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Newly diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic!

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  • Newly diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic!

    ...and all the suggestions are rolling out of the woodwork! Many of them are incredibly useful, but some of them? Yeah, not so much.

    I was at my usual pharmacy Thursday after my doctor gave me the diagnosis and talking to one of the assistants about glucose meters because I have no clue. Some missus whom I don't even know decided to butt into our conversation and told me that if I wasn't so fat I wouldn't have diabetes and that I needed to lay off of the junk food and sweets!

    She wasn't exactly a healthy eating poster child herself, and her cart was loaded down with junk food. I just eyed her and said nothing because if I had said something it was likely to be rather blue and very loud. I did grumble to the person helping me about how rude some people are though.

    I posted about it on FB, and I've now unfriended a handful of people who saw fit to PM me about my shitty health choices leading me to become diabetic. Despite the fact that I'd started watching what I eat ages ago and go to the gym on a semi-regular basis while they brag about how much pizza they can eat, or their daily McD's trip, and how they are too lazy to even walk down to the end of their street to check their mail and will actually drive there and back!

    Oh well. At least I know who's got my back as I learn how to deal with this new thing in my life!

  • #2
    Their day will catch up to them.

    As I have changed doctors a couple of times, I have found that the medical community can't deliver a consistent message. So many doctors will hand you a prescription and tell you to lose weight. Really? That is all the advice you can give?

    Luckily, I had a good meeting with an endocrinologist. She explained a lot of stuff and pointed me to the ADA Exchange/Constant Carb diet (which I was already familiar with). Most importantly, she gave me the Exchange numbers that I need to work with to keep my glucose under control.

    Both my parents had/have type 2. My father "went on a diet" and lost weight, but his A1C was still high. He had cut back on how much he was eating, but was still eating the wrong stuff.

    Good luck!
    Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
    Save the Ales!
    Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

    Comment


    • #3
      OK, you can handle this. If I can, anyone can.

      If you have insurance, find out what meter your insurance will cover for the test strips. They're hella expensive without insurance.

      Ignore the morons. Diabetes is partly hereditary. You can be skinny and still get it.

      Losing weight will help a great deal, even a small amount of weight loss. Check the American Diabetes Assn. website, there's tons of good advice. Exercise helps too, but you don't have to go crazy. Walking is great for you.

      Mostly, stay positive, follow your doctors' advice, and concentrate on what you CAN eat, not what you can't or "shouldn't".
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

      Comment


      • #4
        Been there, done that, gleefully ignored the advice of anyone without medical training. Don't let those turkeys get you down ^_^

        Been...uhm, "Pre-Diabetic"...(?) for something like 5 years now -- meaning, pills, not shots *shudder*, still gotta test daily. Took me this long to bring A1C down from 8 to 6.2 ... still some way to go, but it's improving. All this despite a relative's insistence that I should go on an all-carb fad diet (because it CURES diabetes, according to the book. Yeah, right.) -- Improving means carefully controlling carb intake, not embracing nor eliminating them (with some notable medical exceptions, of course).

        If I can handle this, you can handle it. No worries

        As for how one gets it -- Well, sit back and let me tell you a tale. Friend of mine, let's call him Cory. About to start college, has successfully been losing on an exercise program, etc. Been watching what he eats. One Friday afternoon around Halloween, he's at home and just abruptly nearly passes out for no apparent reason. Cory recovers, but his folks take him to the hospital to get checked out just in case, as he's still feeling ill...

        Where they decide to keep him overnight, as he had a blood glucose level of around 880. Yes, eight hundred eighty O_O Turns out, Cory has diabetes and never knew it -- due strictly to his genes and nothing else (family history of it, of which he was only vaguely aware). They get it under control, give him the usual education about it, give him his meds and insulin they send him home Saturday evening. By mid-say Sunday, he's right back in the hospital again, not as severe this time, just his body not playing nice with his shots (and trust me, his Mom was enforcing it properly )...Stayed a couple hours, went home.

        That evening, Cory was out on an errand when someone cut him off on the main road, causing a minor wreck. Fortunately, he came out of that with little more than a bruised leg, so, got it checked at the hospital (glucose was at a good level), went home to sleep and anticipate the next day: His 19th birthday >_< Hell of a way to celebrate it, huh?
        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

        Comment


        • #5
          My husband is the picture of health. Works out, eats right, stays out of the sun, thin, but not too thin, Healthy as a horse. Except he has type 2 diabetes, lost one foot and all but one toe to necrosis because of hardening of the arteries. He was fine one day and a week later... People started that nonsense, hen realized, Jeff never eats junk, always is avoiding sugar, always running, walking, hiking. I on the other hand am chunky, and have perfect blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure. But have sever anemia. Both our conditions are genetic. Something Out of our hands. I wish you lots of good karma working on your condition. Don't let th jerks get you down.

          Comment


          • #6
            Good luck I won't try to give you advice on diet etc. as I'm sure your doctor and pharmacist have already covered it. The only thing I will suggest is to do a regular check of everything below your elbows and below your knees. Little cuts that someone without diabetes would shrug off can become serious very quickly.

            While sometimes there is just nothing to be done and all you can do is damage control (as in Aislin's husband's case) sometimes if things are caught early enough you can avoid an amputation.
            "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

            Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

            The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

            Comment


            • #7
              You wouldn't think something like a medical condition would fratching-worthy... but diabetes might be just that!

