Lost in Rome

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Geraldineto

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I was warned about high blood sugar for years but never took it seriously. Then 2 years ago I felt bad and walked into a diabetic clinic and they said my blood sugar was 540 - I was put on lantus solostar and novonorm before meals. I always forget the tablets but take the lantus.

I haven't followed the diet I was given and have put on weight instead of losing it. I don't go back to the diabetic clinic because I have failed so miserably.

Last year I had a slight heart attack and they found my arteries were blocked - I had 3 stents put in.

I have to do something to help myself - if I don't lose weight I will be dead soon and my coffin will be too heavy for anyone to carry:D I love food and wine - doing without is very hard. I started in the gym and then one morning in June when I got there it was burning down😱 I am going to try again from Thursday - I have a personal trainer to push me. I am also taking swimming lessons.

I have failed so much and don't want to tell anyone what my plan is - they have heard it all before😱 I have "diabetic pilot" on my computer and am going to start filling it in again. I was wondering if there is someone else struggling like me and maybe we could support each other😎
 
Welcome Geraldtino.

Are you still in Roma / Rome? You might find it useful to use a conversion table for finger prick blood glucose units, as UK uses mmol/l, different to mg/dl used some other countries - see http://www.joslin.org/info/conversion_table_for_blood_glucose_monitoring.html

HbA1c units (blood usually taken from vein, but sometimes from fingertip in clinic) are now the same throughout the world, but you'll still hear UK based people using the old units - see http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us...ations/New_diagnostic_criteria_for_diabetes_/ AND http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to.../Glycated_haemoglobin_HbA1c_and_fructosamine/

Have a look round this forum - you'll probably find the Weight Loss Group particularly useful and supportive 🙂
 
Thank you for your welcome Copepad:D

I have lived in Italy most of my life and am still here - based in Rome for the past 7 years. It is very hard to keep away from the wonderful food here:(
 
Hi Geraldtino and welcome to the forum. I am sure you will find lots of useful information and advice here. Would I be correct to assume you are Type II? Also what meds are you not taking regularly? This may be important! Although I was diagnosed Type I as a child and underweight for years I starting gaining weight quite rapidly (for me) when I passed 40. The problem with weight is that insulin residence increases as you gain weight which in turn leads to more weight gain. I found my control was starting to get very bad. It has, however, improved now I am making a concerted effort to lose weight. I find that I have to watch both my carbs and fat intake. You can still enjoy good food and wine just less of it. If I have something like lasagne I tend to have only a small portion but a large one of salad. Filling your plate with salad and/or vegetables is the key. Wine can be problematical (empty calories) so try to stick to one glass a day. By joining the forum you have made a start. Remember any questions there will always be someone to help you out.
 
StephenM said:
Hi Geraldtino and welcome to the forum. I am sure you will find lots of useful information and advice here. Would I be correct to assume you are Type II? Also what meds are you not taking regularly? This may be important! Although I was diagnosed Type I as a child and underweight for years I starting gaining weight quite rapidly (for me) when I passed 40. The problem with weight is that insulin residence increases as you gain weight which in turn leads to more weight gain. I found my control was starting to get very bad. It has, however, improved now I am making a concerted effort to lose weight. I find that I have to watch both my carbs and fat intake. You can still enjoy good food and wine just less of it. If I have something like lasagne I tend to have only a small portion but a large one of salad. Filling your plate with salad and/or vegetables is the key. Wine can be problematical (empty calories) so try to stick to one glass a day. By joining the forum you have made a start. Remember any questions there will always be someone to help you out.
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Yes Stephen - type II - all my own fault because I am a big fat pig - I stopped smoking 18 years ago and have been getting bigger and bigger ever since.
The medicine I miss regularly is novanorm.

I have loads of questions but am getting nervous because of the answers I have found - too much info for someone who wants to keep her head in the sand.

I don't understand all these letters/numbers that people keep giving to their present state of health - HbA1C, for example.
 
Good luck with your training etc ! Try to do something every day & keep us posted how you are getting on. (short walks & then increse them) 🙂
 
Geraldineto said:
Yes Stephen - type II - all my own fault because I am a big fat pig - I stopped smoking 18 years ago and have been getting bigger and bigger ever since.
The medicine I miss regularly is novanorm.

I have loads of questions but am getting nervous because of the answers I have found - too much info for someone who wants to keep her head in the sand.

