I didn’t know I was T2 Diabetic for yrs

lorettodaza

Why is it that I was insulin resistant for 8 yrs and my drs don’t seemed to be alarmed? I knew my sugar was a bit high but I didn’t know why; I ate clean enough, or that I was about to become a TypeII diabetic. Finally in my last blood results I entered the category. The doctors told me to loose weight and exercise to lower my cholesterol and sugar but you just can’t loose one ounce when your insulin is always high. I have tried so hard to loose weight by doing everything right. Eating clean, exercising hard watching my water intake you name it , but my weight didn’t budge while others around me had results with the same practices. Doctors don’t seem to know that insulin is a killer and give no importance to the fact that while your insulin is high in your blood it destroys your thyroid, your veins, your heart and then they want to prescribe more of it when you finally became insulin resistant aka a diabetic. They just give you blood pressure medicine and medicine to treat the symptoms but not the cause. How are we supposed to protect ourselves. Are we supposed to always treat the symptoms with pills never address the cause? What causes insulin resistance? For some us clear bad lifestyle but in my case I really don’t know I have always taken care of myself

onyxgirl17

It can run in families. Sorry to hear about your struggle and that the doctors didn’t help earlier.

onyxgirl17

My mom didn’t know she was diabetic until she died from ketoacidosis from high blood sugar spike so I definitely empathize.

lemurcat2

lorettodaza wrote: »

What causes insulin resistance? For some us clear bad lifestyle but in my case I really don’t know I have always taken care of myself

Combination of genetics and excess fat (although what is excess fat sufficient to cause it varies, and for some people it can be lower) plus age is also a risk factor.

It sounds like you were IR (which is not the same as T2D, but a warning sign) and then the condition progressed to T2D, not that you were T2D for years, unless there is something you haven't mentioned.

Generally, all the doctor can do is recommend weight loss and watching carbs (generally limiting carbs per meal and mixing them with protein and fiber).

Exercise is also good, but generally I think your doctor was right that the best step you can take is lose weight if you are overweight, and talk to a dietitian about what you can do to manage your condition through diet. Did you get referred to a dietitian or ask for a referral?

AnnPT77

I'm not diabetic/IR (through no credit to my behavior history), but I went through a similar thing with cholesterol/triglycerides (blood lipids) and blood pressure.

In general, I'm an engaged consumer of health care, always requested copied of blood test results, reviewed them, could see what was flagged as high or low. I knew what counted as borderline to high blood pressure.

For years, like over a decade, those blood test results were flagging high cholesterol, and before that I could see that those values were inching up close to that point. I knew that blood pressure above 140/80 was not great, flirting with too high if not already too high.

Looking back, I think: Why didn't I pay attention to that? It seems so dumb, frankly, looking backward.

I could've saved myself a bunch of health problems that I guess I sort of saw as "normal aging" (because they happened to so many people around me). I'm talking about things like a compromised, cholesterolized gallbladder that had to be removed, among other things, maybe even the cancer I developed (statistically more likely if overweight, maybe also with systemic inflammation). Those things were happening, or more likely to happen, because I was fat Those, plus joint problems, mobility limitations, skin appearance issues, . . . I could go on and on.

I thought I was taking care of myself, in that I took my vitamins, ate whole grains and veggies . . . heck, I'd even been vegetarian for decades. Every year, I took active canoe camping vacations. Sometimes, I walked at lunch hour, or even went to the pool occasionally. I mean, not anything remotely close to every day, and only when it was nice weather, and pretty off an on over the years, but . . . .

On top of that, I wasn't the fattest or least active person I knew, by far. Fatter and less active people were common around me. (I was 5'5", BTW, 180s-190s pounds, which - objectively, by medical definition - is class 1 obese.)

Being fat, being inactive most of the time, those seemed normal to me. Looking back, they're not normal in the sense of OK or inevitable, they're normal only in the sense of being statistically common. Overeating, sitting around nearly all of the time - looking at it in retrospect - were clearly bad lifestyle, clearly bad choices on my part.

Even along the way, I had a loose notion that I was fat because of my own choices, that if I ate less I'd lose weight or stay at a reasonable weight. For whatever reason, I didn't do that. I had bunches of good excuses, I figured: Stressful sedentary job, family crises to deal with, I deserved a treat, there was a party, everyone does this, etc. Ditto for being active: Clearly, I didn't have time or energy for that (though I did manage to squeeze in some time for things like TV and other sedentary hobbies, not to mention eating).

I thought I couldn't lose weight (can't lose weight in our 30s, 40s, 50s, amIright? (well, no).) After the cancer, I started working out a lot, 6 days most weeks, even competing as an athlete. That made some health improvements, plus a good lot of improvement in quality of life.

