• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Struggling with Diabetes & Calcification Heart

T

Threeandeasy

Member
Messages
9
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Good afternoon everyone I hope this finds you well. I would like to get some advice from you all about my current situation. I have been a Type 2 Diabetic for close to 10 years now and truth be told I haven’t ever managed to come to terms of managing the situation well at all.

My history with T2 has saw my levels go well past the readable barrier on the Freestyle Libre 2 sensor. HI Hi HI!! On so many occasions. Circumcision due to constant thrush issues was the outcome which in hindsight im so angry at myself for allowing this to get to that stage. The main issue I have is my diet is just so bad. I am 39 years old and have been told I now have calcification in my coronary artery at my heart.

A serious wake up call as my diabetes nurse advises I am heading for a heart attack/heart disease if I don’t get my act together immediately.

Has anyone else on here experience calcification?

My diet has consisted of mainly take aways and junk food. I am a very fussy eater but this has to change.

Do you have any suggestions or experiences you can share with me please. I am a loose end at the moment.

Thanks for reading. George
 
Sounds like you are a carb addict. My advice is to consider going keto, the first couple of days are the worse hungerwise, then after that, providing you manage your electrolytes the hunger will subside and that horrible merry-go-round of hunger and carbs will be broken. Going keto is a huge learning curve, but if you start slowly, learning as you go along, get involved with others on keto, sharing tips, receiving and giving support, then you could be on the right pathway to health. Getting your BG in line, losing weight, having much more energy, will spur you on. It's hugely better than any high a mouthful of junk food could give you.

You don't have to go as low carb as keto, it's up to you what level of carbs you feel you can tolerate.

Suggest you might follow some experts on YouTube such as Jason Fung author of 'The Diabetes Code' amongst others. There are many others such as Dr Michael Mosely author of 'The Fast 800 Keto'.
 
Hi George,

Sad to read of your struggles mate, I had a quick look back at your posting history and you stated that you were 20st when you joined us back in 2016. Have you managed to shed any of that weight since?
 
Threeandeasy said:
<snip>

My diet has consisted of mainly take aways and junk food. I am a very fussy eater but this has to change.

<snip>
Click to expand...

And that really is the knub of the problem. You eat a lot of carbs and probably not much in the way of vegetable - except, I'm guessing, potatoes!

You don't mention alcohol, but beer is usually high in carbs as well as bread, pasta, rice, cous-cous, potatoes, and so on...

Another guess is that you are fairly inactive. Exercise isn't a cure, but being more active does help. Just more walking is good, I found wearing a tracker helped. I started with a goal of 5,000 steps per day and it is now 7,000 steps per day, though most days I comfortably exceed that.
 
George, I didn't want to read and run but echo what others have suggested. You will get there. I lived off takeaways on a Friday but they drifted into the week also. I was a hefty weight but just said I was "bonnie" and kept coming down with urine, thrush infections for 2 years before the nurse gp took a wee sample and blood and hey presto the rest it history. I have no experience of calcification but going low carb cannot be a bad thing. The hunger for me, I am not going to lie was torture for the first week or so, I remember crying on the kitchen floor as I felt I was doomed. It did get better and I no long cry on the kitchen floor so I must be doing something right! Its carb addiction and the cycle can be broken as lots of us have on this lovely forum. You can still be a fussy eater on low carb and there are some lovely things you can eat. You are in the right place and you have made a start by just being here so pat yourself on the back for that one x
 
Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply to my message. I will look into the low carb/keto diets and see what I can piece together. I haven’t had a 3in1 coffee, a Starbucks caramel machiatto or any junk food or chocolate today. I feel burst and low on energy but I know this is my body trying to adjust.
 
Your body may well go into "toddler mode" as you, the responsible adult withdraws the toys (carbs) your body as been used to. It may scream, shout, kick its heels and sulk, but you as the adult knows those toys were dangerous and must be taken away. However you mollify those toddler tantrums by offering delicious and filling food such as good steak, green leafy vegetable and pieces of delicious cheese to satisfy the tummy and keep it full . Just like distracting toddler with a new toy. Like a toddler, going to the park is another good distraction
Be parentally firm and kind, but do not give in to tantrumming toddler
 

That’s a very good definition thank you
 
Hey @Threeandeasy. Sorry to hear you're having a tough time of it. I was diagnosed with T2D in July this year and set about going low carb, with the help of many on this forum. I got my blood glucose under control relatively quickly once I got going and I started to feel better the more it improved.

My advice, having very recently been through this, my top 5 low carb newbie tips are:

Keep it simple to start. Don't worry about all the detail straight away (there's A LOT of detail with low carb), it doesn't matter immediately. Just worry about eating good low carb meals, which you enjoy, and that you feel satisfied after eating.

Get a food tracker app. Log everything, 100% honesty. Good or bad, you'll at least know what you're eating, how many carbs are in it, and where you have opportunities to improve meals. You can't sort a problem if you don't know what or where the problem is.

Stay hydrated if you're going low carb (under 130g of carbs per day). This is especially important if you go under 50g of carbs per day. Aim for 2-3 litres every day minimum.

For meal design, it took me a while to get my head past the "I can't have carbs, how will I fill my plate" challenge. I pick my protein of choice, pick the low carb veggies that go well with the protein, then I fill the normal carb space on the plate with more of the protein and more of the veggies. Just pretend carbs don't exist for a while, it gets easier.

If you don't have one and you can, buy a blood glucose meter. Take a reading before a meal, then 2 hrs after your first bite. This will allow you to see which meals are good, which have too many carbs, and over time you'll be able to judge how many carbs you can tolerate per meal/day without spiking your blood glucose readings.

Bonus tip - Don't be too hard on yourself. Challenging yourself is good, as is recognising weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. However, you can't change what's done, you can only move forward. Don't let past mistakes distract you from doing better for yourself now and in the future.
 
I've just been listening to a talk (sadly not available outside of the summit I'm following) from an American heart surgeon called Dr Philip Ovadia.

He talked a lot of sense re insulin resistance and heart health, and ended saying everyone should start having calcification checked from age 40, if not even earlier.
As I'd not heard of calcification until your post my ears pricked up.
You might want to check him out. He has a book, and a website and no doubt more talks or podcasts
www.ovadiahearthealth.com
Hope it helps with answers/explanation for you
 
Take care of yourself @Threeandeasy

I'm 40 years old. Type 2 for years. And struggled with weight (up and down from 20 stone). It can feel **** for a few weeks until it kicks in but find a diet that works for you and you'll feel great once the weight starts to come off. More energy, better mental health, more fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…