THE DREADED DIABETES

[Hawging It]

First of all don't be a hard ass and do like I did and try to tough it out. About 120 days ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. I thought I was bullet proof. 63 years young. Very active and never any inkling of any serious sickness other than a common cold. Over the past several years working all over the country and sitting behind a desk 12 hours a day you guessed it, I gained a lot of weight. Stepped on the scales last year about this time of year and I weighed 249. I'm 6'1". I said to myself, no way in hell I am going to weigh 250 so I stopped eating a giant bowl of ice cream every night, stopped the 3 or 4 beers a night and started eating for 1 instead of 3. Started loosing weight right off the bat. That lasted for a couple of months and before you know it yep, you guessed it. Big bowl of ice cream every night, eating to much but never started back with the beer. I continued loosing weight for months at a fairly rapid rate. I wrote it off to high stress job working 12 hours a day 7 days a week rarely taking a day off. I had dropped from 249 to around 210 in just a few months. I started to get concerned the BIG C? That was my first thought. When I starting to take a leak every 2 hours and my feet went numb with needle like shooting pain and I had lost down to 192 I knew what it was but I resisted going to the Doctor. Johnny hard ass I guess. When I got down to 192 pounds 120 days ago I went to see the Doctor. They pulled enough blood to kill a horse! AIC was 14 which he said was the highest it could be. He said something about sugar was 500. He said I could have fallen into a coma and zip, that's all folks. He told me what to do and come back in 90 days. I did exactly what he advised along with the medication he prescribed. Changed my habits and after 90 days I went for a check up. A1C is now 7 and sugar level consistently 102 to 104. The Doctor was shocked. Me too. He said keep doing what I am doing and come back in 90 days. My only issue is the numb feet with the stinging shooting pain in the bottom of my feet. That is something I will deal with from now on. I post a lot of my meat smoking. I eat very little of it. Cooking it for family and friends. Kinda getting used to living and eating healthy. I have no choice. I will be asking for recipes for diabetics from time to time. Take care and keep on smokin!!

 

[chilerelleno]

Type 2 here.... Join the ever growing crowd.

 

[jcam222]

All my posts are diabetic friendly. All the rubs, sauces and desserts I post are very low carb using sugar substitutes that don’t impact blood sugars. I’m very glad you got it figured out and are managing it. My brother was similar to you and lost a ton and damn near died before he finally listened and got diagnosed.

 

[pops6927]

Same with me in my 50's. Been battling it ever since! That is why I started YAWYE (you are what you eat)! Plus, as I now know (after 8 strokes, 3 heart attacks and 5 heart operations!) stress is a big factor too! I set up a spreadsheet in Google Sheets (free) of: Time and Date, Glucose, Weight, Temp, BP, BP after 2 hours (after taking my morning meds), BM (Y/N), and day, plus any notes. As soon as I get up I start to track my vitals, then take my meds, then do stuff on the computer, then take my BP 2 hours later. I print it out for my wife to see (she is my Caregiver as I can no longer do anything) when she gets up, and then eat Breakfast and do up my meds for the day (17 prescription and 6 OTC meds in 3 doses). I take my meds when I get up (after taking my vitals), at or around 4 pm, then an hour before I go to bed. I usually am up by 5 am (used to get up at 4am when I was working, putting in 14-18 hours a day on my feet!) but had a VERY poor diet! Like running to Jack In The Box and getting 10 tacos for lunch!). I am now on Hospice for terminal coronary heart disease and failing. Just wore the pump out and no one to blame except myself!

 

[mike243]

I have been fighting it for 15 years or so, meat don't affect me much due to low/no sugar/bbq sauce ect , been on metformin 2000mg a day and have started taking another drug recently to help control it also. No idea if the new to me drug is helping yet or not. I dont do as good job avoiding foods but I limit the amount pretty good.

 

[pops6927]

Oh, just for the record, I am now down to 204 lbs, (from 250), but as low as 194 lb, out of the hospital last year (from April 11 to July 26 in various hospitals and rehab facilities and skilled nursing homes). I refused one last heart operation that was to go through previously installed main aortic stents in my main valve (replaced in June) and into blocked left and right ventricles, with little chance of a successful outcome (as per the cardiologist performing the operation). He would do it if I insisted, but I didn't. I now live with a no salt diet and am on Hospice for oxygen and various other things (meals on wheels, nurse's aid to give me showers twice a week, A registered Nurse once a week to assess my failing progress to my last breath, clergy and Social Services to make the final preparations, (cremation, no funeral, party at my son's house), disposal of property, where and with who my wife will live with, etc., obtaining multiple death certificates for insurance and pension transferrals, etc.). These all have to be worked out ahead of time! Our sons have been a big help in this!

 

[Hawging It]

All my posts are diabetic friendly. All the rubs, sauces and desserts I post are very low carb using sugar substitutes that don’t impact blood sugars. I’m very glad you got it figured out and are managing it. My brother was similar to you and lost a ton and damn near died before he finally listened and got diagnosed.

Good to hear and I will continue to watch for your post.

