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j.100.s

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I’ll apologise first for the long post. I was diagnosed almost 6 months ago with HbA1c of 120. My GP sent me away with no information other than this was mild and not reversible. I was devastated by this as my only symptom was being tired and I thought it was long Covid. He told me to come back to him in a month and make an appointment with the practise diabetic nurse but I was not able to get in for over a month. By the time I wrnt back to see him the only information I had was from reading online. I was scared, confused and felt very ashamed of myself because it all pointed to me being fat. I told him all of this and he just shrugged. He had Etsy open on his screen and may have well stuck 2 fingers up at me and said go away, get lost, I’m not interested in you. On top of this he prescribed 1 metaformin at the first consultation and did not review it. After lots of reading I chased this up myself and it was increased to 3 per day. This has all had a huge detrimental affect on my mental health and, amongst other things, triggered some PTSD from a previous medical negligence. Every time I go to the doctors I get upset so this is all they focus on and I still have no information from them about diabetes. I still feel upset, ashamed and angry with myself for letting myself get to this and am getting upset just writing this. Other than a couple of close friends I’ve been unable to share my diagnosis because of the shame I feel and don’t want to be judged. People close to me have previously described others with diabetes as greedy, lazy and not surprised they have problems when they weigh so much. I have eventually told my family as I’m about to go into hospital for surgery related to the previous negligence so more stress. Despite all of this I have got my HbA1c to 50 and lost 26% of my body weight but still feel so low. I’m struggling and feel like I won’t ever have a ‘normal’ life again.
 
j.100.s said:
Despite all of this I have got my HbA1c to 50 and lost 26% of my body weight
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This in itself is a marvellous achievement! Keep focussed on that and ignore uninformed opinions of others. You have no reason to be ashamed since diabetes in all its forms is far more complex than any media would lead you to believe.
What is a normal life? We have been influenced by fashions, marketing and the powerful food industry for more than a century. Even though I am now ale to eat "whatever I like", I am cautious. You might find this more helpful than your doctor:

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...
josekalsbeek.blogspot.com
The very best of luck
 
Thank you for your reply. I know I should be able to ignore the opinions of others but I’m finding that difficult as it’s those very close to me and the implied opinion of the doctor.
In respect of going forward, I know I will never be able to eat as I did before. Food is causing me huge anxieties. I am ok on my own at home when I have control but nowhere else.
I would like to be able to go out to eat with friends but don’t know how to? I am vegetarian and, other than omelette, I have not found anything I can eat as veggie dishes are all based around carbs. This is either pasta, rice, potato, bread or lentils, quinoa, chickpeas etc. I am due to go away in summer and really worrying about it.
 
Unfortunately the one item in the Vegetarian section posted by @nutribolt (scroll down on the opening page of the Forum) is unavailable, but this might give you some interesting links:

Low carb vegan food

There’s been a few posts recently from people who follow a vegan/vegetarian way of life who were asking about combining it with low carb, so I thought I’d start a thread with some meal ideas, and the full nutritional breakdown (MyFitnessPal checked against labels for accuracy). Full disclosure -...
www.diabetes.co.uk
 
There is NO shame in having type 2 diabetes. It all starts with Insulin resistance, which stops your body using all the Glucose in the carbohydrates you've been told for all your life were healthy. Due to not using it properly, your body keeps crying out for more fuel. So you overeat because your body DEMANDS it, it needs it.
Because this raises your Blood Glucose levels even more, your Pancreas secretes more Insulin to try to overcome the excess. When it cannot do this, the only answer is to store it away as FAT. Insulin is the hormone that controls fat storage, and usage. So you have an extra problem on top, whereby due to high Insulin levels, your body cannot use the fat it's stored away. This happens even if you don't overeat.
This process started years ago, without you having a chance of knowing. Most type 2 diabetics are diagnosed more by accident, than by symptoms. Most people have no inkling until the dreaded diagnosis, because too often prediabetes is dismissively mentioned.
Unfortunately main stream media are ignorant of any of this, also many less unenlightened doctors. so how do you expect ordinary everyday people to understand. Some you can educate as you learn more yourself, but most are a lost cause so don't bother if they don't show any interest. Console yourself with the fact that they may feel differently, when it happens to them. Then they will be knocking on your door for help, as the way you are going is fantastic. Eventually they will realise to.
Low carb is i believe more difficult as a veggy, but doable. If you eat eggs there are so many ways to use them. If you can eat some meats that will help a lot, but not strictly necessary.
 
