25 years old, 8 Stone & Type 2 Diabetes

Chughes94 said:

Hi all,
I’m new to this forum so apologies if there’s already loads of content on this topic and I’ve just missed it.
I was diagnosed last year with Type 2 diabetes, I went to the GP thinking I had an iron deficiency because I was always tired and lethargic and getting minor things wrong with me all the time. Turns out the issue was my blood sugar (although, I currently am on iron supplements due to low iron and apparently low immune system according to my GP)

So a bit of context; I’m 25 years old, I’m 8 stone (was 8 stone 9lbs when diagnosed) fairly active and have been vegetarian for the last 5 years and always ate relatively healthily (always wholemeal bread/pasta/rice, lots of grains beans fruits & veg) I had a fairly active job (around 20k steps a day) but otherwise didn’t do much exercise. Since diagnosis I have taken up a fitness class every Thursday, walk 30 minutes every lunch and try to fit in a run/yoga/ aerobics etc whenever I can, I have stopped eating pasta, rice, quinoa etc and very rarely have bread or other processed carbs, I even gave up starchy vegetables and high sugar fruits (mangos, bananas etc) as well as obviously cutting out refined sugars and sugary snacks - the carb restriction only started in the new year but I cut out sugar as soon as I was diagnosed. Since New year (when I started being stricter with myself) I have lost 9lbs and then gained 3lbs which I put down to the muscle I’ve developed from my fitness class. When diagnosed my HBa1c was at 50, when I was tested again 6 months later it was still at 50. I was referred to Right Start which is a Type 2 Diabetes education class where the diabetes specialist and dietician got in contact with my GP to say they think I was wrongly diagnosed and actually have Type 1 Diabetes. The GP agreed and gave me a GAD (I think) test. The results came back normal so it was concluded I have type 2. My mother was also diagnosed at 45 with type 2, she is slightly overweight according to her BMI but is only a jean size 12 so nothing major.
I have read up briefly on TOFI diabetics, but could only find drips and drabs of information.
I constantly feel defeated because I feel like nothing I do ever seems to lower my blood sugar, I don’t test it often but when I do it is usually in the 7 - 9 mmol range (fasting or 2 hours after meals) I’m starting to think that the diabetes could be a symptom of a different problem, I’ve started experiencing Neuropathy in my arms and legs even though I’m doing everything I can to try to get into the Pre-diabetic range. I’ve expressed this to my Gp but because my sugars are in the manageable range she doesn’t seem too worried. Could it be PCOS? or something else? If anyone else is in a similar situation please let me know as I feel very lost and frustrated. Also if you’ve read through all of this thank you - I know it was a lot haha!

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I sympathise with you - it's so frustrating. I was not diagnosed for several years in the seventies - even though I had so many symptoms eg drinking loads because of continuous thirst, constant tiredness, constant headaches that often became migraine, terrible pain in my joints etc. I weighed 7 1/2 to 8 stones. I was a teacher and had to leave the class (38+) frequently to dash for the toilet. The symptoms had got worse over many years. After 2 years of visits to the doctor, he diagnosed early menopause and gave me HRT (I was 38) which did not help. He then diagnosed stress! I told him that - yes, I was stressed because I knew there was something wrong. I had a private sinus wash to help the headaches. That didn't work. I couldn't work any more and was so ill that I resigned. I took 26 different drugs because I was so desperate to find out what was wrong, including one for stress that made me so sick that I stopped taking it after 2 weeks. My husband booked a private appointment with a consultant who said he was going to refer me to a colleague because he felt that there was something wrong with my blood. The other consultant diagnosed diabetes within minutes and I was admitted to hospital that day. I don't know what my HbA1c was but my blood sugars were between 2 and 32 and I had ketones. After a few days in the private hospital, I was advised to see the GP again. He sent me to the local hospital to have the sugar test repeated!! He said they could not 'go by' private results!! I had the test done in the busy A& E dept, got a terrible migraine and ended up begging for a dark room. I was allowed to lie down on a trolley in a dark corridor. Like you, I was diagnosed Type 2 but called a 'brittle' diabetic.
Like so many diabetics, I can eat the same thing and get a totally different result. My blood sugars have always been irrational, my HbA1c was 54 last year. My annual check has got later and later - last year it was 15 months. The nurse told me that the reason is that they can't cope with the number of overweight diabetics. 3 years ago, I was told to check my blood pressure frequently and see the GP every 3 months but he was then ill and nobody else is interested.
Now the good news. I will be 80 next month and I'm still here. My husband and I have travelled to almost every continent and had amazing adventures - including collapsing with hypos. On one occasion in Germany the food didn't arrive and I collapsed under the table. Lucozade always worked!! I stopped getting hypos at night when I started taking Linogliptin app 3 years ago. I have painful osteoarthritis, osteopenia ( several broken bones), kidney disease, haven't slept through the night for almost 40 years. I will not take anything as I already take 10 different drugs each day and it's a good time to read. 5 hours per night in bits is enough although I am always tired. I volunteer and keep busy. All the information I got about diabetes came from Diabetes UK ( prev The Diabetic Association) and none from the GP's in the early days. You are lucky because there is so much information and knowledge these days. I enjoy the magazine from Diabetes UK and pass it on. One of my grandsons, Type 1 diagnosed age 9 - now 18 and at university) has just got confirmation the we no longer have to buy his Libre patches - wonderful news.
Diabetes is a challenge but you can live with it. There will be ups and downs but I am sure that so many happy times lie ahead.