Hi, I am Steve I am 46 and I am a DIABETIC T2.
I was diagnosed at the beginning of January 2016 (happy new year)
with an Hba1c of 96. I was overwhelmed by a range of emotions, guilt,
frustration, anger, fear, saddness, self pity and also relief. Relief that
after 14 months of feeling like I was dying inside (during which time i lost
2 & 1/2 stone) and extreme pain in my legs and feet I had at last got a
name for what was wrong.
The Doctor put me on metformin sr 500mg with instruction to increase the dose
quite quickly to 4 tablets a day. He explained what diabetes meant/could mean
for my life but the good news was I didnt seem to be showing any signs of
complications with organs etc but i did have neuropathy, for which I was prescribed
amytriptiline. I was sent home with a booklet about diabetes, instructions to eat better,
get some exercise and come back to see the diabetic nurse 1 month later.
Its important to say that I got home and started reading/researching the condition,
not the best idea I had ever had, the internet is very untidy and essentially
what I read scared the **** out of me.
But I did quickly accept that I was responsible for catching this disease, 30
years of terrible habits, sugar, salt, fat addictions combined with greed and
laziness.
I immeadiately cut out 90% of all the **** I had been eating, I havent had a
pepsi/fizzy drink since the diagnosis and my daily bag of crisps ok 2 bags of crisps
lots of bags of crisps or just 1 great big one and chocolate bars, sweets, biscuits,
banofee pie, mmm banofee pie, have for the most part been shown the door.
I started eating better or so I thought, jump forward 4 weeks and I met the diabetic nurse
we talk, she is nice, has a kind nature, appears supportive but is clear that diabetes
is progressive and everyone diagnosed is on insulin within 15 years. we talk some more
and then she shows me how to do a spot test by pricking my finger with a modern
medieval device designed to draw blood from my body, yes I am supposed to be a big
tough guy, but it kinda hurt. The nurse was some what surprised by my spot test result
she expected something around 15, it was 9.6.
My 2nd hba1c was 75 just 2 months after my first, I thought this was good and showed progress
the nurse wasnt happy, I had not met her target of below 53 and she wanted to add other
medications. I was not happy and after discussing the situation we agreed to let me see if I
could improve further.
My 3rd hba1c another 2 months later was 56, again not quite below target but close enough
for the nurse to conceed to my achievement so far.
It is following this latest hba1c result that I really started to pay some serious attention to what
I am doing.
But heres my reality, I have not as yet implemented any real exercise regime as I am still
lazy, but I have done a lot more research, looked through the forums, websites
tried to understand what the drugs do and what other choices there are.
Every one I have spoken to that is diabetic and has chosen medication to it control, because
they cant live without white bread etc has had to increase dosage and types of drugs and has complications.
Metformin/medication seems to offer only a limited solution in sugar control
The NHS dietary advice seems to offer only a limited solution to sugar control
and neither of these things address the issue of insulin resistance which appears
to be the bodys natural defence at a cellular level against to much insulin created by
to much glucose in the blood created in my case by being a greedy lazy idiot.
I had already started to cut back on "good carbs/all carbs/sugars" before my 3rd hba1c and am now moving towards
a low carb high fat diet with an understanding that the fats are essential for energy, protein is essential to
helping build up muscle mass which helps the body use the insulin/glucose more effectively and energy
is created from any carbs first, then fats and then proteins. lean meats dont help so much
and neither do processed meats (spot tests can be useful but they can also confuse the life out of me
same foods different days different results) I also stopped blindly believing the colour coded info on food packaging
and inspite of the temptation to go with sugar free options a bit of reading showed how high in carbs alot of that stuff is.
I have also started to increase omega 3 intake to help counter balance the other fats in the diet and this may help the whole
muscle growth insulin resistance thing which in the long term has got to be worth a try.
So I have looked at what my medical support team have told me I can do and I have decided to do better.
I have my next hba1c in 2 months (at the nurses insistance, she is still trying to get me on more drugs
where as I want to reduce my drug intake asap)
I accept it will take changing more bad habits for good & I hope I will be able to reach my own goal
of an hba1c of 31 sooner rather than later. This is apparently what is called normal and completely unacheivable for a diabetic
whose first result was 96. So just one more slice of banofee pie and here we go..for the record I
havent had banofee pie at all this year and I dont miss it but every now and then the memory of how
much I liked it pops up... mmmmm banofee pie.
