19 year old female diagnosed with Type 2 and PCOS

[auro.ban]

Hi,

This thread is for my sister, who is 19 years old now. She was diagnosed with PCOS two years back with BG level around 130 mg/dl. She was also 28 KGs overweight (ideal weight should have been 60-65 KG) at the time of diagnosis. She was put on metformin 500 and was told to start exercising and correct her diet (she had a pretty sedentary life before that). She reduced about 5 KG and her BG levels came to normal within 6 months and her PCOS also improved. However, within a year she gained more than what she lost and her diabetes sky-rocketed. About 4 months back, I had took her to a diabetes specialist and at that time her fasting BG was 300 mg/dl and her HbA1c was over 10. The doctor confirmed through C-pep and a bunch of other tests that she had Type 2 Diabetes. Her metformin was increased from 500 to 1000, she was put on a second medicine called AjaDuo 10mg/5mg (Empagliflozin (10 mg) + Linagliptin (5 mg)) and she had a glucose monitoring device attached to her arm for 15 days.

Since then, she has lost nearly 10KGs (from 93 to 83) and everything was under control until recently. A few weeks back, she went to a party and gulped down everything she could lay her eyes on. As a result, her fasting increased from 96 mg/dl to 129 mg/dl and her PP was hovering over 160 mg/dl. Her HbA1c went up from 5.7 to 6.3. I went to the doctor and she just increased her Metformin from 1000 to 1500 (three times a day). The doctor couldn't explain as to why the BG spiked by one day of binge eating couldn't come down for almost two weeks despite taking meds regularly and exercising regularly.

I was searching for some answers online and I came across an article that seemed to suggest that Type 2 Diabetes progressed very rapidly in teens and that beta cell functions in teens deteriorated 4 times faster than in adults. It was a study of 4 years from Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY). I am so worried about my sister now. I feel like things are already deteriorating since her medication had to be increased from 1000 to 1500 a day.

Is there anyone out there who was diagnosed with both PCOS and Type 2 Diabetes this young? How has it been for you? Has it worsened rapidly in you as the article says it usually does? Have you developed any other complications despite best of your efforts?

I really am very scared and worried about her. She is just 19 and she has her entire life ahead of her. I cannot even imagine her having a failed kidney or failed heart at the age of 30 or 40. I just want to know if there's any hope out there, if anyone has been able to manage it successfully without ending up with insulin.

A little background on her and her food habits:

• At the time of her birth, my mom had gestational diabetes and she was also born a little heavier than other babies.
• She didn't have a very active life growing up (thanks to TV and lack of awareness on our part).
• Though she had home cooked food most of the time, since we are Indian, we never paid attention to carbs / calories.
• Before her initial diagnosis with PCOS, most days she would come back from school munching on a packet of chips or sugary stuff.

As of now, our food intake has reduced greatly. We now have come down from 250 gms of carbs a day to 130 gms of carbs. She goes to the gym most days of the week and works out for a continuous 40-50 mins breaking a lot of sweat. Despite, all of this, the diabetes doesn't seem to be improving much (which reminds me of the article published and worries me a lot).

Being an elder brother, I really don't want to see her end up in hospitals when she is in her prime time, about to go out in the world and start making money.

Is there anyone in similar condition who has a successful story to share? Can anyone please tell me what should be done next if nothing works out?

My apologies for making it extremely long.

 

[xfieldok]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you haven't read it, I would recommend the family reads The Diabetes Code by Dr Jason Fung. He also does YouTube videos.

Most of us keep to a low carb high fat diet or keto in my case, less than 20g carbs per day.

What does she eat in a typical day? Don't make huge differences to diet without checking against medication.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi,

This thread is for my sister, who is 19 years old now. She was diagnosed with PCOS two years back with BG level around 130 mg/dl. She was also 28 KGs overweight (ideal weight should have been 60-65 KG) at the time of diagnosis. She was put on metformin 500 and was told to start exercising and correct her diet (she had a pretty sedentary life before that). She reduced about 5 KG and her BG levels came to normal within 6 months and her PCOS also improved. However, within a year she gained more than what she lost and her diabetes sky-rocketed. About 4 months back, I had took her to a diabetes specialist and at that time her fasting BG was 300 mg/dl and her HbA1c was over 10. The doctor confirmed through C-pep and a bunch of other tests that she had Type 2 Diabetes. Her metformin was increased from 500 to 1000, she was put on a second medicine called AjaDuo 10mg/5mg (Empagliflozin (10 mg) + Linagliptin (5 mg)) and she had a glucose monitoring device attached to her arm for 15 days.

