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Introduce Yourself: Answer Some Personal Questions

RosemaryJackson said:
I lost my daughter aged 51 to a Brainstorm Haemorrhage and on her death certificate in 2nd place was Diabetes Mellitus.
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@RosemaryJackson, hello again. I am so shocked and sorry to read about the loss of your daughter. I have a daughter rising 60 and I desperately hope I will never have to live through losing her.
You are clearly such a strong and adaptable person. IMO you will be making a great contribution to the Forum.
 
grahamrb said:
What does IMO mean?
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IMO = In my opinion. People sometimes write, "IMHO". This stands for, In My Humble Opinion. I too often find myself baffled by abbreviations. At the same time I enjoy some of them. My all time favourite is ROFL = Rolling On the Floor Laughing. Apology for the digression.
 
Morning all. I'm Smeggers, due to retire in October until the Government moved the goalposts; I was diagnosed as Type 2 in December last year, which came as a bit of a shock. I've started on a low-carb diet, doing all the right things and still enjoying life. I suffer with Chronic Arthritis and thought that was the cause of my knee pain. I now realise that was only half the problem. My support nurse, Sarah, told me "every pound you lose is 4 pounds of pressure off your knees". After losing several pounds, my knees are working a lot better. My goal is to lose at least four stone, so I'll be back to the weight I was when I left the Army after 24 years.
 
Include a photo here if you wish to.
I don’t know how to add a photo ‍
- What is your name?
Natalie
- How old are you?
39…
- Are you male or female?
Female
- Which country are you from?
England
- Which city/area do you live in?
East Midlands
- Are you religious?
Not at all, spiritual but not really religious!
- Pick three words to describe your personality.
Fun, caring and quiet
- Do you have any pets?
A rabbit, Baymax
- Microsoft or Apple?
Apple
- Which sport(s) (if any) do you like/play?
Don’t play but like watching rugby football and tennis
- Do you get angry easily?
Yes
- Do you have any tattoos or piercings? If so, where?
Nope
- List your five favourite musicians/bands.
Queen
Kasabian
Take that
Ed sheeran
Britney
- What would you say your favourite music genre is?
80’s
- What is your favourite flag?
England of course
- Ever gone camping?
Yes when I was younger and hated it and never been again
- Ever been in love?
Yep
- Ever used fake tan?
Tried and failed
- Which countries have you visited?
France, Spain, Dominican Republic, Canary Islands
- Favourite city?
Rome or Barcelona can’t decide
- List your five favourite TV programmes.
Friends, line of duty, eastenders, masked singer ‍ and great British bake off
- List your five favourite films.
Dirty dancing, top gun, 10 things I hate about you, greatest showman and legend
- Are you wealthy?
Definitley not in terms of financially
- Do you work? If so, as what?
Manage a childrens day nursery
- List the subjects you study/have studied.
Early years professional status and a BA honours degree in children and young people
- What do you like most about yourself?
I’m kind, caring and sometimes funny!!
- What do you like least about yourself?
My health.
 
Hi, I'm Nicola, 51 from West Sussex, England, newly diagnosed with pre diabetes.
 
NickiSanta said:
Hi, I'm Nicola, 51 from West Sussex, England, newly diagnosed with pre diabetes.
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Hello @NickiSanta, a warm welcome to the Forum. Imo "newly diagnosed" means you are living through some of the absolutely most miserable hours and days of your pre-diabetes, if not of your life. ("of your diabetes" has a better ring, but would be quite inaccurate, as it is most likely you will never progress beyond "pre", especially since you have found your way here so speedily.) You have had a horrible shock, I remember it so vividly, even though a lot has happened since the summer of 2017, when I first learned the worrying significance of an HbA1c test. But believe me, you WILL feel better. There ARE things you can do to help yourself and you are certainly not alone.

If you haven't already, do scroll down and explore. There is so much info., companionship, support and a vast range of topics (and points of view). Don't hesitate to ask questions. Things get a bit quiet at the weekends, but come Monday people will be back at their desks and posting more.

Good luck!
 
Hello, Nick here. I live in Edinburgh.

