Type 2 How can I convince myself this is serious?

Failing eye health and feet so painful I sometimes wished someone would saw them off was all the motivation I needed. If that doesn’t spur you on then the videos contained within this discussion thread might.

Warning - graphic content - https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/new-zealand-documentary.160198/

Leave it to others to stare back at yesterday and dread the tomorrow that might never come .... and GET ON WITH IT. !!

And yes, I'm being my usual direct self

lorib64 said:

I have been diagnosed with type 2 and am on medication, it seems to work well. My a1c is good. But, I don’t eat like I should. I never say I am diabetic. I have seen and heard of people with terrible complications and it does not phase me. I have lost some weight, which is great, but even that I have trouble sticking with. I see my pcp soon and endocrinologist In August. I have not had any complications but I would like to keep it that way. Was there any thing that forced you to deal with this or did you do everything right away?

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Hi, as in most things that make us want to change or give up something, It's will power and really wanting to do it, good luck

oooh I so know what you are going through! It took me a few years I think. It can be a process rather than a sudden thing and you may need some time for the belief to crystallise. Don't worry about not instantly changing. By asking here you are at least not in complete denial.
I would start by acknowledging to others you are diabetic and let the rest follow. So much will depend on whether or not you can get obsessional about a diet say, or notice how high blood sugar makes you feel (always worse than normal!) Most of all, don't beat yourself up over it and use the forum to browse or ask questions, seek support etc. Just being here helps make it real and worth tackling in your own life and way.

It really hit home to me when I met some people in person who had experienced diabetes complications due to uncontrolled bg. For me, looking at pictures and reading stories didn't hit home. I was making excuses about fear photos and people with no self control. Then I met some people on a type 1 course, got to know them, realise they were intelligent people, and then find out they had retinopathy and neuropathy.
If it could happen to these lovely people, it could happen to me.
With this in mind, you could look into local diabetes groups or ask if you local surgery arranges any "group sessions".

The diagnosis was the kick up the proverbial I needed. Getting better and feeling so much healthier than in many years is the motivation to keep going.

lorib64 said:

I have been diagnosed with type 2 and am on medication, it seems to work well. My a1c is good. But, I don’t eat like I should. I never say I am diabetic. I have seen and heard of people with terrible complications and it does not phase me. I have lost some weight, which is great, but even that I have trouble sticking with. I see my pcp soon and endocrinologist In August. I have not had any complications but I would like to keep it that way. Was there any thing that forced you to deal with this or did you do everything right away?

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Hi
As a type 1 my options are slightly different. But having said that going for my first appointment in a large teaching hospital's clinic for all us diabetics and having seen amputees, people in wheelchairs and some with a white canes or guide dogs. And of course they may have been like that for very different reasons. But that was enough to motivate me.
Hopefully I am not offending anyone on here that is not my intention. Am just saying where my motivation came from.
Good luck with it.

lorib64 said:

I have been diagnosed with type 2 and am on medication, it seems to work well. My a1c is good. But, I don’t eat like I should. I never say I am diabetic. I have seen and heard of people with terrible complications and it does not phase me. I have lost some weight, which is great, but even that I have trouble sticking with. I see my pcp soon and endocrinologist In August. I have not had any complications but I would like to keep it that way. Was there any thing that forced you to deal with this or did you do everything right away?

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I was given a diagnosis of being diabetic apparently having gone past the pre-diabetic stage but not quite falling into the needing meds category. In other words " caught relatively early". My BG is strictly lifestyle and diet controlled.

I do wonder about people who have meds, I feel a sort of envy because they appear to be able to afford to eat the things they used to and have excellent BG levels when prick testing.

Perhaps the difference between us is that you have a crutch and I don't have one.
Your crutch allows you to to run on your leg which is however still broken and you have to decide if its better for you to work on healing your broken leg and learning to walk without a crutch, or to be reliant on that crutch until it fails also.

Hindsight as they say is almost always 20/20.

KookieMunchster said:

I was given a diagnosis of being diabetic apparently having gone past the pre-diabetic stage but not quite falling into the needing meds category. In other words " caught relatively early". My BG is strictly lifestyle and diet controlled.

I do wonder about people who have meds, I feel a sort of envy because they appear to be able to afford to eat the things they used to and have excellent BG levels when prick testing.

Perhaps the difference between us is that you have a crutch and I don't have one.
Your crutch allows you to to run on your leg which is however still broken and you have to decide if its better for you to work on healing your broken leg and learning to walk without a crutch, or to be reliant on that crutch until it fails also.

Hindsight as they say is almost always 20/20.

