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Hello Everyone

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J

Jimbo26

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi to everyone I have decided to come out of the shadows and register as I have been visiting and reading everything I could on type 2 for quite a period of time.
I was diagnosed about a year ago with a HbA1c of 128 I suspect I have been type 2 for quite a while as I had all the usual symptoms slow healing wounds eye sight blurring etc but was in denial of my problems. Anyway after yet another dose of thrush I gave in and visited my gp lot of head shaking from him and surprise surprise back came the diagnosis.
I initially took the news quite badly but was determined to do something about it as I blamed myself for being middle aged and overweight (obese) after lots of google searches I found this site and read everything I could, first thing I did was a complete change of diet and purchased my myself a new bike to get some exercise after many years of doing nothing. the initial results were quite promising weight started coming down HbA1c after 3 months was down to 80 another 3 months and it was 60 then along comes covid and my now once quiet cycle paths etc were busier than the flippin motorways so that was the end of cycling for 6 months (just restarted the cycle paths are now empty again).
During this time my medication was started at 500mg metformin then upped to 2000mg which didn't agree with me (stomach problems) I was then changed to slow release and a lower dose problems went away but hba1c wouldn't budge so was given more tablets the name I forget but again more stomach problems I was then put on gliclazide and was consequently given a meter for measuring blood sugar the readings were consistently high 12-20 every morning but after evening meals I was some times hitting low 4s and I felt terrible so that was the end of the gliclazide.
A new medication was required to back up the metformin (now 500mg slow release) ozempic injections once a week after the initial 4 week 0.25mg blood sugars were now coming good (left me feeling a bit out of sorts and sickly but not to bad) I thought at last found something that works for me anyway went onto the next stage 0.5mg got to the 2nd week and a host of stomach problems started and was advised to stop immediately.
Now I am a waiting to here back from the diabetic nurse and doctor what the next stage is as blood sugar levels are now rising again I have been told I will be put on insulin of some type and for some reason I am not to sure about this, ok I should say maybe a little bit frightened by this and it seems to be like the end of the road after exhausting no end of other types of medication.
Sorry to go on and on but I am really getting myself worked up over this.
 
Have you assessed your intake of carbs?
I eat a low carb diet, two meals a day and rarely see an 8 after eating.
I just reduced and excluded the carbs until I got to where I wanted, because the tablets made me feel so ill I would do anything rather than take them.
 
Hi @Jimbo26

Welcome to the forum.

It looks like you have made great strides in reducing your HbA1c - but that perhaps it has now become difficult to reduce it any further despite your best efforts.
Although many people can and do manage their diabetes through diet and lifestyle change alone, not everyone can and this is not a failing on your part, its just how it is sometimes for some people.
Lots of people worry about moving onto insulin, but not many regret doing so as you may well find it makes your bgl easier to manage and therefore you are able to feel better in yourself.
There are others here with Type 2 treating it with insulin so I'm sure you'll get some reassuring advice soon, in the meantime have a search of 'moving onto insulin' and similiar phrases in the search box and you should hopefully find some threads that show you: a) you're not alone in being concerned by the prospect and b) the reality of it isn't as bad as it feels.

Having said all of that, if you feel that you would like a little more time to get back into your old cycling routine and see how that impacts your next HbA1c before committing to any changes, do suggest that to your diabetes nurse when you speak to them.
 
Hi Drummer thanks for the reply I am on a low carb diet, maybe not a perfect one as I admit sometimes I stray though not often.
So far every type of medication tried has ended up causing me problems such as stomach and abdominal cramps diarrhoea etc unfortunately it seems I need some sort of medication as diet alone hasn't seemed to work for me.
 
LucyDUK said:
Hi @Jimbo26

Welcome to the forum.

It looks like you have made great strides in reducing your HbA1c - but that perhaps it has now become difficult to reduce it any further despite your best efforts.
Although many people can and do manage their diabetes through diet and lifestyle change alone, not everyone can and this is not a failing on your part, its just how it is sometimes for some people.
Lots of people worry about moving onto insulin, but not many regret doing so as you may well find it makes your bgl easier to manage and therefore you are able to feel better in yourself.
There are others here with Type 2 treating it with insulin so I'm sure you'll get some reassuring advice soon, in the meantime have a search of 'moving onto insulin' and similiar phrases in the search box and you should hopefully find some threads that show you: a) you're not alone in being concerned by the prospect and b) the reality of it isn't as bad as it feels.

Having said all of that, if you feel that you would like a little more time to get back into your old cycling routine and see how that impacts your next HbA1c before committing to any changes, do suggest that to your diabetes nurse when you speak to them.
Click to expand...
 
