- Messages
- 201
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Medical term discussions
Wow, what I ride this has been. I had some wonderful comments on a thread the other day and so decided to show my journey. I was diagnosed type 2 around 10 years ago. As an advanced First Aid trainer I knew how to treat a diabetes alert but had never gone into the workings of it. When diagnosed my Dr put me on 1 metformin a day which I didn't fully understand and there really was no explanations, but I went along with it because Dr knows best. I then had an appointment with a DN who wanted me to take 2 metformin. I went back to the Dr who quite crossly said "I said one, not two". I reported back to the DN, and she just said "okay". She handed me a magazine about diabetes and after the first couple of pages I thought blimey, this is serious. Mind you, I think stress was doing more harm, so I ditched the mag and refused the "classroom talk" and decided to see what information was available. I ended up at this site and being a big meat eater, I was happy to see LCHF. I tucked into that and within a very short time my DN said to me "I don't know what you're doing but don't tell anyone else or I'll be out of a job" jokingly of course. I carried on with my 1 metformin and LCHF and thought no more about it. I went for my foot inspections, Opticians, etc. I did have a friend who is type 2 and she's had amputations, and all sorts and she's on a lot of medication. I saw her at the works vending machine getting chocolate & crisps, coke, then huge baguettes off the trolley, sweets on her desk, etc., and when I asked if that was the right thing, she really lost it with me and said, "you need to shut the f *** up, you've had diabetes for 2 minutes and now you know everything". I didn't bother after that, and she remains quite ill. This is no excuse but along came COVID and I was mostly working from home and did so for my last 2-years before I retired. It was so easy to grab a sandwich and crisps or biscuits, well what did I care, my bloods were alright. Of course, I didn't know because the DN told me I didn't need to test so they weren't that worried. Just before lockdown we moved, and I had to go to a different practice which was unsettling enough as it was. They did see me but over a short period I saw about 3 different DNs which I didn't like at all. I wasn't called anymore for checks of any kind and felt as if I'd been given up on. My weight ballooned to 22.2 stones, the heaviest I've ever been. Around March this year I was looking on my NHS app and noticed a note about stage 3 kidney disease, what the heck was that all about, no one has ever told me about this. I was terrified so I rang the surgery and had to go and see a temp DN for a chat and that was a joke in itself. She said straight away that they were concerned that my mmol was very high, so she asked me very nicely to consider 2 metformin. I agreed as long as I had a review in 6-months, and she agreed to this. "How are your feet"? fine I said and that was my foot check. I did ring back as instructed by her to make an appointment with her, but she was only a temp and when I explained that they were to ring her they refused and made me a telephone appointment with a DN. I wasn't happy, what on earth could she do for me over the phone? By now I'd rung the surgery and told them that I was only going to take 1 metformin which I believe the Dr wasn't happy about and instructed the DN to make a telephone conference with me but again, what could she say so I turned it down and lo and behold the Dr has just signed my repeat prescription for 1 a day. Now down to the nitty gritties, after the temp told me about my bloods I decided, this is my diabetes so I'm going to deal with it. I started to study as much as I possibly could and still do. What really got to me was Tic Tok. There's all these wonder cures on there and people are so desperate they are throwing money at these charlatans and some of the advice beggars' belief. However, I did find an interesting comment from a Dr Fung and he has written a book called The Diabetic Code. I'm not advocating this book, but I've learnt so much, it's pretty heavy going with medical terms but I love all of that. Because of that book which talks about the cause not the symptoms I feel on top of the world. I spend 30 minutes on a rebounder every morning or gardening, I fast from around 18:30hrs - 12:30hrs, I've cut all hard carbs such as potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, and sugars such as sweets, cakes, biscuits. My pallet feels alive once more, my weight is 18.7stones at the moment and I'm hoping when I weigh next week it will be nearer 18. I haven't been this weight for decades. My BP is stable around 113/71 where it was very high, my mmol is around 4.9 - 5.7 after fasting, and 2 hours after eating it's consistently around 4.6 - 5.7 depending on what I've eaten. And that's my journey. My diabetes, my journey. I'm so looking forward to when they tell me "You've reversed it" and they will, I'm that determined. One important thing is this is a complete lifestyle change, not a fad diet, I'm never hungry. Tonight, is treat night with my son and his family and it's Chinese. Hot & sour soup, garlic mushrooms, spareribs here I come. Bless you all here and thank you for all the years of advice and encouragement, this is one old guy you really have helped.
