Thirsty for more...

[aparsonsmoore]

So first post here.

Just before lockdown I was necking OJ like a Premier League footballer on Cristal Champagne. This was coupled with unhealthy nocturnal weeing sessions that made me consider me moving my duvet into the bathroom. Then there was the weight loss, which in typical gallows humour, some friends said was a good thing unless it was the big C. In the end, I carried out some research and decided that I had diabetes.

Having submitted myself to some blood tests, I received a call from the 101 duty doctor at 1am and 2am in the morning. Having failed to carry out any attempts to verify my identity, they declared that I had diabetes and needed to speak to my GP in the morning. It was a bleary eyed and unusual introduction to diabetes.

Despite this, the diabetic nurse at my GP practice was very helpful. I received a glucose meter and was prescribed Metformin and Glicliazde. Thereafter, I immediately gave up sugar in coffee, biscuits sweets etc. The cycling that I had given up on 5 years ago resumed - my feeling was that work had dominated my life far too much and that this was a wake-up call. I don't think this is unreasonable, 5 years ago I could cycle 170 miles in a day and due to a high pressure job had given this up.

A few months later and my bloods are OK and the diabetic nurse has said, following a review, that I have made good progress. I've now joined a cycling club and my best ride home from work 13 miles away was done at 18mph. In all, I feel far healthier than I have done for a very long time. I am of course worried for the future and have some residual concerns - I also hate the fact that it has taken this to promote a healthier lifestyle. Nevertheless, I believe that you need to embrace positivity in order to bring about the change you want in your life.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @aparsonsmoore

Good to hear your story so far, and well done on restarting your cycling.

Ask away with any questions you have as they arise. We are a friendly bunch and there are literally centuries of lived diabetes experience to consult on the boards - every person finding their own unique way to balance their diabetes, food, life, and whatever medications they take.

For a bit more background information, the ‘useful links’ thread is a mine of helpful information - useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes

Additionally, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s T2 diabetes, the first year, as very good starting points to begin to understand what diabetes is and what your options are.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis but sounds like you have done amazingly well to improve your levels through diet, exercise and medication.

I feel I want to comment on a few of the things you mention in your post.

Firstly, if you are unfortunate enough to be hit by the raging thirst again, orange juice is one of the worst things you can drink to quench it. The thirst is caused by your kidneys trying to remove glucose from your blood because the levels are very high and this causes you to wee it out in your urine. Orange juice is very high in natural sugar and by drinking that you are putting the glucose straight back into your blood stream and defeating your body's glucose overflow system which is trying to protect you from dangerously high levels. Water is by far the best choice of fluid to drink in this situation.

Secondly, you are being treated as a Type 2 diabetic(oral meds), but you have displayed at least 3 of the 4 Ts of Type 1 diabetes.... Thirst, Toilet, Thinner.... the 4th one which you don't mention but may have also been present is Tiredness. The weight loss (Thinner) is much more of an indication of Type 1 than the other symptoms and is noticeable because it is often muscle mass rather than fat that you lose.... I know I kept looking down at my forearms and wrists and thinking they didn't look like mine anymore. Type 2 diabetics usually put more weight on at least until they are diagnosed and change their diet.

I am guessing that your HbA1c reading was quite high at diagnosis for them to start you on Metformin and Gliclazide. Do you know what it was and what it is now?
The Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas to produce more insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system sets upon the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas and starts killing them off. If you have a slower onset form of Type 1 diabetes, which is more common later in life, the die off of beta cells is slower so your remaining beta cells are currently being put under increasing pressure by the Gliclazide to work harder. Your change of diet and increased exercise regime will be making it a bit easier for them to cope but there may come a point when they also succumb to the attack from your immune system and your levels suddenly increase and the oral meds no longer have any effect.... and you may get hit by the thirst again, which is why I mentioned that first point.

Many Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are unaware that Type 1 diabetes can exhibit in later life so assume you must be Type 2 if you are middle aged. This slower onset Type 1 is often referred to as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) or Type 1.5 and will initially respond to Type 2 oral medication but suddenly levels will rise again... this may be months or even years later and eventually insulin will be required. Many people remain misdiagnosed as Type 2 and it is just assumed that the condition has progressed even though the patient has followed all the healthy advice given and it can lead people to feel like they have somehow failed, especially with all the current publicity about pushing diabetes into remission through drastic low calorie diets etc. Many of us feel that it is important to get the correct diagnosis so that you can learn more about managing your condition and get the correct treatment. Being Type 1 also means you have access to different insulin regimes and technology to manage it than most Type 2 diabetics.

