After a long hard fight, I am newly diagnosed.
Quiing
Posts: 261 Member
Hi guys.
It's taking a lot of guts for me to write this post. After losing about 80 pounds over the past 5 years to avoid getting diabetes (many relatives on both sides of my family have it), I got the lab results from my doctor the other day and she told me that I am, indeed, a type 2 diabetic. Mind you I haven't had blood tests done in 5 years (blood sugar was normal then)... it still caught up to me even after all of that hard work. I'm very sad about it.
She prescribed me two pill to help regulate blood sugar, and also told me to kick ***** at lowering my carbs and working out. But I'm running into problems... I'm going to ask her, but I want to get a general consensus from you guys.
When I take my medication and keep my carbs really low (around 30g a day), I feel AWFUL. Lightheadedness, nausea, etc. When I had McDonalds for breakfast and a few carby snacks (rounding to over 100g of carbs that day). I felt fine... so is it safe to say that I can only do one or the other? Would it be wise to not take the medication and just stick to going low carb to beat this disease?
Any other advice you guys can give me would be great. Thank you so much.
It's taking a lot of guts for me to write this post. After losing about 80 pounds over the past 5 years to avoid getting diabetes (many relatives on both sides of my family have it), I got the lab results from my doctor the other day and she told me that I am, indeed, a type 2 diabetic. Mind you I haven't had blood tests done in 5 years (blood sugar was normal then)... it still caught up to me even after all of that hard work. I'm very sad about it.
She prescribed me two pill to help regulate blood sugar, and also told me to kick ***** at lowering my carbs and working out. But I'm running into problems... I'm going to ask her, but I want to get a general consensus from you guys.
When I take my medication and keep my carbs really low (around 30g a day), I feel AWFUL. Lightheadedness, nausea, etc. When I had McDonalds for breakfast and a few carby snacks (rounding to over 100g of carbs that day). I felt fine... so is it safe to say that I can only do one or the other? Would it be wise to not take the medication and just stick to going low carb to beat this disease?
Any other advice you guys can give me would be great. Thank you so much.
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Replies
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I can only speak for myself, your body is not mine and each is different. The 80 pounds in 5 years is impressive and you can build on that. It took me 3 months of trying a lot of things to get myself consistently under 100 grams but I did find a couple resources that helped me get down into the range you are shooting for.
There is an excellent resource at this site:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
The other is an MFP group which is very sympathetic & supportive:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
Read the Launch Pad for a lot of good info or jump into the forums.
I suspect that what you are experiencing is known as "keto flu" and is a temporary condition.
As you say work with your doctor. You have a condition to manage not a death sentence.
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Thank you so much! This is very helpful
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I can understand your frustration. I agree wholeheartedly with Keith's suggestions which should give you a great start.0
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How long have you been on the medication? Nausea and diarrhea are some of the side effects that can happen when you start taking oral meds.
Congratulations on the weight loss!!!
And best wishes with your ongoing battle. Let's face it. It IS a battle..our bodies are addicted to carbs and it's not easy breaking the habits of a lifetime. *personal experience*
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Understand that the condition is very individualized. The early stages after diagnoses are all about personal discovery. Test often, log everything. Try to figure out what foods cause you to spike ...and what levels give you control. For me 100g of carbs is my tipping point. Under I am fine, over and I have high fasting BGL. You need to take some time to find your individual safe levels.
I definitely endorse exercise as part of the solution. Muscle movement uses glucose from the bloodstream in a process that does NOT involve insulin. Thus it sidesteps the diabetic issues with insulin production or insulin resistance. It is a good way to 'burn off' the excess glucose in your bloodstream. Daily swimming has been a huge part of my journey.0 -
I agree with Stephen- T2 diabetics are all unique. While, there are some things that everyone agrees on, how your body reacts will vary depending on the person. Also, diabetes is heavily genetic dependent, meaning, you were most likely going to get it no matter how hard you battled against it. The good thing is you can kick this in the butt and keep your meds low and minimal.
The one thing I see in your original post is your carb withdrawal leading to binge eating which will cause big ups and downs to your sugars. The key to good glucose management is steady blood sugar levels 24/7. My endocrinologist had me gradually cut my carbs down over the course of a month which felt more sustainable to me. I stay below 80grams a day of high fiber carbs and that seems to fit me fine (current a1c is 4.9%).0 -
Quiing
I understand how you feel. I was on 2 pills for diabetes didn't eat right, still needed to lose weight etc. ended up on insulin. Stayed on it for almost 3 yrs. thought my life was over!
Well I lost some weight, started to read labels to see what I'm putting in my body and started exercising. Today, I am off insulin0 -
Thanks for the support you guys. I've spent the weekend getting to know my monitor and seeing what certain foods and these meds do to my numbers. This is a lot to deal with, but your support is really helpful. Thank you all so much, going to the gym tonight!!0
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Stay strong.
It can be frustrating.
( I know.)
Hang in there.
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I'll second or third or fourth by now the low carber forum mentioned above. There are a LOT of us over there limiting our carbs to 20-30g a day or less and finding all kinds of benefits from doing so, one of the most obvious being blood sugar control without the need for any meds. Some common issues are that on low carb people find their appetite changes, some people don't eat enough. Another is that on very low carb electrolytes can be an issue and you have to actively think about things like getting enough sodium/potassium/magnesium, not doing so can cause you to feel like crap in lots of different ways.0
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Stay on the meds until your doctor says otherwise... all things in moderation... My nutritionist suggests avoid "white food" literally food that is white.. bread, potatoes, rice, and keep a close eye on your blood sugar... being type II should give you a whole world of reasons to adopt a philosophy around the word "Balance"... emotional, physical, nutritional, I started with 2 pills... I am now down to 1... and sweating my BUTT off in the gym... to get to where I want to be...You will beat this "thing" so long as you educate yourself... and find that balance0
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Thank you Raven, I really appreciate that. I've been googling info like crazy and the advice everyone has given is helping me too. I learned I can't deal with bread at all, had a 6 in sandwich on whole wheat and my number skyrocketted... but today I had a lunch of merely 10 net carbs and my number was the lowest I've seen since I started testing (still above 100 but it's progress) so I'm getting there! Seeing an endocrinologist on thursday.0
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