I will have to add meditation to my routine to help with self control.
thanks for reading
cheers
Steve
I was diagnosed at the beginning of January 2016 (happy new year)
with an Hba1c of 96. I was overwhelmed by a range of emotions, guilt,
frustration, anger, fear, saddness, self pity and also relief. Relief that
after 14 months of feeling like I was dying inside (during which time i lost
2 & 1/2 stone) and extreme pain in my legs and feet I had at last got a
name for what was wrong.
The Doctor put me on metformin sr 500mg with instruction to increase the dose
quite quickly to 4 tablets a day. He explained what diabetes meant/could mean
for my life but the good news was I didnt seem to be showing any signs of
complications with organs etc but i did have neuropathy, for which I was prescribed
amytriptiline. I was sent home with a booklet about diabetes, instructions to eat better,
get some exercise and come back to see the diabetic nurse 1 month later.
Its important to say that I got home and started reading/researching the condition,
not the best idea I had ever had, the internet is very untidy and essentially
what I read scared the **** out of me.
But I did quickly accept that I was responsible for catching this disease, 30
years of terrible habits, sugar, salt, fat addictions combined with greed and
laziness.
I immeadiately cut out 90% of all the **** I had been eating, I havent had a
pepsi/fizzy drink since the diagnosis and my daily bag of crisps ok 2 bags of crisps
lots of bags of crisps or just 1 great big one and chocolate bars, sweets, biscuits,
banofee pie, mmm banofee pie, have for the most part been shown the door.
I started eating better or so I thought, jump forward 4 weeks and I met the diabetic nurse
we talk, she is nice, has a kind nature, appears supportive but is clear that diabetes
is progressive and everyone diagnosed is on insulin within 15 years. we talk some more
and then she shows me how to do a spot test by pricking my finger with a modern
medieval device designed to draw blood from my body, yes I am supposed to be a big
tough guy, but it kinda hurt. The nurse was some what surprised by my spot test result
she expected something around 15, it was 9.6.
My 2nd hba1c was 75 just 2 months after my first, I thought this was good and showed progress
the nurse wasnt happy, I had not met her target of below 53 and she wanted to add other
medications. I was not happy and after discussing the situation we agreed to let me see if I
could improve further.
My 3rd hba1c another 2 months later was 56, again not quite below target but close enough
for the nurse to conceed to my achievement so far.
It is following this latest hba1c result that I really started to pay some serious attention to what
I am doing.
But heres my reality, I have not as yet implemented any real exercise regime as I am still
lazy, but I have done a lot more research, looked through the forums, websites
tried to understand what the drugs do and what other choices there are.
Every one I have spoken to that is diabetic and has chosen medication to it control, because
they cant live without white bread etc has had to increase dosage and types of drugs and has complications.
Metformin/medication seems to offer only a limited solution in sugar control
The NHS dietary advice seems to offer only a limited solution to sugar control
and neither of these things address the issue of insulin resistance which appears
to be the bodys natural defence at a cellular level against to much insulin created by
to much glucose in the blood created in my case by being a greedy lazy idiot.
I had already started to cut back on "good carbs/all carbs/sugars" before my 3rd hba1c and am now moving towards
a low carb high fat diet with an understanding that the fats are essential for energy, protein is essential to
helping build up muscle mass which helps the body use the insulin/glucose more effectively and energy
is created from any carbs first, then fats and then proteins. lean meats dont help so much
and neither do processed meats (spot tests can be useful but they can also confuse the life out of me
same foods different days different results) I also stopped blindly believing the colour coded info on food packaging
and inspite of the temptation to go with sugar free options a bit of reading showed how high in carbs alot of that stuff is.
I have also started to increase omega 3 intake to help counter balance the other fats in the diet and this may help the whole
muscle growth insulin resistance thing which in the long term has got to be worth a try.
So I have looked at what my medical support team have told me I can do and I have decided to do better.
I have my next hba1c in 2 months (at the nurses insistance, she is still trying to get me on more drugs
where as I want to reduce my drug intake asap)
I accept it will take changing more bad habits for good & I hope I will be able to reach my own goal
of an hba1c of 31 sooner rather than later. This is apparently what is called normal and completely unacheivable for a diabetic
whose first result was 96. So just one more slice of banofee pie and here we go..for the record I
havent had banofee pie at all this year and I dont miss it but every now and then the memory of how
much I liked it pops up... mmmmm banofee pie.
I will have to add meditation to my routine to help with self control.
thanks for reading
cheers
Steve
