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Why don't some people get it?

copepod said:
A fool who changes their way of thinking is no longer a fool.
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Depends on what they change from, and to, I suppose, and more importantly, if a fool or a wise person judges the fool as a fool, and if others see who the real fool is.

Beyond that, I can't really agree or disagree.
 
I was diagnosed in 2009 and apart from taking the meds prescribed I pretty much ignored it and continued to eat and drink whatever I liked. I'd occasionally try to get myself under control but would last a couple of weeks and give up. I was completely addicted to sugar, it's a serious addiction and had an unhealthily emotional relationship with food.

Friends would express concern, family members worried I would die early like my parents. It all washed over me. I didn't have time, energy or motivation to act.

In February this year my blood test results showed my Hba1c to be 79, cholesterol 6.9. My fasting bloods were 13+ every day, sometimes rising into the late 20's. My doctor rang me and asked me to come in and see her. She said I needed to go onto insulin. I asked her to give me a chance to get on top of it.

Something clicked. I gave up sugar completely and started LCHF. That was six weeks ago. The first two weeks without sugar were incredibly hard but I stick at it. My fasting bloods are down to 6-8. My eyesight has improved so much that I only need a light prescription for reading. I've lost 18lbs.

Next week my routine bloods are due and I am looking forward to a reduced Hba1c. I am two dress sizes smaller and working out daily. I'm more active, less creaky and have more energy.

I'm not sure why I ignored it this long. I just know it seemed impossibly difficult before.
 
In my opinion, this is all about accountability. The people who succeed with managing their diabetes ultimately stopped making excuses and realized they had to be in control of their management and even a doctor wasn't going to do that for them.

Yes, there are bad doctors.
Yes, stress at work or at home does make things tougher.
Yes, it is tougher to exercise when you have bad knees.

But guess what? Your diabetes doesn't care about any of those things. Consequently, you're only making excuses for yourself.

In regards to a few posts I skimmed over: of course, there are exceptions to every rule. There are thin people with type 2 just like there are obese people who eat an extremely healthy diet and struggle with losing weight for one reason or another.

But consider this....maybe some people aren't the exception? Maybe some people did develop type 2 diabetes because they never took an interest in their personal health? Maybe some people are overweight because they continuously maintain poor eating habits? Maybe for some it is about apathy?

I understand why some of you are offended, and you have every right to be about some of the blanket statements that are made. However, when someone uses a word like "Usually" it implies that it's not ALWAYS true. Some people take the time to construct their statements, take the time to analyze what they're saying AND THEN decide if it applies to you or not.
 
As an aside, but relevant to this thread - I went to the optician this week. I needed a stronger prescription for reading glasses. This new one was the same as one I was given 7 years ago and never needed due to changing my diet (I wasn't T2 back then). The optician commented that they would normally expect eyes to show signs of diabetic problems within 8 years of diagnosis and that even small spikes that didn't show up in the HbA1c would have an effect on the health of the eyes. This pulled me up short. We may think that we are getting away without any problems, yet they may be storing up to manifest one day. I'm not trying to scare anyone but is it worth taking the risk and hiding our heads in the sand?
 
I was diagnosed around 4 yrs ago, if I remember right. I was doing really well, lost weight, sugar levels down. Then my baby grandson was diagnosed with West Syndrome at 4/5 months old. It's an awful form of childhood epilepsy that could have left him brain damaged, blind or even dead. But he was treated (after a lot of visits to the Dr and NHS24 hospital visits) and eventually after a few months weaned off all his meds (VERY high dose steroids and epilepsy drugs that could have made him blind). But he was one of the lucky ones that came through it unscathed. As you can see by the photo on my name bitty he's doing grand. But I couldn't get it out of my head that he might relapse and so I 'comfort' ate for almost 3 1/2 yrs. I would buy bars of chocolate and pig the lot in one go, supposedly to make me feel better, when in fact chocolate and the eating pattern made me even more depressed. I didn't want to go down the route of tablets for it from the Dr, didn't feel I could speak to anyone about how I felt and so struggled on. Finally I looked at my lifestyle and realised I wasn't going to be any help to anyone if I got gangrene or went blind through diabetes. My brother wouldn't go to the Dr and got both, along with kidney failure. He died through his own stupidity, I realised in the end I was almost as stupid as he was. I knew the risks PenfoldADP but ignored them. But now I'm getting my life on track again...
 
Hi @berylc,
Your post proves that sometimes life events overtake us on the road to managing our diabetes. Most of us do get what needs to be done but as you have illustrated we are only human and can be consumed by other events in our lives which means that we put diabetes on the back burner. We cannot judge other people or impose our views on them as coping skills vary between individuals.
Take care and am pleased to read of your grandson's recovery.
 
I've tried not to post on this thread, as someone who has had to stop eating all those carb, sugary nasties. But it wasn't just myself that I was going to post about.
I know I have to eat sensibly and I am in ketosis. Keeping my blood glucose levels in a flat line in normal range most if not all the time. The benefits of doing this is really great and the energy levels, the clear thinking and I have my life back.
However, the wife is T2, and her choice of food is nearly as bad as mine.
She absolutely loves roast dinners.
Trying to persuade her to see the light has been an education in patience and endurance. I thought that I would never get through to her that constant carb eating and forever eating royalties would have serious consequences.
To do this, I had to get her to cut down slowly but surely on the size of her meals and reduce the amount of gravy and increase the meat.
For most early meals, bacon on toast is a favourite, the trick was more bacon with fat on, burnt so that she can eat it and buy Burgen for me and her.
She has gradually increased her meat intake and reduced her carbs.
She is due her hba1c tests next month, if it is like her last one and her finger testing, it should be near normal levels.
Which is a huge relief for me and a bit of a success for her, as she has gone through bereavement and her father's illness, including diabetes. He has been in and out of hospital for pneumonia amongst other problems, really a lot.
He has ignored his diabetes, and constantly eats nothing but carbs of the worst kind.
As he says, that they haven't killed him yet and he will die of something else. No doubt! He also doesn't believe that carbs are the cause and contribute to his worsening health problems, he asked his dsn and healthcare team and of course they recommend the usual rubbish.
The daughter has a problem with her thyroid and since diagnosis she has upped her exercise and reduced her carb intake and the difference is really surprising and hopefully her diagnosis and treatment, which is in limbo, can really make a difference.
My grandson has not been on a diet ever and has always been huge in body size, height, weight for his age, at sixteen, he is 6ft 4. His weight is over fourteen stone but has lost 12 pounds since Christmas, just by his mother reducing the carbs and increasing the meat and veg.

