Type 2 is back

[Walter Wolf]

Update:

Well, it's been 5 months since the diagnosis and a lot has changed.

After my review in July, I was put on Qtern (a compound of saxagliptine and dapagliflozine). The side effects of the medication have completely worn off and my appetite has returned to normal.

My energy levels have also returned completely and I am now enjoying long walks upwards of 10km, several times a week. My weight has reduced from 110-115kg (around 18st) in May to 89kg (14st). This is less than I weighed when I was 14.

I had my latest review today, and my HbA1c is down to 5.9, compared to 7.5 in July and 11.3 in May.

Here is the rub. I have done this without changing or compromising a single thing about my diet. I continue to eat absolutely anything and everything and never even read labels.

The weight loss has been achieved through exercise alone. The exercise is not a trade-off, or a punishment, or anything like that. I do it because I enjoy it and want to do it.

The medication has given me back the physical energy and the mental will to get back to the person I was pre-diagnosis.

Overall, I can now say that I have got my life back and I am very much looking forward to my 5 months of winter travelling, heading off this Wednesday.

My advice to anyone who finds themselves in the position and mental space I was in 5 months ago is to give whatever medication is prescribed a fair try. Try different things if you have to. Then find what works for you, lifestyle-wise.

Sometimes people need a kick-start and the medication gave that to me. Someone else's kick-start might be diet change, if that works for you.

Everyone is an individual. Just find the thing that gets you moving in the right direction, even just a little. The rest will follow.

 

[LeftPeg]

Congrats on the weight loss and the hba1c.

If a LCHF diet is making your life a misery, then I see no harm in using medication instead. Everyone's different.

 

[Walter Wolf]

Congrats on the weight loss and the hba1c.

If a LCHF diet is making your life a misery, then I see no harm in using medication instead. Everyone's different.

Exactly. We all need to find what works for us.

 

[Smallbrit]

The medication has given me back the physical energy and the mental will to get back to the person I was pre-diagnosis.

Overall, I can now say that I have got my life back and I am very much looking forward to my 5 months of winter travelling, heading off this Wednesday.

That, I think, is the outcome we all should strive to achieve (the life back, not necessarily the winter travelling...although, I'd quite like that too!).

Congrats on finding something that works for you. We all choose our own different paths, which sometimes spark interesting disagreements on here, but one thing I'd say for most of us on this forum is that we got here in the first place - and that shows we're looking for answers. That can only be a good thing.

Have a wonderful time on your travels!

 

[barbherod]

Thank you. I think you are the only person who has truly understood where I'm coming from. Everyone else has been very kind and has tried their very best to help and I truly appreciate their efforts.

I don't mean to be at all rude or dismissive towards anyone who has given their time and effort to try to help me. It is very kind of everyone to do that. But I didn't come here for dietary advice. I am seeking an alternative to that.

I know this is never going to be cured and I know it is going to shorten my life. I accept that. I'm just hoping to find some way of either dealing with the meds, or finding something better, to let me get back to enjoying life for however long I am around.

I really like the exercise. Believe me, there is nothing I would love more than to go for a 10-mile walk by the lake tomorrow, if only I had the energy and wasn't chained to the toilet bowl.

Everyone says do the diet and my health will improve, and annoyingly I know they are right. But every time I read about the diets, I find it completely soul destroying.

Maybe once I get my head together, I might try making small adjustments to one or two meals a week. But the full-on low-carb, no-this, no-that is not going to happen.

I can't do it and there is no point in pretending I can. I wish I could. But I can't.

I am going back to the doctor in the morning to enquire about the slow release metformin. It really does sound better and I hope it works.

Why Are you so sure it will shorten your life Walter? I am74 and have had T2 Diabetes for over 20 years. I only came to LCHF last year. I have had no real complications and do not expect to have any. I take Metformin and fortunately have no problems with it and also take a small dose of basal insulin once a day as I am not insulin resistant. I enjoy life to the full,eat out and travel.
Go for it sir, you can beat it and don't let it beat you!!