Pharmacist diagnosed with Type 2

[wigasaurus]

Hi everyone,
So I just got my formal diagnosis today with an HbA1C of 6.6% or 49 in "old money" This is improved from my test in Feb which was 6.8% or 51. I'm properly gutted and feel immense guilt as I'm a GP Practice based Pharmacist with 22 years experience working in Hospital Pharmacy and know quite a bit about diabetes and the meds to treat it etc and yet this has happened. I was quite unwell last year due to gall stones blocking my pancreas and causing pancreatitis. I think this has contributed to this happening but isn't 100% the cause as i was already a bit overweight. There's lots of talk on Diabetes UK about LCHF diets/ ketogenic diets and how it can "reverse" Type 2. My cholesterol is not good so this isn't an option for me so I'm doing low carb and low fat and living the life of a Nun when eating food. Beige foods are banned etc. I exercise twice a week and dog walk everyday. Is there anything else folk can recommend to help shift my excess weight, as I don't really want to be on metformin for the rest of my life. Thanks

 

[HOBIE]

Welcome Wigasaurus. Life at times ? I regularly talk to students who are training to be pharmacists 🙂 Good luck

 

[Drummer]

I did not do low fat - though natural fat is possibly more descriptive of my diet. That was after almost two years of following a low fat high carb diet to 'lower cholesterol' - which did not work.
After a few weeks on the more Atkins type of diet (I used the diet sheets to light a barbecue the day after diagnosis) my cholesterol was 'much better' - aren't you glad you stuck to the diet the nurse asked, and when told what I'd been eating claimed it was a delayed response to the low fat.
Yeah - right.
Low carb has helped me drop four sizes, and was always great for weight control and energy in the past, despite all the bad publicity, so I just can't back up what I have been told is good for me, it never worked - and now my diabetes has just gone away, as long as I don't eat carbohydrates in excess of what I can cope with.

 

[eggyg]

Hi everyone,
So I just got my formal diagnosis today with an HbA1C of 6.6% or 49 in "old money" This is improved from my test in Feb which was 6.8% or 51. I'm properly gutted and feel immense guilt as I'm a GP Practice based Pharmacist with 22 years experience working in Hospital Pharmacy and know quite a bit about diabetes and the meds to treat it etc and yet this has happened. I was quite unwell last year due to gall stones blocking my pancreas and causing pancreatitis. I think this has contributed to this happening but isn't 100% the cause as i was already a bit overweight. There's lots of talk on Diabetes UK about LCHF diets/ ketogenic diets and how it can "reverse" Type 2. My cholesterol is not good so this isn't an option for me so I'm doing low carb and low fat and living the life of a Nun when eating food. Beige foods are banned etc. I exercise twice a week and dog walk everyday. Is there anything else folk can recommend to help shift my excess weight, as I don't really want to be on metformin for the rest of my life. Thanks

Welcome to the club no one wants to join. Have you heard of Type 3c Diabetes? That’s when your pancreas has been damaged due to illness or trauma so don’t blame yourself about your diagnosis. Your pancreas becomes damaged after a pancreatitis attack and doesn’t recover. If you find that the usual diet/exercise/ type 2 meds don't seem to make any difference when you would expect them to, mention Type 3c to your GP. They probably won’t have heard of it though! Good luck. PS I’m a type 3c, there isn’t a drop down box for it though!

 

[mikeyB]

There no need to feel guilt just because you’re in the medical trade, it’s not your fault you’ve joined the diabetes community. I’ve got five chronic conditions on the latest count, and I used to be a GP.

Sounds like you’re moving in the right direction, though. Keep up the good work, and best of luck🙂

With regard to Eggy’s comment, if you made a full recovery from the pancreatitis with no recurrence it’s likely that the pancreas should last you a lifetime.

 

[CathyB]

Hi and welcome 🙂 please don’t feel guilty, we are a wide mix here and not everyone was overweight on diagnosis. I was overweight but also have a history of type 2 on both sides of my family so chances are it would have happened anyway, for me it has been a really positive experience so don’t feel bad! Like you I was also high with my cholesterol but I did choose the low carb high fat approach and now a year on, my cholesterol and blood glucose are both in normal range, my metformin has been halved and I’m being taken off it completely at my next appointment in May as long as my readings are still in range. I’m not a gym person so the only exercise I do is walking my neighbours dog, in the last year I have lost just under 4 stone so don’t be scared of the LCHF approach.....it works 😉

 

[Martin Canty]

natural fat is possibly more descriptive of my diet

Love the phrase......

Welcome @wigasaurus .... Regarding LCHF, it's really a bit of a misnomer (in how I interpret it at least) it's really an expression of the where your energy comes from. My diet consists of pretty much the same amount of fat as pre DX, just all "Natural Fats" (thanks @Drummer ).... Where I actually scored on the Cholesterol front is reducing the carbs.

As you can see from my signature line, I'm drug free, takes work but it can be possible,