Hello, I’m newly diagnosed and need your help!

[robert2]

Hi,
My name is Robert and I was just diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. My A1C is 10.2 and I feel very sick. My quality of life is very low – I have depression, can’t sleep well, stomach pain and feel some numb on some parts of my body. All this is very new for me and I have so many questions, but google didn’t help – too many approaches, and I don’t know to whom to believe. I want to ask you some basic questions, maybe the community here will help me, as I’m a bit lost:

1. Where do you find information about T2 diabetes? (Portals, Forums, Facebook groups, Reddit, Magazines, books, Youtube etc..). Appreciate if you can share with me some links/references that you found reliable.

2. What are your biggest frustrations and challenges?

3. Based on your experience with the disease, what are your hopes, dreams, desires?

4. What are your biggest fears?

5. I’m trying to adapt to my new reality. My doc wanted to try doing some life changes (diet, activity, meditation, stress reduction). I really don’t know how to add all these into my life. What does a day in your life look like? What would you change?

6. I need some positive vibes. What makes you happy?

Appreciate all your help and I want to thank you in advance for any responses.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

1. Where do you find information about T2 diabetes? (Portals, Forums, Facebook groups, Reddit, Magazines, books, Youtube etc..). Appreciate if you can share with me some links/references that you found reliable.
Read Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. That's a lifesaver right there. Check dietdoctor.com, also very good. Dr Jason Fung's on a load of youtube videos and so is dr. Eric Berg. Just search for them in youtube. Then of course there's diabetes.co.uk's website, and this forum. You'll get some conflicting advice here too sometimes, but this is the best way to wade through conflicting messages: Get yourself a meter. T2 is different for everyone, depending on how much insulin you make, how much resistance/sensitivity there is, so there's no one-size-fits-all thing... But your meter'll tell you what is working for you. If you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, and you don't go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, that meal was perfect for you. (Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. You peak at about 1 hour. At 2, you can see whether your body's capable of dealing with that peak properly.). If you go higher than that, the meal as too carby. Sat at 2 or under, and your bloodsugars will normalise. I know mine have: I've been diagnosed for 3 years now, and have had normal bloodglucose results for all but 3 months of that time. (Took me 3 months to figure out what worked for me. I didn't find this forum until much later.)


2. What are your biggest frustrations and challenges?
People. I'm fine with asking for a change in meals (like a bunless burger, or salad instead of fries), that's all okay. Restaurants are happy to oblige because they'd rather change something than throw out good food. And I actually enjoy my food more these days because my palette has changed. But there's someone who was diagnosed T2 a few months before I was, and she always makes fun of my diet. In the meantime she's on insulin and does not understand why her bloodsugars skyrocket when she stuffs her face with birthdaycake. (And she really does plow into big pieces of that sort of thing) Yet makes fun of me for sticking with tea and walnuts, cheeses and such.... I lost weight and I'm medication free. And then there's people who feel guilty. I don't mind if they have cake with their coffee, but they feel if I can't have any, they can't either. It's been 3 years since my best friends and my mom in law dared to eat cake around me when we were out for coffee. I honestly don't care if they have some. They make a bigger issue of it than I do. (Imagine that: If those are the biggest frustrations and challenges... It's not that bad, is it? )


3. Based on your experience with the disease, what are your hopes, dreams, desires?

To end up in a nursing home where they let me follow keto/low carb, because if they still haven't clued in 30 or 40 years from now, I'll kick the bucket in no time.

4. What are your biggest fears?

They're non-diabetic related. When I was first diagnosed, I thought I was going to lose feet/legs, would have to get my kidneys flushed every other day, and/or have my heart burst like my friend's mother. I feared my husband, who is already my carer, would have a nightmare of a workload due to me, and would be an early widower. I'm not worried about those things anymore, because I have control of this T2 thing. So my biggest fears are still my social and generalised anxiety, and my fear of losing my loved ones (have had a lot of funerals, so it's a valid concern) and those have nothing to do with T2.

5. I’m trying to adapt to my new reality. My doc wanted to try doing some life changes (diet, activity, meditation, stress reduction). I really don’t know how to add all these into my life. What does a day in your life look like? What would you change?

