• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

I've got Type 2 diabetes...

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

bigbob

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I'm a 33 year old male and weigh 21stone 10lbs.

I found out I had diabetes 2 years ago. When I found out, I actually cried. I couldn't believe it had happened to me. I just somehow thought I wouldn't get it. Even though I'm 8 stone over weight - it just wasn't something I worried about.

The shock helped me lose about a stone, then it just because normal to take 4 tables a day.

With no symptoms, no problems, and not actually "feeling" I had anything wrong with me - I just forgot about it - ate and drank what I wanted. These past two years have been just like before the day I was diagnosed. I just didn't care.

Now - I don't know why. It's just starting to hit home. It could be all the latest TV shows about diabetes that have been on lately. But I'm starting to feel anxious. I know its time to do something.

But I am a defeatist. I've read that life expectancy is about 65 when diagnosed at my age. I've read no matter what I do - insulin will be needed within a few years. Amputations, loss of sight - it just feels like its all down hill and its game over.

I only hope that if I can lose the 8 stone I am over weight - that somehow I can "cure" my diabetes, or at least make it so I don't need insulin. Do you think there is any chance of this?

I'm sorry to all you Type 1s about my "rant" - my experience is probably laughable to you guys who haven't brought it on yourselves, and haven't eaten your way to unnecessary problems.
 
Welcome!
You need to make changes that you can maintain long term, and that work for you!
 
Welcome to the forum, bigbob. First of all, don't panic! We do have a serious condition but with good control you may find that (as some of us here have) you end up fitter and healthier than before. Losing weight is a great step, as is cutting out carbs - potatoes, pasta, bread, rice - and increasing exercise. But it is a long haul, so please don't blame yourself if nothing happens overnight.

Testing your blood sugar levels lets you take control and see how different foods affect you. I presume you haven't been offered a meter (most of us type 2s haven't)? Many of us here use the SD Codefree meter from Home Health, which is the cheapest around, and I'm sure others will be along in due course with links and advice.

I didn't have any symptoms either, and like you it came as quite a shock. Fortunately you have found this place 🙂 and it is a great place for support and information. Have a read around the different forums - we're really quite a friendly bunch, so dive in with questions and queries and we'll do our best to help.
 
Welcome. Don't worry about offending any of us, we're pretty thick skinned 🙂. Just take it one day at a time. We all have days when we are not as 'good' as we would like, but this is not a total failure. We just try and make sure the good days outweigh the bad.
Try and get a meter as testing is vital so see which foods affect your blood sugars worst and then you know to steer clear of them as much as possible.
We are always here for a rant or moan, or for advice. All the best.
 
Hi Bob, welcome to the forum.....

Yes we do have a serious condition but it isn't all doom & gloom!!! Many of us manage our D quite well (despite the indications from the TV programs) & lead otherwise normal & productive lives, just have to be careful to monitor what we eat & our Blood Glucose levels.
The horror stories about early death, blindness, amputation etc are just that, horror stories, by no means inevitable. By exercising good control eating well, exercising we can avoid diabetes complications. Many of the members of this forum control their D through Diet & Exercise only and have done so for some time.
bigbob said:
you guys who haven't brought it on yourselves
Click to expand...
I am Type 2, I don't think I brought it on myself, there is D in the family, I believe I have a genetic predisposition, what I did do wrong is eat a so called healthy diet for all my life, consuming carbs with wild abandon has the nutritionists said carbs are good, fat is bad..... changing my diet significantly has reduced my weight from 16st to under 12st, just by cutting the carbs & introducing quality fats.
 
Welcome to the forum Bob (I won't say bigbob, because I don't want to emphasise a stereotype!).

I'm guessing that a year or two before I was diagnosed I was not too dissimilar to where you are now. I was probably over 20st at my peak, but don't really know because I stopped weighing myself. I too felt like I was ok, although looking back I was a complete mess.

But after diagnosis, I took the bull by the horns and turned things around. It didn't happen overnight, it took me a couple of years to get my weight down to 14st. But the benefits of doing so were almost immediately visible. Within just three months, my glucose control was so good that I was able to come of the medication (started with gliclazide and then moved on to metformin instead).

