SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

Type 2.

Diagnosed just before Christmas.

I love cookies....

Ugh!!!!

Time to reign it in.

You can still have a cookie if you limit your other carbs.

Its much easier to eat clean if you meal prep. Saves the drive thrus and from getting so hungry you eat blindly.

I have helped many patients successfully reverse that diagnosis. Let me know if you want some help.

Sorry Minnesota. Meal planning, I guess.

Morning, I also am a diabetic type 2. (complements of Uncle Sam and the Vietnam war! War related disability.) I see a future with Splenda in it. (A type of non-sugar sweetener.)

The main battle is weight (doesn't affect mine) and CARBs!! I am very bad with mine, I quit poking myself in the finger a long time ago. I was never told to do anything but test so if nothing was going to change why test? I am also not afraid of dying as I am 68 and have already lived a LOT longer than I ever thought I would.

It's a lifestyle shift. For me I have reduced my lifelong affair with sugar!!! But reduced is all I have done. No more super gooey banana splits. but I still partake in some things. My A-1c test is what I basically go by and I have brought it down every test until now it is well into the safe zone.

I was found to be diabetic 18 years ago and it really has affected my life only minimally in the past 18 years. I figure I'll probably go from a heart attack (even though no problems so far) so I figure better fast than slow. I am also resigned to the fact that my death certificate will probably read death caused by "complications from diabetes".

Exercise and "relatively" healthy eating habits and you can live MANY more years in good health. As long as you take care of it, it will not really affect much in your life. Oh yes there are some caveats on booze but I pretty much don't pay much attention to those either since my major booze days are long behind me. The only times I drink anymore is when I'm dancing.

Try baking cookies with splenda, sometimes it works but you will have to play with it to get it right. I use it for Kool Aid as then while expensive (compared to sugar) monetarily is FREE when thinking of carbs!! I found that cutting out soft drinks with sugar to be the BIGGEST reduction in my sugar intake.

The REALLY bad part is it can cause E.D. (erectile Dysfunction) but the little blue pills that I named my boat after have worked very well with me! I have found that when the world turns blue I'm ready!! (A slight tinge of blue in your vision is a normal side effect. )

I do have some neuropathy in my legs (nerve damage) but for me that is not at a painful stage. So I would say stay off the sugar binges and keep track of things and you should do fine.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about diabetes.

Same here. Get on meds. I am on Metformin and Farxiga, trying my best to avoid having to go on insulin! Diet and exercise make a huge difference. In most cases, getting the weight off (if you are overweight) and eating right can reverse the problem.

There is conflicting info and education. Because over half of it is funded by the drug companies. See any conflict of interest there?

You wanna get serious about changing things let me know.

You can REVERSE type 2 by stop eating almost all carbs, not just sugar. If it comes in a plastic bag, don't eat it. The only carbs you need to eat are vegetables grown above the ground, for the rest, eat about 2/3 (healthy) fat and 1/3 protein. Oh, and drink lots of water.

You might also try intermittent fasting - ie, WHEN you eat is also important, not just WHAT you eat. Google Dr. Jason Fung.

Much of the nutritional info that you receive about managing diabetes is over 30 years out of date, and as TN says a lot of info is provided by pharma companies. Big food and big pharma have a lot to lose if the answer to type 2 is to eat sensible amounts of real food.

You can do this MN.

Ugh. I am fighting it, too. I was diagnosed after fwh’s A. I still havent managed to find the right combo of meds. Mine is not caused by weight. Any tips, Tushnurse would be appreciated!

I should clarify, I do do diabetes drugs but the level has been stable for years. I am 6'2" and 205 still move very well. My strength while less is still quite substantial. I can feel it slowly going though.

I feel like I've started strong.

I haven't started the Rx yet.

But I've gone NC with carbs. (The exception will be confessed momentarily.).

Since starting to monitor my levels, I've only had one reading that was iffy. And that was the first day. This morning my fasting glucose was 110. I had a 132 after lunch, and a 111 after dinner. I walked 3 miles today.

I've already lost 11 pounds. (Since mid Dec.).

Yesterday I did allow myself 1 (instead of 3) cookie when I had a salad at Subway. My level an hour later was 123.

I feel lightheaded sometimes, but I read that could be caused by my body being used to having more sugar so it thinks it's low. But I also need to be drinking more water, so it might be that, too. I got a diet from a highly knowledgeable nurse and will be starting that this week.

I'm going to kick this thing's ass.

MN - type 2 diabetes is a condition of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. So what you need to do is reduce your insulin response to food. You can do this by changing the foods you eat (and the timing).

Carbs - ANY carbs (like the bread on a sandwich) produce a bigger response than fat and protein. To your body, bread is sugar. FYI, sugar substitutes also produce an insulin response and so these are not the panacea that many people think.

Any dietary change will take some time to get used to, so take it slowly. But the faster you can get (man-made) carbs out of your diet the better. Just eat above ground vegetables - no potatoes, carrots, etc.

Metformin is the least bad med, but it would be even better to stay off the drugs all together (metformin has some nasty gi side effects).

Eat eggs, they have a good amount of fat/protein and no carbs. They are very filling. Fish is good too. Avoid sandwich (or sandwich-like) foods - burgers, burritos, wraps, etc. Just eat the inside. Drink water and take walks.

Our bodies can use sugar or fat for energy (or even protein under starvation conditions). When you go from using sugar (your current state) to using fat, you can feel bad from a few days to a week or maybe two. Some people call this 'keto flu', as it occurs when switching to a ketogenic diet, ie a diet where your body uses fat for energy. Push through these difficult days, and make sure that you are eating enough FAT. That will help with the light-headedness.

