Been a T2 for almost 4 years now, was found by complete accident during a medical for a Pilot’s License with a transport Canada Doctor. Fasting BS was 17.4 with an A1C of 12.2%.
Took Metformin, managed to get off the meds, ended up back on Jardiance and had my dosage upped in Feb 2020. In May my endocrinologist wanted to add a second med to bring by A1C down from 7.2 to 6.5.
Decided to really get my head in the game and push hard to change lifestyle. Got my A1C down to 6.3 by August. Got off the meds completely in September, and as of this week my A1C is now 5.8 and been med free for 4.5 months.
Huge changes in nutrition, exercise, and 50lbs weight loss since July. But created new healthy habits and my life feels completely different. If I can do it you can do. Keep grinding, it’s completely worth it!!
Thank you, Tim. Honestly I’ve been through a range of emotions from a strong desire to attack it (but never really processing it properly), so not giving a damn and eating/drinking whatever I wanted, to now really feeling mentally and physically stronger than I’ve ever felt in my life.
I’m not pretending it’s easy, it isn’t. But it can be completely manageable. For me, I’ve never been particularly athletic, but I found in order to this to be sustainable, it has to be fun. So instead of just pounding pavement which is what I did 4 year ago, now I focus on fun activities. I play lots of racquet sports, badminton, tennis, table tennis, if I go for a power walk I’ll go in the sun and by the ocean instead of just walking random blocks. I bought a stand up paddle board for use in the summer and loved being on the ocean, and I ski a bunch. It has to be enjoyable for it to be life-long.
I’ve basically stopped watching TV and make sure I get out for 1-2 hrs every day to do something healthy instead.
On the nutrition front I’ve cut out the bad carbs, but still eat well and healthy. But I don’t cut everything out- just the bad ones. I have a friend taking a PHD in nutrition and she told me to eat more carbs in fact- she said the brain needs 120g (gross not net minus the fibre) to stay healthy. I just make sure I eat lots of veg, protein, some carbs, but all sweets gone.
After really getting into a funk (at about the 6 month marker post-diagnosis), it took me a while to figure out how to manage this. But I promise you, if you’re willing to create new habits around things that bring you joy, your life will change forever (for the best!) Reach out if I can ever provide any insights.
I never pursued it. I was looking for a change of career and wanted to actually go to school for commercial flying. Decided to take the medical before investing any money. Quite possibly that decision saved my life. I had ZERO symptoms. (I also wasn’t healthy but still no actual issues).
While there’s a chance I might get signed off, there’s already some permanent retinopathy in my eyes. It’s stable and I see my ophthalmologist every 6 months, but honestly, without experience, spending a small fortune to go to school knowing I may lose my license at any time just isn’t worth it to me now. I switched careers to something else and I’m happy.
I will say at the time I was 12% it was a hard no to sign off. Now I may or may not based on my eyes but I won’t pursue it.