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Ps ;
I think that reads a lot harsher than I intended. It is also missing the actual way in which I would have spoken. So I just wanted to add something more positive sounding.
For me personally, I remember thinking before all this - that my life was pretty good, that I was healthy etc...
It's really surreal to discover with T2D that you weren't all that afterall. What surprised me and in turn surprised others around me is the point at which I turned it all around. You realize what feeling really healthy is like and you honestly can't know that without changing.

So I'd say, remake your life not bemoaning what you can no longer have, but reaching out for something much better than what you are contending yourself with now.

KookieMunchster said:

What surprised me and in turn surprised others around me is the point at which I turned it all around. You realize what feeling really healthy is like and you honestly can't know that without changing.

So I'd say, remake your life not bemoaning what you can no longer have, but reaching out for something much better than what you are contending yourself with now.

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That’s a brilliant way to put it @KookieMunchster

Just a thought to widen the discusiion, @lorib64, could it be that medication is making you eat more than is wise?
Sometimes over-medication can do this and cause weight gain and some worsening of the diabetes.
If one'/s bsl is going up and down the hba1c will only reflect the average.
That said, try sitting in a diabetes clinic sometime, in particular like i had to at age 18 onwards ( having been diagnosed at age 13 and looked after by my GP). Seeing blind people led in and out, people in wheelchairs with a leg missing.
One could be forgiven for thinking it was a hospital scene from a World War Two movie.
And diabetic ulcers look ghastly.
What was perhaps the most tragic was seeing a 14 year old with bent fingers ( tendon stiffening and obstruction) being wheeled off for kidney dialysis, only 10 years after being diagnosed.
If you look up on Home page , question box upper right and type in 'golden 6 1/2 years'.
Not sure if course with Type 2 how long has had diabetes but the principles might be similar, the better the control early on, the less troubles later.
Complacency is deadly!!

My mother was losing her eyesight, had vascular dementia, and neuropathy that hindered her ability to walk, and was double incontinent.
I then developed non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy a few years before my diabetes diagnosis, the cause of which wasn't discovered in time to prevent permanent damage, so any addition damage could stop me from walking - although I am more scared about losing my eyesight as I'd have to give up my freedom without my mobility scooter.
Sometimes I am tempted to give up a strict low carb diet, and I've had a few 1 or 2 day wobbles, but having seen the consequences first hand I know how serious this can be.

My suggestion would be to get a glucose monitor and see damaging BG numbers! Nothing like seeing the reality on screen for making you change habits.

My personal reasons were not wanting to die rotting slowly away from uncontrolled diabetes over 30 years like my father did (his final death was horrific and he would have known he was about to die and fought fruitlessly) and I didn’t want to be fat anymore.

lorib64 said:

Thank you. I do get tired after meals. Not just a little tired, like I need to take a nap. Logically, I know it is real, but my behavior is not following, yet. That is good advice to be open with others.

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You are so welcome! I think the being exhausted is a great motivator. Whilst for many people the threat of what might happen 'down the line' works a treat I'm not sure it works for all people (I've had both cataracts done and I'm only 54 - still can't believe I might lose my sight or a leg). But I hate dragging myself around to get things done, or missing out on having fun because I'm too tired. Those immediate things eventually led to me having a keto diet and getting my energy back. I'm not sure even now I really take having diabetes as 'serious ', but I'm doing all the right stuff and that's what matters in the end.

Read the Complications sub-forum. The consistent message coming through from every single person who played fast and loose with high bg levels and then been diagnosed with varying degrees of kidney failure and threats to eyesight is that they really wish they could wind back the clock and play it differently.

Fancy a bit of renal dialysis a few years down the line? No, I thought not.

I never wanted diabetes,always hated the name of it. Saw my grandmother taking pills and facing the complications of it. Even with as small as fever she had to take extra care that her bs don't rise much, otherwise it would complicate things and would lead her straight to the
hospital.
I hate going to hospital and seeing doctors waiting for there appointments and wasting my precious money and time. Then I would hate taking medicines just to eat food and my life would depend on those pills. If I miss I would be sent to hospital.
If I knew carbs functionality before I would have never touched them.
I am not sure what motivation you need but I am vegetarian Indian who had never seen non vegetarian food till 27 years. But once I got my A1c of 6.1, same day I started researching and without much thought I dived straight into low carb. Never seen or touched non vegetarian till now, I straight went to butcher, bought myself country chicken and called my friend who instructed me how to clean and cook on phone. It took me 6 months to get used to that weird taste of animal product. I used to cook it wrong too, after three months my friend notice that cooking it on little too much. Now I cook best mutton masala.
I don't know about anyone else but if my health is on line, I would do anything.