Age of diagnosis, type 2 diabetics only please

[Mark Parrott]

this seems like a success story if ever I saw one wish it was that easy for everyone, just to change your diet and you could be diabetes free/prediabetes but I know you are an exception rather than a rule I feel please tell me if I am wrong and do not mean any offense or not amazed by your achievement as I am amazed I have only read this in theory and in documentaries

No offence at all, Ally,🙂 I found it very easy, if fact, & because of that I felt it was easy for anyone to do it, but obviously it isn't. We are all different & our bodies react differently. Perhaps I will go down as the stuff of legend.

 

[Mark Parrott]

Mark hasn’t mentioned that he also lost a great deal of weight which really helps. Most success stories do seem to have weight reduction at their core.

Mark, my last 3 levels have been 42 or under but I know my doc won’t take me off the Diabetes Register.

Oh yes, I forgot that. I actually doubt they will take me off. I bet they keep an eye on me at least every 12 months.

 

[Amigo]

Oh yes, I forgot that. I actually doubt they will take me off. I bet they keep an eye on me at least every 12 months.

I absolutely know I’m at least pre-diabetic Mark. I can still easily nudge an 11 with a very heavy meal! 😱
Under no illusions that this is a life long task.

 

[Mark Parrott]

I shot up to 10 just eating 1 low GI roll from Lidl!😱 Not the protein ones, they are fine. I can have fish & chips and not go above 9.

 

[Amigo]

I shot up to 10 just eating 1 low GI roll from Lidl!😱 Not the protein ones, they are fine. I can have fish & chips and not go above 9.

Same as me Mark...I’d get away with fish and chips but bread is like pouring liquid glucose down my throat! 😱

 

[Grogg1]

I was 52 when diagnosed Nov 16. I finished radiotherapy in Oct 16 for breast cancer but never seemed to shake off the tiredness and thirst which I was told could last up to 12 months after having radiotherapy. My daughter had returned home from Uni and told me to go to see GP as I had all the symptoms of diabetes (she did biomedical degree so had studied it). I thought I would get check up with GP so asked her to check 3 things:

1. Was I diabetic?
2. Was my blood pressure normal?
3. I had a small spot on my neck that hadn't gone.

She thought my tiredness and thirst probably connected to radiotherapy but sent me for blood test. My BP was normal and the small spot on my neck was a sebaceous cyst and leave alone as it was tiny and would probably stay like that.

Two days later phone call from GP. Hba1c was 117 so definitely diabetic and prescription waiting for me for 500mg met once and day increasing to twice a day after week 1.

Three weeks later the small cyst on my neck started to grow. Despite two lots of antibiotics it wouldn't go away and they had to take a tape measure to it as it was getting so big. Eventually burst on Xmas day but a month later a hard lump had formed and it was black around the edges so I had to have it and the dead tissue cut out and I now have a large scar on my neck.

I'm still on 500mg of Met. My Hb dropped to 42 three months after diagnosis and is 43 at last review in September. I guess I could do better but I need the odd treat!

 

[Ally beetle]

I was 52 when diagnosed Nov 16. I finished radiotherapy in Oct 16 for breast cancer but never seemed to shake off the tiredness and thirst which I was told could last up to 12 months after having radiotherapy. My daughter had returned home from Uni and told me to go to see GP as I had all the symptoms of diabetes (she did biomedical degree so had studied it). I thought I would get check up with GP so asked her to check 3 things:

1. Was I diabetic?
2. Was my blood pressure normal?
3. I had a small spot on my neck that hadn't gone.

She thought my tiredness and thirst probably connected to radiotherapy but sent me for blood test. My BP was normal and the small spot on my neck was a sebaceous cyst and leave alone as it was tiny and would probably stay like that.

Two days later phone call from GP. Hba1c was 117 so definitely diabetic and prescription waiting for me for 500mg met once and day increasing to twice a day after week 1.

Three weeks later the small cyst on my neck started to grow. Despite two lots of antibiotics it wouldn't go away and they had to take a tape measure to it as it was getting so big. Eventually burst on Xmas day but a month later a hard lump had formed and it was black around the edges so I had to have it and the dead tissue cut out and I now have a large scar on my neck.