My morning is usually a cup of tea. No breakfast. I don't eat until lunch, usually a salad or eggs with bacon/cheese/whatever. In the evening I have dinner with meat and veggies, bacon and cheese, more often than not. Snacks are chees, olives, extra dark chocolate, celery, that sort of thing. I go for walks, especially on the weekends, hauling around camera gear I couldn't carry without my legs buckling before diagnosis. (Yes, going low carb improved my quality of life that much: I don't face-plant anymore due to muscle weakness). Walks are good for T2's because they're not too strenuous (Strenuous exersize usually makes your liver dump glucose into your bloodstream, as it thinks it's helping. Slow and steady lowers your bloodsugars because your liver doesn't butt in. So that has the preference.). I have other issues that keep me from having a job, but diabetes never kept me from anything, once I knew how to deal with it. The other stuff did.

6. I need some positive vibes. What makes you happy?

Telling people T2 isn't the end of their life, isn't a doomscenario, and they're not about to drop dead. Giving people hope, kicks ***. I love going to festivals (Celtfest, Vikingfest, Japanfest, historical gatherings), zoo's, concerts, comic cons, other cities. Cat cafe's...! And all of that with my camera's. I adore photography, even if I'm the eternal amateur. I enjoy spending quality time with my husband, be it photographing lions or bugs, or playing Gears of War on the Xbox on our couch. I love good food, and there's surprisingly much out there once you know how to order.

Appreciate all your help and I want to thank you in advance for any responses.[/QUOTE]

My pleasure. And have a read here: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ <- it's my own little quick-start guide.

If you've got more questions, shoot. I like this sort of thing.

 

[robert2]

Thank you so much. I appreciate the effort for writing such detailed answers. I'm reading this and so encouraged!!! Thanks again.

One more question - A friend told me to try berberine. Do you have any experience with this? any other natural solution that you would recommend?

Thanks again, robert

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thank you so much. I appreciate the effort for writing such detailed answers. I'm reading this and so encouraged!!! Thanks again.

One more question - A friend told me to try berberine. Do you have any experience with this? any other natural solution that you would recommend?

Thanks again, robert

Hey Robert,

Berberine's only been properly tested on lab rats from what I gather, and not particularly reliably on people. If it works the way it is supposed to, it decreases fat, which lessens insulin resistance. But since the low carb/high fat approach, or keto, reduces bodyfat as well.... I think it'd just be a good way to make your wallet slimmer. Apple cider vinegar does help metabolism somewhat, but alas, though I really enjoyed the taste, it gave me migraines, and I haven't been using it for long enough to say whether it worked or not. (I think it did... But nothing definite.). Just go with the diet first, keep it simple: Real, low carb food, and you'll notice a change soon enough. I have a bucketload of supplements in the cabinet behind me, because there's other stuff going on, but for the T2, the diet alone was effective enough. I would say, try CBD oil (Holland & Barretts' Jacob Hooy is reliable), as you mention depression and trouble sleeping. It got me out of my insomnia rut which had lasted decades, and sleepless nights up your bloodsugars. The liver dumping glucose again, it really is a busybody and won't leave well enough alone. Also tackled my panicattacks some. Oh, and depression gets a lot better when your bloodsugars are under control. I'm clinically depressed, have been all my life, besides being an introverted borderliner, but I gained a lot of stability and got less depressed and moodswingy once I had my bloodsugars under control. So there's some hope there too.

 

[bulkbiker]

1. Where do you find information about T2 diabetes? (Portals, Forums, Facebook groups, Reddit, Magazines, books, Youtube etc..). Appreciate if you can share with me some links/references that you found reliable.

I found most of the info here on this very forum that I luckily had found a week or so before my official diagnosis. I also cruise around www.ketogenicforums.com and a few carnivore facebook groups as well as following a few experts on twitter. www.dietdoctor.com is a great resource too.

2. What are your biggest frustrations and challenges?

Other people ...

3. Based on your experience with the disease, what are your hopes, dreams, desires?

Ultimately putting T2 into remission and taking control of my health which I have achieved. Have also reversed a lot of other health conditions that I had when diagnosed. Hypertension, sleep apnea, acid reflux, lost 120 pounds.