I was diagnosed with type 2 back in 2016, which makes me a lurker for nearly 6 years. I thought I'd joined already, but apparently not. This forum has been helpful, and I recently decided I should do more research and enquiries (see below).

I had a fasting blood sugar level of 8 mmol/L on diagnosis at the age of 46, and my GP told me, that was high enough for a conclusive diagnosis. I was advised this was a permanent condition which would only get worse as I aged, and to go on metformin for the rest of my life.

I was signed up to the programme of regular checks. I received the standard NHS advice to exercise, lose weight, and eat healthily. Except I had thought I was doing this already...

It also seemed like the diabetic check process was very routine. I was shocked to learn on asking, that my practice gets a new diagnosis every week (IIRC, this still seems insanely high and I am wondering if I am misremembering this.)

I've never been overweight, have exercised moderately, didn't feel at all ill, so I wondered how I ended up this way. My GP couldn't answer my questions about this, so I asked to be referred to the diabetes specialist clinic. They subsequently ruled out late-onset T1, and the genetic forms of diabetes they know about, so I have a T2 diagnosis "by default". My impression is they didn't know what to do with me and thought I shouldn't even be there, with all the other desperately ill people in the clinic.

A relative told me about Michael Moseley's "8 Week Blood Sugar Diet" book. After reading it, I decided to decline metformin so I could try this first. My HbA1c plunged over a few months and has been hovering around 42~43 ever since. I never went on metformin as the clinic considered this an acceptable level.

I did like my bread, rice and pasta, and judging by the result of cutting out as much carbohydrate as I could manage, my best hypothesis is that I ate too much carbohydrate and somehow broke myself. Either that or I'm just very unlucky and was going to get it whatever I did. Unfortunately there aren't any blood glucose results in my earlier medical history to give me clues if this was something new or a long-standing condition.

The T2DB welcome pack I got from my GP included an NHS guide to healthy eating. At the time I thought carbs are necessary and generally harmless, but after reading about the low-carbohydrate diet's relevance for T2DB, I realised with alarm that new diabetics are being advised that a healthy diet has at least 1/3 carbs.

I can only conclude that there may be many people hovering on the edge of diabetes without realising, or diagnosed diabetics following advice, eating as they normally would but surviving only thanks to metformin. Is this true?

I'm looking for stories about other people with similar situations, and guidance about how to work out if low-carb is doing the job for me, or if I will slowly damage myself even with an HbA1C of 43 and get cardio-vascular disease anyway - perhaps due to transient blood sugar spikes which don't register on the HbA1C. (I measure my own levels, and they do go above 10mmol/L, sometimes up to 13 if I'm not careful.)

I've recently asked for a re-referral to the diabetic specialist clinic as my blood pressure is a bit high - so I am also looking for good questions to ask when I go.
 
- Include a photo here if you wish to.
- What is your name? K
- How old are you? Old
- Are you male or female? Female
- Which country are you from? United States
- Which city/area do you live in? Midwest Rural
- Are you religious? Theist
- Pick three words to describe your personality. Outgoing Adaptable Brave
- Do you have any pets? Yes - Horses, Cats and Dogs Last boyfriend counted as a pet, fed him but couldnt train him well enough to keep him
- Microsoft or Apple? Both
- Which sport(s) (if any) do you like/play? Football NFL Fav Team Minnesota Vikings sometimes they suck but I still love watching them play ---Nordic ancestry --SKOL
- Do you get angry easily? Yep I flip like a light switch
- Do you have any tattoos or piercings? If so, where? No tatoos ears pierced
- List your five favourite musicians/bands. Too many to list
- What would you say your favourite music genre is? Rock also a little bit of country not slow stuff or lovey dovey heartbreak stuff too much of a mindgame
- What is your favourite flag? Not answering that one
- Ever gone camping? Yes but did not like it, I love nature but do not want to sleep where the animals and bugs and slithering things are. I will hike, take it all in, then find a hotel
- Ever been in love? I thought so many times......... but I was mistaken
- Ever used fake tan? hahahaha NO
- Which countries have you visited? Canada, England, Germany, France, Italy, Austria
- Favourite city? Don't have a favorite
- List your five favourite TV programmes. PBS here shows some of the old British comedies....love them......Vicar of Dibley, Keeping up Appearances, Absolutely Fabulous, As Time Goes By......dont care for much of the modern shows here in America the older ones were better now we have so much reality TV I tried watching KUWTK once and found it to be absolutely boring. Kept asking myself why people watch that ****. Then there is The Bachelor a popular show I watched once each of them vie to be the better kisser, the most elegant skank or supreme studly and think My God they are all just swapping spit with each other and really lame dialogue and someone is always crying or being dramatic. I want tv that makes me laugh or has a story..I also tend to watch the news alot.....I flip between the liberal news and the conservative news to watch the conflict brewing.....then yell at the TV cause it makes me feel better...
- List your five favourite films. Any good comedy !
- Are you wealthy? Really??
- Do you work? If so, as what? Yes...... I do stuff
- List the subjects you study/have studied. Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science and studied a bunch of ****.
- What do you like most about yourself? Adaptable
- What do you like least about yourself? Too Open

