I Have Diabetes

[Malc]

Just got the diagnosis today that I have diabetes. I'm not looking for sympathy, as some of you may also have it, so no touchy feely stuff, just that if any of you or yours DO have diabetes, I'm interested in how you/they deal with it and if you have any tips.

[Vulture]

Sorry to hear your news, Malc. Does it run in the family?

My mother and two aunts seemed to have carried the 'gene' - the youngest sister started at 14 and the treatment then was injections three times a day! At least things seem to have improved since then. The other two sisters got it in old age.

I was diagnosed last year with 'borderline' diabetes; the doctor wasn't sure how to treat it and had to phone a colleague. She looked up the tablets and wrote a prescription, saying that it may have an affect on my bowels......... I left the surgery full of confidence in her diagnosis!

The tablets are still in the Boots bag; I have been a little more careful about not eating sugary stuff - other than that, I have carried on as usual.

NOT to be recommended unless you have a death wish!

[Diane CBPFC]

Sorry to hear that Malc. How bad are you? Pills? Insulin injections?

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes 12 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter – at that time all that was needed was a healthy diet and it cleared up after delivery but I was told that I had a big chance of getting Type 2 diabetes within 10 years.

I was diagnosed with diabetes last May. I have since lost 90lb (weight loss wouldn’t apply to you) and went on Metformin – it is still a struggle getting the dosage right – I think I need to take less in the mornings as I have had two weeks of severe diarrhea like clockwork at noon. You can’t just pop in to your doctor here – there is a five week wait for an office appointment or you can sit in the emergency (which is treated like a walk in clinic) – but I have scheduled bi-monthly appointments. Today I decided to cut my morning meds by 25% to see if it will help. So be prepared to work to adjust your meds as necessary – seeing that you are already at a decent weight they may just need to be adjusted for your level of exercise.

The best thing you can do is start eating 5/6 small meals a day to keep your body constantly fuelled and avoid highs and slumps in your blood sugar. It is a case of eating healthy (which I suspect you already do) whole grains and veggies to help release the sugars slowly and constantly. Cutting out the sugar treats – but you will be surprised and how many goodies you can eat such as frozen chocolate ice bars made with artificial sweeteners and a wide range of yogurts. You also need to stop some “healthy” foods such as real fruit juices and corn and cut down on fruit serving sizes. You need to get some good fats in your diet such as olive oil.

Regular exercise is a must – but then again with your coaching you are probably doing okay there too. You may have to talk to a doctor/diabetic nurse because you are more active than most people and that needs to be compensated for too.
There is help for sorting out your diet and exercise and you should get your wife involved in meal planning; a diabetic base diet is healthy for the whole family.

The biggest thing YOU need to do is get your head around this and avoid feeling down. Treat it like a challenge, once you get your blood levels on an even keel you will start to feel better mentally (less irritable) and you will become less tired when you no longer are up in the night to pee. Prepare for the worst (that way you will remember to look after your feet and get your eyes checked EVERY year) but enjoy life now. Happiness and hope are really the best medicines for all health problems and this one is no different.  Hang in there, you can do this and once you start feeling better it will be so much easier to keep with the lifestyle changes of diet and meds.

Hugs to you!

[Diane CBPFC]

Vulch - I hope you are at least keeping a good eye on your feet and getting your eyes checked every year?

We could have our own little diabetic club on Beau Peep and share recipes.

Take care Vluch and hugs to you too!

[Vulture]

Vulch - I hope you are at least keeping a good eye on your feet and getting your eyes checked every year?

We could have our own little diabetic club on Beau Peep and share recipes.

Take care Vluch and hugs to you too!

If I keep my eyes on my feet, I'll keep bumping into things........? (Does having diabetes [possibly..] turn you into East European? [Vluch...] ).

[Diane CBPFC]

That's why I only said "A good eye" - you may keep the other one swivelling around as you usually do.

I guess having diabetes could make you Russian - rushing around to keep fit anyway.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

It doesn't, however, improve one's puns.

That's brilliantly dispensed advice and philosophy, Diane. I don't suffer from diabetes, but I'll know what to do now if I ever do. As challenges go, it actually all sounds very positive, with the by-product of a healthier lifestyle all round - I may even take most of that advice and encouragement myself, diabetes or not.

What's with the feet? What would one be looking for?

Malky, I know you don't want it, but I'm sorry anyway. Be well, mate!

[Diane CBPFC]

Diabetes can mean that you lose feeling in your extremities - if you were to get a cut or broken skin which lead to infection this could lead to amputation in diabetics. It is just a case of an ounce of prevention.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Thanks, Diane. I didn't know that. Take good care of your extremities, Malcolm.