Yay, taking care of myself! Not really: Still the bad blood tests, borderline to high blood pressure. I kept ignoring them. Figured I must have a "slow metabolism", working out that much, not losing weight. Heck, I was hypothyroid: That's weight loss doom, right? (Nope.)

When I finally committed to lose weight (with my doctor threatening statins, and spurred on by the appalling pathology report about my gallbladder), gosh, guess what: I could lose weight. In fact, I could kick myself for not doing it earlier, because it was so much simpler than I'd ever imagined (not easy every second, but straightforward as to methods). Not only that, the benefits - in terms of quality of life - were huuuuge, much bigger than I could've imagined. Literal decades of my life could've been healthier, happier, too . . . if I'd made smarter choices.

I was dumb. It was my choices. I wish I'd been smarter, earlier. It's too late to save myself from some of the bad consequences that had already happened, or that were already triggered, but it wasn't too late to improve my future (lots), as it turned out. Better late with the better choices, than never, I guess.

I still don't understand why I ignored those warning signs. The information is out there, so much so that it almost takes effort to ignore it. I ignored it.

Just my story, not anyone else's.

paperpudding

It sounds like you were IR (which is not the same as T2D, but a warning sign) and then the condition progressed to T2D, not that you were T2D for years, unless there is something you haven't mentioned.

I agree.

'I was diabetic for years' doesnt sound accurate to me either - more like I was insulin resistant for years and then it progressed to type 2 diabetes - which it is prone to do over time
Sometimes lifestyle related but also genetic factors

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Drs dont know insulin can be a killer' - the problem with insulin resistance and then type 2 diabetes isnt insulin - it is the opposite, lack of sufficient insulin production or of body's response to insulin.

and doctors most definitely do know high sugars or poorly controlled diabetes can be a killer - I'm not quite sure what you think they did wrong here

There are no other treatments other than losing weight, excercising more, reducing sugar intake - and/or medication.
and yes diabetics usually are treated more aggressively for blood pressure and cholesterol than non diabetics - more important to control these things as well so as to reduce your overall cardiac risk.

Certainly possible for insulin resistant people and diabetics to lose weight though.

My husband was in similarsituation and he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes end of September.

Since then he has over hauled his diet and become more active and eaten less in general - and reduced his HBA1c to almost non diabetic level as well as losing 7 kg (about 15 lb)
He is steadily losing at about a kg a month.
Incidentally without eating clean, excercising hard or watching his water intake.
Just increasing excercise moderately, substantially reducing sugar intake and eating less in general

WailingDusk

lorettodaza wrote: »

Why is it that I was insulin resistant for 8 yrs and my drs don’t seemed to be alarmed? I knew my sugar was a bit high but I didn’t know why; I ate clean enough, or that I was about to become a TypeII diabetic. Finally in my last blood results I entered the category. The doctors told me to loose weight and exercise to lower my cholesterol and sugar but you just can’t loose one ounce when your insulin is always high. I have tried so hard to loose weight by doing everything right. Eating clean, exercising hard watching my water intake you name it , but my weight didn’t budge while others around me had results with the same practices. Doctors don’t seem to know that insulin is a killer and give no importance to the fact that while your insulin is high in your blood it destroys your thyroid, your veins, your heart and then they want to prescribe more of it when you finally became insulin resistant aka a diabetic. They just give you blood pressure medicine and medicine to treat the symptoms but not the cause. How are we supposed to protect ourselves. Are we supposed to always treat the symptoms with pills never address the cause? What causes insulin resistance? For some us clear bad lifestyle but in my case I really don’t know I have always taken care of myself

You mentioned 'eating clean' twice. What does that mean, exactly? If you were eating a whole foods diet, you would not be a type 2 diabetic. I hate to break this to you, but type 2 diabetes doesn't just happen genetically. You can be genetically predispositioned for it, but it is 100% preventable. My A1C 2 years ago was 6.4. I was one point away from being diabetic. My A1C now is 4.5, and I eat a CLEAN diet. I'm talking no processed food, no fast food, no sugar, all whole foods.

So I really want to know what you consider clean eating, because I can almost guarantee this was not the case and you did not try 'everything'. I hate to sound harsh, but this is just a fact. And the ONLY way you are going to cure your diabetes is by completely changing what you eat. Yes you can CURE type 2 diabetes. It is not a death sentence. It's harder now if you're actually taking insulin, but you don't have many choices. If you ate clean, you wouldn't need insulin. Your body will become insulin sensitive again once you stop bombarding it with sugar.

paperpudding

The above is not a fact.

some people develop type 2 diabetes despite healthy eating and good weight control

and No you do not cure type 2 diabetes - you can sometimes get it under control without medication, and losing weight helps your chances of that.
But it is controlled, not cured.

I hate to break it to you but your post is wrong.

and what works for you doesnt work for everyone despite their best efforts.