I'm 95% sure I have diabetes

[Boreas]

The key to your success with DM2 will be your physician and healthcare team. Not all physicians are on board with reversing DM2, but just treating it. IMO, if your doctor insists on treating before a carb-restricted diet, get a second opinion.

My father's side of the family was rife with DM1 and DM2, so I was not surprised with a diagnosis of DM2. Because of my family history and my fear of complications, my physician and I agreed to treat and diet at the same time. Because the meds brought my numbers down, I didn't get very serious about my carb control. Over the next 5 years I went from glyburide, added metformin, dropped glyburide and added insulin shots at mealtime. Over the next 5 years, I went to shots at meals and Lantus daily, added more EXPENSIVE pills, switched to an insulin pump AND pills, added an EXPENSIVE weekly injection. With just about every added medicine (especially insulin!) there was corresponding weight GAIN! My A1C is now a very good 5.5, but I spend THOUSANDS over top of my healthcare payments every year. I hit catastrophic coverage in early Fall. My DM2 treatments would be over $30k without a good healthcare plan. This is just my story - every diabetic has a different story with a different outcome.

Unfortunately, THIS has been the "treatment plan" of much of the medical field over the years. Now, more enlightened physicians postpone ANY medication as long as you can keep your blood glucose levels out of the danger area. This is the time to master your carb intake, and not go on and develop a reliance "crutch" of medications. You are only at the "easy" stage ONCE. Once the crutch is employed, often there is no longer any emphasis on the diet. DM2 is essentially a diet-related problem. Some people are more prone to DM2 than others, and you are likely one of these people. But it doesn't have to be a foregone diagnosis nor take over your lifestyle. I believe you have the gumption to avoid it!

 

[Ronzo]

@PennyroyalFrog ,

Waking up this morning, I remembered that there were two other thing I’d forgotten that you should be mindful of:

- Vision Changes: After I was diagnosed, I had radical changes to my vision. Where before, I had good distance vision and required a 2.0 diopter correction for reading, I quite suddenly needed to use my 2.0 reading glasses to see distance - and to drive! This terrified me. Fortunately, a co-worker had this happen, and he told me that by maintaining glucose levels of 120 or lower constantly for 2-3 months, damage would reverse. He was right, thank God.

- “Whiting Out”: You may notice a phenomenon of your eyes not responding properly to moderate or bright light. You may start to see a white haze covering your entire field of vision, usually with brighter white areas. This is a warning signal that your blood sugar is poorly controlled. If this occurs, DO NOT DRIVE until it clears up by increasing your exercise level, drinking water to flush the excess glucose from you blood stream, and TEST. It typically comes on when you mess up by eating sweets.

After you have controlled your blood sugar well for some time, you may experience it again - when your blood glucose level drops too low. Again, TEST. It is better to have blood glucose run slightly high than low - and everyone has a different level at which they are comfortable and all is well. It is harder to come back from your blood glucose being too low than somewhat higher than your normal. People can die from that.

Be vigilant, and be careful.

 

[PennyroyalFrog]

Follow up: I’m in the ER right now. My doctor and the nurse smelled acetone as soon as they walked into my room at the doctor (keto acidosis?) Not good. He told me I needed to be treated inpatient to get things under control immediately. My blood sugar was 329.

 

[Greg70]

Follow up: I’m in the ER right now. My doctor and the nurse smelled acetone as soon as they walked into my room at the doctor (keto acidosis?) Not good. He told me I needed to be treated inpatient to get things under control immediately. My blood sugar was 329.

Sorry to hear that, but you're where you need to be right now. Prayers for health and healing.

 

[Boreas]

Follow up: I’m in the ER right now. My doctor and the nurse smelled acetone as soon as they walked into my room at the doctor (keto acidosis?) Not good. He told me I needed to be treated inpatient to get things under control immediately. My blood sugar was 329.

Ugh!! They typically try to bring th BG down slowly to avoid shocking some of your organs. But they will get it down and get you set up with some sort of treatment. Keep us posted when you are doing better! Good luck!

 

[HootOwlDude]

I, too, am in on this. About two and a half years ago I think. I am just way more careful about carbs. I have lost a solid twenty-five pounds. Still drink beer, though usually light. And my son’s ******* Oreos have to weather an occasional Dad plundering. I take FARXIGA daily. Last bloodwork I had done showed my A1C way down from when I was first diagnosed, even slightly below that type 2 threshold. I get my blood checked later this week, so we’ll see. The bigger humdinger is my 13 year-old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 about three months ago. Now, talk about adjustment and worrying. A thirteen year-old girl is quite a puzzle to part when it comes to a life-changer like this! That said, she is feeling much better and shouldering it all pretty well. Just be glad you are mature enough to tackle your disease through your own whimsy and will. Better than being the food cop for a kid well within the “adults are stupid” stage. You got this, dude. Having type 2 diabetes is very American! But really, thank goodness for health insurance and access to medicine. You will adjust! If you like ice cream, Bryers has a bomby Carb-Smart option! Holy crap it’s good.

 

[PennyroyalFrog]

I have type II diabetes. I will be discharged likely today with Lantus long-acting insulin to take in the morning and metformin.

 

[Ronzo]

I have type II diabetes. I will be discharged likely today with Lantus long-acting insulin to take in the morning and metformin.

Happy for you that your doctors found a workable solution for you. Stay the course. We’re all rooting for you - and I’m praying for you.

 

[PennyroyalFrog]

Happy for you that your doctors found a workable solution for you. Stay the course. We’re all rooting for you - and I’m praying for you.

Thanks!

 

[1hoofer]

Another type 2 person here. Diagnosed in 1999. I wish you well on your journey, and hope this marks the start of a new era for you. Lots of good advice in this thread. I’d like to add something I didn’t notice yet. NO PROCESSED FOODS. Lots of real crap is dressed up in healthy labels but is full of preservatives, dyes, colourings etc etc. Something that helped me over the years is eating only fresh foods and preparing them myself. Tonight it’s a stir fry of red pepper, spring onion, sugar snap peas, and spinach, plus cold water prawns. Great to eat and I enjoy preparing it. I still have a weakness for a glass (or two) of cold beer on a nice evening after plenty of exercise, but I haven’t had fast food (burgers, kebabs, pizza) in over 15 years. And after a while you don’t miss them. All the best going forward!

 

[Spox]

This has been a really good thread re people sharing advice and good luck with your numbers.

I had blood and urine tests earlier this month but my numbers came back good whereas I thought I had developed diabetes since early 2020. If we go back a decade I'd been put onto antidepressants by my doctor and just ballooned to about 250ib despite being vegan, I was just tired and craving carbs all of the time. Six years ago after taking what looked like a bloodclot/DVT I decided to try to take control of the weight problem and succeeded to the extent that at the end of 2019 I weighed 133ib, I thought I looked great, chiseled jawline, cheekbones, 32 waist Levis whereas my family thought I looked like Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club. The big thing was cutting out takeaways and bread produce, no bread or rolls at home, I also cut down on the amount of rice I was eating and switched from white basmati to brown. I was also trying to walk forty miles each week.

Early 2020 everything changed, my routine was curtailed, I had places to stop and pee on my walks and these were all closed. I went from forty miles a week to two then seven etc. I managed 28.1 miles last week but put on weight, 5ib, I'm a carer for my mum pretty much seven nights a week and she buys in boxes of crackers, sometimes up to ten boxes, hummus, jars of relish. I go to her place after walking and eating salad and I boredom snack on crap, she also gives me chocolate. I keep asking her to stop and she keeps agreeing to then just buys the stuff again, last few days I've handed the chocolate back to her. I currently weigh 180ib and want to lose 15-20ib of that, I'll probably never go back to 133ib as I've lost the discipline required. We also had family takeaway meals last week hence the weight gain.