4. What are your biggest fears?

Don't really have any now. Although I used to fear blindness which provided a great motivator for changing what I ate.

5. I’m trying to adapt to my new reality. My doc wanted to try doing some life changes (diet, activity, meditation, stress reduction). I really don’t know how to add all these into my life. What does a day in your life look like? What would you change?

I stopped eating breakfast and now only eat once or twice a day. Apart from that and walking the dog I don't do any extra exercise. Food is mainly comprised of meat.

6. I need some positive vibes. What makes you happy?

Steak!

 

[robert2]

Thank you! appreciate the effort for answering all these questions.

 

[DCUKMod]

Robert, I think it would be helpful to know more about you, so that folks can help you. What do you feel about the questions you posed?

 

[robert2]

Robert, I think it would be helpful to know more about you, so that folks can help you. What do you feel about the questions you posed?

well, I'm 42y old, have 2 kids, and I used to love my life a lot. I'm really afraid about the changes that I and my family need to do in order to tackle the disease.

 

[DCUKMod]

well, I'm 42y old, have 2 kids, and I used to love my life a lot. I'm really afraid about the changes that I and my family need to do in order to tackle the disease.

What changes do you see those as being? We often find folks arriving here have visions that don't match some of our longerer served T2s' reality.

To be clear, that's not suggesting you're wrong about anything, just that there are man, many images if what a diagnosis means.

 

[Resurgam]

Type two diabetes is all to do with the inability to cope with the amount of carbohydrate in the modern diet.
If you are lucky, all you need to do is reduce the amount of carbohydrate, sugars and starches you eat.
After a little while your metabolism will - hopefully get back to working better, and then you just go on - perhaps with some testing using a glucose meter, to find out what works best for you. Usually people find that they have the ability to eat some foods others can't - beans or porridge perhaps. As yet I have not found one for me, I am sensitive to everything.
I'd advise going for the root cause - the carbs, rather than a tablet to take.
For me, over two years from diagnosis, diabetes is just not a problem.

 

[Winnie53]

@robert2 I'm from the US. Are you from the US too? If yes, I'll also try to provide some US specific information.

 

[robert2]

Jason, I'm from the US. Are you from the US too? If yes, I'll also try to provide some US specific information.

@robert2 I'm from the US. Are you from the US too? If yes, I'll also try to provide some US specific information.

Actually, I'm from Israel, but I'm frequently visiting the US, including doctors (mostly from LA). so yes, please share your experience.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. This forum is about the best you will find for information and help from other diabetics. The important thing from a physical aspect is to avoid being side-tracked into fads both diet-wise and medication-wise. Unless you are underweight and possibly late onset T1 the approach needed for T2 is to reduce insulin resistance thru carb control. This will normally help with both blood sugar reduction and weight control. Have enough fats and proteins to keep you feeling full; obviously veg and fruits are good. Many T2s are started on the drug Metformin. It's very safe but don't expect it to have a great effect. A reduced carb diet together with exercise will be the highest priority. You may need to tackle any mental health worries etc and these are best dealt with locally

 

[Winnie53]

Apologies for referring to you as "Jason". I'm on the west coast of the US so just getting my day going with a cup of tea.

Do you know what your glucose level was at the time you were diagnosed? I don't know what units are used in Israel. Hmm...after looking around, it looks like Israel uses the same units as the US.

So glad you found your way here.

When I was re-diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in early 2015, my A1c was 9.9% and my afternoon glucose level was, I think, 282 mg/dl. I had no idea I was ill. I thought I just had a urinary track infection. I didn't. They asked me to come back in for more lab work, then called me the next day to tell me I had diabetes, and needed to set up an appointment immediately with my doctor to get started on medications.

I was totally blind sided by the news. I didn't want to take medication so asked them to schedule my appointment out 6 weeks to give me time to learn more and to give changing my diet a go first. They hesitantly agreed.

My first question was... How bad is an A1c of 9.9%?