I do not subscribe to the inevitable decline mantra that some people spout. Yes, if people don't take control, things may spiral downhill. But. on the other hand, after seven years now I am still diet and exercise controlled and despite having a couple of 'years off' and putting on some weight again, I am back on track and the weight is coming off again. I am confident that my next blood tests will show an improvement over my previous ones.

Anyway, don't despair. There is much you can do to help yourself. Also, this forum is here to provide experience and advice whenever you need it.

Andy 🙂
 
Hi, Bob & welcome to the forum. Being diagnosed with this condition is a shock. But this forum has been amazing for me & it's the lovely people on here that have helped me get on the right track.🙂
 
Hi bob and welcome to forum
 
Hi Bob and welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for help and advice.
 
Fantastic Bob! - the progs have motivated you to take control of your own life - and there's no-one on earth that appreciates their own life (including all working parts) more than those that have done this.

The fact is - doctors do NOT 'treat' diabetes. The people with diabetes need to do it (and do get help and advice from medics, admittedly LOL) - but whether they TAKE that advice is entirely up to them. Nobody can make them do it - but no-one else can do it for them.

The fact of the matter is - every one of us is different since we all have different metabolisms, preferences and lives. Those of us on this forum don't strive to live with diabetes - we strive to control our diabetes and thus make it live with US - to fit in with OUR lives. We do have to obey certain rules - tedious but inevitable if we're going to be successful I'm afraid - so make those bits a habit, please.

And - enjoy your life!

We welcome questions and - with the hundreds of years collective experience in the forum - you'll always get at least some sensible answers!
 
Thanks for all the replies all!

Just a bit of an update...

I read this forum - got some good advice. I purchased myself a codefree checker - and found out my blood was 17mmol most days!

I also started a low carb /high fat diet - like Atkins but basically induction all the time. I was 21 stone 10lbs when I joined here - I'm now 19 stone 13lb!! So I'm pleased with that.

My blood is now about 6.3mmol in morning - and about 2 hours after lunch - it's 5.5mmol-ish

I can't get it lower in the morning - but I guess I still have a lot to lose.

Would you say at 6.3 to 6.7 in the morning now cuts risk of eye damage?

Is it possible with diet and metformin to get blood down to 4-5??

Thank you!
 
You're doing so well Bob. Congrats to you for taking control and youve made a huge difference already by the sound of things. You will certainly reduce the chance of any complications by keeping your BG levels as low as you can.
I think the numbers you are getting will keep problems at bay.
 
Wow...what a difference those couple of months have made Bob...didn't see your thread when you first posted in October last year...too busy languishing in my diabetes diagnosis (blood glucose 17.4)...feeling pretty much as you were...the first thing I had to learn was my diabetes was not self induced...I was pretty overweight...had an inactive life style...and my work whilst challenging is not physically demanding...however...I had many friends in a similar position...and they did not have diabetes...so clearly as Martin says you had a genetic pre-disposition to diabetes...great weight loss...and good blood glucose numbers...many on this forum have got their BG level down to a point where they can manage their diabetes with just diet & exercise with great effort it is possible...my levels are usually slightly higher in the morning...currently between 5.5 to 6.5...I am okay with those for the moment...but hope to reduce them to around middle fives...just out of diabetic range...if you can keep your sugar levels stable (as you seem to be doing)...then the risk of complications lessens...fantastic achievement Bob...impressive...keep up that good work
 
Great work on your part Bob, carry on.

If you have access to a Diabetic Specialist Nurse at your neatest diabetic centre, recommend you go along and have a chat.
I have found them to be really helpful and supportive to anyone trying to lose weight and get on top of their condition.

Good luck to you.
 
Great work, Bob. I wouldn't worry about those waking figures. That is the hardest one to get down. Give it & it should improve. It's not drastically high & shouldn't cause any issues.
 
What a great difference you have made already, good for you. Do keep us all updated, it's a real inspiration to hear such positive stories 🙂
 
You have made a huge difference, well done.
 
Excellent, well done Bob. 🙂
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top