Don't reduce carbs and fat and calories all at the same time, that is a recipe for disaster. And I would say not to reduce (healthy) fat at all - it is the carbs that make you fat.

If you are only just dx, you should be able reverse this quickly by cutting all (man-made and below-ground veg) carbs. To satisfy your sweet tooth, eat nuts. Once you are fat-adapted, you might notice a sweet taste in your mouth and have less of a desire for sweets.

Minnesota

Do as much as you can to control this for as long as you can.

I don't have diabetes (yet), but my mom just died from complications of diabetes Dec. 23. Basically from kidney failure.

She had diabetes for at least 20 years, did well managing it for many. But a few years ago, got lazy and stopped taking her blood sugar levels.

I'll never understand why her doctor didn't put her on insulin. She had neuropathy and had already had one set of stents in her legs.

She had diabetic ulcers on one foot. That's very painful. It wasn't getting any better and the doctor couldn't find a pulse in that leg.

It looks like more stents or amputation would have been her future.

This disease is a bitch, but can be managed with care.

Good luck with everything. Do your research. It can be managed and you could live a good, long life.

ss

DMW nailed it. This is all quite true. Many Drs and NPs and PAs have been taught to discourage you from eating fat. But honestly it is the simple carbs that drive your cholesterol levels up.

Many recent studies have proven this.

If you are getting plenty of protein and good fat you will find the hunger stays at bay. Thats why the snacks are soooo important. It keeps the Im so damn hungry Im gonna clean out the pantry while cooking dinner phenomenon from happening.

Thanks for the advice!!

Because over half of it is funded by the drug companies.

TRUTH!

My H and I went on the Mediterranean diet with excellent results - not only for his A1c levels, but his LDL cholesterol has taken a 20 point nosedive (a good nosedive) in six months.

He has gone from diabetic to the low end of pre-D in six months. He is a thin man (the T2D runs on the male side of his family) and he exercises. The key was clean eating, eat seasonally/locally/colorfully, whole grains, nuts, seeds, Kalamata olives, red wine (4 oz a day), and moderates on the "bad stuff" - you don't have to give up anything...just be sensible and eat to live...don't live to eat.

I had my diabetes education class today and was kind of surprised at what she said. It contradicts some of what Tushnuse and DMW said.

Like Two hours after eating the goal is to have your bg (blood glucose) to be <180. 180 is getting pretty high up there. My goal is to get my A1C to 5.6 (was 8.0) Tonight I had a bite of Big Mister's dessert. Got the taste. It was nice. That was enough. I don't have to eat a half gallon of ice cream before bed. (ok I wasn't THAT bad) but had much more than I needed before.

I'm 20# down from when I got my diagnosis. (but honestly, part of that is because of a stomach bug and prepping for a colonoscopy) But this morning I put on pair of jeans 2 sizes smaller than I wore at Christmas. They are a little snug but I didn't have to lay on the bed to zip them up (remember the 80's?)

Tushnurse gave me a diet to follow. I haven't started it verbatim yet, partially because I knew I had to prep for that colonoscopy and partly because old habits and all. But I've been using the principles from it. Kind of. I have a short week this coming week, and then out of town the next week on a service project in Houston, and then when I get back I should be able to hit it right.

The next thing to do is to add in a deliberate exercise schedule. Mostly cardio to start. When I was on the infidelity diet, I walked around the lake every day. Now, though, when Big Mister is here, I really can't do that. But half the time is better than none of the time.

So far, I havne't been taking the metformin yet. And at first I wasn't going to. But I decided to go ahead and start because it isn't going to hurt me, and if it helps make my pancreas not so pissed at me, then why not? I can always stop taking it when my A1C is back under pre-diabetes range. (WHEN, not IF!)

The other funny things the dietician said was to only take bg readings twice a day. I want to know what's going on and what affects my body. At least at the beginning. I can't help but think data helps.

Thanks for letting me put this out. And for the support.

This is a journey I have been on. I had gastric by pass and I have had normal bloods since then.

I have poly cystic ovaries which is associated with type 2.

One odd thing I developed is being unable to or drink sugary stuff with out immediately brushing my teeth.

It contradicts some of what Tushnuse and DMW said.

I'm not surprised. Most of what they learn is lots of years out of date and/or based on faulty assumptions or research. One thing they say is that you need lots of snacks during the day. WRONG. That only happens if you eat lots of carbs. You don't need many carbs for your body to function perfectly well, and you should get those from above-ground vegetables.

Metformin is the least bad med for type 2, but it can cause some uncomfortable gi effects. If you are not eating sugar/man-made carbs, then your insulin levels should go down naturally and you should become insulin sensitive again. So if I were in your position with those numbers, I would stay off it for a month or maybe two and see how it goes with diet and exercise. In the big scheme of things, starting meds one or two months later isn't going to change anything.

And I would trust TN over your diabetes 'educator' any day of the week!!

Awwww geeze thanks DMW.

I have explained to MN that the Diabetic educators are often educated on the dime of the drug companies, any conflict of interest there???

When I did disease management Case Management We were supposed to give our patients a book on LIving with diabetes, I refused, because it had in 48 pt font on the back that it was produced by Novartis. They make drugs, and blood glucose machines, and syringes.... Um. No. Just No.

My boss didn't like it, until I showed real results w/ my patients.