Hello! I just joined tudiabetes and I’m very impressed with what I’ve found so far.
I’m very new to thinking about diabetes for myself. My mother was a Type 2 diabetic who lived with it for more than 20 years before her death at the age of 83. It may be that my father was a Type 2, as well, though he died many years ago from heart disease and I’ve never heard anyone mention the possibility of diabetes-related issues in his health care.
My own partner is a Type 2 diabetic. We’ve only been together about six months. When he told me, recently, that he thought I might be diabetic, too, I agreed to let him do a BG test on his own meter. The result was a BG of 11.1 first thing in the morning, before breakfast. Two hours later, it was 13. I knew that those numbers were far too high. I made an appointment with my doctor and had the blood work done. My HbA1c was 13.1% and my fasting glucose was 10.0 mmol/L. In addition, my thyroid function was 6.7 mmol/L, which is compatible with hypothyroidism. I’ve had low thyroid before–for most of my teens and a little while in my 20s. I don’t feel like my thyroid is low, so I was a little surprised by the test result, but I’m not anxious about it, per se.
So far, I’ve seen my general practitioner once. She prescribed Metformin. She also said that she was concerned about my cholesterol results but we’ve agreed not to do anything about that for now. I expect that my low-carb diet will take care of this because I’ve never had a cholesterol problem before and because my triglycerides are normal (2.09 mmol/L).
I saw the diabetes educator at the hospital last week and heard about the supposed advantages of the high carbohydrate, low-fat diet. I don’t believe that will work for me. I know that carbs always make me hungry. I’m following Dr. Bernstein’s low carb plan, for the most part, and feel terrific with it. I’m not hungry, I’m sleeping better than I have in a long time and I have plenty of energy. I’ve lost about 15 pounds in the last three weeks.
My doctor hasn’t done anything about my thyroid function. I’m supposed to see the endocrinologist on December 2 and I’m sure he’ll address the problem then. However, I’ve learned that hypothyroidism can cause elevated cholesterol as well as elevated BG readings. I’m going to see my doctor in the next few days and ask her to put me on thyroid supplements instead of waiting for another month.
I have to say that, initially, I was devastated by this diagnosis. I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on, primarily Jenny’s “Blood Sugar 101” website, Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution and The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes. I’ve learned so much that it’s sometimes difficult to process everything! However, it’s become very clear to me that diabetes is something I can learn to manage. My goal is to achieve and maintain normal blood glucose levels. I’m only 53. I reckon that, if I do my best, I should have another 30-35 years ahead of me and I want every precious day, in good health!
My doctor told me that I could increase the Metformin gradually if I wanted to. I’m now taking 500 mg with each meal and, in combination with a maximum 30g carbohydrate per day and walking a couple of miles every day with the dog–which I’ve been doing for a couple of years already–my BG has been under 7.8 mmol/L during the day for the last three days. My fasting BG has been about 6.1, though I did have one morning where it was 5.6, which made me happy. I’m testing my blood about 6-8 times a day, before each meal, one and/or two hours after, and at bedtime. I’m willing to keep on testing this often for as long as it takes to bring my BG under control. I think that can take awhile, but it’s more than worth it. I also plan to lose another 25 pounds and I expect that will make a big difference, too.
Anyway, it’s good to be here. I expect I’ll learn a lot from others here. In time, perhaps I’ll be able to help, too!
Ann