Never got an answer to that question, but after many Google searches, I came across a post written by journalist and diabetes blogger, David Mendosa. I can't find that specific post today but in it he described reading a book by Richard K. Bernstein, MD that provided the guidance he needed to normalize his glucose levels with diet. I was so excited. For the first time in many years, I had hope that diabetes could be put in remission.

I called my local bookstore, and they held the book for me. I picked it up that afternoon, and alternated between reading and surveying the first half of the book until I understood how to do the diet. Next, I cleared out my refrigerator and cupboards of all the foods I could no longer eat. Bought a glucose meter, and the lance device, lancets, and test strips needed and learned how to use them. Within 3 days I was on the diet. On day 5 I found my way here and got the support I needed during those early months.

By the time I saw my doctor 6 weeks later, they were amazed. If I'm remembering correctly, my A1c had plummeted to 5.6%. They still wanted me to take Metformin and a statin medication of course, which is the standard of care, to which I said no thank you. Haven't looked back since.

That was 4 1/2 years ago. My fasting glucose was 123 mg/dl this morning. I continue to manage my glucose levels with the low carbohydrate high (healthy) fat ketogenic diet and walking. This year, I added intermittent eating restriction as described in Canadian nephrologist Jason Fung's book, The Diabetes Code (2018). Simply stated. I eat in an 8 hour window each day by skipping breakfast 4 out of 7 days each week. It's helping me to lose more of the weight that I want to lose.

As Jason Fung describes it, "insulin resistance" is fatty liver, and "beta cell dysfunction" is fatty pancreas. I think he's right. We get rid of the "organ fat", also referred to as "viseral fat", by losing weight.

To monitor my progress, I continue to use my glucose meter 5 to 10 times a day. To do this I used the cheapest glucose strips available and the glucose monitor to go with them. At 20 cents a strip, I don't think twice about testing, and testing often. I also have lots of different lab tests done. When I recently had my first GGT test done, I was thrilled to be just outside the optimal range, which suggests that my liver is both healthy and happy.

Ask lots of questions. We'll help you every step of the way. The first days and weeks are the hardest. You'll get though it, and before you know it, you'll be helping those who find their way here with your success story too.

 

[Winnie53]

Oh, and don't let anyone tell you that type 2 diabetes can't be put in remission if you've had it for years and years. Many, myself included, are finding that to not be true. I crossed over from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes in 2005 and didn't start the LCHF/Keto Diet until 2015. It's never too late to start, but start now.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

well, I'm 42y old, have 2 kids, and I used to love my life a lot. I'm really afraid about the changes that I and my family need to do in order to tackle the disease.

Honestly, they're not that big. My husband still eats as he's always done. If he wants potatoes, he gets potatoes. And he still has bread for breakfast and lunch, or varieties of other grain products (Rusk, crackers etc). I just have a bigger portion of veggies with cheese/meat instead, or whip myself up some eggs or something. That's about all the difference it made in current day-to-day life: the food is different. And I'm healthier now than I was, so we can do more stuff and enjoy our life together more. That's not a bad change to go with, right? My guy went from having a wife who could barely get out of bed, and whose meat he had to cut because she couldn't put enough pressure on a knife anymore (I was THAT weakened by the time I was diagnosed) to having one who'll drag him to festivals just about every weekend. I out-walk him, and he comes from a family of long distance walkers.

In the beginning Kornelis studied right along with me. He's dyslectic and I read at insane speeds, so I'd walk him through everything I learned during the day, over dinner. And when I saw people at the hopital or my GP's, he thankfully was in a position to go with me to every specialist, nurse, dietician and test. (Would not be possible right now, but I can do it on my own these days). But while he did take a lot of time off that year to make this journey with me, that wasn't really a change either: We've always done everything together, from wedding dress shopping to cleaning up his new shop. This was no different.

There isn't going to be some huge shift in your family life. Not the kind you think, anyway: You're not going to be an invalid because of this. You can tackle it, with the help of your family, and just a slight change in diet. Granted, bacon and pork scratchings may be off the menu, considering where you're hailing from, but there's so much still left. And there's more to Pesach than matzes and kugel, should those things be a consideration. Family get-togethers don't have to be a problem, menu-wise... I know I was worried needlessly about Christmas, but everyone's including me in the menu-making, so there's always plenty for me to eat, and they're usually things others enjoy too.

