I never thought about getting angry - despite being a man who can jump into a rage with the best of them when the slightest silly little thing on my paddy list sets me off...lol... Instead, I decided that I was going to beat diabetes and show it who was in charge of this body.... I'm just 65 years of age (going on 28) and was diagnosed on 5th April of 2021, after being admitted to Hospital with back pain, feeling tired, and a shortness of breath when doing physical work - turns out I was having a heart attack - My initial HbA1c (which meant absolutely nothing to me, was 63). there has to my knowledge not been any history of diabetes in my family...seems I'm the first... So, having smoked (hand rolling tobacco) for most of my life - 50+ years - the first thing I did on 6th April 2021 after my first night in Hospital, was stop smoking - cold turkey - and have not smoked since. The next thing I did, not knowing anything what so ever about diabetes, was try and find out as much info as I could...essentially I found it quite difficult to get good info, and my Doctor and local health support team provided some (but it was not a lot of good to be honest), but mainly I was asked to do an on-line education course, provided with a meter and a few test sticks (which I was not able to get more of when they ran out - as Doctors in my area will not prescibe them - its a money saving effort!)... Then I had a great deal of luck...I had a phone call from a specialist Diabetes Nurse who introduced herself as Cay...and we immediately hit it off... Cay proved to be my guardian angel...she would call me each week and stay on the line for as long as I wanted to talk...she had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things diabetes, and without doubt saved both my soul, mind, and maybe my life too...I love this lady and she deserves a medal... By this stage I had just discovered a study done by Newcastle University on putting T2 into remission through weight loss and exercise, by loosing between 10% and 15% of your bodyweight and exercising...
Firstly, to lose weight, Cay I put me onto Carbs & Cals - if you dont know what this is, look it up - its a series of books on weight loss but especially for diabetics, with all the info you need on Carbs, Cals, Fat, Sat Fats, Protein etc for just about every food you can imagine...and they are a really good source of information (type Carbs & Cals into Amazon or a search engine). I went onto the Carbs & Cals extra low (800 calories a day) calorie diet, using their book and recipes, started walking every day, and riding a bike as well...and lost 56lbs + and saw my HbA1C going down, until my last test on 6th October 2021, when my HbA1c came back at 37 (or 5.5 mmol/l), and confirmed I had got into remission.
My Doctor called me with the results and immediately told me to stop taking metformin, as it was no longer needed... over the next week or so I saw my B/G rise a little, but it steadied back down once my body got used to not being on the drug any more...all I have to do now is maintain it, keep the weight off, keep getting some exercise, and stay in remission... So far as food is concerned I'm pretty good at eating what I should be having...and I recently thought I would try a Keto diet, low carb and high fat...although I must admit I have had a bit of a time trying to get into Ketosis...only managing to get 'trace' ketosis when using test sticks you have to pee on...I am fat adapted now...having been easting all the right Keto stuff, and actually consuming almost no carbs most days...and enjoying Bullet Coffees in the mid-morning - made with butter (25g) extra-virgin coconut oil (25g) or 2 tablespoons of MCT Oil (which is ruddy expensive), one tablespoon of double cream, and some good quality coffee 1/2 ground coffee beans and 1/2 normal freeze dried instant coffee...boiling water added and mixed in a 'Bullet' mixer for a few seconds...absolutely delicious...yum... I am now about to try fasting for longer than 24 hours...doing up to 72 hours or longer, having read a book by Dr Jason Fung on the subject - whats not to like...fasting seems to be the ideal thing to do to really hit diabetes where it hurts, and has great outcomes for your health... you just have to try it...
Yes, I have suprised myself...I went from initial despare, with the help of Cay, to being able to cope on my own and not only manage an 800 calorie a day diet and the exercise, but go on to achieve getting into rermission, as I set out to do, as soon as I found out it was possible...
No way was I going to sit back, suck up to the Doctors and just do as I was told and take my pills and attend my appointments, and probably get worse - "it is a progresive disease" is the first thing my doctor told me - like he expected me to do exactly that, and get worse, and develop more serious problems...and probably end up in an early grave...shows how little he knew about me...!!
So dont get angry with anyone, its not they're fault your a diabetic is it... If you want to get angry, get angry with the disease and continue to show it who's boss... and yes, take some advice and treat yourself once in a while, after all, we still have a life to lead...well, if we've bothered to beat it into remission we have...and its not that difficult is it...so no more thinking something or someone owes you...just get on with it, and never give up...take pride in your ability to put diabetes in its place and stay on top...