For the last two years I've been feeling really tired, needing to pee regularly, lips drying up etc so was really surprised when my results came back negative, diabetes runs in my family and I was growing quite annoyed with them when they were praising my weight gain but can understand them being concerned at my stick insect look.

I probably eat too much fruit, if that's possible. I start each day with a pint of smoothie which I make up in the blender, a banana, either an apple or a pear and a cooked beetroot blended with either oat or soya milk and water. I snack on fruit during the day and generally have one big meal each day which is usually a rotation of the same meal, a fresh green salad which I make up, spinach, spring onion, cucumber, tomatos, garlic, grated fresh ginger, EV olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tofu with either pasta, rice, couscous or noodles, today it was spaghetti and half an avocado, sometimes I'll put in half a tin of legumes, I make enough for about three portions and eat it all as it's basically my days meals in one go. After that I'm about to go to my mums and do my best not to undo the good food with bad, I'd been going to the local Italian cafe and buying her icecream and boiled sweets and I was finding myself also indulging but the cafe has just closed down after eighty years or possibly more.

 

[joe.attaboy]

I have type II diabetes myself, and your symptoms sound a lot like mine from way back. I also have hypertension and elevated cholesterol. I had a heart attack in 2005 at right before my 50th birthday. I'm healthy now and enjoying life. Some advice, if you don't mind:

Severely reducing or staying off alcohol is great. In addition to all the other issues it causes, alcohol has a LOT of sugars, so it exacerbates diabetes and can add to weight gain.

Try very hard to lose some weight. That will go a long way to reducing your blood glucose and A1C levels. Get a glucose meter and check your blood sugar daily. They are worth the expense. For the weight loss, I can strongly recommend WW. Their plans are great, you can eat normal food and it works as long as you stick with the discipline. I've lost significant weight on that program and I swear by it. if you do nothing else regarding food, cut fried foods from your diet. If you like chicken and seafood like shrimp or filet of whatever fish, eat it grilled. Fruits and vegetables are never bad - HOWEVER - if you do have diabetes, you should probably avoid orange juice - it has high levels of natural sugars.

Limiting carbs is good, but don't totally deprive yourself of them; you need some carbs for a balanced diet. Stop any processed sugar and stay away from foods with high quantities of sugars (nutrition labels are your friend). Do you drink soda? Stop, even diet soda.

Hope these tips helped a little. Don't worry about what the doctors tell you - that fact that you're dealing with it and ready to change will keep you in good stead. Stick with your plan. You're going to be fine.

One other thing on the avoidance topic. I experienced this recently. Since I can eat all the fruit I want on WW (nearly all are 0 points), I've been going a bit nuts with seedless grapes and bananas over the past couple of weeks.

This thread reminded me that I hadn't taken my glucose level in a while, so I did the other morning before breakfast and it was 225, way above normal for me. I realized that I had eaten a big slobberin' handful of seedless red grapes the night before, and wondered if that was the issue. Did some research and discovered that those two fruits can escalate glucose levels for a bit. I suppose if you have to have glucose in your system, you're better off with "natural" vice that caused by process sugar or an overload of carbs.

But be careful anyway. Everything in moderation.

 

[Kev-wilson]

One other thing on the avoidance topic. I experienced this recently. Since I can eat all the fruit I want on WW (nearly all are 0 points), I've been going a bit nuts with seedless grapes and bananas over the past couple of weeks.

This thread reminded me that I hadn't taken my glucose level in a while, so I did the other morning before breakfast and it was 225, way above normal for me. I realized that I had eaten a big slobberin' handful of seedless red grapes the night before, and wondered if that was the issue. Did some research and discovered that those two fruits can escalate glucose levels for a bit. I suppose if you have to have glucose in your system, you're better off with "natural" vice that caused by process sugar or an overload of carbs.

But be careful anyway. Everything in moderation.

Bananas will raise your bloods considerably (20-30g carbs), the riper the faster I find, I only ever eat a nana before I swim as at that point I need the glucose to replace that that I burn in the pool (T1D).