Since then, she has lost nearly 10KGs (from 93 to 83) and everything was under control until recently. A few weeks back, she went to a party and gulped down everything she could lay her eyes on. As a result, her fasting increased from 96 mg/dl to 129 mg/dl and her PP was hovering over 160 mg/dl. Her HbA1c went up from 5.7 to 6.3. I went to the doctor and she just increased her Metformin from 1000 to 1500 (three times a day). The doctor couldn't explain as to why the BG spiked by one day of binge eating couldn't come down for almost two weeks despite taking meds regularly and exercising regularly.

I was searching for some answers online and I came across an article that seemed to suggest that Type 2 Diabetes progressed very rapidly in teens and that beta cell functions in teens deteriorated 4 times faster than in adults. It was a study of 4 years from Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY). I am so worried about my sister now. I feel like things are already deteriorating since her medication had to be increased from 1000 to 1500 a day.

Is there anyone out there who was diagnosed with both PCOS and Type 2 Diabetes this young? How has it been for you? Has it worsened rapidly in you as the article says it usually does? Have you developed any other complications despite best of your efforts?

I really am very scared and worried about her. She is just 19 and she has her entire life ahead of her. I cannot even imagine her having a failed kidney or failed heart at the age of 30 or 40. I just want to know if there's any hope out there, if anyone has been able to manage it successfully without ending up with insulin.

A little background on her and her food habits:

• At the time of her birth, my mom had gestational diabetes and she was also born a little heavier than other babies.
• She didn't have a very active life growing up (thanks to TV and lack of awareness on our part).
• Though she had home cooked food most of the time, since we are Indian, we never paid attention to carbs / calories.
• Before her initial diagnosis with PCOS, most days she would come back from school munching on a packet of chips or sugary stuff.

As of now, our food intake has reduced greatly. We now have come down from 250 gms of carbs a day to 130 gms of carbs. She goes to the gym most days of the week and works out for a continuous 40-50 mins breaking a lot of sweat. Despite, all of this, the diabetes doesn't seem to be improving much (which reminds me of the article published and worries me a lot).

Being an elder brother, I really don't want to see her end up in hospitals when she is in her prime time, about to go out in the world and start making money.

Is there anyone in similar condition who has a successful story to share? Can anyone please tell me what should be done next if nothing works out?

My apologies for making it extremely long.

I wasn't diagnosed that young, but I do have PCOS and Type 2. She might want to go full-on keto, which is generally 20 grams of carbs a day or less. It's not easy when you're young to eat and drink different stuff than your peers, but it will mean better glucose control, less strain on her pancreas (so hopefully, less rapid deterioration), and a better chance of having kids later on in life. (PCOS'll make that hard enough as it is). Just so you know, the weight gain is a symptom of both PCOS and insulin insensitivity/prediabetes, het weight didn't cause all this. Rather the other way around. Just in case she's kicking herself. This might help: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ and I can wholeheartedly recommend The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung, so I'm 100% with @xfieldok there.

You're a good brother.
Jo

 

[mouseee]

If you eat traditional Indian food I guess rice is a staple and that is obviously very high in carbs.

I am much older than your sister but last summer, before my diagnosis as t2 I was working out 4 times a week for an hour and didn't lose a pound. Now I am low carb but not keto and I have found I am losing weight without any exercise. (I'm fairly active but don't go to gym at the mo)
LC is definitely worth looking into.

Lots of teens go through a rebellious stage and I suspect the tight restrictions which shes under due to her t2 are one of the reasons she over indulges sometimes. That's not easy to manage!

She's lucky to have a brother who cares so much for her.

 

[JohnyT2]

Introduce your sister to the forum, there are many motivational inspirational stories on this forum where people have sucessfully managed the diabetes and are living healthy life. Moreover there are plenty of members who are more than helpful in answering the queries, guiding and sharing personal experiences. Atleast this will open up as base to learn, understand and find answers.

