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Why do diabetics not take things seriously?

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Ipsi

Ipsi

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I've been diagnosed diabetic for five years. My hba1c came in at 55 and the docs wanted to put me on a ton of tablets. I wasn't having any of it so I cut out all c**p from my diet and started exercising way more. Two years later my hba1c was 46, with a two stone loss of weight but a muscle gain of a stone, so three stone of fat lost. I was happily diet controlling. Then, suddenly, my hba1c was 88! So I bit the bullet and am on meds (metformin &, for a little while, now stopped, glyclazide). I stepped up the exercise even more and I'm now at an hba1c of 42, just two months after being 88, & still dropping.
The point I'd like to make is: I keep seeing diabetics whingeing about wanting biscuit or a choc ice or some jam or any other kind of psychologically addictive c**p they have stuck in their heads. I used to eat loads of c**p foods. For five years I have eaten NONE - except for one jelly baby that my granddaughter gave me two Christmases ago. Diabetes is a serious condition: just grow up and completely cut out the foods you know you shouldn't eat, COMPLETELY, and GET MORE EXERCISE! It's that easy. Even doing everything right, diabetes can still come back and bite you and I, for one, don't want to go blind, have renal failure or lose extremities because I think a hob-nob is more important than my long term health.
Everyone's diabetes manifests a little differently - whatever I do, I can't get my BG below 8 when I wake up. It then (usually) gradually drops to around 6, or just under by the time I go to bed. But I know if I eat unnecessary sugar or simple carbs it will not be that low and could be 10 in the morning... ...so I don't eat sugars or simple carbs. Fresh veg, fruit, nuts & plenty of meat. That's all you need. I've literally heard diabetics tell me that they "can't live without a biscuit"... ...I can't print what I want to say to them, what I do say is to grow up. Stamping your feet because you can't have a biscuit when you're five is understandable. Doing the same thing at fifty is, frankly, pathetic.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
 
Welcome Ipsy. What an attitude to kick off with!
You sound extremely virtuous and well done to you.
Sadly everyone on here isn't able to exercise more and we don't all have your amazing willpower either.
Some of us struggle for all sorts of reasons. This forum is to help us all not make us feel guilty because we don't find it as easy as you!
 
Of course that's the attitude everyone ideally should have in an ideal world Ipsy but then real life and the real world intervenes. There are 'unwise' temptations everywhere and they taste damm good too! I incorporate some treats into my diet but now it's by choice and calculation. My last Hba1c was 40 without meds. Some days I struggle and some days I want to feel like everyone else and share a piece of cake with a friend. There's psychological drivers at work too. Exercise is hard when you have other physical disabilities and many people on here have additional health issues that impact on their fitness and emotional well being.

You keep doing what works for you but please be wary of criticising those who struggle. The diabetics who deny by choice or couldn't care less are a different matter and there's plenty of those about.
 
Some of us have type 1, which is an autoimmune condition and not at all linked to lifestyle, weight, food etc. As pointed out above, some people have mobility issues and multiple conditions. Victim blaming isn't what this site is about.
 
Who said it was easy? There's a difference between easy and necessary. That said, I take your point that many people might not be able to take responsibility for their own condition as easily. My own experience as a newly diagnosed diabetic was that information was sparse from health professionals, with no depth of explanation and a frequent dumbing down to the point of being inaccurate or misleading. I was aware how serious a disease diabetes could be, so I did my own research (still on-going after 5 years). Back then (I don't know if they still happen) there was a kind of diabetes induction "course" held by the local NHS Trust for newly diagnosed diabetics. I was disgusted by the flagrant infantilising by the people who ran the course of those of us taking it and determined that I would make sure I was knowledgeable enough to manage my own condition. I have always encouraged other diabetics to do the same. Sometimes we are given excellent advice by healthcare professionals and, sometimes, frankly, we're not. The only way to combat that is to be very aware of and, as much as you can be, in control of your condition. Sites like this, although I'm new here and haven't explored much, must be extremely helpful to many people in that regard. It does take effort and it does take you out of your comfort zone but taking responsibility for your own situation starts with as close to full understanding of it as you can and, whilst I could be construed as being harsh, it's with the best of intents, i.e. to get diabetics to do what is necessary to properly manage their condition. Everyone's diabetes manifests a little differently but, seriously, it is universally true that NO BISCUITS is good advice. Incidentally, I'm saying nothing about type I, as I don't have it and haven't spent a tenth of the time investigating it. Everything I say relates to type II.
 
