I went into the surgery one day in March with a urinary tract infection, and came out of a return visit a week later with diabetes. I was diagnosed as type 2, with an HBA1c of 74. It was a shock. I was not overweight. I exercised regularly - pilates, tai chi, the occasional run. How could I have diabetes?
The diagnosis did make some sense in retrospect. My wife had observed a slight paunch I'd never had before. I was getting tired in the afternoons in a way I'd never experienced. And I couldn't watch TV after dinner without jumping up every five minutes for a pee.
I came away from the medical practice with a list of life-style recommendations, and I could quite honestly tick the lot. My wife and I were vegetarians, and we ate well (so we thought). We had cut out sugar years ago - long before reading that the stuff is addictive. We ate hardly any processed food; we even made our own bread. We bought low fat yoghurt and soya or skimmed milk. You get the picture.
The doctor said she’d have me back in three months, to check my HBA1c again and consider medication. She also signed me up for an education workshop. I decided I couldn’t wait for that. I wanted to avoid medication and monitoring if I possibly could. And the next HBA1c test would monitor my blood sugar levels for the whole period.
What to do? I picked up a couple of books on diabetes from the local library, and I checked out the Diabetes Forum. I read the official advice, and some of the success stories. The NHS diet was obviously not an option for me - I got diabetes on that diet! The GI approach seemed half-hearted: why endless worry about spills (spikes) if you could empty the tank? So I went with the low carb approach.
Now, I love my food. I have never been much interested in ‘diets’ or ‘dieting’. My wife says the easiest way to annoy me is to suggest we skip a meal. With the low carb approach you can eat as much as you like - no dieting! And as long as you avoid high carb grains, starchy roots and tropical fruits, you can eat just about anything. OK - no more pasta, no more potatoes, no more porridge etc. But it seemed a small price to pay, especially after discovering HBA1c is a marker for dementia as well as diabetes. My mum had dementia. Plenty motivation there.
Changing your diet requires self-discipline, but not as much as folk make out. Eating out is a social activity, so you have to be determined todo your own thing - it helps a lot to have supportive family and sympathetic friends. But it's mostly a matter of changing your habits. You shop less often at your local supercarb centres and patronise your neighbourhood organic food store instead. You stop buying pasta and potatoes. You make omelettes instead of porridge. You switch from whisky to red wine. And you acquire strange new passions you never imagined possible, like loving a kale salad. And 85% chocolate.
By June my HBA1c was down to 46 - low enough to escape medication. By October, it was down to 32. My doctor described it as 'perfect'. All my blood test results were better too, some much better- though my cholesterol has been a bit erratic. It came down from 6.9 to 4.9 in June but then it sneaked back up to 6.2. I wonder if that’s down to the groin injury which has kept me from running since June?
Am I less resistant to insulin? Or is my HBA1c lower only so long as I avoid the high carbs? Without a direct test of insulin resistance, who can tell? Either way, though, I am happy with my new habits. These days, I worry about losing weight, not gaining it. The fatigue has gone too, and I can watch a thriller after dinner without all those ridiculous trips to the loo. All this without any medication and monitoring, or cutting calories. A low carb diet may not work for everyone, but so far it has certainly worked for me. My thanks to all you folks in the Diabetes Forum for the information and inspiration you provided - just when I needed it most.
The diagnosis did make some sense in retrospect. My wife had observed a slight paunch I'd never had before. I was getting tired in the afternoons in a way I'd never experienced. And I couldn't watch TV after dinner without jumping up every five minutes for a pee.
I came away from the medical practice with a list of life-style recommendations, and I could quite honestly tick the lot. My wife and I were vegetarians, and we ate well (so we thought). We had cut out sugar years ago - long before reading that the stuff is addictive. We ate hardly any processed food; we even made our own bread. We bought low fat yoghurt and soya or skimmed milk. You get the picture.
The doctor said she’d have me back in three months, to check my HBA1c again and consider medication. She also signed me up for an education workshop. I decided I couldn’t wait for that. I wanted to avoid medication and monitoring if I possibly could. And the next HBA1c test would monitor my blood sugar levels for the whole period.
What to do? I picked up a couple of books on diabetes from the local library, and I checked out the Diabetes Forum. I read the official advice, and some of the success stories. The NHS diet was obviously not an option for me - I got diabetes on that diet! The GI approach seemed half-hearted: why endless worry about spills (spikes) if you could empty the tank? So I went with the low carb approach.
Now, I love my food. I have never been much interested in ‘diets’ or ‘dieting’. My wife says the easiest way to annoy me is to suggest we skip a meal. With the low carb approach you can eat as much as you like - no dieting! And as long as you avoid high carb grains, starchy roots and tropical fruits, you can eat just about anything. OK - no more pasta, no more potatoes, no more porridge etc. But it seemed a small price to pay, especially after discovering HBA1c is a marker for dementia as well as diabetes. My mum had dementia. Plenty motivation there.
Changing your diet requires self-discipline, but not as much as folk make out. Eating out is a social activity, so you have to be determined todo your own thing - it helps a lot to have supportive family and sympathetic friends. But it's mostly a matter of changing your habits. You shop less often at your local supercarb centres and patronise your neighbourhood organic food store instead. You stop buying pasta and potatoes. You make omelettes instead of porridge. You switch from whisky to red wine. And you acquire strange new passions you never imagined possible, like loving a kale salad. And 85% chocolate.
By June my HBA1c was down to 46 - low enough to escape medication. By October, it was down to 32. My doctor described it as 'perfect'. All my blood test results were better too, some much better- though my cholesterol has been a bit erratic. It came down from 6.9 to 4.9 in June but then it sneaked back up to 6.2. I wonder if that’s down to the groin injury which has kept me from running since June?
Am I less resistant to insulin? Or is my HBA1c lower only so long as I avoid the high carbs? Without a direct test of insulin resistance, who can tell? Either way, though, I am happy with my new habits. These days, I worry about losing weight, not gaining it. The fatigue has gone too, and I can watch a thriller after dinner without all those ridiculous trips to the loo. All this without any medication and monitoring, or cutting calories. A low carb diet may not work for everyone, but so far it has certainly worked for me. My thanks to all you folks in the Diabetes Forum for the information and inspiration you provided - just when I needed it most.
. Thank you for sharing your journey
