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In the previous thread you started about hating to drink water you stated your labs came back normal and showed no diabetes.......
Yea, I still hate drinking water. I got labs drawn on Friday and it came back as 6.4 which at that time (before meeting my doctor) technically is not categorized as diabetes. I admit though, it is in the pre diabetes range but being a 25 year old and having I strong will (although strong will doesnt mean I have an easy time carrying things out) I told myself "ok, I have pre diabetes, NOT actual diabetes, I will get myself out of this category in the near future". The rest of my labs were fine, no hypertension or cholestrol. Thats my thought process until I met my doctor yesterday, who thinks otherwise which leads to this thread.
In the other thread, I gave you a link to a couple dieting books that I thought would be helpful. I'd recommend them even MORE now that you are in the diabetic range. The ones I recommended will be extremely beneficial in helping to correct insulin sensitivity as well as helping you lose weight.
You should also immediately go to your doctor and literally demand a prescription for Cycloset (brand name of Bromocripitine) as it will not only be extremely beneficial to your diabetes but has hormonal normalizing effects that make dieting in general much easier and effective.
Scary stuff, but a good wake up call to give you the motivation to make some serious changes. This stuff has helped my uncle with his, contains cinnamon powder which helps metabolize fat and carbohydrates, regulate blood sugar, and may help improve glucose and lipids levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. I always prefer trying as many natural options before taking the pills the doc is so keen to give away and make money on....
[url=http://nudetea.com.au/product/weight-loss-tea/]Weight Loss Tea | Organic Tea | NUDE TEA Australia[/url]
First thing you need to do is educate yourself. Google is your friend. As you said this is a wake-up call. And people with diabetes can live a long life-you just have to make changes. Exercise and diet are in the way to go.
My husband has Type II diabetes which was discovered about 7 years ago or so. His wasn't brought on by weight but by age. He had to make some changes-stopped drinking soda, switched to artificial sweetener for his coffee, etc. His glucose numbers aren't too high and even when they are really elevated it is still under 200 so he can splurge with an occasional sweet-as long as it is in moderation. And he does take meds.
First let me make on thing clear before I go any further. I am not against change. I know I NEED to change, regardless if I have diabetes or not because this weight alone is holding me down and although I am fortunate that it hasnt affected my blood pressure and havent given me high cholestrol I know down the road I will develop them if I dont change. Like my husband said "If you dont change in I bet in 5 years you will develop multiple chronic diseases". My eating habits has been much better since 7 years ago. Like I said, I no longer crave hamburgers or fries, or soda. I just have to cut back on the rice, which I havent eaten at all since yesterday. All that I have been eating are raw almonds, romaine lettuce, tomotoes, salmon and other veggies.
Now back to the diabetes thing. Not that I care whether I am type II or pre (well, actually I do but what I am saying is regardless of either I still have to lose weight), but it is relevant to whether I NEED to be put on meds or not. My glucose test showed that my average bs number is 137. Which is high, I am not debating that, but not high enough to fall into the diabetic range. I spoke to the nurse who helped me set up the glaucometer and did the teaching on how to use it and she said as far as she knows, someone is diabetic if their sugar is above 140.
My doctor was very quick to put me on metformin without an option to diet and excercise. He didnt even consider pre diabetes, he's more of the type you either have it or you dont, no room for pre diabetes in my book. Anything above a 5.7 is diabetic, which I think is unfair really considering I dont want to be tied down from meds. So if I were to drop to a 6.1 (which is definitely in the pre range) is that still not acceptable to him?
He's also uncertain about his diagnosis. He categorized me as a diabetic but afraid that putting me on metformin will lower my bs TOO much. He was like "I wanna put you on metformin but afraid your blood sugar will get too low since your bs is not that high (moment of silence). Ok lets do this, you take the metformin and CHECK your bs every morning and see what happens, if it gets too low I will decrease your dosage".
I asked him if I am going to be like this forever and he said since my numbers are not too high and I am still young chances are all it takes is for me to lose weight, even 10% of my body weight and my bs may elevate itself and go back to normal. He's seen cases of young people around my age who lost weight and were completely "cured". Meaning they went on to eat like normal people (in moderation of course but didnt have to watch every single thing) and their blood sugar still stayed within normal range. So its not impossible.
