Gwynn
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
A bit of a long post, sorry.
The diagnosis was in. The shock ripping my brain apart. Life over. Disaster.... or was it?
There were some things that went wrong, but then there were some things that went right too.
What went wrong...
1. I missed the early signs of diabetes. The GP failed to inform me when I was prediabetic and I had just not noticed. Busy stressful life! Symptoms initially crept up on me.
2. I had ignored early signs as they slowly, but progressively got worse, as I just thought that it was normal aging and how I felt wasn't too bad most of the time.
3. On hospitalisation, diagnosis, & medication, I felt utterly alone, lost, defeated, bewildered, confused & angry. Angry at myself for being so stupid allowing my health to decline. Angry at the NHS for not informing me when it was discovered that I was prediabetic. Angry that I didn't know what to do.
4. At first I thought that it was all about too much sugar and planned my daily meals around reducing that.
5. Then it was the NHS advised low fat diet. Fat was the enemy. Diet thinking changed.
6. Then I thought that it was all about calories and planned my meals around reducing those
7. Then food became my enemy. All foods. I couldn't eat anything. Panic!
8. Confused, I had no real feedback about what I could eat and how the foods I did eat then affected my blood glucose levels. I had not realised that no food was actually banned - (I just needed to know what was 'in' the food and adjust things accordingly). I did not know that it was the carbohydrates in food that my body struggled to cope with.
9. I had very little knowledge about diabetes, well, none really. Nor what it meant, nor what I could do to help myself.
10. I honestly thought that there was no way back and that my life was over, ruined. I felt depressed.
11. The mountain to climb back to good health was too high, impossible to climb, why bother? That was my original thinking before I slapped myself sensible again.
But things also went right too
1. The NHS DID hospitalise me when I became very ill and my eyes were opened to my condition
2. I realised that it was not just aging or normal wear and tear of life. I was ill.
3. I scoured the internet, bought books, found this forum and started to really learn about my condition and what some had successfully done for thrmselves. I liked that and wanted that for myself if possible.
4. I quickly discoved that sugar was not the whole story and my planning, writing out foods to eat based just on cutting those out was not enough. Wrong thinking. But it started me off in the right direction in terms of binning all those junk foods I liked, but were doing me no good at all.
5. I looked at the NHS advice regarding low fat diets and read on here about how that is not quite the right thing. Started off on that before I read here about it. But that made me realise that I was way overweight. So I became determined to reduce my weight down to the NHS recommendation.
6. So I thought that it was all about reducung the calories I ate. However, this forum put me straight. It is actually all about carbohydrates and reducing those. It had never occured to me before.
7. Food became my enemy until I really delved into it, looking up all foods and their carbohydrate content. Before I had thought that there would never be enough food types so that I could enjoy food again. How wrong I was. There are plenty of foods with lower carbohydrate content and in fact, as long as I knew what the carbs were for any food, I could accomodate them, and now, with all the rubbish foods gone from my diet too, real food started to taste better, gorgeous even. No food was really completely banned!
8. But without feedback, I was driving blind. So I decided that testing my BG, recording my health stats and every single food and meal I consumed would help. I needed to know what foods affected my BG and how. I used an App to record everything. Tiresome? No, because it showed me directly how I was doing and I could adjust my meals on the fly to balance across each day. I could see the progress, which was motivating.
9. Through the brilliant people on this forum, tons of research, testing, and recording, I learned about me, not just about diabetes. I took as much control and responsibility as I could. It wasn't a burden managing my health, it IS a joy. I had failed to manage my health before and had landed up in hospital. Now I could perhaps reverse things, with help.
10. With all the measures I put in place and with the help of the people on this forum, and with the help of the NHS, (when switched on), things are looking good. I feel well with lots of energy and BG levels are stable in the right range. The food I eat is great and I don't miss those sweets and stuff I used to crave.
11. Yes, the mountain was huge. But if I was to be my own hero I had to at least try to climb it, but do so with goals and determination. The goals were essential. I needed to see progress not just slog. Determination was also essential because all climbs have easy bits and tougher bits. Climbing a mountain doesn't happen in an instant, it takes time, planning, strategy, and help (for us mere mortals). For me, the diabetes mountain, is a life long change (of pretty much everything), so I had better make it pleasant, not a chore. Mountains are scary places too, full of dangers, but we manage those dangers with knowledge and skills. Skills are learned through successes and failures (and we all have those). Diabetes is a scary place but I am managing it better and better as my skills improve. But, all mountains hold surprises, and diabetes will throw a spanner in the works from time to time.
12. Panic is not the way. Yes panic is probably how many of us feel at first, but it needs to be replaced with learning and actions that help. And the odd high or BG is not a matter for panic but for adjustment or simply further consideration.
It all reminds me of a book where the hero was in the midst of impending disaster and the author, lost as to how to extricate his hero wrote...
