Hello and tackling diabetes with an ED

[EmmaL76]

Lauren… please don’t think things like this happened because you let yourself get fatter. Blame and punishment are a vicious circle. What matters now is that you concentrate on your mental health as well as the physical. Accept that if this is a diagnosis of diabetes, it’s going to be difficult for you to overcome those feelings. Explain this to the doctors/diabetic team on diagnosis. There may be some support available although that may take time, we are all here in the meantime. It might be that you just need to make a few little alterations to your diet. I promise it can be done, it will take time to get the balance but you can do it because your stronger now than you were back then and this is a way you can prove it to yourself xx

 

[LaurenNicole]

Lauren… please don’t think things like this happened because you let yourself get fatter. Blame and punishment are a vicious circle. What matters now is that you concentrate on your mental health as well as the physical. Accept that if this is a diagnosis of diabetes, it’s going to be difficult for you to overcome those feelings. Explain this to the doctors/diabetic team on diagnosis. There may be some support available although that may take time, we are all here in the meantime. It might be that you just need to make a few little alterations to your diet. I promise it can be done, it will take time to get the balance but you can do it because your stronger now than you were back then and this is a way you can prove it to yourself xx

Thank you Emma I really appreciate it. I'm glad to speak to someone who understands how difficult it is to have an ED and be able to tackle diabetes at the same time. Also it's really nice to hear yoh say I'm stronger now, because it makes me realize I am. I went to the doctors today for my first appointment. My HbA1C was 68 mmol so quite high. So I do have diabetes, and at the moment they think it's type 2. I've been put on metformin twice a day. The diabetic nurse said that I have a relatively good diet but may have to reduce takeaways which I am fine with (the only reason I used them a lot recently was because of the extreme tiredness I've been having). I told her all about the ED before we even started and she did not even mention weight loss or cutting carbs etc. When she weighed me she did not tell me what I weigh or what my bmi is. I really appreciate this as numbers are extremely triggering for me. If the metformin doesn't work then they will do the antibody test for type 1.

 

[EmmaL76]

Ahh your welcome and Thankyou for the update. Your nurse sounds quite supportive and that’s great. You have probably read quite a lot on here about very low carb diets. The DNs will very rarely advocate this although it does work well for the majority. Reducing carbs a bit at least is one of the only ways to reduce hba1c, but don’t do anything drastic as your body that’s been used to high sugars will need sometime to adjust. I don’t suppose they have given you a meter to test your sugars at home? Some DN’s don’t want you to test yourself but it is really really useful. I’ve had diabetes over a year and I’m still learning/making mistakes everyday. There is a lot to learn so don’t beat yourself up and give yourself time. Antibody tests are useful in most cases but in mine I was still left hovering somewhere in the middle of 1&2. End goal is still the same tho I suppose. This is not the end of the world for you , I promise. You will get back on the right track and you will end up feeling heaps better in the long run xx

 

[Inka]

An HbA1C of 68 is well into diabetes territory but certainly not horribly high. You might well find a few minor changes help a lot @LaurenNicole Your nurse sounds very understanding 🙂