Nine months in & confidence beginning to flounder a bit...

[NotWorriedAtAll]

To begin with when I was diagnosed in January with Type 2 I was all gung ho and determined to reverse it as soon as possible.
I started off with hba1c 77 and was put on 500mg Metformin once a day.
I did some research and went onto a low carb (40g a day) regime and stuck to it for a month or so.
Then I decided to go full on keto with LCHF and I've been keeping to fewer than 20g a day ever since with very rare days when I go higher than that.
My second hba1c - 55 - in May
and my third was 42 - in August

At that point I realised the Metformin made me feel I had to eat carbs I didn't want or enjoy in order to justify taking it because some days my carb intake might be lower than 10g and I felt that suited me but I found myself stuffing carb foods to bring it up to 20g because of the Metformin and my glucose levels seemed to peak and trough a lot while taking it.

I have a glucose meter and I found that my levels improved to a fairly steady 6.1mmol/L- 6.7mmol/L once I stopped taking Metformin altogether and stopped eating extra carbohydrates just to feel safe taking Metformin.

So I am now at the point where I have a 'fasting' level of around 5.4mmol/L and whenever I check my levels after meals it is at most 6.8 but usually between 6.1mmol/L and 6.2mmol/L

I am slowly losing weight at a rate of about a pound a week which I need to do and I've got a few stone to go before I get to where I used to be in my twenties (I am 58 next month)

I feel better than I have for decades. I enjoy my new way of eating more than I enjoyed eating before my diagnosis and everything seems great. Even my mood has improved - I used to get very low moods but these days I am mostly on an even keel.

But I have this awful nagging feeling that it is too good to be true and I must have missed something and really there is some awful disaster looming.

My liver functions are normal - back in January I had signs of early fatty liver disease but that has gone now, my blood pressure is fine and I take mild doses of propranolol to deal with social anxiety. I used to have problems with gallstone pain but since going keto I haven't had one twinge from that area which is counter-intuitive as I was a bit wary that high fat would kick it off - but it hasn't at all.

Stuff keeps coming up in my Facebook feed telling me about all sorts of scary things about diabetes like hypos and lots of things about how terrible it is to live with diabetes.

So I am starting to get worried now.

The initial adrenaline rush of needing to be positive and focus on getting well is tailing off and it feels like it has been too easy and I must be headed for a fall of some sort.

Is it possible that I've just been super-lucky and I can just keep on eating low carb high fat and being happy and healthy?

 

[Docb]

What you have demonstrated is that getting on top of high blood glucose is perfectly feasible (at least for many with T2) by relatively sensible measures and that the stuff you are reading on facebook is a load of cr*p and best ignored.

Well done!

 

[Eddy Edson]

Facebook is a snakepit of lies, cluelessness and scumbaggery and everybody should just turn it off.

Well done on getting things under control!

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

It sounds as though you are doing really well, @NotWorriedAtAll and you should be living up to your username!
I'm not on Facebook so sorry if this is a stupid question, but is there not any way of turning off that feed? - it doesn't sound at all helpful. Apart from anything else, you are certainly not going to have any hypos - you're not on any hypo-inducing meds.

 

[Drummer]

I am almost three years from diagnosis and like you I feel so much better for going low carb and ditching the tablets.
As a type two you are very unlikely to have hypos - my own take on it is keep doing the low carb and there is nothing to worry about.
So far so good.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Woke up super early and still slightly anxious about things.
Checked my levels because I've been getting early morning high-ish readings and this morning it was 6.3mmol/L
Came here and read the responses which made me feel a whole lot better!
Thank you all.
I think part of my new anxiety is because a friend of mine has been recently diagnosed and they have been very upset by their diagnosis and yet not changed their dietary habits other than eating more carbs as 'comfort food.' They are planning to go onto LCHF under supervision and I am trying to be supportive without interfering or nagging. I think I will get along much better if I ignore the Facebook stuff and come here for 'real person' Diabetes info.
The GP 'diabetes expert' I saw once was very pleased with my progress and apart from the diabetes nurse who is a bit concerned that me eating cream cakes (homemade keto versions) and jam (chia seed berry jam) when I didn't eat much sweet stuff before diagnosis will be raising my blood cholesterol - everyone on the medical side has been very supportive and mostly let me choose my path for dealing with this.

I was relieved that my eyes showed no signs of damage when checked. Although I do get blurry vision first thing in the morning sometimes.
My only health issue now is a constant struggle with PCOS as I am oestrogen resistant (seems my body is prone to resisting stuff! LOLS) and a menopause that simply won't 'take' but I am hoping that once my weight drops below a certain point the hormones will rebalance.

I use natural progesterone cream (again with medical approval from a consultant) so everything seems to be under control and I have a CPAP machine which again I hope to be able to 'grow out of' once my weight comes down.

I think all my health issues are inter-related and it is tricky to work out which caused what but I suspect it was all mostly triggered by chronic high levels of stress caused by being carer to two close family members with degenerative genetic disorders over the past three decades. I am getting a handle on that now (I am a slow learner!!) so fingers crossed I am hopeful for the future.

My next step is to start increasing my exercise levels which is less daunting now I am feeling less bulky.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sounds like you are doing brilliantly @NotWorriedAtAll

Keep going and try not to worry about some of the scariness in Facebook - you are feeling better and have great blood glucose management. Keep at it, and attend your regular checks which will ensure you have peace of mind that nothing untoward is happening behind the scenes 🙂

 

[SB2015]

Good to hear that you are diong is well with the changes you have made @NotWorriedAtAll .

You know that what you are doing works, There is help on here when needed from people who are ‘doing it’ every day. Most definitely more reliable than unknown people no facebook.