I'm still on 500mg of Met. My Hb dropped to 42 three months after diagnosis and is 43 at last review in September. I guess I could do better but I need the odd treat!

well done getting your HBA1C down it is a hard thing to do in 3 months you must have had to change your diet a bit to get that marked improvement thanks so much for all the detail it is really nice to read others experiences

 

[Margaret Wilson]

Mgt. Wilson DX.2yrs ago aged 70 after acute pancreatitis.(gallstones). Kept nurse happy with bgs for one and a half yrs.because of my fear of diabetes. Got lax and now started to increase(can't rem. Initial readings but latest Hbac1 99. Been told will have to go on insulin but have asked for another 3mths to try and lower bgs. Comparing nhs advice for diet compared with lchf. Lchf has improved nos. But I believe not ii enough to placate Dr!!!!! Although the nurse says she is looking for 7 on fasting, 10 before evening me all and 12 two hrs after evening meal! I don't know if nos. She has given me r too high. Will find out in november latest hbac1.

 

[Ally beetle]

Mgt. Wilson DX.2yrs ago aged 70 after acute pancreatitis.(gallstones). Kept nurse happy with bgs for one and a half yrs.because of my fear of diabetes. Got lax and now started to increase(can't rem. Initial readings but latest Hbac1 99. Been told will have to go on insulin but have asked for another 3mths to try and lower bgs. Comparing nhs advice for diet compared with lchf. Lchf has improved nos. But I believe not ii enough to placate Dr!!!!! Although the nurse says she is looking for 7 on fasting, 10 before evening me all and 12 two hrs after evening meal! I don't know if nos. She has given me r too high. Will find out in november latest hbac1.

Hope you can remain insulin free as it is just another thing to take and once you are on insulin you could start having hypos which are never fun and you will have to test more often.

 

[Grogg1]

well done getting your HBA1C down it is a hard thing to do in 3 months you must have had to change your diet a bit to get that marked improvement thanks so much for all the detail it is really nice to read others experiences

I took advice from this site and reduced carbs. My diet was mostly rice and pasta before as not a fan of meat and dislike fish. I struggle lately to eat chicken as daughter vegan and I'm absorbing reasons to not eat animal products. I've also reduced egg and cheese intake. Eating more soya products now but I'm having to watch carbs in root veg which I love.

 

[Vince_UK]

66 and 11 months for me. The results of this poll seem very interesting in terms of distribution of age range.

 

[Beck S]

Quite a new thing having diabetes then. Did you know much about diabetes before you got diagnosed then or was it a case of learning on the run so to speak?

I knew nothing about it really. No one in my family has it, so apart from encountering a couple of my Guides in the past who'd been type 1, I had no idea what was going on, very much learning on the go. For the first few weeks, well and still to be honest, I just couldn't get my head round the information enough to really understand what was going on. I was lucky in that all of the doctors and nurses I encountered were really nice to me and helpful which made it easier. I have been overweight most of my life, and I was waiting for someone to tell me that it was all my fault and judge me, but it never happened. But there is so much to learn!

 

[zuludog]

I was diagnosed in 1998 when I was 48, but looking back it was obvious that Type 2 Diabetes had been developing over the previous couple of years at least

My mother had diabetes, and also her sister/my aunt, and I was always aware of it and wondered if I would get it. I could have told the doctors the symptoms, but when it cropped up I didn't recognise the symptoms in myself
My GP says this is typical, especially in men.

 

[Ally beetle]

I was diagnosed in 1998 when I was 48, but looking back it was obvious that Type 2 Diabetes had been developing over the previous couple of years at least

My mother had diabetes, and also her sister/my aunt, and I was always aware of it and wondered if I would get it. I could have told the doctors the symptoms, but when it cropped up I didn't recognise the symptoms in myself
My GP says this is typical, especially in men.

This is the same as me when I got diagnosed I had all the knowledge of the symptoms just did not occur to me when it happened

 

[Ally beetle]

I knew nothing about it really. No one in my family has it, so apart from encountering a couple of my Guides in the past who'd been type 1, I had no idea what was going on, very much learning on the go. For the first few weeks, well and still to be honest, I just couldn't get my head round the information enough to really understand what was going on. I was lucky in that all of the doctors and nurses I encountered were really nice to me and helpful which made it easier. I have been overweight most of my life, and I was waiting for someone to tell me that it was all my fault and judge me, but it never happened. But there is so much to learn!

It is a massive learning curve and you don’t ever stop learning about it! I suppose you could say that about life in general. I started this thread to be understand diabetes better I have leant loads on this from everyone it is great

 

[Pine Marten]

I was diagnosed in 2007, when I was 57. I'd had no symptoms but had been at the GP's for a routine check up as I was already taking medication for high blood pressure, and my doc stared at his screen and said those immortal words, Oh, I think you're mildly diabetic...

