- Messages
- 184
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Well, I finally got back to the doctor's after spending 5 years neglecting my T2 and... it was nowhere near as bad as I feared.
Just before Christmas my annual eye exam came back with mild background retinopathy, which scared me enough to get to grips with this thing again. When I was first diagnosed I kicked diabetes' ass and brought my blood glucose down to regular levels very quickly - sadly, a combination of complacency and the pandemic saw my numbers shoot up *so* fast, and beyond my original diagnosis numbers. That absolutely shocked me, and I just ran away from managing it.
However, since getting back on it at Christmas I've brought my average blood glucose levels from 13mmol/L to 7.5mmol/L and lost a stone eating low carb. Bought a Libre again (you don't need to scan them now!) and kept a close eye on my numbers. Put together a spreadsheet for logging results and shared it with my family to keep me honest. Really, I feel better than I have in years.
The big worry was how much damage I'd done to myself in the 5 years I took the foot off the pedal - I was really scared about something irreversible, or being put on more meds with more serious side effects.
When I got the results my HbA1C was high, of course (89), but the work I've put in over the last month in maintaining good BG levels has really paid dividends in the result. I'm sure it would have been much, much higher without these few weeks of good control. The headline though is no issues with my kidneys or liver. Cholesterol was high, but I know that will come down with weight loss as it did last time round. Best of all, my doctor is pretty supportive and has allowed me to continue in this vein without putting me on additional medication (other than the obligatory push for statins, which I declined). Cannot overstate how important a good doctor is - the ones I've had in the past have not been good.
I'm just starting out on the Newcastle Diet for the next 8 weeks, to help push the weight loss and hopefully coax some more insulin sensitivity out of my poor, harassed beta cells. Feeling good about about my chances of completing it this time around with all the additional support and information available vs. the last time I tried in 2018. Hoping for a follow-up HbA1C of 50 or less in April.
One of the reasons I was so reluctant to face up to having T2 in recent years was embarrassment and shame, and anxiety about what the doctor might say. Instead, I just stuck my head in the sand. If I've learned anything through this, it's that it's often not as bad as you think. Everyone messes up from time to time managing diabetes, but it *is* possible to get back on track.
There have been a few threads here recently about being worried / scared about going to the doctor so I thought I'd post this just to point out it might not be as bad as you think.
Just before Christmas my annual eye exam came back with mild background retinopathy, which scared me enough to get to grips with this thing again. When I was first diagnosed I kicked diabetes' ass and brought my blood glucose down to regular levels very quickly - sadly, a combination of complacency and the pandemic saw my numbers shoot up *so* fast, and beyond my original diagnosis numbers. That absolutely shocked me, and I just ran away from managing it.
However, since getting back on it at Christmas I've brought my average blood glucose levels from 13mmol/L to 7.5mmol/L and lost a stone eating low carb. Bought a Libre again (you don't need to scan them now!) and kept a close eye on my numbers. Put together a spreadsheet for logging results and shared it with my family to keep me honest. Really, I feel better than I have in years.
The big worry was how much damage I'd done to myself in the 5 years I took the foot off the pedal - I was really scared about something irreversible, or being put on more meds with more serious side effects.
When I got the results my HbA1C was high, of course (89), but the work I've put in over the last month in maintaining good BG levels has really paid dividends in the result. I'm sure it would have been much, much higher without these few weeks of good control. The headline though is no issues with my kidneys or liver. Cholesterol was high, but I know that will come down with weight loss as it did last time round. Best of all, my doctor is pretty supportive and has allowed me to continue in this vein without putting me on additional medication (other than the obligatory push for statins, which I declined). Cannot overstate how important a good doctor is - the ones I've had in the past have not been good.
I'm just starting out on the Newcastle Diet for the next 8 weeks, to help push the weight loss and hopefully coax some more insulin sensitivity out of my poor, harassed beta cells. Feeling good about about my chances of completing it this time around with all the additional support and information available vs. the last time I tried in 2018. Hoping for a follow-up HbA1C of 50 or less in April.
One of the reasons I was so reluctant to face up to having T2 in recent years was embarrassment and shame, and anxiety about what the doctor might say. Instead, I just stuck my head in the sand. If I've learned anything through this, it's that it's often not as bad as you think. Everyone messes up from time to time managing diabetes, but it *is* possible to get back on track.
There have been a few threads here recently about being worried / scared about going to the doctor so I thought I'd post this just to point out it might not be as bad as you think.
Last edited: