Preventing T2. Can it be done?

I think my acual diagnosis was the result of stress caused b others and not really within my conrrol/ I do think a contributory factor might have been the fact that I had reired and although I was sill active I no longer had a regular routine .
I had always been very active -walking not o say running- everywhere all day londg. Although i still walked a lo it was probably noot spread out hroughou he day as i had been before.

Another facor may have been that because my husband and daugher were boh working shiftts , different shifts changing weekly I did not eat regualrly and sometimes forgot to do so at all. Since I never eat very much this was pprobably catastrophic for, me,

I have found , since diagnosis that regular small meals and regular short periods of exercise are essential for me o maintain good control,

The diabetes specialist old me that my body must have known I was diabetic for years before i did and I had adpted o the condition.

SO , I would have made more effort to maintain a more regula rr routine.

1. If I had been followed up on a regular basis after having borderline Gestational Diabetes with two (out of three) of my pregnancies (or even warned that I may be at risk of T2).

2. That drinking sweet sugary fizzy drinks wasn't a good idea - that's probably what wore my pancreas out.

3. That being more than 18 stone wasn't a good idea (probably caused by item 2).

Hindsight is a wonderful thing ....

I'd not have let myself think that I was invincible because I now know that I am not. I'd have relaxed more, exercised more and not let the weight pile on.

Though having said that, it took the stroke and the diagnosis of diabetes to wake me up, so I'd not really change anything because now I am fitter and healthier than I have been for over 30 years.

T2 can be prevented in almost all cases.

I would have taken seriously the information I already knew - that I was at risk of early diabetes because of family history, obesity, poor diet, and low exercise. I had my head in the sand.

I would have done more to insist my doctors thoroughly checked me for the major risk factor of sleep apnoea.

I would have paid more attention when I was diagnosed with hypertension in my 30s.

I would have paid more attention when my BG and lipids slowly crept out of the healthy range over several years.

I used excuses like being too busy and too stressed to consider a disorder that was going to add to my stress levels and limit some of my choices (eg being able to eat cheaply and conveniently whenever I wanted, or only having to manage one or two chronic conditions instead of several).

On the positive side, this experience has taught me to grow up and take responsibility for myself, and to try not to use excuses for avoiding things that may be unpleasant/inconvenient but are in my own interests. It's also taught me to have more empathy for people who make the same mistakes I made. It's been very good for my personal growth :wink:

I would just lie to add hat instead of accepting my doctor's assurances en years before accidental diagnosis I should have pushed to ensure hat all tests for diabetes were done. A case of hearing what i wanted o hear I suppose.

Unbeliever said:

I would just lie to add hat instead of accepting my doctor's assurances en years before accidental diagnosis I should have pushed to ensure hat all tests for diabetes were done. A case of hearing what i wanted o hear I suppose.

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I say the same thing to myself, but let's not forget that it's their job to monitor our health, and we shouldn't have to push them to do basic screening tests. You don't need to take all the blame.

I had no warning, nothing in the family.

Could I go back and have a word in my own ear like. I would tell me to lay off the bread, stop being scared of feeling hungry, cut the portion sizes down and watch the wieght drop off.

Mary x

T2 can be prevented in almost all cases.

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I didnt know that. Has anyone got a link to any studies or further information as it would be great if my kids and nephews and nieces can avoid getting this. All the previous generations of my family have had Diabetes ocurr in about 1/3rd of us around the age of 50, so stopping this would be fantastic

Interesting question. I think more than anything, I would have strived more to keep my weight down and keep fit after giving up active sport in my 40s and after giving up smoking 10 years ago. I've never eaten much in the way of sweet stuff - cakes, biscuits, chocolate and so on, but had I known about the possible effects of carbohydrate at the time, I think there would have been less breakfast cereal, rice, pasta and especially bread in my diet.

Andrew

I would taken up weight training at an early age. I would have watched my sugar intake. I would have tried to look for other explanations than "You're greedy" "You're fat and useless" "You're fat and ugly" "You're not worth taking any time over because you're fat" as to why I was putting on weight, although since ideas about weight gain are still controversial even now, it's doubtful I would ever have found any. I would just have liked to have told my younger self that parents don't know everything, and parents who won't look beyond the 'obvious' reasons as to why their child is putting on weight are perhaps to blame, rather than the child. If I had insulin resistance as early as I think I did, my decline into obesity was possibly inevitable.

As mine is genetic, I doubt if i could have prevented my Diabetes.

But I would have seen the warning signs earlier and got tested years ago.

lucylocket61 said:

As mine is genetic, I doubt if i could have prevented my Diabetes.

But I would have seen the warning signs earlier and got tested years ago.

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You've had genetic testing?

Tricky one that, because I can say what a ball I had getting to this point in my life. But then how do you know when your climbing into a car, that it's going to crash? you just don't. I never saw the warning signs in hindsight they were all there, lurking in the dark. I was told lose some pounds, stop smoking which I did eventually, more exercise and it was yes tomorrow or starting next week. Mine just came on in the last 12 months my blood sugars have always been OK or at least my Doctor never said I had a problem, hi cholesterol is what he said and I have hypertension and hiatus hernia which I have been on meds for all of them, at least 5 years now and my blood pressure has always been controlled, I have also been on statins for a while now. So I know now what I could have done to possibly change the outcome, but I missed the bus. All I know now is it's here, Iv'e got Type2 DB the same as Old age is creping up, unstoppable and inevitable. I have to play with the cards I was dealt with and try and play the best hand I can. What else can you do? You cannot take your ball and go home!!!!

I had no warning, no family history of diabetes, had already given up my 'racy past' when I had children (16 yrs ago) - I mean drinking too much, smoking and the odd dabble with the wacky backy! I was not obese or unfit and only in my forties however.... my mother had been very ill following surgery in Oxford for a vary rare blood disorder. For a period of 5 months I juggled full time work, children and driving the hour and a half to Oxford every evening to see her. I lived there most weekends as she would not undergo medical proceedures or eat without me being there. I was told on numerous occassions that she was about to die and did a midnight drive to get there in time... for her to hang on for another 3 months. I was with her when she died but the upshot was that I was physically and mentally exhausted from living on adrenalin for so many months. 3 weeks later I felt so awful that I went to my doctor who took a blood test - mainly to see if I had the same problem as my mother. He called me two days later with a reading of 18 and told me I was now diabetic. He said it wasn't that unusual and that he had known people who had developed it after major surgery or shocks such as bad car crashes. I feel that rather like the the medical proffessions 'one diet fits all' people tend to assume that if you are diabetic (T2) it must have been something you did - or rather didn't do! The only thing we all have in common is trying to find the best way to deal with it!

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RoyG said:

Tricky one that, because I can say what a ball I had getting to this point in my life. But then how do you know when your climbing into a car, that it's going to crash? you just don't.

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Great answer Roy :clap:

I tore the ass out of life for 55 years before I had any health problems, then bang everything at once, lung disease caused by my work handling toxic solvents and chemicals which led to me being prescribed Prednisolone (corticosteroid) which then led to my diabetes. Would I change anything? No, not a thing, I had too much fun along the way to worry now about changing anything, we only get one short life and I made the most of mine and dont have any regrets about my health, I was just unlucky and thats that. :thumbup:

I prefer to concentrate on what I can change than to worry about what I cant

Count me in on that too !! Please share this knowledge.