[Roger Kettle]

Hopefully, Diamond Lil will pop in sometime with some more words of advice---she's been coping with it for a long time now.
I felt poorly for quite a chunk of last year and after a couple of blood tests, the word "borderline" was used. (Like Vulch). I simply have to go back at the end of April for another test as they keep an eye on me. I have to say I've felt okay since and I'm convinced I had a virus.
Anyway, all the best, Malc!

[Vulture]

Diabetes can mean that you lose feeling in your extremities - if you were to get a cut or broken skin which lead to infection this could lead to amputation in diabetics. It is just a case of an ounce of prevention.

That's good to know. I thought my aunt had her leg amputated because, in spite of all the warnings, she continued to smoke heavily until she died at the grand old age of 42!

[Diamond Lil]

Can't better Diane's advice. 

Personally, it's why I finally made up my mind to lose weight last year and am still trying to lose another 14 lbs.  My doctor assures me that when I do, I could be classed as non-diabetic.  I was on Metformin and then had another tablet added in which gave me hypos (very low blood sugar) and I was not a happy camper when that happens.  Don't know if you have Victoza over there, Malc?  New here and I was started on a daily injection (that's all you need) last June.  It gives a boost to your insulin production (so only used for Type 2 diabetics who at least have  some insulin left) and has been a life saver for me...no more tablets and I definitely feel fuller on less.  You also have to watch cholesterol and blood pressure levels because the thinking nowadays is that you are at a greater risk from heart/circulation problems than was first thought.  I get eyes checked annually and I see my chiropodist on a regular basis.  Your doctor will possibly take you in every 6 months for blood tests as they do here.

It's not the end of the world, my friend, but it seems daunting to begin with.  Healthy eating is the key but the odd "treat" keeps you sane just as long as you don't go eating an entire chocolate cake on your own! (I allow myself a sip of Drambuie when visiting Roger and boy do I enjoy that!!)

[Diane CBPFC]

I have no medical background but I found it helped to think of diabetes as those long thin balloons that only professional clowns can blow up. When we have diabetes we get THICK blood travelling through our bodies, however there are places in our bodies that only have NARROW veins (like the ends of those balloons) such as our fingertips and toes and those delicate veins to our eyes and brains. If we have too thick blood travelling through our system we can bust out those little veins much like the clown blows up the balloon, and then they will be broken. Smoking is bad for diabetics because it makes your veins smaller than normal so even less thick blood could cause damage.

[Malc]

Thanks to you all, you're wonderful, especially Diane with that full page of advice and explanations.
I was "pre-diabetic" for a while, according to the doc who examined me years ago, but they are a notoriously fatalistic bunch and in his opinion it was always going to happen, as I have it in my family. My father had it and probably was diagnosed at the same age as me. I have always got off my lazy backside and gone for checkups as a result of my dad, who died at 61 from colon cancer. So far the up-the-bumoscopies have come back clear, as have the prostate cancer and cholesterol blood tests, it was just the sugar levels which caused concern, and my doctor (Doctor Wang) sent me back for a second set of tests last week.

I recently did have a significant weight loss, which was one of the reasons I fronted up to the clinic in the first place - I have always had difficulty losing weight, we McGookins are a burly crowd, as a rule, but I dropped a stone and a half in about three months with no effort, a belt notch and a half in old money.
I should be more active than I am, being a coach, but most of the job is forcing others to run, so it's not the best exercise regime.
I haven't started my tablets yet, the chemist doesn't have one of the  brands in stock, either the one I take at night or the one I have to take in the morning, so I'm waiting until I have both before I start. I've gone this long without them I can wait a little longer. Thanks to you all once again.

[Diane CBPFC]

You’re welcome Malc.

One thing that annoyed me when I was first diagnosed was by how positive my niece (who is older than me and a registered nurse) was about the situation. She herself has seen so many people turn their lives around health-wise after a diagnosis of diabetes – losing weight, exercising and eating right. She was imagining me in the future. But to me the diagnosis hit me like a huge hill to climb and my choice to make the positive moves was taken from me – I pretty much had to get on with it. There was no time to wallow as I had repeat doctor’s appointments – I also had to see a cardiologist as I had/have high blood pressure.

While you are still feeling crummy it is a hard hill to climb – but do know that you WILL start to feel better fairly quickly just on the meds and adding the healthy diet and exercise, you already know, changes how you think and feel. People just have to bite the bullet and do it anyway until a time when they feel better and are glad to have made changes.

So don’t let the diagnosis get you down, and don’t let the smiling cheering super-positive people get you down either!