Ipsi said:
Sites like this, although I'm new here and haven't explored much, must be extremely helpful to many people in that regard. It does take effort and it does take you out of your comfort zone but taking responsibility for your own situation starts with as close to full understanding of it as you can and, whilst I could be construed as being harsh, it's with the best of intents, i.e. to get diabetics to do what is necessary to properly manage their condition.
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Welcome to the forum 🙂 The vast majority of people who seek out help, support and advice on a forum are highly-motivated to look after themselves, so I think you're probably addressing the wrong audience here. I'd also say that, whilst you may not be able to understand why anyone has problems when it is all clear and straightforward, trying to convince them using aggression and blame is probably not the most productive approach.
 
@Ipsi firstly welcome to the forum and secondly could you please split your posts into paragraphs as some people have problems reading a block of text. Thank you 🙂

As to the bit I managed to read.......... bottom line we are all human thus we are not perfect. Diet we sort our own out to suit our own needs not anyone elses.

A sledge hammer is not needed on this forum 😉🙂
 
OK. To all who responded:

Points taken.

I get that sledgehammers may crack nuts but I was nuts to start off with one. I've been frustrated by friends and family that are diabetic and telling me that I can eat whatever I like etc. and then wonder why they can't manage their condition. As you can probably imagine from my first post I come from a very recalcitrant family.

I also accept that a bit of investigation of the site first may well have led me to the fairly obvious conclusion (in hindsight) that the kind of person who doesn't even attempt to manage their diabetes is unlikely to be on this forum.

I will state, however, that I wasn't blaming anyone for their condition, or for their inability to manage it. In the five years I've been researching I have come to a complete rejection of the idea that diabetes is caused by lifestyle (given all the societal & genetic factors involved) and take great offence at healthcare professionals who attempt to promulgate that viewpoint - especially, as happened to me, from a doctor who is herself obese. In fact, I pointed out in my first post, that my hba1c shot up to 88 despite my best efforts.

It's not blame I'm pushing but increased knowledge and awareness.

Neither am I aggressive. If you met me you'd agree, but my typing style often comes across that way - English lessons to moderate it would be appreciated since I seem unable to.

I still say that NO BISCUITS is the only viable option though.
 
I still eat the occasional biscuit, the occasional bit of chocolate and have the occasional treat. Theres a word there that goes a long way, occasional. I keep a food diary and my Dr looks at this when I visit for my diabetes check ups and is happy with what and how much I am eating. I take my diabetes very seriously, but at the end of the day I am a human being that enjoys the occasional biscuit!
 
Stitch147 said:
I still eat the occasional biscuit, the occasional bit of chocolate and have the occasional treat. Theres a word there that goes a long way, occasional. I keep a food diary and my Dr looks at this when I visit for my diabetes check ups and is happy with what and how much I am eating. I take my diabetes very seriously, but at the end of the day I am a human being that enjoys the occasional biscuit!
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I am human too, I am not God. I have slip ups make mistake, sometimes I got stressed and I overeat.
I control my weight and measure my BG and take my meds and try to have physical activity.
The net result is that I can donate blood even if I have T2 diabetes.

I know that there are people with diabetes that are in denial or worse got wrong or insufficient information from their GP.
My former GP didn't warned me about the borderline blood exams and the risks of diabetes or prediabetes. He gave me statins, but If I followed the information i got from my GP and Diabetic specilist, instead to dig in libraries and websites I suppose that my mismanagement instead of a tiny slip-up every now and then would be way higher.
 
