Newly diagnosed, some personal details, some questions.. and a hullo!

LeftPeg

Well-Known Member
Messages
195
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thanks for the identification Jo! I’m all about the HbA1c too. The other stuff is “nice to have” in comparison. When I first came here I thought the key was going to be losing abdominal fat to give me any chance of achieving “remission” and I was concerned that I didn’t have a great deal to lose. I think it has turned out that the low carb diet has been key for me. My (HCP) wife thinks the amount of exercise I do has also been a crucial factor, in comparison to the driving/desk/sofa lifestyle I had before. As she is fond of telling me - “sitting is the new smoking”!

Do you find that you’re “cured” now? (ie. do you respond normally to carbs rather than spiking?)
 

paulmh

Well-Known Member
Messages
245
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Do you find that you’re “cured” now? (ie. do you respond normally to carbs rather than spiking?)

I haven’t used the meter for ages. I’ll experiment and get back to you. I suspect that it’ll confirm I’m not “cured” - you’re suggesting I test two hours after carbs, yes? I think if I eat “a lot” of carbs at a sitting (that constitutes maybe 40g max for me) then I would still have a high response to that. We’ll see....
 

paulmh

Well-Known Member
Messages
245
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Just for the sake of completeness I’ll just record here that I got my Cholesterol results back, 4.9 total, 1.8 HDL, 3.1 non HDL. So I dodge statins too, which is good. I’m glad my HCPs gave me the chance to experiment with lifestyle changes before putting me on the full drug pathway, so by diet and exercise I’ve managed to get drug-free, when they really wanted me on statins and glipizide. Now let’s see about keeping it that way!
 
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SugarDaddy91

Well-Known Member
Messages
55
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Wasps. Terrified of wasps. And retinopathy.
Hello, fellow member!
I wanted to take time to address your mood, as I feel this is oftentimes overlooked.
Low mood and low energy can oftentimes be attributed to depression, be it situation or seasonal or maybe even medical. I have had recurrent depressions for years, which I have gone through therapy for in a few bouts. I also take some medication for my depression, which turned my life around completely. I am smarter, more physically capable and most importantly I can get through the day with sleeping less than 14 hours.
There are many potential reasons for a depression to arise, however. Recently I started working with a urologist who specializes in testosterone deficiency, a condition rampant within diabetics. Here's where I would start in figuring out what's going on:
1. Could it be seasonal? Is the darkness getting to you?
2. Could it be situational? I gather you're coming to terms with diabetes. It can be difficult and finding someone to have a proper, supportive conversation with can be difficult unless you have a colleague or a close friend with diabetes with whom you can discuss.
3. Could it be caused by an imbalance of hormones? A trip to the doctor's office to measure thyroid hormones, testosterone and vitamin-D levels could provide some insight.
4. Are there any accompanying symptoms? Lack of appetite, loss of erection (e.g. do you still have them spontaneously in the morning, for example), the sense of "missing who you used to be" and possible the most important; do you find it difficult to perform daily tasks that you used to love? Like cleaning the aquarium, fixing that creaking floorboard etc.

Oftentimes, talking to a spouse or a good friend about the problem can be a very good way to start. My partner is a fantastic conversationalist, who possesses unique insight into my medical history. One thing I have struggled with since I got diabetes is anxiety, which can be very difficult to deal with when I am in a depressive mood.
 
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paulmh

Well-Known Member
Messages
245
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Sugar!

Thanks for your thoughtful enquiries. I’ve struggled to get a handle on quite what has gone on this year. And many of your suggestions are in fact what I’ve tried myself. I might follow up on the hormone tests though. But I’d like to be completely clear about a few things (for the avoidance of doubt!)

My mood is great. I’m not typically depressed. My outlook on life is for the most part happy and positive. The main manifestation of a problem was a lack of interest in my work. I still don’t really understand this. I’ve just had to “feel the ennui and do it anyway”. I didn’t really suffer from any anxiety about my T2 condition - I came here, picked up the crucial actions which people had identified and set about practicing them. I also upped my exercise and now train once or twice each day. I’m fitter than I’ve been for decades, the T2 is currently “in remission” and I’m pretty much in that place where I’m perversely a little bit grateful for my diagnosis because it forced me to adopt a much healthier lifestyle.

I have previous experience of practicing what we might call “good mental hygiene” having recovered from addiction earlier in my life. The same mental techniques served me well when I was diagnosed T2, and I accepted the truth of my condition and set about managing it (there’s an old story - two people fall into a hole. The alcoholic says “how did I get here?” The healthy person says “how do I get out?”). I dont bother much with ifs and buts and wishes that things were otherwise - I concentrate on solutions these days.

My missus - who is an HCP to boot - offered me what feels like the most likely culprit for my “ennui”. She pointed out that my son has now joined my daughter away at university. I might be suffering a little bit of nothing more complicated than empty nest syndrome! Regardless, I found a workaround for the problem which was just to accept that I might never understand it, but I could identify the actions I needed to take - verymuch like my T2.
 
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