Being a T2 isn't the end of the world. It could be the beginning of a new one though. I know it was for me. Once I knew what was wrong, I could finally do something about it, and get my life back. And I did. I had some proper control of this, I wasn't a victim to just another condition I was powerless to tackle. Nope! No more oozing wounds, no crippling fatigue, no depression so deep I couldn't see even a spark of light anymore. I'll never be a healthy person, there's too much going on for that, but I sure am healthier than I have been in the last 20 years or so. Considering that's half my life, that's saying something.

Have a great day!
Jo

 

[pavlosn]

I believe Israel enjoys an excellent reputation for the quality of its doctors and medical care. I know that a number of "difficult" cases in Cyprus, my own country, have been referred to Israeli doctors for more expert treatment.

Actually, I'm from Israel, but I'm frequently visiting the US, including doctors (mostly from LA). so yes, please share your experience.

 

[pavlosn]

Hi Robert and welcome to the forum

It sounds like you are letting your t2 diagnosis overwhelm you a bid. You are not the first one to react in this way, in fact I would say your reaction is fairly typical.

I certainly fealt overwhelmed by the news of my t2 diagnosis at the time (ten years ago at the age of 44 and like you with a young family). So much information to try to take in, information that is often conflicting at that. Fear and uncertainty about the future and the threat of developing some possibly horrific complications to your health.

Add to this a feeling of losing control as you are sent from one doctor to another for test after medical test and worst of all a feeling of guilt or personal failure as one fears that the t2 came about through one's own fault.

No wonder it can be overwhelming; it's an emotional rollercoaster ride with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer

But things do get better and soon.

You soon realise that this is not your fault. Nobody really knows why some people develop t2 while others, with very similar lifestyles do not.

You then realise that it does not matter why you got t2 what matters is that you learn how to control it

You also realise that despite the t2 you are still very much alive and still very much the same person you always were. There is no reason why your expectations or dreams or even fears should change in any significant manner.

You have already received lots of good advice and no doubt you will receive more from the excellent people of this forum.

Ask as many questions as you need to and exploit the knowledge and personal experience of the many people here who are able to control their levels and live with diabetes without making their lives be about diabetes.

And remember you do not have to learn it all in a day.

All the best

Pavlos

 

[Sapien]

That was 4 1/2 years ago. My fasting glucose was 123 mg/dl this morning. I continue to manage my glucose levels with the low carbohydrate high (healthy) fat ketogenic diet and walking. This year, I added intermittent eating restriction...

As Jason Fung describes it, "insulin resistance" is fatty liver, and "beta cell dysfunction" is fatty pancreas. I think he's right. We get rid of the "organ fat", also referred to as "viseral fat", by losing weight.

To monitor my progress, I continue to use my glucose meter 5 to 10 times a day. To do this I used the cheapest glucose strips available and the glucose monitor to go with them. At 20 cents a strip, I don't think twice.

@Winnie53, very interesting comments.

Are you concerned with a fasting glucose of 123 mg/dL? That is at the very high end of pre-diabetic. On the keto/low carb diet, is the fasting glucose usually closest to your highest of the day?

May I ask which glucose meter you use? I have a Relion Premier and a Contour Next One. They usually read within about 10 mg/dL of each other, although the Contour usually reads about 4-5 mg/dL higher, except when I get reading in the 70’s on the Relion in which case the Contour reads lower. (The Relion strips are much cheaper so I usually use it. I have been testing a lot to try to understand how my body reacts.)

In all your reading and investigation have you found good information on the best ways to tell how much visceral fat (including fatty liver / fatty pancreas) one has without an MRI?

 

[Winnie53]

Yes, of course. That's why I'm in the process of losing more weight and walking my glucose levels down a couple of times a day. The good news is that all my other health markers are good to excellent including my fasting insulin level which is in the optimal range.

Imaging is the only way I know to determine how much viseral fat is present, but it's been my experience that lab tests evaluating liver function improve with weight loss. My GGT level is excellent, as is my AST and ? lab results are well within the normal range.