So then I was sent off for the glucose test where you drink some disgusting liquid, hang around for a couple of hours, then get told the result, which as I recall was 12. The numbers meant nothing to me as I hadn't been given any explanation. I was given some diet sheets which advised lots of starchy carbs (I thought, ooh lovely, I like jacket spuds, pasta and rice!) and more or less left to get on with it. It wasn't until I found this forum in (I think) 2013 and began to be enlightened that I took control and started to get healthier! My dear old GP has long been retired, and things at the surgery are much better now. He was very good at being a GP, but alas! didn't know much about diabetes.

 

[Ally beetle]

I was diagnosed in 2007, when I was 57. I'd had no symptoms but had been at the GP's for a routine check up as I was already taking medication for high blood pressure, and my doc stared at his screen and said those immortal words, Oh, I think you're mildly diabetic...

So then I was sent off for the glucose test where you drink some disgusting liquid, hang around for a couple of hours, then get told the result, which as I recall was 12. The numbers meant nothing to me as I hadn't been given any explanation. I was given some diet sheets which advised lots of starchy carbs (I thought, ooh lovely, I like jacket spuds, pasta and rice!) and more or less left to get on with it. It wasn't until I found this forum in (I think) 2013 and began to be enlightened that I took control and started to get healthier! My dear old GP has long been retired, and things at the surgery are much better now. He was very good at being a GP, but alas! didn't know much about diabetes.

Thanks for the history, I don’t think allot of Medical professionals understand it as much as they think it takes years to get the knowledge and experience to even contemplate on giving good advice as it is such a complex world

 

[Kentoldlady]

Really interesting thread, thanks for starting this.
I am fairly new, dx this year aged 57. Dx hypothyroidism at the same blood test and started treatment for that for a month before I was told about the diabetes with hba1c of 53. I have no idea why that happened.
Because I had started treatment for the hypothyroidism I was already feeling a lot better and had no diabetic symptoms, so no thirst no extra wee etc. So it was a bit of a surprise, tbh.
I have lots of family on my mums side, including my mum, who also have both conditions. Plus a few t1d and ms. So definitely not a healthy autoimmune bunch. But because that side of my family is not close it never even occurred to me that I could have the same illness as them. Doh!!
Anyway, I weighed 101kgs in may, when blood test done. I now weigh 75 kgs. My recent hbalc was 39. My gp said that didnt I know that losing weight so quickly was dangerous and that lchf was extremely bad for me. I said I didnt want to go blind because I didnt think that would be good for me either. Cant wait for prof taylor to make his announcements in December. But I dont think many gps will change thier minds.

 

[Martin Canty]

I was 51 at DX, I only went to the Dr.'s to deal with my high BP but they insisted on a blood test....

I was surprised when I got a call to come back into the Dr.'s a few days later only to be told I was T2 with a FBG of 14 & an A1c of 9.3%. In the months prior to DX I had been quite lethargic, thirsty all the time, peeing a lot, craving sweet drinks (particularly Apple Juice) & unable to sleep with night sweats. In fact I think that it was a condition that had been worsening over the previous year.

After DX the pantry got kinda cleared & I started to reduce the carbs in my diet, conforming more to ADA guidelines in those days; trying new things to see what was working & what wasn't I actually ended up with a very low carb diet without really knowing what ketogenic diets were.

These days my FBG is typically bellow 5 (not at the moment as I'm just getting over a cold) & testing for my last A1c twas 5.5%, weight holding steady at around 165lb from 225+ at DX

A lot of this success is down to the fact that I test..... I wish the Dr.'s in the UK would advocate testing for T2's, it's pretty standard (here in the US) for all diabetics to be prescribed a test meter & adequate strips.

 

[purgatory]

I was dx in august this year at the age of 39, my HbA1c was 124! they called me in pretty sharpish were I was shouted at by the nurse informing me my levels were critical! I nearly left in tears
I did however know it was coming though I tried to deny it, I had been drinking a lot and peeing for a few months and getting recurring thrush which is what sent me to the doctors and prompted him to send me for the blood test
since then I have tried my hardest to change my diet with varying success, and though initially I gained a few pounds I have in the past four weeks lost 1stone 10.5pounds, i am very overweight due to suffering depression for years and becoming very sedentary in that time, and I have been using the mysugr app which estimates your HbA1c currently showing 41 but I will see if this is accurate at the end of the month when I go back for a blood test