- Messages
- 245
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi.
I was diagnosed T2 in November last year with really high numbers - HbA1C of 123, blood sugar of 17. I suspect I have had T2 for quite a while, I had a couple of symptoms which I had been concerned about including blurry vision. I was tested about three years ago and had a fasting level of 6.2, so they said I should be aware of it. Clearly it came home to roost!
More background - I had a DVT last March which is probably not linked to my T2 - but the explanation for that DVT was constructed pre-diagnosis, so I don't know enough about the condition to be able to say if the T2 wasn't a contributory factor. Anyway, as a result of the DVT I got back into gym work - I have a very sedentary job, sitting at a desk writing documents, and had been slacking for a few years - so I had already lost some weight prior to my T2 diagnosis in November. When diagnosed with T2 I upped the gym and now go most days. Currently I've got a BMI of 27ish, I'm 1.79m and 86kg. Blood pressure at last check was 120/76, resting pulse 64. I had a blood test six weeks after diagnosis and my HbA1C was down to 77.
When I was diagnosed I made a conscious decision to not freak myself out by reading lots of stuff on diabetes, instead I tried to find some simple actions I could take which seemed to be agreed upon across different sources, so I started recording carbs and calories, working to keep my carbs below 100g a day. The doc gave me a testing meter which I use twice a day, pre-breakfast and pre-evening meal. I'm on two 500g doses of Metformin a day. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that having lots of "good" days doesn't mean I can reward myself with a "naughty" day! Bloods tend to be mostly 6's with sometimes 7s but I notice that if I do thing like test two hours after a meal it could be anything - by which I mean I find it hard to predict what effect different foods have on my levels.
I'm working to lose the last few kgs of weight that will get my BMI below 25. I don't drink or smoke - 14 years sober, 17 years tobacco free. I generally don't feel like I've got a huge amount of wriggle room in terms of lifestyle changes, but I'll keep on top of the carbs and calories and keep trying to learn from places like this about how to improve and adjust what I do. But I've got some questions at this moment.
One is, when I'm exercising my heart rate can go pretty high - higher than recommended. I'm wondering if this is as a result of diabetic damage to blood vessels. I've been told that diabetic damage to vessels can't be undone - is this correct? Second and also to do with the heart I notice that my rate is high in the morning when I wake up - maybe 80. Within a few minutes of getting up its gone back to a healthy resting rate. I'm wondering if this is related to my third question, which is one I suspect can't easily be answered on a forum but - I am having trouble working. I find I just want to sleep a lot, and I'm neglecting my work - I have my own business and its suffering just now. I feel that I adjusted pretty well to my diagnosis of T2 but I'm wondering if I have a touch of situational depression or low mood. Is this something that others have experienced?
Sorry this ended up a bit long, so thanks for reading it to the end if you did - also - Hullo!
I was diagnosed T2 in November last year with really high numbers - HbA1C of 123, blood sugar of 17. I suspect I have had T2 for quite a while, I had a couple of symptoms which I had been concerned about including blurry vision. I was tested about three years ago and had a fasting level of 6.2, so they said I should be aware of it. Clearly it came home to roost!
More background - I had a DVT last March which is probably not linked to my T2 - but the explanation for that DVT was constructed pre-diagnosis, so I don't know enough about the condition to be able to say if the T2 wasn't a contributory factor. Anyway, as a result of the DVT I got back into gym work - I have a very sedentary job, sitting at a desk writing documents, and had been slacking for a few years - so I had already lost some weight prior to my T2 diagnosis in November. When diagnosed with T2 I upped the gym and now go most days. Currently I've got a BMI of 27ish, I'm 1.79m and 86kg. Blood pressure at last check was 120/76, resting pulse 64. I had a blood test six weeks after diagnosis and my HbA1C was down to 77.
When I was diagnosed I made a conscious decision to not freak myself out by reading lots of stuff on diabetes, instead I tried to find some simple actions I could take which seemed to be agreed upon across different sources, so I started recording carbs and calories, working to keep my carbs below 100g a day. The doc gave me a testing meter which I use twice a day, pre-breakfast and pre-evening meal. I'm on two 500g doses of Metformin a day. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that having lots of "good" days doesn't mean I can reward myself with a "naughty" day! Bloods tend to be mostly 6's with sometimes 7s but I notice that if I do thing like test two hours after a meal it could be anything - by which I mean I find it hard to predict what effect different foods have on my levels.
I'm working to lose the last few kgs of weight that will get my BMI below 25. I don't drink or smoke - 14 years sober, 17 years tobacco free. I generally don't feel like I've got a huge amount of wriggle room in terms of lifestyle changes, but I'll keep on top of the carbs and calories and keep trying to learn from places like this about how to improve and adjust what I do. But I've got some questions at this moment.
One is, when I'm exercising my heart rate can go pretty high - higher than recommended. I'm wondering if this is as a result of diabetic damage to blood vessels. I've been told that diabetic damage to vessels can't be undone - is this correct? Second and also to do with the heart I notice that my rate is high in the morning when I wake up - maybe 80. Within a few minutes of getting up its gone back to a healthy resting rate. I'm wondering if this is related to my third question, which is one I suspect can't easily be answered on a forum but - I am having trouble working. I find I just want to sleep a lot, and I'm neglecting my work - I have my own business and its suffering just now. I feel that I adjusted pretty well to my diagnosis of T2 but I'm wondering if I have a touch of situational depression or low mood. Is this something that others have experienced?
Sorry this ended up a bit long, so thanks for reading it to the end if you did - also - Hullo!