My BIL has been T2 for about 15 years now and says: "I don't eat vegetables". He's a very large man (I have no idea what his control is like, it's none of my business), but that statement does make him come across a bit five-year-old...but if you scratch the surface, it turns out he was brought up in a children's home until about age 10, and if he didn't eat his veg it was there on his plate (the same veg from the day before) the next day and the next day and the next day - until it was oozing and begging to be put in the bin - until he ate it. No love, no understanding, just pig-headed nastiness. So no wonder he hates veg!! Unfortunately, what you see isn't what you get, ipsi.

Welcome, by the way!🙂

PS you've got us all thinking about biscuits now!😛
 
There's a well known Australian, Type 2 blogger whose strap line is 'Everything in moderation - except laughter!' - and nobody on this forum would disagree with Alan. You are as you say - whingeing about it to the converted.

However - we have shedloads of people who come on here for the first time immediately after receiving the diagnosis. These folk haven't been told a lot and don't know where to look to find out - an awful lot of people erroneously assume their GP surgery will tell them exactly what they need to do for the simple reason that is exactly what happens with almost every other condition or disease anyone ever had.

Just tell me - honestly at this exact moment as soon as you read this question - what your last PSA test result was? - and when you do I'll explain why I'm asking you!
 
Welcome Ipsi 🙂

Food choices, diet choices , overeating, under eating, comfort eating etc are such complex mental decisions influenced by a myriad of conflicting personal battles. Add diabetes - of which ever type - to that mix and you are pulled every which way to make informed, sustainable choices in what you eat. That's not to say people are not taking their diabetes seriously. You have to find a sustainable path for the diabetes marathon. People make all sorts of decisions about what they choose to eat knowing the potential consequences of their actions. As someone who has lived with diabetes and an eating disorder I know the turmoil I still go through daily to make workable choices for my well being. The sensible gremlin sits on one shoulder and I have to try and make sure it shouts louder than the gremlin on the other shoulder.

We all know what the text books say about complications and how to avoid them but implementing a plan for the long term based around the basic necessity of food throws up massive challenges and issues.
 
OK Everyone, I get it! I'm a horribly in your face, no-nonsense type who isn't allowing for other problems that people face, beyond their diabetes... ...I'll be more compassionate in future posts.

I have to pint out, though, that it's not as though I've had no problems prior to becoming diabetic, and they may well have contributed. I had a pretty bad back injury quite a few years back and couldn't stand for more than a minute or so for two years afterwards. It took me three and a half years to get myself (with a lot of hard work) back to a point where I could do half a day's voluntary work and another year to get back into part time work. Eventually I went full time and have had to exercise to keep my back fit ever since. To be honest, I thought, given what I'd been through previously, controlling diabetes would be a walk in the park. I was wrong. It is hard, I can't deny that. What I hadn't considered, and now do, is that it might actually be even harder for others.

What has been rankling me for the last five years is the number of diabetics I know that make no effort but still complain... ...I do get that they don't seem to live in this forum.

trophywench: To the best of my knowledge I've never had a prostate antigen test - which is the only PSA test I've heard of. That said, presuming I did have any prostate problems, I'm entirely un-symptomatic.
 
Ipsi said:
trophywench: To the best of my knowledge I've never had a prostate antigen test - which is the only PSA test I've heard of. That said, presuming I did have any prostate problems, I'm entirely un-symptomatic.
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Which is precisely why so many many blokes in the UK die of undiagnosed prostate cancer - because they didn't have symptoms and have not bothered to research the condition which wipes out so many of them every single year. Clearly you aren't very pro-active yourself with that very very common cancer - so why expect anyone else to be pro-active about anything else!

Which is my point. People generally of both sexes walk round with their heads in the sand quite a lot with all sorts of things and not only health!

I would like it a lot if you did read about prostate cancer - and then go and get that blood test - which I hope comes back to say you most likely don't have a problem - but it has then established a reasonable level for yours and thus when you next get it checked again (cos you'll have to instigate that yourself as well, the NHS won't) you and your GP will know straight away whether there's a change that raises a query - even though you still have no symptoms!
 
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