 

[Hawging It]

Same with me in my 50's. Been battling it ever since! That is why I started YAWYE (you are what you eat)! Plus, as I now know (after 8 strokes, 3 heart attacks and 5 heart operations!) stress is a big factor too! I set up a spreadsheet in Google Sheets (free) of: Time and Date, Glucose, Weight, Temp, BP, BP after 2 hours (after taking my morning meds), BM (Y/N), and day, plus any notes. As soon as I get up I start to track my vitals, then take my meds, then do stuff on the computer, then take my BP 2 hours later. I print it out for my wife to see (she is my Caregiver as I can no longer do anything) when she gets up, and then eat Breakfast and do up my meds for the day (17 prescription and 6 OTC meds in 3 doses). I take my meds when I get up (after taking my vitals), at or around 4 pm, then an hour before I go to bed. I usually am up by 5 am (used to get up at 4am when I was working, putting in 14-18 hours a day on my feet!) but had a VERY poor diet! Like running to Jack In The Box and getting 10 tacos for lunch!). I am now on Hospice for terminal coronary heart disease and failing. Just wore the pump out and no one to blame except myself!

Hang in there pops. Thank you for sharing with me.

 

[Hawging It]

Same with me in my 50's. Been battling it ever since! That is why I started YAWYE (you are what you eat)! Plus, as I now know (after 8 strokes, 3 heart attacks and 5 heart operations!) stress is a big factor too! I set up a spreadsheet in Google Sheets (free) of: Time and Date, Glucose, Weight, Temp, BP, BP after 2 hours (after taking my morning meds), BM (Y/N), and day, plus any notes. As soon as I get up I start to track my vitals, then take my meds, then do stuff on the computer, then take my BP 2 hours later. I print it out for my wife to see (she is my Caregiver as I can no longer do anything) when she gets up, and then eat Breakfast and do up my meds for the day (17 prescription and 6 OTC meds in 3 doses). I take my meds when I get up (after taking my vitals), at or around 4 pm, then an hour before I go to bed. I usually am up by 5 am (used to get up at 4am when I was working, putting in 14-18 hours a day on my feet!) but had a VERY poor diet! Like running to Jack In The Box and getting 10 tacos for lunch!). I am now on Hospice for terminal coronary heart disease and failing. Just wore the pump out and no one to blame except myself!

Going to check out YAWYE

 

[HalfSmoked]

I'm good at this point my wife is not but she has it well under control. Life changes as we age for sure. We all have to adjust at one point or the other. Hang in there and work at it Hawging It it can be done.

Warren

 

[Brokenhandle]

Wish you all well! Glad you got yours under control hawg! Pop's what you are going through seems all too familiar to us, went through about the same with mom earlier this year. Two things made it easier...she isn't suffering and in pain anymore, and secondly mom was a planner. She had all her affairs in order including her funeral which we still haven't been able to have but it was a huge help as it was the first parent to go. It showed us we needed to get things planned, just never know when our time is coming. We don't want to leave our kids not knowing what to do.

Ryan

 

[bhambrewer]

I was heading the same way, when a friend told me about keto (low carb high fat) diet. I am low carb and doing intermittent fasting, too: I don't do breakfast, I fast 16 hours of the day, and I am losing 1/2b to 1lb a week. I am not far off losing 20% of what I weighed at my worst.

My friend who told me about keto? According to the NHS he is officially no longer Type 2 diabetic.

There *is* a way back from T2. But you have to do your own reading, as your health provider won't tell you about LCHF as it flies in the face of the advice from the USDA.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

So many of us living with this. Dr. Sten Ekberg on youtube has really helped me. I watch him every night to learn more about how our body works and for inspiration. Good luck to all of us.

 

[kawboy]

Type 2 here as well, It's doable. Lots of diabetic friendly stuff out there.

 

[flatbroke]

Hawging It glad you got a handle on it. Sorry about your feet. Hopefully it will go away. pops6927 man I sure am sorry you are going through what you are. You Are setting a good example for your family in dealing with adversity. Hope you find comfort on the rest of your journey. Best wishes.

 

[Hawging It]

I'm good at this point my wife is not but she has it well under control. Life changes as we age for sure. We all have to adjust at one point or the other. Hang in there and work at it Hawging It it can be done.

Warren

Sure will

 

[Hawging It]

So many of us living with this. Dr. Sten Ekberg on youtube has really helped me. I watch him every night to learn more about how our body works and for inspiration. Good luck to all of us.

Thanks Brian

 

[disco]

Hang in there and keep well!

 

[Winterrider]

Some very cruel things out there we encounter in life. Some self inflicted , others we have absolutely no say in. All we can do is hope for the very best for all, the rest is in God's hands.

 

[tallbm]

pops6927 I'm sorry to hear that, keep strong!

Hawging It I have diabetes all over both sides of my families and both of my parents have it but not badly. I cut my carbs down to about no more than 20-45g a day even though I have no signs of it I figure I better get on it. Plus a former girlfriend wanted to do keto a couple of years ago and I have no issue eating meat and veggies hahaha. I burn all my carbs on ketchup and bbq sauce with my meals it seems hahaha.

Anyhow keep in there many and if you need any low carb tips or tricks feel free to ask. In my recent post doing Hatch Green Chile, Tomatillos and Pork, I used shirataki rice which is basically no carb and almost no calories as the "grain" portion of the dish and things like that go a long way :)