Spouse in denial

[Izzy77]

Try Dr David Unwin (@lowcarbGP) on Twitter. He has infographics and lots of success stories from his GP practice in the UK

 

[Le Duan]

I find that I 'forget' that I have Type 2 Diabetes. I'm not mindful of it at all, mostly due to never having one symptom associated with it. Also - I find myself being resentful at having inherited the condition rather than living a lifestyle that's brought it on. So I'm like a dog with a collar that's too tight and straining to run ahead. Not sure if that helps? I tend to wait until the inevitable poor HbA1c results.....pull my socks up for three months - then get a better result.....and then lapse back - not into habits I consider bad - but back into what I consider to be a normal life with a normal diet. So it's like a never-ending rollercoaster. To combat this - I hope - I've just bought a Libre Style 2 monitor to act as a continuous reminder that I do indeed have a chronic condition, and that it needs to be managed, whether I like it or not! I also found Dr David Unwin's You Tube video an inspiration at times when I needed to kick myself up the backside now and again - https://www.google.com/search?safe=...ate=ive&vld=cid:9cd62bbb,vid:dShYGV1xM6w,st:0 The biology, science and cause/effect evidence is incontrovertible and may appeal to your husband?

 

[BoldItalic]

See if you can turn it into an exercise in science. What worked for me when I was diagnosed with T2 was to get a glucose meter, measure the peaks and durations, weigh portions of everything I was eating, look up the nutritional values, calculate the totals, plot graphs, do statistics, look up this forum and come to the inevitable conclusion that people here know what they are talking about. I know exactly how much starch and sugar I can eat to keep my HbA1c at exactly 41 two years running and mystify the medics.

 

[Catlady19]

If he wants something scientific then try the Dr Unwin books which talk about low carb. Obviously there is the Libre which requires self-funding but will give him a an instant wake up call.

Good luck and hang in there, remember it does take a while for people to get their head around it.

 

[jeano999]

I remember too the shock and grief I experienced when I got my diagnosis in Feb 2016. This was in spite of the fact that I had actually asked to be tested. My BS went way up over the next couple of days in spite of now being on meds and I was shaking - it was like having a death sentence. The biggest help to me on my journey was THIS FORUM. Within 3 months I was on a low carb diet and I researched the hell out of it. I reduced the meds and within 2 years I decided I had had enough with meds and embarked on an experiment to ditch them. 6 years later - still no meds, and last few tests put me in pre-diabetic state. Your husband will get there no doubt as there are many more academic research papers today (and shed loads of books on the subject) than there were in 2016 - it will keep him busy.

 

[John C 251]

Hi. My spouse has just been diagnosed with Type 2. His A1c is 90; he is overweight, but it’s metabolic. His mother had T2 and I have feared for some years that T2 was on the way.

I have T1, which appeared ten years ago & which I have managed with reasonable success with a low carb diet. Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it: Mr and Mrs, both with diabetes.

The problem we are facing is this. It takes everybody some time to get their heads round the diagnosis, of course, but he is going to have a particularly hard time with diet. He likes his potatoes & has always regarded my low carb with horror. He has a not great attitude to vegetables.

I am holding myself back from giving him lots of good advice because he won’t accept it from me. He is a university researcher and believes in scientific authority. I’m waiting for him to get his advice from the clinic.

My question is, are there any good resources on eating *lower* carb without necessarily going the whole 30g carb/day Bernstein approach? (Which is what I did.)

Lucy

Have a look at the Freshwell Low Carb Project - which is a free resource set up by some GPs in Essex . As a newbie I cant add a link however once you have found their web page - click on resources and then on Educational Videos. When you are on the Educational videos page scroll to near the bottom of the page and after the video links you will see another section called "Low Carb Nuggets" where you will see a link to a video "How low should I go" which describes different degrees of low carb (liberal (normal, moderate and very low). The videos are Information only, not medical advice and recommend you discuss with your doctor. They make the point it is not a race and you will get there eventually. The 30g carb intake you describe in your post would fall in the very low category. They also have an Apple or Android App which you can use to scan barcodes and get a food traffic light

 

[Chris24Main]

Hi again @LucySW -
Don't know if you are having any success on this.. There are a lot of great suggestions here.

Just wanted to add my own - What I've found just inhaling everything I can find, is that there are definitely different aspects to the available literature, really dividing down the professional backgrounds of the authors.

if your husband is more likely to read "one of his own" so to speak, then there is probably one best recommendation, Dr Ben Bikman. He is very much a university researcher, and got into the whole topic looking at insulin resistance at the cellular and mitochondrial level. He runs a regular "metabolic classroom" on YouTube and has a couple of books, most notably "Why we get sick".

Also – a focus on insulin resistance may be just far enough away from T1 for him to feel like this is "new ground" that he's breaking..?

 

[dipsydo]

I was diagnosed in 2016 and could not believe as I was symptomless. I was offered medication but decided to try diet after reading a lot from this site and listening to various U tube by Dr Fung and others . I have a scientific bent and I found it helpful to monitor blood sugar with finger pricks .. I recorded them and watched them go down on approx 50 carbs a day . It might be useful to suggest that to your husband as he could see something useful is happening . The problem with three monthly blood tests are that you do not get the feed back that progress is being made.

 

[Ro9998]

If he is a university researcher, I imagine he has already spent a long cold hard night going online reading up on T2D? At least one night! More likely a lot more! (And would have come across this Forum too? Pretty quickly.) If he hasn't I would be surprised, but you think there is a chance he is in shock and in denial? (And I would be surprised if he hadn't already done the deep dive online, because of both his wife and his mother being affected by high blood glucose...)

He is incredibly lucky that he has you @LucySW. If he doesn't 'use' you as a resource then it's serious indeed! But yeah - diagnosis can affect folks differently, and shock is pretty standard, as denial is a very tried and true human response. (He would have known how high his risk factor was though I would imagine? I know my poor adult children do! As do my siblings.)

I feel for him re the food loss response. I remember being horrified and feeling really sorry for an elderly friend 'having' to eat these really inferior substitute sweetened chocolates, when I tasted them, about ten years before I got a T2 diagnosis myself. I am deeply grateful for the fact that substitute sweetened chocolate has improved a lot in those the now 20 years! His fave carby food is potatoes? Ah - then french fries will be a big loss, if he goes the low-carb route.

Again, he is really lucky having you as a support and a resource.

 

[Ro9998]

There is hard. The low carb program payed. I admit it's tough not easy but best id say work now enjoy treats later.

Alternatively Roy Taylor on benefits his Newcastle diet.

You know it's hard maybe horror too him but consequences heart etc point that out healthy life not easy but rewards for success enormouse. Brutal get down but then enjoy odd treat.

I know reality it's hard