My story so far...
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theFrenchLeprechaun
Posts: 3
My name is Daniel. I am a 46 year old male. I have struggled with weight since the age of 10. Also, I always had a "nervous stomach" which, at the age of about 22, they gave a fancy name of "Irritable Bowel Syndrome".
At age 38, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes based on a few fasting sugars over 11.0 and elevated triglycerides. I wasn't too surprise since my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around the same age and my sister is type 1, diagnosed in her thirties as well. I tried unsuccessfully to control my blood sugar levels with diet and exercise. I was on and off diets (as I pretty well had been most of my life). Soon, I started taking Metformin to help control my blood sugar.
At the age of 42, my energy level was extremely low. I was at a point where I was sleeping 14 hours/day. I would do anything to try to have more energy including coffee, red bull, energy shots. The doctor ran tests but suggested that I was depressed. I knew there was more to it than that. The ferratin level on my lab test was very high. When I asked what that meant, the doctor told me that I probably just had some inflammation somewhere and not to worry about it. I insisted that there was something else wrong. The doctor said that I hadn't really learned to live with my IBS and that was likely contributing to my anxiety and depression so she sent me to a gastroenterologist. As soon as he heard of my elevated ferratin, he ordered a liver biopsy. The biopsy came back as stage 4 NASH. I was shocked. My grandmother died of liver failure due to NASH at age 60.
For the past few years, my blood sugar levels have slowly crept up to 20-30. Last year, I started taking insulin at night. This quickly changed to morning and night. Now I am on 4 shots/day.....1 nightly basal and 1 injection with each meal. I feel like my diabetes has very recently gotten dramatically worse.
So what's happening now? I'm at a point now where I feel like I need to do something. My liver cirrhosis continues to progress. I get tested (ultrasound) once/month to monitor nodules on my liver. It's very important to monitor these nodules because if cancer is suspected, we need to treat it early. If my liver gets worse and I need a transplant, I need to be healthy enough to survive the surgery. I also have to be committed to staying as healthy as I can to even be considered for a transplant.
I have just started using this website. It was recommended to me by the nurse practitioner at my diabetes clinic. I can't say that I'm motivated and pumped to lose weight and improve my health...I still hate dieting and I still hate exercise. However, this site is really helping me. It's helping me to focus on what I'm eating and when. I have the iPhone app which makes it very simple to plan and track my meals.
I'm hoping to hear from other people fighting the same battle.
At age 38, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes based on a few fasting sugars over 11.0 and elevated triglycerides. I wasn't too surprise since my mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around the same age and my sister is type 1, diagnosed in her thirties as well. I tried unsuccessfully to control my blood sugar levels with diet and exercise. I was on and off diets (as I pretty well had been most of my life). Soon, I started taking Metformin to help control my blood sugar.
At the age of 42, my energy level was extremely low. I was at a point where I was sleeping 14 hours/day. I would do anything to try to have more energy including coffee, red bull, energy shots. The doctor ran tests but suggested that I was depressed. I knew there was more to it than that. The ferratin level on my lab test was very high. When I asked what that meant, the doctor told me that I probably just had some inflammation somewhere and not to worry about it. I insisted that there was something else wrong. The doctor said that I hadn't really learned to live with my IBS and that was likely contributing to my anxiety and depression so she sent me to a gastroenterologist. As soon as he heard of my elevated ferratin, he ordered a liver biopsy. The biopsy came back as stage 4 NASH. I was shocked. My grandmother died of liver failure due to NASH at age 60.
For the past few years, my blood sugar levels have slowly crept up to 20-30. Last year, I started taking insulin at night. This quickly changed to morning and night. Now I am on 4 shots/day.....1 nightly basal and 1 injection with each meal. I feel like my diabetes has very recently gotten dramatically worse.
So what's happening now? I'm at a point now where I feel like I need to do something. My liver cirrhosis continues to progress. I get tested (ultrasound) once/month to monitor nodules on my liver. It's very important to monitor these nodules because if cancer is suspected, we need to treat it early. If my liver gets worse and I need a transplant, I need to be healthy enough to survive the surgery. I also have to be committed to staying as healthy as I can to even be considered for a transplant.
I have just started using this website. It was recommended to me by the nurse practitioner at my diabetes clinic. I can't say that I'm motivated and pumped to lose weight and improve my health...I still hate dieting and I still hate exercise. However, this site is really helping me. It's helping me to focus on what I'm eating and when. I have the iPhone app which makes it very simple to plan and track my meals.
I'm hoping to hear from other people fighting the same battle.
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Replies
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Glad you found us! I hope the site helps.0
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Good Lord, Man! I am SO glad you found us! How is it going?0
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So nice to see some replies to my post. It really makes me feel like I'm not alone. I've been on and off the diet wagon since I joined myfitnesspal. However, I've been on more than I've been off. And as far as tracking what I've eaten, I've missed a few entries here and there but for the most part, I'm sticking to it.
If I had to pick a feature that I love the most about myfitnesspal, it's that the database is enormous and the scans work for me 99.9% of the time. I was so surprised to see that even the tiny sticker on an english cucumber brought up a record. This makes it so easy to put data in. I found with other programs and apps, it was such a pain to key in the nutrients I wanted to track.
Thanks for checking in with me. I'm looking forward to good things!0 -
I hope you are getting along better with your liver and that life is treating you well. Thanks for sharing your story!
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Good luck to you. I was dx a year ago with stage 2 nash. Like you my great grand mother passed of non alcoholic cirrhosis. There is a lot of information out there and I just joined a group of facebook. Lots of great information with all kinds of people at different stages of this disease. It has helped alot. I have removed all processed foods from my diet and started working out. Hoping my numbers are improved next time I see the dr. Good luck to you!!!!!0