              So I am sharing the below link, which I believe to be one of the best sites with info on diabetes, with this caveat: if you want to have discussion on anything that gets into the politics behind drug funding, food guidelines etc. etc. don't even start it here but just jump right over to fratching. Thank you.

              https://www.dietdoctor.com/diabetes
              There's no such thing as a stupid question... just stupid people.

              Comment


              • #8
                Welcome to the club. After Mom was diagnosed with Type 2, brother insisted that I get checked because it can be inherited.

                Yep, I got it. Thanks, Mom!

                I am on metformin and so far it seems to be working fine, thank goodness. (As for the bitch with the junk-food-loaded cart, I'd have looked long and hard at the cart, then at her, then started laughing. Don't say anything, just laugh. It would've pissed her off SOOOO much ...)

                Yes, your lifestyle can certainly impact your diabetes. But as others here have said, listen to the medical experts (including your pharmacist), not some nitwit who once read three articles on the internet and now considers themselves an expert. I still eat chocolate ... but I've learned to really love dark chocolate (a good-quality dark chocolate has less sugar in it than milk chocolate) and I eat only a square or two as my daily treat. So far my sugar levels are holding steady. If ever I get around to exercising regularly, they might go down to normal and I might be able to get off the meds entirely. (The odd thing is, I can't eat heavily sweetened foods like I used to. S'bucks drinks? Ugh. MAYBE once a year -- the peppermint chocolate mocha, at Christmas. Otherwise, yuck. Not that that's a bad thing!)

                Mom stopped taking her diabetes meds three or four years ago, and she's still here. Definitely not in good shape, mind you ...
                Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                ~ Mr Hero

                Comment


                • #9
                  My mother has Type 2, and I found out that quite a few of my extended family members have it too! So it was likely only a matter of time before I was diagnosed with it, and it probably would have been diagnosed a lot sooner if I hadn't started monitoring my diet closely ages ago. Such is life!

                  Metformin seems to be quite the 'cleanser', something I was warned about by my pharmacist. I discovered just how effective it is for that when I went shopping on Saturday because for every store I went into I was heading to use either their bathroom or one in the mall. Yesterday was a much calmer day but I also stayed home for a good chunk of it, only heading out for a couple of hours to do the local MS Walk.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Yeah, Metformin has that effect on most people, myself included, at times. Make sure to drink plenty of water, too, as it's a diuretic. ^__^ Its most common *ahem* "abrupt cleansing" property is a sign of dehydration.

                    Also -- and this may be a "check with yer doc or pharmacist" thing: I was advised that, if I have the choice between skipping the Met and taking one without food in my stomach from a recent meal (e.g., went out to eat and didn't bring pills with me), I should skip it (low blood sugar can be just as dangerous as too-high). Naturally, the ideal would be to eat a quick meal and take it, buuuuut.... Ask yer medical peeps about that next time ya see 'em.
                    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Right now, as per my pharmacist, I'm taking one pill a day and that's with breakfast at 8:30. Once I've been doing that for a week, my pharmacist said to add the second one each day 12 hours from the first and that I should make sure I have a snack with it.

                      I've also got three 1L water bottles - one for work, one for home, and one that gets filled and goes with me whenever I'm out of the house. The last thing I want is to get dehydrated! I don't drink the entire bottle in one go, but it's always there if I need it.

                      I'm learning what foods are better for me, slowly but surely. And I don't plan on denying myself my favourites but I will keep those treats in moderation. I'm sure that in time I'll get better at this whole meal planning thing and remembering to actually bring a lunch with me to work so I'm not stuck buying from Subway on a daily basis.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Oof. Yeah -- Aside from an all-veggie sub with NO dressings/oil/etc on it, there's precious little at Subway either of us (or most anyone) should be eating on a regular basis Give it time. In a few months this will all be routine.
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth KuariKaydrith View Post

                          Metformin seems to be quite the 'cleanser', something I was warned about by my pharmacist.
                          If it's any consolation, your system will almost certainly get used to it over time. This from somebody who had exactly the same reaction to it when she started taking it. I ended up breaking the pills in half and taking half-pill doses, and had no problem with that. Lately I've gotten fed up with it and started taking unbroken pills ... no problem.
                          Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                          ~ Mr Hero

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I can't blame you for splitting them in half anyway -- those damn things are big enough to choke a horse >_<
                            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth KuariKaydrith View Post
                              ...and all the suggestions are rolling out of the woodwork! Many of them are incredibly useful, but some of them? Yeah, not so much.
                              yup. exactly why this entire topic is banned for people around me. Unless they want me to react extremely hostilely don't discuss my weight, my blood sugar, my diet or anything. My mom wouldn't stop telling people and didn't understand the issue. Said no to a free cookie at a store because I didn't want in and for some reason she felt the need to jump in and tell them I'm diabetic. How about you butt out?

                              Forget it was here or Fratching but I made a thread complaining about the unsolicited advice and of course people had to hop in and offer their advice because any excuse to police someone's health and make themselves feel smart.....

                              Now I take metformin, I got used to it, the first month and a half was a living hell. anecdote: I learned that for me certain foods when I was taking metformin would give me the ability to render rooms uninhabitable with gas. I miss eating oatmeal sometimes.
                              Interviewer: What is your greatest weakness?
                              Me: I expect competence from my coworkers.

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