Also changes have to be done to eating habits, try the healthy greeny version of Indian foods rather than carb heavy version.

 

[Cocosilk]

Hi,

This thread is for my sister, who is 19 years old now. She was diagnosed with PCOS two years back with BG level around 130 mg/dl. She was also 28 KGs overweight (ideal weight should have been 60-65 KG) at the time of diagnosis. She was put on metformin 500 and was told to start exercising and correct her diet (she had a pretty sedentary life before that). She reduced about 5 KG and her BG levels came to normal within 6 months and her PCOS also improved. However, within a year she gained more than what she lost and her diabetes sky-rocketed. About 4 months back, I had took her to a diabetes specialist and at that time her fasting BG was 300 mg/dl and her HbA1c was over 10. The doctor confirmed through C-pep and a bunch of other tests that she had Type 2 Diabetes. Her metformin was increased from 500 to 1000, she was put on a second medicine called AjaDuo 10mg/5mg (Empagliflozin (10 mg) + Linagliptin (5 mg)) and she had a glucose monitoring device attached to her arm for 15 days.

Since then, she has lost nearly 10KGs (from 93 to 83) and everything was under control until recently. A few weeks back, she went to a party and gulped down everything she could lay her eyes on. As a result, her fasting increased from 96 mg/dl to 129 mg/dl and her PP was hovering over 160 mg/dl. Her HbA1c went up from 5.7 to 6.3. I went to the doctor and she just increased her Metformin from 1000 to 1500 (three times a day). The doctor couldn't explain as to why the BG spiked by one day of binge eating couldn't come down for almost two weeks despite taking meds regularly and exercising regularly.

I was searching for some answers online and I came across an article that seemed to suggest that Type 2 Diabetes progressed very rapidly in teens and that beta cell functions in teens deteriorated 4 times faster than in adults. It was a study of 4 years from Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY). I am so worried about my sister now. I feel like things are already deteriorating since her medication had to be increased from 1000 to 1500 a day.

Is there anyone out there who was diagnosed with both PCOS and Type 2 Diabetes this young? How has it been for you? Has it worsened rapidly in you as the article says it usually does? Have you developed any other complications despite best of your efforts?

I really am very scared and worried about her. She is just 19 and she has her entire life ahead of her. I cannot even imagine her having a failed kidney or failed heart at the age of 30 or 40. I just want to know if there's any hope out there, if anyone has been able to manage it successfully without ending up with insulin.

A little background on her and her food habits:

• At the time of her birth, my mom had gestational diabetes and she was also born a little heavier than other babies.
• She didn't have a very active life growing up (thanks to TV and lack of awareness on our part).
• Though she had home cooked food most of the time, since we are Indian, we never paid attention to carbs / calories.
• Before her initial diagnosis with PCOS, most days she would come back from school munching on a packet of chips or sugary stuff.

As of now, our food intake has reduced greatly. We now have come down from 250 gms of carbs a day to 130 gms of carbs. She goes to the gym most days of the week and works out for a continuous 40-50 mins breaking a lot of sweat. Despite, all of this, the diabetes doesn't seem to be improving much (which reminds me of the article published and worries me a lot).

Being an elder brother, I really don't want to see her end up in hospitals when she is in her prime time, about to go out in the world and start making money.

Is there anyone in similar condition who has a successful story to share? Can anyone please tell me what should be done next if nothing works out?

My apologies for making it extremely long.

I'm sorry to hear about your sister. This is obviously very worrying for you as a caring big brother. The only thing I would say is you can do your best to guide her, but you can't really change someone's habits. They have to be ready to help themselves, just as she did before when she lost the weight the first time.
The deeper issues underlying eating habits that lead to diabetes is what must be addressed, and possibly poses the greatest challenge. There are emotional aspects to eating (and binge eating) that make changing habits very tricky for those who have this kind of relationship with food. Try looking more into that side of things and it may help you understand how your sister relapsed after having lost weight the first time.
I wish you both all the best!

 

[Colin Crowhurst]

Its great that you are looking out for your sister, but it strikes me that perhaps she has not "accepted" that she has this condition. Until she comes on board and starts to take control for herself it will be very difficult for others to do it for her.