Anyway, I hope I am wrong and you are a Type 2 diabetic who is able to push things into remission via lifestyle changes.

The final thing to mention is that diabetes is not just about sugar. The digestive system turns all carbohydrates into glucose which are them absorbed into the blood stream, so it doesn't matter if it is 2 spoonfuls of sugar in your tea or half a slice of thick cut bread, or a small apple.... all of which contain about 10g of carbs.... they wind up in your blood stream and need insulin to help remove it, so those beta cells need to get fired up to produce it. Reducing your portion size of all carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, breakfast cereals, fruit (including dried and juiced) as well as the sweets cakes and biscuits should lessen the strain on those beta cells and hopefully give them a little more longevity.

 

[aparsonsmoore]

Hi
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis but sounds like you have done amazingly well to improve your levels through diet, exercise and medication.

I feel I want to comment on a few of the things you mention in your post.

Firstly, if you are unfortunate enough to be hit by the raging thirst again, orange juice is one of the worst things you can drink to quench it. The thirst is caused by your kidneys trying to remove glucose from your blood because the levels are very high and this causes you to wee it out in your urine. Orange juice is very high in natural sugar and by drinking that you are putting the glucose straight back into your blood stream and defeating your body's glucose overflow system which is trying to protect you from dangerously high levels. Water is by far the best choice of fluid to drink in this situation.

Secondly, you are being treated as a Type 2 diabetic(oral meds), but you have displayed at least 3 of the 4 Ts of Type 1 diabetes.... Thirst, Toilet, Thinner.... the 4th one which you don't mention but may have also been present is Tiredness. The weight loss (Thinner) is much more of an indication of Type 1 than the other symptoms and is noticeable because it is often muscle mass rather than fat that you lose.... I know I kept looking down at my forearms and wrists and thinking they didn't look like mine anymore. Type 2 diabetics usually put more weight on at least until they are diagnosed and change their diet.

I am guessing that your HbA1c reading was quite high at diagnosis for them to start you on Metformin and Gliclazide. Do you know what it was and what it is now?
The Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas to produce more insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system sets upon the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas and starts killing them off. If you have a slower onset form of Type 1 diabetes, which is more common later in life, the die off of beta cells is slower so your remaining beta cells are currently being put under increasing pressure by the Gliclazide to work harder. Your change of diet and increased exercise regime will be making it a bit easier for them to cope but there may come a point when they also succumb to the attack from your immune system and your levels suddenly increase and the oral meds no longer have any effect.... and you may get hit by the thirst again, which is why I mentioned that first point.

Many Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are unaware that Type 1 diabetes can exhibit in later life so assume you must be Type 2 if you are middle aged. This slower onset Type 1 is often referred to as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) or Type 1.5 and will initially respond to Type 2 oral medication but suddenly levels will rise again... this may be months or even years later and eventually insulin will be required. Many people remain misdiagnosed as Type 2 and it is just assumed that the condition has progressed even though the patient has followed all the healthy advice given and it can lead people to feel like they have somehow failed, especially with all the current publicity about pushing diabetes into remission through drastic low calorie diets etc. Many of us feel that it is important to get the correct diagnosis so that you can learn more about managing your condition and get the correct treatment. Being Type 1 also means you have access to different insulin regimes and technology to manage it than most Type 2 diabetics.

Anyway, I hope I am wrong and you are a Type 2 diabetic who is able to push things into remission via lifestyle changes.

The final thing to mention is that diabetes is not just about sugar. The digestive system turns all carbohydrates into glucose which are them absorbed into the blood stream, so it doesn't matter if it is 2 spoonfuls of sugar in your tea or half a slice of thick cut bread, or a small apple.... all of which contain about 10g of carbs.... they wind up in your blood stream and need insulin to help remove it, so those beta cells need to get fired up to produce it. Reducing your portion size of all carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, breakfast cereals, fruit (including dried and juiced) as well as the sweets cakes and biscuits should lessen the strain on those beta cells and hopefully give them a little more longevity.

Thank you for this information - I'll have a look into this. All very new and with my job (I'm a teacher) everything tends to get pushed to the back whilst I focus on teaching.