Low carb works!
That is a fact and the sooner the better, my family has suffered because of the shocking and wrong advice given to patients with diabetes, especially T2.
The light at the tunnel has now been turned on, due, at last to GPs waking up to what carbohydrates and sugars do to the body.

I have to very low carb.
But for most T2, just reducing the amount they eat and a little more exercise, doesn't half make a difference.
 
@berylc good to know you are on the right track. It's hard when life is tough - I was extremely stressed with work last year, sticky toffee pudding was my drug of choice ... I'm sure that helped bring on my diabetes - the stress, not the STP, although the that didn't help! But now, even when I'm busy running a business, keeping clients happy etc I know I have to make time to eat well and exercise.

@nosher8355 gosh, you've got a tough job - trying to convince someone else is the hardest I think. For me it's about having alternates, I've read so much I've almost bored myself. Finding tasty stuff to eat is a challenge but for me it makes it easier. I've just gone cold turkey on bread, easier that way. Best of luck with your wife's tests next month - hopefully a positive result will spur her on!
 

Any chance you can convince them to try the Newcastle Diet?
It seems to have very good reviews by all that have done it on here, and could avoid a lot of problems in the future for type 2's?
Worth a shot if you can convince them to get the calories down for a few weeks..
 

I honestly think unless you can get people to be a bit more obsessive about what they eat, calorie and carb counting can be something that they would be hard to convince them about. It is easier in my experience, to do it without them thinking you are actually watching them and what they eat.
The head chef in the household is usually in charge of shopping and cooking and I find that doing it that way is easier to implement that laying down the law about how much and how often, setting a good example rather than forcing them.
They have seen how much weight and how much healthier I am and have helped me by helping themselves.
The wife's father is such a selfish person and would rather argue and have secret cakes and biscuits and eat real rubbish, than listen to common sense.
The old git is not for changing!
 

If he won't change, you're going nowhere, Short, sharp shock, sometimes works, whereas a lifetime change doesn't.
I'm just on my second fasting day now, I'm following the Fung idea, that fasting has it's place in the fight.
 
I have some serious food addiction issues, so I am planning to speak to my mental health team on Tuesday to find some support on continuing to deal with my food addictions, and not getting anxious, which makes it all harder to keep on top of. I dont want to change addictions, I want to stop using food as a prop in the same way as other turn to drink or drugs.

I am not excusing myself. I know why I have these issues, it is collateral damage from certain life experience, and I am still alive. But neither is my problem an excuse to not take care of myself with this diabetes.

I get the feeling, although I havent found an actual thread on here about food issues and addictions, that i wont be the only one having to tackle these two things at once. I had thought i could continue to slowly sort out my problem relationship with food, but diabetes has brought things to a head.

The open way people have talk on this thread has reassured me a lot. As has the non-judgmental and constructive thoughts expressed here. Thanks.
 

My condition is RH, I am intolerant to many foods, including the basic staple foodstuffs.
I have had to get my head around, what these types of foods do to my body.
My consultant endocrinologist, advised me, how I should approach my diet and this forum really persuaded me to take my lifestyle into my hands and get to grips with getting my life back.
It was difficult to get my head around what I needed to do, but once I seen the results, why would I want to live in my hypo hell?
It just isn't logical, because of the need for the sweet stuff!
I'd rather not!
SunnyExpat said:
If he won't change, you're going nowhere, Short, sharp shock, sometimes works, whereas a lifetime change doesn't.
I'm just on my second fasting day now, I'm following the Fung idea, that fasting has it's place in the fight.
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Yes I do intermittent fasting, usually when not working, gives my body, my wallet and my pancreas a rest!
 

@serenity648, have a look in the Weight Loss section. I've started a thread there, and there are some other useful ones that I'm reading up on at the moment. What's in a name...binge eating, overeating, food addiction - could we be talking about the same thing I wonder? Feel free to send me a private message x
 
Sounds like RH is totally different to type 2?
At least we don't get hypo's.
Some carbs are allowed for us.
 

Do you low carb?

I don't know what your food addictions are, or how they manifest, but i used to experience compulsive eating and a heck of a lot of self esteem issues around it - mood swings, feeling helpless, crazy cravings. Once i cut the carbs low enough, they disappeared. Turned out it was all chemical, with knock on angst.

Not saying the same will apply to you, but then... I would NEVER have believed the solution was so simple for me. Felt trapped by it throughout my childhood, adolescence and until i really got to grips with low carbing.
 

I am starting low carb tomorrow. I he only been diagnosed a few days, havent seen anyone yet, I got a phone message from the doctors and told to make an appointment with the nurse. I see her on Wednesday.

Yes, carb craving are happening a lot. Really crazy, out of control cravings. I didnt know carbs can do that, I thought it was me being stupid.
 

yep, sounds like what I am struggling with. And I do struggle, very hard.
 
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