I'm feeling quite low and a bit annoyed tbh. I had PCOS diagnosed in my 20s when I was thin but gaining weight rapidly. Because I wasn't too overweight I didn't have any help from the NHS. I kept gaining weight, ended up with fibroids from the hormone imbalance and a hysterectomy. Each time I went to the Drs, changed Drs etc. for help with hormones and weight I didn't get anywhere. Now I'm 5 stone bigger, gaining weight rapidly and just been diagnosed with type 2. I have a fitbit and since 2016 I've been on a "diet" of some type or another. I have an allotment and dogs so I walk and I'm physically active. I've been eating 1250 cals and burning 2,500-3,000 a day and gaining weight. My net carbs are at 50-100g a day. I've sat and had a little cry and I'm really concerned that my appointment will be the DN telling me I need to move more and eat less. I've been obsessive with diets in the past, eating 800 calories and reducing carbs to 15g or less which I can't then sustain. I feel a bit backed into a corner with nowhere to go. Has anyone received treatment without first being told to exercise and eat less? I've been testing my own blood and my fasting has been anywhere between 6.5 and 8.3 and my BMI is 36. I've been asking for help for years and told things like "just play squash" "you need to eat less" or even "big can be beautiful" none of which is helpful at all and obviously I'm now here and I don't know what else I can do on my own literally. Just to add I've been prescribed Gabapentin and have numbness in my legs, tingling in my hands and thumbs and I also now have osteo arthritis in my knees which isn't helped by excess weight.
It kind of sounds like you combined low carb with low cal? Is that right? Because it's not about eating less, it's about eating
right. No need to eat less, go hungry or whatever. Being hungry all the time isn't sustainable. Try having 4 eggs, bacon to taste, and a couple of high meat content sausages for breakfast, maybe a grilled tomato as well. It's filling, and low carb. Your body doesn't go into survival mode that way either, holding on to anything you put into it, because it fears being starved. Don't starve yourself. Just eat things that are nutrient dense, with lots of protein and fats to keep your body fuelled and anything but hungry. Meat, (fatty) fish, poultry (not just the lean bits either!), eggs, butter, cheese, full fat greek yog... Topped off with above ground veg (leave the pulses as much as possible though), nuts like pecans and macadamia's... Eat the stuff that gives you the nutrients and energy you need, without making your metabolism and mental health crash and burn.
Granted, I am currently not the weight I need to be, thanks to a whole bunch of things (stress, hormones, stresshormones! Basically, peri-menopause is kicking my behind rather epically, combined with a bunch of other conditions ganging up on me), but my blood glucose is fairly good, and before all this went wrong my weight was fine for neigh on 8 years, while before that I was quite the blimp... No medication required for the diabetes still though, so i'll take that win. And I don't weigh what I used to when I started all this either, so that's good, even if I emotionally feel like I'm back at that old weight. So all in all, even with PCOS and everything in the mix, blood sugar control can still be within reach, between a diet that works for YOU specifically (meaning it makes you healhier and feel better, while not crushing all the joy out of your life), and maybe medication? You decide how you tackle this.
It's usually people who don't have the issues you have to deal with, who see easy answers. My husband, even after being together for 20 years, still tells me to "just relax". I have ADHD, a bunch of trauma's and am soon to be assessed to make autism official too, all of those things culminating in extreme general and social anxiety. I am always high strung, even when sleeping. There is no other way for me to be, literally. He might as well tell me to sprout wings and fly around the room; relaxing is just as much out of reach. So even when people know you, and know you well, and maybe know what you're up against, they'll still come up with completely nonsensical answers like "eat less" and "move more". It's their way of helping, which is far, far from helpful, so try to let that go. What do they know about you, about what you've tried and been through already, and what your body lets you do or not? They've not lived in your body, haven't walked an inch in your shoes.
Look into what you can do, change your diet around again if you can/want, to find something you can sustain and won't make diabetic complications and their symptoms worse...
https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help a little, but do yourself a favour and don't rush into a diet that reduces cals
and carbs without a plan.... They exist, and they are a limited-run-only diet because they're effectively crash diets: not healthy nor sustainable in the long run, just a temporary way to get a quick start with weight loss and blood glucose reduction. (Usually it's about 8 weeks, no more). So if you do get into that, do it with a plan for after that sort of dieting.... But it'd likely be healthier and less of a shock to the system, if you ask me, if you just reduce carbs again and leave the calories for what they are. Whatever happens though... Listen to your own body and mind. Find out what you need to feel better. Maybe get a CGM if you haven't tried one before. I've worn one twice now, and they were a faunt of information... Things I didn't know spiked me were a revelation, and my nightmares keeping blood sugars up throughout the night for instance, explained so much. Who knows what a Libre could tell you, that might be helpful in your own treatment? (And the nice thing about those gadgets: they don't judge, they just tell you what works and what doesn't!)
Hang in there eh, and hugs,
Jo