Thank you for this information. Unfortunately, I don’t eat any meat. It would be so much easier if I did. I am just doing my best to stay as low carb as I can. I’m managing this at home but don’t feel able to go out to eat with friends as all veggie meals are based around carbs.
 


j.100.s said:
Stay positive. How long did it take you to bring your numbers from 120 to 50?
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I'm back to eating vegetarian meals now though I did go omnivore straight after the diagnosis - it's simply easier to low carb. I saw it as a medical intervention.

The good news is that I've found I'm now able to tolerate normal portions of pulses - lentils, chickpeas etc., and even some small amounts of root vegetables - carrots, parsnips and so on. However, I still need to avoid potatoes, bread, pasta, and other grain-based items (where I'm staying, the cook loves to thicken his vegetable soups with pearl barley, <sigh>). If you have a meter, try some meals adding in lentils or other pulses and see how you react - you might also find you are now able to tolerate a slightly wider range of foods than before
 
Hello and welcome @j.100.s

Wow! that's a fantastic drop that you have achieved!

Okay- I get the shame and judgement- very few people know about my diagnosis. What I tell them is I have an intolerance to carbs- true. I also tell them that going keto has got rid of my asthma- also true. So I do understand.

I also understand the worry about food. Lat night I was at a party and the food there was completely unsuitable for me I ended up with chicken coated wit breadcrumbs and 'unpeeling' it. I was so hungry and felt excluded. I haven't had that bad an experience for a while.

So some thoughts about food:

I try to meet people for breakfast for preference: I then usually have eggs Benedict if available but otherwise eggs is usually available- or an omelette.

For lunch - maybe a salad- you may be able to get the cafe to add boiled eggs or maybe grilled halaomi to a salad which will be something you can eat. I actually like grilled halaomi.

Other suggestions like @Lobsang Tsultim suggested may also work.

Good luck and welcome.
 
@0110 I’ve mistyped this figures, I have actually gone from 120 to 40. This took 5 months with the first 5 weeks being on an incorrect dosage of metaformin. I’ve stopped taking all medication for the past 4 weeks so hoping I will be able to maintain it. I have just had some bloods taken again due to an operation I’m having next week. Although I know it needs to be over 3 months it will give me some indication. I have also lost 4 stone and my weight is now in the ‘normal’ range.
 
@Lobsang Tsultim. Thank you for your reply. I will try to gradually try small amounts of some pulses. It does make me anxious and I haven’t been able to get any help or answers from doctors. All they have said is eat what you want sometimes, but that doesn’t help. In my mind I need to understand to be able to do it, hence low carb has been relatively easy as I understand why I need to do it. I need to get over an operation next week and then I can look at this more
 
j.100.s said:
In my mind I need to understand to be able to do it,
Click to expand...
This is why we use a meter to understand how we personally react to different foods.
Your Dr or anyone else for that matter has absolutely no idea what foods you can or can't include in your diet, because we are not machines, we are unique, complex living beings.
Without the information from our meters we could be avoiding perfectly suitable foods unnecessarily.
 
Hi everyone - I am sorry I am not very regular on forum these days and saw this only now. I can see indeed that the link to the document I shared have disappeared. I will attach it again on my profile post and it can be accessed here (will download the pdf directly). Hopefully that will help.

@j.100.s I do hope by now you have received help on vegetarian diet but if not hopefully this should help. I have now been on this diet for 2.5 years and it works for me.
 
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