A point about carbs, glucose and sugars if I may (I can bore for England about this stuff ) as the 3 are all more or less the same, glucose/dextrose/sugar are all water soluble so easily taken into the bloodstream, the carbs are the sugars your small intestine absorbs through digestion, which is a slower process and better for blood sugar control. Fats eaten alongside your meal will slow carb digestion too which I'd imagine T2 meds will struggle with.

I had a treat for tea this evening, a donna kebab & shish kebab combo, the pitta bread goes in't bin so I just eat the meat and salad, chilli sauce and It'll 'cost' me 3 injections over 6 hours and around double my normal insulin dose for tea.

Now that is rock n roll

 

[GEECEE]

Sounds like you've got the best part of getting better and that's your attitude. Good on ya. You know about nutrition, exercise and "living clean" so depending on things, you could beat this totally. FWIW, I had some issues common for my age but not things one wants. Cleared them up completely with mild exercise and diet changes resulting mainly in a significant weight loss. I've managed to keep the weight off for several years now. Diet was/is critical IME, in terms of what, how much and when. You might look into intermittent fasting hours and fasting in general. Lots of benefits to be had.

 

[telemnemonics]

I didnt read the whole thread because I hafta run to the store for snacks snacks and more snacks, but congrats on staying sober and getting more health conscious!

Assume that newly sober equals constant cravings for sugary and carb snacks...

 

[GEECEE]

Thanks. I am 5'9" and 200lbs right now. This is the third time in my life I've been at or over 200lbs, and I got down to 150lb twice before. I know it takes lots of work and dedication, but I am confident I can get significantly healthier regardless of the diagnosis.

We're about the same height and I was 207 maybe 5 years ago. Dropped to 140 over the course of a year and that was way too thin. Realized my ideal "range" is 155 - 160-ish and have pretty much stayed there with splurges to 165 or so for the most part.

Last Fall started gaining here and there and got up to 178 this past Feb. Couple issues had cut into my activity, so got serious again with the diet - once again a lot more disciplined. Lost the weight over the course of a month and a half and maintaining. Back at 157 this a.m.

Couple things I learned: what works for some might not work for others; have to try different things, eat different things, see what works for you; eating "clean"/mediterranean-ish helped me a lot, intermittent fasting and fasting in general helped the most - kept hunger in check and was easier than trying to limit calories daily.

General intermittent fasting = 16 hours for me and go to bed hungry. Once-a-week fasting for 40 hours - say I eat 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. I won't eat again until 9:00 a.m. Thursday. Easier for me than restricting calories all the time. My gain: lowered cholesterol considerably, no more CPAP, strong immune system, and overall health consistently very good. FWIW, couple folks I know have tried similar IM/diet regimens and all have seen very good results. So FWIW. Again - good luck, you can do it.

 

[Boreas]

I have type II diabetes. I will be discharged likely today with Lantus long-acting insulin to take in the morning and metformin.

Glad you got out of the hospital. Lantus is no big deal, but be careful of lows - especially with activity mid-day. Check your BG OFTEN until things settle down. Nuts are a good snack to help level out BG swings and minimize lows.

As I mentioned before, there is a good chance you can wean off of it with carb control. Everyone is different. But you have a good attitude so you should do fine!

 

[Deebers]

Glad they were able to give you a diagnosis. A lot of information will be coming at you. It is well intentioned, but please do your own research. Type ii is a product of insulin resistance in your body. Avoiding carbs is treating the symptom, not the cause. The cause of insulin resistance is dietary fat. Please take the time to look in to this. When you hear of type ii being cured or reversed, you will find the diets are addressing the fat issue. Good luck on the path forward!

 

[Aftermath]

would your standard blood work tell you if you have diabetes?

 

[Wyzsard]

would your standard blood work tell you if you have diabetes?

They have to look at your A1C number.

All About Your A1C

Want to know what your blood sugar has been up to lately? Get an A1C test to find out your average levels for the last 3 months—and why that info is important to know: https://bit.ly/2Nc2IA0

www.cdc.gov