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Hi. Thanks for reading my epic introduction.

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
D

Dippy1961

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi.
I am 55, female, very overweight, suffer with depression, have an under-active thyroid, sleep apnoea, fibromyalgia, and now Type 2 Diabetes. Feeling pretty fed up with myself.

I originally went to see a GP in July as I was feeling pretty rubbish, physically. He was lovely. Very thorough. Checked my chest, BP, did a peak flow test, attached an oximeter to my finger, sent me for bloods and a chest x-ray. It turned out I had a bacterial and a viral infection. Plus type 2 diabetes.

I was told to make a follow up GP appt, which I did. He put me on Metformin, with no discussion about anything other than to say he has never seen anyone reverse their diabetes (I have - I worked with someone who did it very recently), told me I needed another blood test as the x-ray I'd had seemed to show a slightly enlarged heart, and to make an appt to see the diabetic nurse. These are coming up in September.

I feel like I have thoroughly brought this upon myself; I love food. I feel I was rewarded with food (not love) as a child. Food has been my friend when no-one else has been there. I've ALWAYS turned to food - to celebrate, to comfort, you name it. And now, even now I have this diagnosis, I'm not sure I will be able to make the necessary changes. I almost feel like I am on a path to self-destruction.

Sorry, I know this is pretty heavy stuff as an introduction, but I figured it was best to get it all out in the open.

Thanks for reading this.
 
Dippy1961 said:
I feel like I have thoroughly brought this upon myself
Click to expand...
Hi Dippy, welcome to the forum......
Do not feel that you have brought this on yourself, this community believes that genetic predisposition plays a role in developing T2.... Myself, my Grandfather was T2 & one of my brothers is pre-diabetic, added to which the establishment has forced a mantra of low fat high carbs for the last 40 years (interestingly in the 40 years we have seen a pandemic of obesity & T2 (not necessarily related))
 
Dippy1961 said:
I'm not sure I will be able to make the necessary changes. I almost feel like I am on a path to self-destruction
Click to expand...
Finding this forum is the first step in getting a handle on this disease, the members of this board help & encourage one another. Believe you me, we have many newbies joining who are quite despondent.... It's a natural part of the shock of a new DX. Many of us are well controlled so don't believe that D (though it can't be cured) can be controlled.
 
Thanks Martin.
I confess I don't know what half your figures mean right now, but I'm sure I will. As yet, I've not been told to measure, or monitor anything.
 
It's all new, I wouldn't worry.....

The first thing you need to do is reduce or cut high carb sources such as sugar, bread, pasta, starchy vegetables, cereals etc, replacing them with plant & proteins. Avoid the so-called diet foods as they contain high carbs (which is bad for us) do not sweat the full fat options as they have lower carbs.

Next is to start testing to see how food affects your BG (Blood Glucose). The establishment don't encourage self testing for T2's but most of us advocate it strongly.... If your GP will not prescribe a meter (they will likely not) then an affordable self-funded option is the SD Codefree from Amazon, start out with about 100 test strips, should se you through a few weeks.

Also, remember to ask questions (we live with D on a daily basis so understand many of the problems) & have a positive attitude (though sometimes the latter can be difficult)
 
Hi Dippy and welcome. Thanks for sharing your story and being so honest about your situation. Many will empathise with where you are but more importantly advise on where you can progress to once you get your diabetes under control. It sounds as if it's your relationship with food that has caused your problems and you're very honest about that. Certainly counselling could help you to control this and the psychological dependency on food.
I was diagnosed last year with type 2 and like you had probably been in a bit of denial believing it was just ok to eat what I wanted. Once you start to understand the impact of high glucose levels, I'm sure you'll feel motivated because carbs drain us and drag us down. I'm sure they're contributing to your other health problems. Taking control is therapeutic in itself especially if it leads to weight loss.
My advice would be to read and learn as much as you can. I read Dr. David Cavan's book, 'Reversing diabetes' and found it absolutely excellent. It helped me to start tackling my diabetes and I haven't had to take medication.
I couldn't have done this without testing at home because it's taught me what I can uniquely tolerate. We have regular Hba1c tests at the doctors which plot our average levels over a 3 month period but it's testing ourselves with a meter that shows the danger foods in terms of spikes. As Martin has said, often GP's won't fund meters or testing strips but it's worth getting one yourself.

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed that it's hard to know where to start so one step at a time. Make the first step learning what you need to do to get your glucose levels under control and I promise you'll reap dividends. I noticed big improvements in my health especially as the low carb enabled me to lose weight.
Hope it goes well but there's always help and support on here. Regards, Amigo
 
Two years ago I was in your shoes...54, very overweight and T2. Today I'm stones lighter, my T2 is completely under control and I feel ready for anything.

Watching this presentation will make you feel far more optimistic:


I'd be interested to know what you think.

In the meantime, don't beat yourself up. It doesn't help.
 
Amigo said:
you'll reap dividends. I noticed big improvements in my health especially as the low carb enabled me to lose weight.
Click to expand...
Part of my story is that once I reduced the carbs I lost over 50lb, now sitting at about 170lb (a weight I have not seen since my mid 20's).... I have a lot more energy & feel way better than I did 18 months ago!!!
 
Hi again Dippy. After a lifetime of trying to get to grips with my dysfunctional relationship with food I've at last found a diet that's sustainable. I wrote the following in a different thread, but I thought you might find it helpful:

It took me a while to understand that counting carbs was more important than counting calories (although you have to keep an eye on the calories too). What I found really difficult was rejecting the message that fat is fattening. When you've been told this all your life it becomes part of what you believe.

I now try to think of food as fuel. Because carbs give a quick hit of energy it fizzles out quickly and you experience the familiar, almost uncontrollable urge to binge. Fat, on the other hand, burns slowly and steadily, which keeps you feeling fuller for longer. I found it amazing how cutting back on carbs and having fat in my diet affected my eating habits. Without even thinking about it I ate less because my body wasn't screaming at me all the time to eat more and more.
 
Hi Dippy,
Are you feeling any better?
I've recently been diagnosed and am overweight with a sugary tooth and love for all the wrong things. I too need to wait til mid September to see a nurse. Do you know what readings you got when you were diagnosed? If you work and feel ill then get a sick note.
People are really helpful on here. Sorry I don't fall into that category yet. Have it all to learn.
 
Welcome Dippy. You came to the right place for friendly guidance. We all have to deal with this beast as we are stuck with it. I definitely agree with all above regarding testing and monitoring yourself. It really makes the difference as you alone can judge what works best for you and which foods are red light foods for yourself. Some people can tolerate one thing and others can't. Porridge is an example of that issue. Just do what you can and take the steps one day at a time and keep asking questions. Somebody out there has the same problem and will have answer for you
 
Hi Dippy. Welcome to the forum. At least it sounds like you have an understanding doctor. It does take a while to get used to the idea of being T2 but any time you want answers there are many on here to help.
 
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