Have fun![/QUOTE]
 
- Include a photo here if you wish to.
- What is your name? Gary
- How old are you? 68
- Are you male or female? Male
- Which country are you from? U.K.
- Which city/area do you live in? Sleaford, Lincolnshire
- Are you religious? No
- Pick three words to describe your personality. Outgoing, nerdy, Aspergers
- Do you have any pets? 2 Dobermanns and a budgie
- Microsoft or Apple? Both
- Which sport(s) (if any) do you like/play? None now. Used to play Rugby, enjoy cycling
- Do you get angry easily? Depends.
- Do you have any tattoos or piercings? If so, where? 2 tattoos left arm
- List your five favourite musicians/bands. No favourites
- What would you say your favourite music genre is? Rock & Folk
- What is your favourite flag? Union Jack
- Ever gone camping? Yes, frequently
- Ever been in love? Yes and still am
- Ever used fake tan? No
- Which countries have you visited? USA, Spain, France, Tunisia, Majorca
- Favourite city? Lincoln
- List your five favourite TV programmes. Don’t have any
- List your five favourite films. Blade, men in black, matrix, gladiator
- Are you wealthy? Definitely not, I’m on a pension
- Do you work? If so, as what? Retired police inspector
- List the subjects you study/have studied. Law, computer science, agriculture
- What do you like most about yourself? Honesty, integrity, loyalty
- What do you like least about yourself? Can be rude with stupid people
 
 

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I am a type 2 octogenarian. hemiplegic since a stroke in 2006. Looked after by my wife I have 500mg metformin once a day with my evening meal,
 
Hi... I'm Lewie

Diagnosed T2 some years ago but only now taking it seriously - 2000mg metformin per day and being summonsed to the see the doc about higher than usual HbA1c is the trigger...

  • Non Smoker,
  • Non Drinker (almost) barely / rarely drink alcohol - very occasion G & Slimline T is about it.
  • Junk Food or Confectionery - exceedingly rarely
  • mostly fizzy water & limited black unsweetened coffee each day - never any sugary drinks
  • No added sugar
  • Walk every day with Fido - minimum 20 miles a week on hilly countryside walks
  • Retinopathy Ok
  • Annual Diabetes review - missed last year & and this year was, it seems, a pointless exercise with no feet check, no weighing, single BP check and little else - is that the trend now?
  • Newly trying to manage carb intake with reduced meal sizes and binning obvious stuff - potatoes, white bread, pasta and rice etc.
Finding it all rather gloomy too. It seems there's a lot to learn and a great impatience to manage the thing properly. Hopefully I will get the hang of it (sooner rather than later).
 
Hi. My name is Brian but as my username gives away, I love biscuits. I’m 63 years old. I’ve been pre-diabetic for quite some years, slow creeping towards the dreaded full blown type 2. My Hba1c is 45.
 
Hi, I am Iswole! Happy meeting you all. I am new here and don't seem to understand what is going on. I eat small meals but the problem is that our foods in my own part of the world are majorly carbohydrates. I am from Nigeria.
 
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