"And with a giant leap..."
The diagnosis was in. The shock ripping my brain apart. Life over. Disaster.... or was it?
There were some things that went wrong, but then there were some things that went right too.
What went wrong...
1. I missed the early signs of diabetes. The GP failed to inform me when I was prediabetic and I had just not noticed. Busy stressful life! Symptoms initially crept up on me.
2. I had ignored early signs as they slowly, but progressively got worse, as I just thought that it was normal aging and how I felt wasn't too bad most of the time.
3. On hospitalisation, diagnosis, & medication, I felt utterly alone, lost, defeated, bewildered, confused & angry. Angry at myself for being so stupid allowing my health to decline. Angry at the NHS for not informing me when it was discovered that I was prediabetic. Angry that I didn't know what to do.
4. At first I thought that it was all about too much sugar and planned my daily meals around reducing that.
5. Then it was the NHS advised low fat diet. Fat was the enemy. Diet thinking changed.
6. Then I thought that it was all about calories and planned my meals around reducing those
7. Then food became my enemy. All foods. I couldn't eat anything. Panic!
8. Confused, I had no real feedback about what I could eat and how the foods I did eat then affected my blood glucose levels. I had not realised that no food was actually banned - (I just needed to know what was 'in' the food and adjust things accordingly). I did not know that it was the carbohydrates in food that my body struggled to cope with.
9. I had very little knowledge about diabetes, well, none really. Nor what it meant, nor what I could do to help myself.
10. I honestly thought that there was no way back and that my life was over, ruined. I felt depressed.
11. The mountain to climb back to good health was too high, impossible to climb, why bother? That was my original thinking before I slapped myself sensible again.
But things also went right too
1. The NHS DID hospitalise me when I became very ill and my eyes were opened to my condition
2. I realised that it was not just aging or normal wear and tear of life. I was ill.
3. I scoured the internet, bought books, found this forum and started to really learn about my condition and what some had successfully done for thrmselves. I liked that and wanted that for myself if possible.
4. I quickly discoved that sugar was not the whole story and my planning, writing out foods to eat based just on cutting those out was not enough. Wrong thinking. But it started me off in the right direction in terms of binning all those junk foods I liked, but were doing me no good at all.
5. I looked at the NHS advice regarding low fat diets and read on here about how that is not quite the right thing. Started off on that before I read here about it. But that made me realise that I was way overweight. So I became determined to reduce my weight down to the NHS recommendation.
6. So I thought that it was all about reducung the calories I ate. However, this forum put me straight. It is actually all about carbohydrates and reducing those. It had never occured to me before.
7. Food became my enemy until I really delved into it, looking up all foods and their carbohydrate content. Before I had thought that there would never be enough food types so that I could enjoy food again. How wrong I was. There are plenty of foods with lower carbohydrate content and in fact, as long as I knew what the carbs were for any food, I could accomodate them, and now, with all the rubbish foods gone from my diet too, real food started to taste better, gorgeous even. No food was really completely banned!
8. But without feedback, I was driving blind. So I decided that testing my BG, recording my health stats and every single food and meal I consumed would help. I needed to know what foods affected my BG and how. I used an App to record everything. Tiresome? No, because it showed me directly how I was doing and I could adjust my meals on the fly to balance across each day. I could see the progress, which was motivating.
9. Through the brilliant people on this forum, tons of research, testing, and recording, I learned about me, not just about diabetes. I took as much control and responsibility as I could. It wasn't a burden managing my health, it IS a joy. I had failed to manage my health before and had landed up in hospital. Now I could perhaps reverse things, with help.
10. With all the measures I put in place and with the help of the people on this forum, and with the help of the NHS, (when switched on), things are looking good. I feel well with lots of energy and BG levels are stable in the right range. The food I eat is great and I don't miss those sweets and stuff I used to crave.
11. Yes, the mountain was huge. But if I was to be my own hero I had to at least try to climb it, but do so with goals and determination. The goals were essential. I needed to see progress not just slog. Determination was also essential because all climbs have easy bits and tougher bits. Climbing a mountain doesn't happen in an instant, it takes time, planning, strategy, and help (for us mere mortals). For me, the diabetes mountain, is a life long change (of pretty much everything), so I had better make it pleasant, not a chore. Mountains are scary places too, full of dangers, but we manage those dangers with knowledge and skills. Skills are learned through successes and failures (and we all have those). Diabetes is a scary place but I am managing it better and better as my skills improve. But, all mountains hold surprises, and diabetes will throw a spanner in the works from time to time.
12. Panic is not the way. Yes panic is probably how many of us feel at first, but it needs to be replaced with learning and actions that help. And the odd high or BG is not a matter for panic but for adjustment or simply further consideration.
It all reminds me of a book where the hero was in the midst of impending disaster and the author, lost as to how to extricate his hero wrote...
"And with a giant leap..."