Hi LucyDUK thanks for the reply I really appreciate it, I was convinced that diet and exercise alone would sort me out my diabetes nurse had mentioned that it doesn't work for everyone but it was just a casual comment during our weekly phone call as I think she wanted to keep encouraging me on my new diet and exercise regime.
I seem to have tried so may types of medication to get my HbAc1 down but everything seems to eventually cause me problems I did try searching the forums for type 2 and insulin but I will try again with your suggested search terms.
I had thought about just staying on the slow release metformin low dose and building up my cycling again I will bring this up on Tuesday and see what the nurse thinks about it.
 
So ... insulin is not a drug, it is not a last resort, it's a natural hormone produced by your body although the modern ones we use today are much more like the real thing than the older ones produced from bits of pigs and cows were, and are kinder to our bodies in loads of ways, thank goodness.

What is more - it is as essential to life as air itself! Well more actually cos without insulin your lungs couldn't breathe, your heart couldn't beat, and your brain couldn't work, let alone arms legs tongue teeth or any other bits of you. Stop regarding it as a threat - it isn't!! If you need more than your body can currently supply - and you do just now - for heaven's sake, let it help you.

There is nothing to say (at the moment) that once you start to feel better (and Oh yes, with this extra help, you will) then you should be able to do more exercise without feeling lousy and may even be able to come off it again and able to treat your diabetes with diet and exercise.
 
I felt so ill that, if it was a choice between going back on medication and eating frogspawn - well, sorry, frogs.
Are you still checking your levels after meals?
With cycling an option again, and your previous successes maybe just a few more swaps could do the trick for you.
I have been making mashed swede - boiling it and then pulverizing with extra thick cream. I have been doing nose dives into the bowl rather than portioning it out and so was rather pleased to find that my BG level did not show any increases and my weight did not go up either. Much better than the few times I have had even a single potato, though I will have to cut back or stop eating the apples off the trees in the garden, instant extra pounds.
If you are found to be low on insulin then that could solve a lot of problems, as you just don't cope without it. I need to take Thyroxine and it really is a need, though it is a far slower set of consequences than insulin it really can be felt if forgotten.
 
Your nurse is right different things work for different people, and not everyone can stick to very low carb. I personally found what being strict with my diet at the beginning, I could not maintain it long term. I have also found sometimes you have to adjust things when they don't seem to have the same effect any longer.
This is also a marathon and not a sprint.
 
Welcome to the forum @Jimbo26

Congratulations on ‘delurking’! It’s nice to have you here.

Interesting that your Bg levels were so high in the mornings, but that the meds were able to bring them down (almost a little too much?) during the course of the day. Some of those meds are designed to trigger the pancreas into squirting out more insulin than it usually would, but it seems like your ‘background’ insulin secretion (and/or the release of glucose from the liver) are not working out. Adding extra injected insulin could be very helpful to you.

In a sense as a T1 I think I had it lucky. There was never any option. Insulin was never painted as some sort of scary end-point of diabetes options. It was just necessary from day 1. Taking and using insulin to manage your BG levels is nothing like as ominous and scary as it can be made to seem.

You’ve made great strides with your HbA1c reduction, but it feels like your body needs a little extra help.

Does your nurse know you are on a low carb diet? It may be that they are assuming your carb intake is more average - and it might be useful for them to know how you are eating when considering insulin options - eg a basal:bolus 4x a day system may be more appropriate than mixed insulin that you’d have to ‘feed’.
 
Hi @Jimbo26 and welcome from me also. I'm not able to give you any advice or suggestions, as my T2 is well controlled by diet and metformin. The more I read on this site makes me realise how exceptionally fortunate I am that my T2 isn't complex and that metformin agrees with me.

So just wanted to say that between the nurse tinkering with your meds to find the right balance with your diet, and the support you'll get from this lovely forum, you'll get there in the end. It's almost like there are thousands of types of diabetes, and it's just a matter of finding what works for you.

Best of luck to you x
 
@Jimbo26 Welcome
I started in a very similar way except I went to the doctor saying I suspected diabetes, they said probably not - until the blood results were back 😉.
My view has always been along these lines. This was clearly for me self inflicted, overweight very high sugar intake per day, sitting at computer all day etc etc.
I decided that I was going to drop my BG levels, bought a BG tester - so I could see what I was doing. My body had glucose everywhere and I was taking more. So I needed to stop pretty much all glucose intake.
So I stopped pretty much all carbs, One day 10 sugary coffees and a few cans of coke - next day just a couple coffees with no sugar with food not inbetween meals and only small meals with pretty much zero carbs. For the first few months was less than 10g carbs aday.
As the only souce of glucose was what was in my body and what my liver was producing it took me about 3 weeks to get my BG morning reading down to a 4.0.

We all need to find what works for us as we are all very individual but thought I would share some of my experience.

Good luck with your journey 🙂
 
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