Hello everyone, Dan the USA.
I apologize up front for the length of this post...
I've been lurking around the site from time to time, but having some support/advice at this point in my type II transition would be very helpful.
To start I'll do the questions/answers from the first post.
- Include a photo here if you wish to.
Done...
- What is your name?
Dan Lockwood
- How old are you?
69, 70 this October
- Are you male or female?
Male
- Which country are you from?
USA
- Which city/area do you live in?
The Greater St. Louis Missouri area
- Are you religious?
I believe in a higher power, what that is, I've yet to figure out
- Pick three words to describe your personality.
Funny, Happy, Love Life
- Do you have any pets?
Lost our pet cat Toby about 4 years ago and he's still deeply missed
- Microsoft or Apple?
MS
- Which sport(s) (if any) do you like/play?
None
- Do you get angry easily?
The older I get the easier it's becoming to get irritated
- Do you have any tattoos or piercings? If so, where?
None
- List your five favourite musicians/bands.
Beatles, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins, Steve Oliver
- What would you say your favourite music genre is?
Oldies and Blues/Soft Jazz
- What is your favourite flag?
Odd question, but I'll go with the Stars & Stripes USA
- Ever gone camping?
Yes
- Ever been in love?
Yes
- Ever used fake tan?
No
- Which countries have you visited?
Canada, UK, Belgium, France, Mexico
- Favourite city?
San Fransisco
- List your five favourite TV programmes.
Death In Paradise, Big Bang Theory, Man With A Plan, Nova, The Vicar Of Dibley, Father Brown
- List your five favourite films.
Overboard, Down Periscope, Young Frankenstein, North By Northwest, Blazing Saddles
- Are you wealthy?
Where it counts
- Do you work? If so, as what?
Yes, retiring in 277 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes, but who's counting - Product Mgr O.E.M. Plastics Machinery/Equipment
- List the subjects you study/have studied.
Music, Mechanics, Art
- What do you like most about yourself?
I'm a likable kind of guy that seems to get along with most everyone
- What do you like least about yourself?
Not aggressive enough throughout my life. Lost some good opportunities because of it. But had things been done differently, I would not have my son or my current wife, both the love of my life!
Now down to me and my diabetes. I've been reading on here and there seems to be tons of valuable information.
Sorry about the numbers, but I'll have to use the US numbers as I'm not sure how they convert and I don't want to confuse myself...
I was told that I had an A1C of 7.5 about six years ago. At the time my doc didn't want to diagnose me with diabetes, but said let's try to work through it with diet and exercise. Well I blew that off for about a year and a couple doc appointments. Then it started to sink in and I started to just change my eating habits, but a diet, but a life style change, so my wife and I thought.
I went from 295# down to around 245#. My A1C dropped to 6.4, which is just .1 under diabetic and into pre-diabetic. That was good and I just changed a few things and tried to do more fiber etc and cut down on sweets. But after about 4 years the weight crept back on and I was up to around 265#. Then my A1C was up to 8.5. I tried a bit here and there until the wife saw an ad in the local flyer that said that we can reverse your diabetes. The Wellness Connection was having a seminar on what they do and what might be done for diabetes patients.
We went and decided to give a try. I will say that none of it is covered under your insurance, so it's all out of pocket.
It's a 6 month process and they do tons of tests up front and get you started on a detox cleansing for the first month along with other supplements they use. My A1C at the beginning of the process was 7.6. They found that my cortisol is out of whack, whack is a technical term I use. I'll have to be careful on my word choices as I am communicating to the original source of the English Language...
So if I use the wrong word or slang, please don't take it personally.
They got me checking my glucose, as I had never done that before. Also I'm on NO medication other than just supplements at this point. My D.U.T.C.H. urine test came back with all of my hormones listed and boy are they screwed up big time. My estrogen and testosterone have become reversed for some reason. In another test it showed that my good/bad bacteria in my lower intestines was also reversed. So I've been working on getting back into balance.
Over the past 3 months or so my morning glucose fasting started out at 220 and over the last several months I saw it lower down to around the mid 110's. Each week's average was lower and lower. About a month in he started me taking my after dinner glucose 1.5 to 2 hours, or before I went to bed. I go to bed around 9:00pm. My first reading was in the 120's. I had read that anything below a 140 for that time frame would be good for a "non-diabetic", let along type II. Since then my after dinner has been going down. Last night at 1.5 hours after dinner, which included prime rib leftovers, boiled shrimp and salad, it was 92. I think that's probably good.
BUT my issue is that my morning fasting glucose is now going back up. Today it was up to 151, yesterday 141 and not much lower over the past several weeks. This has me concerned as I'm not doing anything different in my eating habits and I've been working out on the BowFlex three times a week in the evenings about half an hour after dinner.
I'm not sure where to post my concerns and ask for some guidance on my morning fasting numbers. I'm not sure my wellness doc is offering me any suggestions.
My goal is to be in the 5's for an A1C when I'm done with the process.
As I told my wellness doc, even though they say that they can reverse my diabetes, I'm sure all they can offer is a reduction in my type II condition and mainly that will be an overall reduction in my A1C number.
I used the example of an alcoholic that's been sober for 30 years. Even though he's not had a drink, that person is still an alcoholic. Unlike me, if I get drunk, I "don't" have to have a drink the next day and maybe not for another 10 years, I'm not hardwired in that way. So the same goes for being diabetic. I can have my numbers under control without medication, but no matter what, if I start to eat like I was 6 or 7 years ago, my numbers will go right back up, so I'm always going to be diabetic, but just controlling it. Without control and will power all bets are off.
So I'll do some searching to see if I can find any threads that relate to my high morning glucose levels and see what options may be available for me.
Also since the last of November, I've not had any carbs, such as potatoes, pasta, pizza, chips etc. I've not drank anything but water, no coffee as I just don't like it, so water it is. I'm on gluten free, dairy free, sugar free. No cake, cookies, ice cream, pretzels, added salts, pastries etc. So I've been leading a dull life food wise. But I do have my steak, ham, bacon, eggs, and pretty much all the veggies raw or steamed I want. My salad have no cheese, croutons, or dressing, just vinegar and oil.
I'm trying really hard to eat the right things and my wife, even though she's non-diabetic with an A1C of 5.1 for the past several years, is following about the same eating habits, we've both lost more weight. I went down from 265# to around 235# and she's lost around 20#. She how I protected her from any weight shaming...
But honestly she's looking great!
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Where do I start?
Thanks and have a great week!