My story so far…. some of it!

[imayger]

So a few years ago, I was putting on a bit of weight and decided I would join a gym to try and shed a few kg’s. Well the first obstacle was that they slapped a blood pressure cuff on me during the induction and my blood pressure was through the roof as the young gym assistant kindly put it!
It read something ridiculous like 185/110 or something and was told that there was no way that I could use the gym until I got my blood pressure down. So I went to see my GP that day as I was very concerned what I had been told. Again my readings at the surgery were really high so they sent me for a blood test that day.
I waited for 3 days before getting called into the surgery to be told that I had Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood pressure & Gout all at the same time! To say I was a bit blown away is a bit of an understatement, I felt numb, confused and like my life was over (well part of it, I’ll get onto that a bit later). I went home with a bunch of leaflets to read which I flicked through but didn’t take much of it in as I didn’t think it was really that serious. I knew my diet had to change somewhat so I cut sugar from my coffee etc but obviously didn’t go far enough!
Now a bit of background information before all of this happened…
I grew up the son of a pop star in the 70’s and when the band split he bought a pub where I lived for 16 years. Being a pub child I was introduced to some things way before you should do in life! I was smoking at the age of 12, given hash by one of the regulars in the pub around the time I was 13 and it kind of snowballed from there. I was never a drinker back then, wasn’t interested as I’ve seen what it was doing to my mother.
Through my twenties in the early nineties I was part of the rave scene and all that went with it and absolutely lapped it up! I even went to take part in an Ecstasy research project in the states More about that in the book that I plan to write hahaha!
Now onto the 2000’s I was in a good job, well paid but came with a drinking culture, with the bosses at lunchtime, client parties and also in the pub when I got back home to my village. I drank a lot, more than most I would say but never felt that there was a problem as I went to work everyday, my home life was good and I was in a happy relationship.
Moving on a few years I was still drinking socially but still more than most (my doctor would’ve been shocked with my unit count).
Until only a few weeks ago (this year) I was due a surgery on my shoulder as my rotator cuff is torn (again). This will be the 3rd repair job on my shoulder!
I went for a Covid-19 test a week before the operation as well as an ECG and blood test… So, I went into isolation before going for the surgery and two days in got a call from the hospital explaining that my Hba1c level was tipping out at 93 and they were cancelling my procedure due to the high reading. I was, excuse my language - ******* gutted to say the least!
Life lesson right here to be learnt! My GP has put me on more medication to help lower my glucose levels and I have given up lager!!
I have since been very strict with my medications and my blood glucose levels have come down massively and hope to have the surgery in December.
My partner told me recently… ‘Kev - you have ripped the **** out life for 30 years, now it’s time to look after yourself’. I’ve had a good run, trust me but I wish I had someone to tell me that years ago!

Love

Kev

Edited by moderator in line with the forum policy on acceptable language

 

[LaoDan]

Yep, blood sugar test is what triggered my T2 diagnosis. Going low carb helped bring down my blood pressure, glucose and weight

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @imayger I hope that you are not relying on medication (or exercise) to bring down your Blood Glucose levels.
What you eat (Low carb) and when you eat it (avoid snacking) gives your body a break from producing Insulin to store away all that glucose as body fat.
This allows your body to be able to access your body fat as fuel - as it was used back when our ancestors were hunter/gatherers .

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I have since been very strict with my medications and my blood glucose levels have come down massively and hope to have the surgery in December.

Welcome to the forum. I hope the surgery does go ahead in December. I know the frustration of postponed procedures due to high HbA1c, although the weird thing is that if they have to they will operate. I was very unwell for 7 weeks which couldn't be diagnosed and because of a large lump from my appendix (there's a clue there) to my duodenum (about a foot in length) they decided to perform a laparotomy despite my HbA1c not being exactly what they wanted (hardly surprising when they found the problem). My appendix had burst and a cyst had developed and I had peritonitis.
All the best for December. Try and keep the carbs down.

 

[Resurgam]

One of the annoying things about the tablets I was prescribed at diagnosis was memory loss - down to the statin I am just about totally certain. Luckily I had started to write down most of my repertoire, but have had to relearn it, so rather ticked off about that, but the other things are that I never needed the tablets in the first place as low carb fixed the diabetes, but although I can remember all but two of the tunes, I can't remember how to play my guitar.
I have been playing since a teenager and it is quite strange to find that the only chord which comes to mind is B minor 7th. It has done wonders for my drumming though.
On the diabetes front, I did 91 to 41 in 6 months without really trying and at the age of 66 so low carb is very effective at restoring normality.