A Day in the Life of your Diabetes

[GraceK]

I am 42 and a mom of 8 , I have a very busy life, I have type 2 diabetes ,I have had it for 3 yrs now , food is a real struggle for me, I can go a day without food ,longer even , I need to eat cas of my medication ,I'm worried cas I don't eat properly and my medication is all messed up , I should take 6 metformin a day ,but cannot manage 3 meals a day , where can I go 4 help , I feel my doctor dosent give me the right help .Julie

I'm T2 and I can't face food in the morning so I don't force myself to eat but wait until I feel hungry. Sometimes I just don't feel hungry but nevertheless I will go to the fridge and look at the food even though I don't feel like it. Nine times out of ten I soon start feeling hungry so I cook or throw SOMETHING together, doesn't have to be a 'regular' type of meal, but enough to take my tablets with. I can't manage three meals a day either. Some people don't get the hunger signals that other people get very easily, but that doesn't mean we don't need to eat.

At the moment I'm enjoying one meal of a decent portion of protein and veggies with butter and then I'll have crackers and cottage cheese later in the evening and that's it. If I were you I wouldn't worry about the 3 meals a day thing because it only adds pressure to your crumbling routine - so don't bother with a routine but make sure you eat SOMETHING that you can take your tablets with. Your body will get used to receiving food and will ask you again the next day, but to trigger that - you must go and LOOK at food when you know you've gone a few hours without anything. Then you'll develop YOUR pattern of eating, which may or may not be 3 meals a day, but it's better than no meals a day. Hope that helps.

 

[CathyN]

I'm 48 years old and I have been Type 2 officially since March.

4 October
Wake at 6.30am. Greet 6 dogs, feed one cat. Put kettle on. Wash hands. Test fasting BG. Pleased with 6.3 mmol/L. When first diagnosed my fasting BG was in the 8+ range. Breakfast is Almond Porridge made with soya milk ( learned on this forum and reliably gets me almost back down to normal range within an hour ), plus a Benecol drink ( my first diabetic review revealed high LDL cholesterol. Have my one and only proper coffee of the day. After this it's decaff ( cholesterol thing again - caffeine can affect it, and I have reason to suspect that it slightly affects my BG too.)

I teach Yoga from 9.00am until 12.30. I make sure I drink lots of water whilst teaching because hydration affects BG - something I learned on this forum.

Home by 1pm and immediately wash hands and test BG. 8.2 (!) This shouldn't be the case. I test again twice and pick the average which is 6.8mmol/L. I hate it when this happens but after over 6 months of testing I have an instinct when the test could be faulty. Will check meter - ( must buy control solution for it ! )

Go out and check the livestock - poultry, cattle, pigs.

Husband comes in for lunch - animatedly asks if I'd like fish and chips ........

He is very interested and very supportive regarding my diabetes. He thinks my self-discipline has been amazing .... But self discipline can appear to be a bore, especially to someone who has none ( my husband is very hedonistic!!!) When first diagnosed I became obsessed with my diabetes and food choices and I know that it did occasionally get him down. The changes in my eating have sometimes been difficult to negotiate.

I have an inner struggle now. Do I want to be a stick in the mud and refuse his offer .... if not, what do I choose? And what will it do to me?? I know to avoid scampi. I choose haddock and chips. I don't tell him that I may eat about 8 chips, if that.

When he gets back, I test my BG for a pre prandial reading and get 6.5mmol/L. he has to take his lunch back to work, so I eat alone. I peel off the haddock's batter and just eat the fish and - yes, approx 8 chips.

I immediately then, swing into action with some high octane hoovering. Then get the dogs ready and go for a one hour walk - but stepping up the pace to get the cardiovascular system pumping.

An hour and thirty minutes after my fish and chips , I test. 7.4mmol/L. Not bad!!

Later in the day, I do a random BG test and am 6.4mmol/L.

We have steak with buttered cabbage and green beans for supper. Plus a nice glass of red.

Next morning's fasting BG 6.4mmol/L so I feel that I managed ok yesterday although I would love to get a few 5s. I do occasionally.


Apart from making on the spot decisions about food choices when eating out, my diabetes is not hard to manage for specific events. Just did a 2 week holiday in Spain, and had to closely monitor my food. When working I make sure I drink lots of water, and I have a few nuts with me incase I feel hungry.I still feel slightly uncomfortable when I have to refuse something ( usually sweet ) and eventually have to say "I'm diabetic".

As I mentioned earlier, when you are in a relationship and you have this bombshell dropped that you are Type 2, the changes you have to make also affect your partner. I got angry and defensive when he suggested that I was taking things too far with my testing and management. Then I got very prim and proper about it all, and wouldn't take any chances with treats. It can drive a wedge between people. I wrote him a list of all the foods I CAN eat - and of course it is surprisingly large. We are getting there.

My diagnosis has made me look very differently at food choices when shopping. I look closely at labels and really never buy anything that is pre-made/convenience food at all - which in the past would only have been something like Covent Garden Soups etc. I have really given myself a complete overhaul in the food and exercise department and the changes are reflected in my results. Plus I have lost a stone and am down to 8st 11lbs without trying at all.

I went through a period of feeling very low about it all, but this has now lifted ... and of course, having a health problem that you can influence is much better than having one you can't. I'm not surprised that Dillinger calls his diabetes Loki and feels he's in daily combat - Type 1 and my level of Type 2 are different worlds. I don't have a name for it but I don't feel as if it is my enemy. It has made me take much greater care of my health and although I wish I didn't have it, I am now fully committed to it!!

 

[Chatterbox]

This post was inspirational. Thank you, CathyN. :clap: I have been lost as to how to order my day and you've helped.

 

[GraceK]

CathyN ... like you I don't regard my diabetes as the enemy either, I don't see it as something I have to 'beat', I see it as something I have to learn to get along with and manage to the best of my ability.

It's brought out the best in me, it's taken the guilt off my shoulders, it's shown me that I'm not a naturally fat, lazy lump of lard, it's shown me that part of my body has been malfunctioning for decades and I've really eased up on beating myself up since diagnosis and I've thrown myself into learning what to do for the best for myself.

I live on my own so I've no-one to pass comments about how many times I test, and my change of eating regime doesn't affect anyone else's lifestyle. I think if I did live with someone it would have been so hard for me to implement the changes because I'm one of those people who likes to make others feel comfortable even if it's at my own expense.

To be honest, I think obsession bordering on OCD in the early days is a necessitywhere diabetes is concerned and later that obsessiveness becomes second nature and appears normal. It also helps if you've felt so ill in the past that you felt life wasn't worth living - getting a diagnosis then has to be a plus, not a minus.

You've done really well :clap: :clap: