Yep, that’s the plan. Keep on keepin’ on. Thanks!
Actually I didn’t highlight that. The first part of my post is that a type 2 DM can become hypoglycemic without medication or exogenous insulin.
A couple of things to note.
All exercise helps your body use insulin better overall. But there is a difference in how your body responds immediately to different exercise. Aerobic versus Anaerobic. In intense exercise your body will release glucose stores for fuel and your BG level goes up. This can also happen with longer exercise. This isn’t bad, it is a needed process. “Normals” release insulin to use that glucose for fuel. With Type 2, you just don’t use insulin as efficiently as you should and in my case as I’m a type 1 I don’t have any insulin. But having your BG level go up and then drop is not a bad thing when you are exercising.
In my case, I am a type 1, it was driving me nuts because I was spiking to 250 after about 90 minutes of swimming and no way to give myself extra insulin to compensate, (type 1 and out in the ocean), but @Eric2 helped me understand I needed fuel before I started the exercise so my liver wouldn’t dump so much glucose when I was exercising. It worked like a charm and I don’t go above 150 anymore.
Just an added thing to keep in mind. Type 2 is a metabolic disease and while almost all type 2’s are overweight initially, not all are. So you can be fit and not overweight and get type 2, it’s just rarer. However, 35% of type 1’s are misdiagnosed at first. Lifestyle changes and medication can work at first because as an adult getting type 1/LADA you still make some insulin for years. Going keto means less carbs and less need for insulin and if a type 1 it will lower your levels at first too for a while. As a type 1 though eventually it doesn’t as you slowly make less and less insulin. It’s very early yet, but you need to keep it in mind. Doctors are mindset about everyone being a type 2 because that is so much more common. They are likely to only see one Type 1 in their lifetime. I even asked my doctor because I had had an uncle that was a type 1 and told no I wasn’t and they never tested me until I switched doctors.
So when things don’t make sense, you could be a type 1 instead. Just keep it in mind.
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I hadn’t thought about it but I guess anything is possible. We always assumed my grandmother was a T2 but, I don’t actually know if that is true or not. Certainly something to keep in mind I guess.
Also, potential MODY if runs in the family.
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Well you may need a masters degree to fully understand it. I have been at T1 doe 48 years and I still do not understand it.
And to @mwilson53 After you get a degree there is a need for continual education credits. 
I’m not a doctor nor a nutritionist, but as a fellow type 2, I’d say you’re really doing great and have made very smart choices! I’ll probably just say the same things as others already have, but here it goes.
There are always other possibilities in the world. That goes from changing the diet, to medication, to type of exercise. I go for walks in the morning because I’m not an exercise person (that’s my cardio! lol).
I know some types of exercise can, as you said, make BG rise and then go down quickly - heavy-lifting and running in sprints, for example. This is mostly because of adrenaline and cortisol (if I’m not mistaken). The time of exercise also matters (after meals, and in the evening are usually better for our metabolism - New Studies Suggest Advice for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes | AAFP - I found this version of an article I read recently to share.
Personally, I’d say that give your treatment a chance for another 3 months and see how that goes. If you’re still unhappy with your numbers, discuss with your endocrinologist other options - maybe change medication to another type/group that targets your BG a different way, for example or that would be doing more cardio.
I feel like I am walking amongst giants on this forum, everybody here seems to have years of experience and wisdom I don’t yet possess. I have been battling this diagnosis for a scant two years in comparison - trying to exercise and “diet” my way out of it. I didn’t even want to take meds and I will be honest about it, most of that was just misguided pridefulness. Who among us wants to have to admit to, let alone deal with their inevitable human frailties? Even as we know that time will come sooner or later provided you live long enough.
Either way, I am not stranger to exercise or eating habit changes. I have used both to maintain a healthy weight well into my 50’s. Cardio right now is a bit of a pain to say the least. This is due to chronic gout flare ups that are coming more frequently due to the protein laden diet I have been on for the past 3 months. That diet obviously did some good as evidenced by the improved BG labs as mentioned previously. In contrast, I am currently dealing with a crippling gout flare up in spite of an impressive Uric acid serum test.
To top off this ice cream sundae (sounds good right?), I am also on cholesterol meds that just so happen to interact negatively with the anti-inflammatory I am taking to get through the gout nonsense. My cholesterol was up as part of the aforementioned labs, not out of range but clearly up due to the obvious diet changes. Catch-22.
I am certainly not complaining about any of this because I don’t believe in doing so. I am more a person of intel gathering, forming up a path to resolution and then moving out on said plan. If that makes sense at all. Thanks for you input @matt_l!
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I’ve been in this for almost 2 years too so, as I said, no expert at all!
I’m 33 and also had to start cholesterol and others meds that have (luckily) decreased with time as I started to exercise and I really changed how I eat.
In this (short) amount of time my treatment has changed a bit too so that’s where I’m coming from 
This forum is an amazing tool and everyone’s knowledge and experience truly inspire me everyday and hopefully, will you too.
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Well, I appreciate your input sir. I am optimistic about the direction I am going because that is really the only disposition I know how to take.
People tell me all the time how “well” I am dealing with it, most of them have no idea what all is involved (aren’t you going to have any of Bob’s b-day cake)? Before you become a member of the club, the general understanding is that diabetics stick themselves to check their blood and some of them have to give themselves shots. Invariably you will hear a tale about how somebody’s uncle/cousin/in-law twice removed had a limb chopped off or died in some sort of seizure event, or worse. It is good to talk to kindred spirits.
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I don’t know enough about gout. I did own a health food store and my understanding is high uric acid settles around the joints? And then damages the joints. But while they know a normal range, they don’t really? Maybe the close enough analogy I can think of is why someone gets atherosclerosis when their cholesterol is at 180, which is considered normal range but most are more likely to get it above 200. LDL level is more pertinent.
So more rarely you can still get gout when you are in normal range and it can just vary per person how you are affected by what level. Not everyone that has a high uric acid level has gout? But once you get it you are more susceptible to it. It might have to do more with uric acid excretion, How well you get rid of the uric acid. And since animal purines definitely turn into uric acid it adds to how much your kidneys have to get rid of. I think you can get your uric acid excretion checked? I remember a few customers talking about it, but I don’t know much about it.
What customers at our store liked was 3,000-5,000 mg of Alfalfa pills and 6 Tart Cherry pills daily to keep down uric acid levels. I take Tart Cherry capsules, to help with inflamation for my back, it works great. Also when in season strawberries and cherries.
@Marie20 I think your understanding is pretty close. So yes, like yours my understanding is that the uric acid does crystalize in your joints as a result of the purines coming from protein. Over time, given enough flare ups it can damage the joint to the point of requiring surgery. It is excruciating, I have heard it compared to a pair of vice grips on your big toe joint. It can effect other joints such as your wrist or ankles but most often occurs in the big toe. It has been around for centuries, often referred to as the “king’s disease” because it often accompanies a diet of rich foods. It is also a form of rheumatoid arthritis which my grandfather had in spades.
I started having flare ups about 9 years ago, I thought I had stress fractured my foot the first time it occurred. I was doing a lot of running at the time and it just felt sore for a day or so then one night it sent me through the roof very suddenly. Since then I have had multiple flare ups, sometimes going years without one. A couple of years ago I heavily modified my diet to a keto base and all of a sudden I having flare ups every few weeks, miserable. At that point I started Alopurinol, which I am still taking. The Alopurinol did the trick for several months but my diet was a wreck and my BG showed it. So another diet modification to correct the BG and within days I am getting flare ups all over again.
Finally, the way my GP explained it to me this week, and I am paraphrasing, is that even though my Uric Acid serum shows a very low level (3.5, the normal range is 2.6 - 8 according to the lab notes…), he said I still have crystals in my system/blood that have to work themselves out. We have already upped the dose of Alopurinol to it’s max of 300 mg. At this point I am just trying to get through this particular flare up with anti-inflammatory drugs, it’s probably the worst one I have had in several years.
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Colchicine?
Is all protein considered bad for gout or just animal protein?
@MBW yes, I am taking Colchicine.
@Firenza Great question! I am not entirely sure about that honestly. If you do minimal research you get a generic list of “foods you shouldn’t eat” (Red meat, fish, wild game, alcohol etc.) but flare up triggers seem to be different for each person. Overuse of the joint can cause it to flare up. I had one person suggest that after having CKD and getting a transplant, their gout went away entirely. It’s a mystery, I should likely dig a little further into it. My kidneys read fine according to bloodwork.
@Firenza @mwilson53 It is animal proteins because almost all of the animal proteins are what is high in purines. But there are some plant foods like asparagus you are supposed to avoid too. It is food high in purines because that produces uric acid and uric acid is what causes the problem
Welll… I don’t want to start a diet argument but if animal protein is the culprit of gout then perhaps @mwilson53 should consider some dietary changes. You could reduce animal protein severely and just go with fatty foods such as avocado, dairy, tofu or nuts. Or a low fat/high carb diet may suit you better such as Mastering Diabetes.
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