Hi I'm new here and I feel so ashamed

[Pilates Deb]

Hi. As I said in the title I feel so ashamed and embarrassed that I have Diabetes Type2. Yes I put my hand up, in my mind I felt that Diabetes Type2 was what you got if you "let yourself go" and were old and yes I did let myself go to pot and at 55 I'm not a spring chicken any more.

A few months back I had a deep suspicion that i had Diabetes but I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would go away. I carried on cooking scrumptious meals full of delicious calories trying to cheer myself up as I had some awful things happening within my family. Then 3 weeks ago my face was so dry it was nearly falling off! That night I went online and looked up dry skin and hey what did I find...DIABETES.. I looked up all the other symptoms of Diabetes as I guzzled another 1/2 pint of water and yep I ticked nearly every box. The morning totally confirmed it when I went on the scales and was 12 lbs lighter than I expected (another box ticked). The rest is history, I was confirmed by GP.

I'm an overweight Pilates teacher and now I feel mortified that I have Diabetes. I can't bring myself to tell any of my clients who have been with me for years including a Diabetic Nurse!

Oh boy that sounds so self pitying! on the plus side I have lost more weight and just starting to get meds sorted (and grimacing each time I prick my finger!). Maybe I will fit in "that" dress again! So hello everyone, I'm so sorry of my previous attitude to Diabetes sufferers. Can I please join you?

 

[grovesy]

Welcome.
Unfortunately the media has been good at the fat equals Type2 Diabetes myth. If only it was that simple. There many genes that have been identified as been involved with Type 2 Diabetes. It is now being accepted by some of the experts that it is a range of conditions not one. There is also no one size fits all solution either. Some foods don't affect some and others find thoose foods raise there blood sugar too high.

 

[Dave W]

Hi Debbie and welcome!
Seems like you've already started improving your health, so just keep it up and take encouragement from every ounce you shed and every millimol your blood glucose falls. Slow and steady!

 

[Grannylorraine]

Welcome to the forum, I am a similar age and like you I was embarrassed and ashamed when I was diagnosed a month ago. But coming onto this forum changed all that. Everyone is friendly, you will get loads of great advice. Well done on your weight loss, I ticked all the boxes except the wright loss.

 

[Martin Canty]

Hi Debbie, nothing to be ashamed about, D happens & often there is a genetic predisposition to developing type 2.... My Grandfather was T2, my brother is pre-D and, well, I'm here as a T2

Rather than hide the fact that you, along with countless millions of people across the world have T2 embrace it & help educate people about it.

 

[Deleted member 16779]

Hi Debbie, I'm a similar age to you, and I've had diabetes for a number of years, but up until about a year ago, relied on the medications, but my BG was getting worse and my weight increasing, so about a year ago, I took control of my diet - stopped eating all but a few grams of carbohydrate a meal and then started exercising as I lost weight and got my energy back. I'm now 5 stone lighter than my heaviest (4 of it this year), I run a few miles most days, my BG is well into the 'non-diabetic' range and a number of other symptoms have cleared up. I'm not alone in this, if you're actively involved in your own treatment you stand a good chance of remission - stopping it from getting any worse and getting any side effects.

Hopefully if you're self-testing, you've had some advice about what to do to lower your BG - and what numbers to be going for? To get testing equipment from your doctor/diabetes nurse is quite rare, so you're lucky there, but even when you do get it, they don't always tell you what to the results mean and what to do about it.

If you do need that, loads of people here will dive in to help you with the numbers and give you diet and menu tips.

 

[Stitch147]

Hi Debbie and welcome to the forum.

 

[Amigo]

I've been where you are Debbie. Many of us have and the truth is, sometimes we can only deal with so many problems at a time. Hindsight is a great commodity but looking forward is so much more useful and realistic. Your attitude tells me you can do this but please test, regardless of what the medics advise.

Don't be ashamed, every overweight person could develop diabetes but most don't. I don't allow judgments from anyone because there's very few saints running around. You can get back on an even keel and massively improve your health and I wish you luck with that.

 

[Afcpaul]

Hi Debbie and welcome from another newbie.
Ditto me - meet the fat, diabetic football coach !!. I've had to admit I'm diabetic to coaches who have played professional football, Kids pay money to be coached at a soccer school and out I wobble !. So yes I understand your embarrassment.
I really ignored my diabetes for 5 years, now I'm started injections and I've decided to make a new start.
You can't change the past but you can work towards a better future. I feel better iin myself for these positive thoughts and I'm actually enjoying putting thing's right.
Good luck.

 

[James 048]

Hi Debbie .
Warm welcome to the forum.

 

[trophywench]

Tell the Diabetes Nurse - if she's one who works in a hospital rather than a doctors surgery - she's quite likely to be able to HELP you, you know! And if she's judgmental anyway wherever she works - she shouldn't even be a nurse in the first place!

 

[PinkGrapefruit]

Welcome. I know the feeling of shame - I was DXed aged 38!

Genes, and a diet/food industry of carb pushers; hard to make it in those conditions.

Cave men did not evolve to eat pizza and chicken fried steak. Damn it tastes so good!

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome Deb. 🙂 I didn't know dry skin was a symptom. Is there a link to this please? My face is tight as a drum despite the Ponds!