At a loss with it all.

[djwideboy]

Hi All

Where do i start? I have been diabetic for nearly 10 years and never really paid much attention top it but atthe ripe age of 33 im getting worried i may not live to see my baby (Who is on the way) grow up and be able to provide for it.

I have never really bothered to control it ive just gone with the flow hardly seen the DR and just tried tolive a normal life. Im pretty sure my diabetes is down to my massive bulk (All 26st) and i've tried to diet even ITV & Fatima Whitbread tried to help.

Over the last 2 days i have really tried to monitor and control my levels but its just not happening. i was 17.1 yesterday and managed to get it down to 9.9 today it started at 14.1 but im only down to 12.6 yet ive eaten relatively littel and only had 1 bread roll for carbs all day.

I take 2000mg of metformin and 5mg of Saxagliptin as well as blood presure pills and simvastatin.

Im really worried because im feeling emotionally low at the moment and hate the DR's.
Im angry and tearful, Im always tired but work lots of hours. How long does the metformin take to get into your system?

I never taken it properly before and also i dont exercise much.

Please tell me im not allone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Limited finances prevent going to the GYM and just the cruelty of those in the outside world when i go for a walk is to grim to bare.

:-(

 

[carb-counting-mum]

I feel for you. I know people will say 'who cares what other people might think when you go for a walk, just ignore..your health is more important etc'. They are completely right of course, it SHOULD not matter what some short minded people might think when you are going for a walk/jog, but it DOES. I know as I've been there. It's not nice when you are taking control and motivated, only to be stared at. And maybe they didn't even stare, but it certainly felt like it. I decided to go to the gym in the end, and I did really well. I went every day for many months and slowly but surely the weight dropped off. It was really hard at the beginning, but as you get lighter the exercise becomes easier and you get a real buzz from it. I appreciate your finances might not stretch to gym membership. But how about just starting to do some exercising at home (work out dvd?). Start slowly, then increase every week. I would just check with your doc beforehand if you are OK to start exercising? I don't know about metformin etc (I'm not diabetic, my child is type 1) but I would really urge you to tell your GP/DSN what you have said on here and that you are ready to take control, but that you need help. Ask for diet and medication advice. Hope you don't mind me saying, but maybe ask for some counselling? You seem quite depressed and that must make things so much harder.
You can do it, you can be in charge if you want it hard enough. You have a little one on the way, that's all the movitation you need right there. But ultimately you need to do it for yourself. Good luck. I hope you manage to set goals and achieve them.

 

[bethan90]

Probably no useful advice here but just to say there is no time like the present, take your pregnancy and make this the opportunity you've been waiting for to take control. How many weeks are you? I know you are probably shattered after long days in work, but try going for short walks each evening, perhaps just half an hour after your evening dinner. Walking will really help you with your blood sugar levels and will cut your weight down a bit. The doctors put a lot of pressure on you during pregnancy to get your levels absolutely perfect so dont feel disheartened when they aren't overjoyed with your levels. Accept you need a bit of help for your baby's sake. Make lunches for work the night before, eat litle but regularly. Snack on nuts and other low carb snacks.You can do this

 

[bethan90]

Just saw your comment about walking outside, sorry didn't see it first of all. Look, this is your life, your baby's life, your partners life, and only you are in control of what happens to you. Don't make excuses. Go in The evenings when its darker if you must, and hopefully then your confidence will increase and you will start to care less about other people and their unimportant opinions. X

 

[donnellysdogs]

Walk up and downstairs 10 times a day in a block.. Not just when you have to go to bed!! May get difficult as pregnancy progresses,, or lose the tv control and make yourself get up to change channels..or make a point of walking around your house initially for 10 minutes.. If able lie on bed and lift feet off it a few times, not all exercise has to be in a gym or walking..
Just doing a daily vacuum instrad of weekly etc, doing washing up by hand rather than a dishwasher.

Theres loads of ways to get extra exercise rather than pushing yourself into a challenge that you are unprepared for or feel unconfortable about.

Loads of ways at work to get a little extra too.. No lifts, all stairs, park car further away, ir get off bus 1 stop earlier etc.

As well, it then becomes routine... Not a chore of thinking.. I have to go for a walk everyday...

Don't give up, you done well just to post on here, you will get support here, but you do also need to take control a bit of yourself.. We cant do it for you...we can encurage and cheer, try to help, speak strict, speak soft n gently..
But it is your choice to make.

Go on girl.. Go for it...

 

[carb-counting-mum]

Think DJWideboy may be a he? I dunno why, but I got that impression.

 

[VickiT11979]

Me too - plus you can't take simvastatin or saxagliptin if you're pregnant so I hope you're a he djwideboy!

It's great that you've got some motivation now to get on top of things, but you can't do it alone, you need help from people with experience of diabetes.
There's lots of that on this forum - and your healthcare team might well be really happy to see you as well if you give them a chance to help you. Some teams are great, some not so much, but try them & see what you think. There's other diabetes drugs you could go onto, but given that you've never looked at what you eat or done exercise ever really, you might be able to make massive changes to your lifestyle to control your diabetes without extra drugs - or at least you might be able to stop them later.

Any damage you've done CAN be reversed & stopped in its tracks. Have you heard about the study done in Newcastle where diabetics were on a 800 cal/day diet or a few weeks & a lot of them had totally normal blood sugars with no medication by the end of it? I don't advise anyone to do this without medical/dietician backup but it shows what's possible!

 

[bethan90]

Ooops I think djwideboy is a boy! Same applies though minus the pregnancy bits lol

 

[donnellysdogs]

Dont know why I got a pregnant female in my mind...!! Oopps sorry for that... However the same still applies... But even more so... If pregant you could expect a bit of leeway..

 

[carb-counting-mum]

Hope you are OK, DJWideboy, and that you will be able to find a way to get more control over your diabetes. Don't forget you have friends here when things are tough.