First let me make on thing clear before I go any further. I am not against change. I know I NEED to change, regardless if I have diabetes or not because this weight alone is holding me down and although I am fortunate that it hasnt affected my blood pressure and havent given me high cholestrol I know down the road I will develop them if I dont change. Like my husband said "If you dont change in I bet in 5 years you will develop multiple chronic diseases". My eating habits has been much better since 7 years ago. Like I said, I no longer crave hamburgers or fries, or soda. I just have to cut back on the rice, which I havent eaten at all since yesterday. All that I have been eating are raw almonds, romaine lettuce, tomotoes, salmon and other veggies.
Now back to the diabetes thing. Not that I care whether I am type II or pre (well, actually I do but what I am saying is regardless of either I still have to lose weight), but it is relevant to whether I NEED to be put on meds or not. My glucose test showed that my average bs number is 137. Which is high, I am not debating that, but not high enough to fall into the diabetic range. I spoke to the nurse who helped me set up the glaucometer and did the teaching on how to use it and she said as far as she knows, someone is diabetic if their sugar is above 140.
My doctor was very quick to put me on metformin without an option to diet and excercise. He didnt even consider pre diabetes, he's more of the type you either have it or you dont, no room for pre diabetes in my book. Anything above a 5.7 is diabetic, which I think is unfair really considering I dont want to be tied down from meds. So if I were to drop to a 6.1 (which is definitely in the pre range) is that still not acceptable to him?
He's also uncertain about his diagnosis. He categorized me as a diabetic but afraid that putting me on metformin will lower my bs TOO much. He was like "I wanna put you on metformin but afraid your blood sugar will get too low since your bs is not that high (moment of silence). Ok lets do this, you take the metformin and CHECK your bs every morning and see what happens, if it gets too low I will decrease your dosage".
Metformin doesn't generally cause BS lows unless you're taking it with something else that also lowers BS. I don't know why people resist taking it the way they do. There have been studies done that show that taking metformin while you're in the prediabetic stage will help prevent full-blown diabetes.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, my endocrinologist said that my siblings should also get tested. They're younger than me. Both got tested, the one who's only a few years younger than me was pre-diabetic. She researched it online and found the studies showing metformin might help, printed them out and took them to her doctor and asked for metformin. While she was taking it, she lost about 40 lbs and her A1C dropped down into the normal range.
The thing about diabetes or prediabetes and losing weight is that losing weight will help, but losing just enough weight to see numbers in the normal range and then resuming your old eating habits will not help. I've lost 160lbs since I was diagnosed and my numbers are in the normal range now. But if I eat more than 150g of carbs a day, I start putting the weight back on pretty fast, regardless of calorie intake. So I'll have to be careful of what I eat for the rest of my life.
Metformin doesn't generally cause BS lows unless you're taking it with something else that also lowers BS. I don't know why people resist taking it the way they do. There have been studies done that show that taking metformin while you're in the prediabetic stage will help prevent full-blown diabetes.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, my endocrinologist said that my siblings should also get tested. They're younger than me. Both got tested, the one who's only a few years younger than me was pre-diabetic. She researched it online and found the studies showing metformin might help, printed them out and took them to her doctor and asked for metformin. While she was taking it, she lost about 40 lbs and her A1C dropped down into the normal range.
The thing about diabetes or prediabetes and losing weight is that losing weight will help, but losing just enough weight to see numbers in the normal range and then resuming your old eating habits will not help. I've lost 160lbs since I was diagnosed and my numbers are in the normal range now. But if I eat more than 150g of carbs a day, I start putting the weight back on pretty fast, regardless of calorie intake. So I'll have to be careful of what I eat for the rest of my life.
