not big on doctors. Matter of fact, the only times I've bothered to consult one since the 1980s have been a) exams or workplace injuries where my boss required me to; and b) the time I thought I'd had a stroke (it was Bell's Palsy -- the doctors gave me anti-virals which didn't help; Kate Graham recommended Lysene which did).

But, I've had a sneaking suspicion lately (for the last year or so).

The suspicion began with me noticing that I no longer noticed small injuries on my extremities when they happened. My family would notice a cut or whatever that I hadn't even felt and tell me about it, but I wouldn't feel it unless it got infected.

When I began experiencing vision changes (I now have to remove my glasses to read up close), that compounded the suspicion, but I mostly wrote it off to aging and started planning on maybe getting bifocals.

Then there was the general lack of energy thing, etc. Once again, hey, I'm getting older, my lifestyle tends to be sedentary because I work on a computer instead of a factory floor, etc.

Of course, I've also been consuming sugary (and high fructose corn syrupy) beverages in great quantities for as long as I can remember.

I bought some of those strips at the store that you pee on, but they're not especially informative. All I knew was that if they were accurate, I was pregna ... er, my blood sugar was over 110. 111 or 500? No way to know.

Tonight, I was lucky enough to procure a digital blood glucose meter, the kind with the lancet and the strips and all that stuff.

If that is accurate, and I have no reason to believe it isn't (I read the instructions carefully), my blood glucose level as of a few minutes ago was (drum roll, please, and no "for God so loved the world" jokes) 316.

The limited amount of research I've done on the subject has me thinking that this may be a ... less than ideal ... blood glucose level. I'm no expert, but I'm given to believe that it's rather a bit on the high side.

Fortunately, my blood pressure is nowhere near 316 ... but last time I checked it, the systolic and diastolic added together weren't too far short of that (I'd neglected my garlic supplement for several weeks; I'm back on it religiously now).

So maybe I'll see a doctor. But hell, I might as well crowd-source my dietary and exercise and supplement and medication options first. Anyone got any recommendations?