I don't understand all these letters/numbers that people keep giving to their present state of health - HbA1C, for example.
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See my post #2, where I tried to explain HbA1c, units etc.
 
Copepod said:
See my post #2, where I tried to explain HbA1c, units etc.
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Thank you so much.

I am now getting a bit frightened - I haven't taken diabetes seriously at all.
I went to the gym for an hour early this morning then came back home where I immediately fell sound asleep, I was so very tired.

Tomorrow I have a swimming lesson.
 
What's past is past - it's what you do in the future that matter.

Enjoy your swimming tomorrow. I'm doing my first indoors deep water running session tomorrow, as lido, where I used my lifejacket, has closed, so will be taking my new foam swimming belt to an indoor pool - it's the best rehab towards running for my knee injury.
 
Hiya

As others have said what's past is past - the important thing now is what you do in the futire, isn't it?

Here in UK we get 15 annual healthchecks - although some of them are not applicable to everyone eg pregnancy advice, stop smoking advice, losing weight advice (yes some of us are thin LOL) and certainly at LEAST one HbA1c test annually, usually more. You could do a lot worse than have a look at the website for Diabetes UK http://www.diabetes.org.uk/ which has tons of useful info on it as well as this forum.

However the most useful thing you can do is to start testing your blood sugar yourself on a regular basis, using a meter - proper term is a Glucometer - which will tell you how you are doing as you go along at different times of the day ...... and which foods are good for your bloodd sugar and which ain't. You may not be able to safely consume a whole spaghetti mountain, but you may be able to manage a hill - and that entitles you to extra sauce - if that's low/nil carbohydrate!

And look; I've no idea about the Health system in Italy but here to be 110% truthful, if healthcare professionals criticise nad make you feel guilty about past actions then frankly they aren't very good healthcare professionals - what they should do - and hopefully nowadays more of em do - is encourage you to help yourself and not be critical. My Diabetes nurse (who I really like and look forward to seeing) never says 'You shouldn't have done that!' - she says something like 'That might not have been the best plan' instead ! LOL
 
Hi, been away for a few days. To start getting your diabetes under control you do need to start taking your tablets regulary. They have been prescibed to work in conjunction with your insulin. If there are issues (e.g. bad side effects) with them you need to see your GP. Irregular medication is not good for anyone.

How is it going otherwise?
 
StephenM said:
Hi, been away for a few days. To start getting your diabetes under control you do need to start taking your tablets regulary. They have been prescibed to work in conjunction with your insulin. If there are issues (e.g. bad side effects) with them you need to see your GP. Irregular medication is not good for anyone.

How is it going otherwise?
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Failing miserably in everything :(
 
Don't feel like that!

To err is human - to forgive, divine.

We are ALL human here and therefore, fallible.

Resolve to change ONE thing. Don't try and do all of it at once - No-one can eat a whole elephant! - you have to divide the elephant up into bite-sized pieces.

Decide on one thing. Do it.

I suggest you resolve to take the tablets and get into that habit. I dunno how many you take or when - What's it to be?
 
trophywench said:
Don't feel like that!

To err is human - to forgive, divine.

We are ALL human here and therefore, fallible.

Resolve to change ONE thing. Don't try and do all of it at once - No-one can eat a whole elephant! - you have to divide the elephant up into bite-sized pieces.

Decide on one thing. Do it.

I suggest you resolve to take the tablets and get into that habit. I dunno how many you take or when - What's it to be?
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You are such a lovely person - thank you for your kindness. I am just waste of space and find it difficult to care anymore.
 
Geraldineto said:
You are such a lovely person - thank you for your kindness. I am just waste of space and find it difficult to care anymore.
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I very much doubt that is true. A chronic disease is very overwhelming but with a little help it can be controlled and no one should give up hope. Come on.... we can help.
 
You are so NOT a waste of space.

Stop saying stuff like that!

Someone else very wise told me one day in my 20's 'You are a warm and wonderful human being. If other people don't find those qualities in you - then that's THEIR loss - not yours!'

I also had a deputy headmaster who overawed me, new school and all that - told me when I was 11 years old what he'd not been told till he was in his 20's but it was so useful he wanted to share it - if I was ever scared of anyone (an authority figure he meant) just to imagine them sitting on the loo having a number two ...... generally does the trick, have to say!
 
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