So does that mean diabetes is associated with weight gain? Say, if I lost 90 - 100 lbs (that would put me in normal weight for my height) and ate things in moderation and not gain any weight (maybe + or - 5 lbs) would that mean that my bs would pretty much stablize? Does that mean I can drink an occasional coke during birthday parties instead of cutting it out completely? Basically, what I am trying to ask is if I were to successfully lose all the weight 1 year from now, would my bs be the same as a normal person's and I can eat the same amount of recommended carbs that a normal person get to eat? I read in an article that said the recommended carb intake for women based on 2,000 calories is between 225 - 325, would I be able to eat that much without worrying (given, I dont gain weight on the amount of carbs).
Its just the way my doc said it weight loss is key and since he said my numbers are not horribly high my blood sugar could go back to completely normal once I lose weight and I could eat like a normal person adn not have to count carbs (of course no more binge eating). He wouldnt know for certain though until I actually lose the weight.
You're a young person with a window of opportunity to reverse your situation.
Treat yourself as a diabetic and fix this.
Get yourself to a nutritionist. A referral can help with insurance coverage, if cost is an issue. If you must, cough up the money.
Figure out how to work some (more) physical activity into your routine. Ask your doctor if you have current/prior injuries or other relevant health issues (ie heart trouble).
This was very sound advice and worth repeating. Also, don't waste much time blaming yourself. It's counter productive and not useful to you in any way. What matters most is that you are young and can, 100%, correct your situation just by making some lifestyle changes. Focus on the positive, not the negative, and take your news as gift that will change your life in a very good way if you heed the advice your doctor is giving you.
Don't let anyone make you believe you "gave yourself" diabetes by being overweight. Much, much research disproves that. Truth is, you are just one of those unlucky people who is predisposed to get it, and your lifestyle exasperated it. The upside of that is your lifestyle can fix it too. You said you've got a nutritionist. That, along with the determination to make some changes, are a great start!
As for the label your doctor gave you, well, how well do you like your doctor? I ask because "existing conditions" CAN be troublesome, and your question about filling out forms was a legitimate one. And, unless your doctor has been talking to you about pre-diabetes for a long time and you've been ignoring his advice, I question him rushing to give you pills. My doctor would have put me on a diet and brought me back in a few months before prescribing anything then warned me over and over before resorting to a prescription. Pharmaceuticals is a big business. It doesn't sit right with me that a doctor is rushing to diagnose you with a disease and then rushing to put you on pills. But you know your situation better than I do, so I'll try not to judge. Just remember that a second opinion is always an option.
So does that mean diabetes is associated with weight gain? Say, if I lost 90 - 100 lbs (that would put me in normal weight for my height) and ate things in moderation and not gain any weight (maybe + or - 5 lbs) would that mean that my bs would pretty much stablize? Does that mean I can drink an occasional coke during birthday parties instead of cutting it out completely? Basically, what I am trying to ask is if I were to successfully lose all the weight 1 year from now, would my bs be the same as a normal person's and I can eat the same amount of recommended carbs that a normal person get to eat? I read in an article that said the recommended carb intake for women based on 2,000 calories is between 225 - 325, would I be able to eat that much without worrying (given, I dont gain weight on the amount of carbs).
Its just the way my doc said it weight loss is key and since he said my numbers are not horribly high my blood sugar could go back to completely normal once I lose weight and I could eat like a normal person adn not have to count carbs (of course no more binge eating). He wouldnt know for certain though until I actually lose the weight.
I don't think anyone can make these kinds of predictions with any accuracy. You may be someone who always has to be careful with their diet. I will say that my mother was diagnosed with Type II diabetes at the age of 50. She was never overweight, but ate a very unhealthy diet. Until late in life, she kept her diabetes under control strictly through diet, and she did have the occasional piece of cake. I think the best thing for you to do is read as much as you can on the subject from legitimate sources (not anonymous on line forums) and educate yourself on what messes with blood sugar. It's not just what you eat, but when you eat, how often you eat, and what combinations of food you put together. There are lots of variables.
My opinion, though? If you lose all the weight, you won't be "cured". It's a condition you'll continue to have to be aware of, and you'll need to keep your diet and weight in check. But at the same time, don't think you'll never ever be able to have pie on Thanksgiving. Reality will be somewhere in between, I'm sure!
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