[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

CramCycle wrote: »

Type 1 myself, have been for as long as I can remember. I cannot imagine what its like to remember not being Diabetic but I will say one thing. I look at my own life choices, those of my family and can see alot of personality traits which are not conducive to a long and healthy lifestyle. If I wasn't Diabetic, I'd be on my way to an early and lonely grave. Its not as terrible a thing as some would have you believe, you have it diagnosed now, rather than in 10 years where it is harder to reverse.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes its awful, and there are probably a majority of people who would do better without it. I am not one of those people though, it may in fact have saved my life.

You know now, you can make a choice to improve things. You will fail, you will fail multiple times, I am sure most of the posters here have, if they haven't, and I am not a betting man, I'd bet the house they are not being completely honest or they are too new to the game.

Anyway, best of luck, just remember, its not great but its not all that bad if you don't want it to be.

My dads type 1 , injects 2 times a day , mams type 2

So i suppose i knew there was a huge chance id get ut eventually

Gonna try my best to get fit , healthy , lose weight ( currently 25stone and 6”2 ) so that has to drastically change , who knows might reverse it , only had symptoms this last week and went to gp with un-related issue so maybe found out relatively soon

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

You notice and difference in your life ?

Ive been precribed tablets and after 6 weeks to go get bloods checked and see if i need to increase the dosage rtc

Type 1 myself, have been for as long as I can remember. I cannot imagine what its like to remember not being Diabetic but I will say one thing. I look at my own life choices, those of my family and can see alot of personality traits which are not conducive to a long and healthy lifestyle. If I wasn't Diabetic, I'd be on my way to an early and lonely grave. Its not as terrible a thing as some would have you believe, you have it diagnosed now, rather than in 10 years where it is harder to reverse.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes its awful, and there are probably a majority of people who would do better without it. I am not one of those people though, it may in fact have saved my life.

You know now, you can make a choice to improve things. You will fail, you will fail multiple times, I am sure most of the posters here have, if they haven't, and I am not a betting man, I'd bet the house they are not being completely honest or they are too new to the game.

Anyway, best of luck, just remember, its not great but its not all that bad if you don't want it to be.

banie01 wrote: »

Been there, am there and will be there for the foreseeable.
I was originally diagnosed as T2 back in 2006 and have since been rediagnosed as insulin dependent.

Follow your docs advice, tie in with your local Diabetes team and see a dietician to get a better handle on your diet.

Don't try and change your diet in fell swoop, it's much easier to take it in small steps and aim for gradual improvement rather than end up with new years resolution type situation that becomes a struggle to keep motivated for.

You notice and difference in your life ?

Ive been precribed tablets and after 6 weeks to go get bloods checked and see if i need to increase the dosage rtc

banjobongo

interesting article on the BBC news website about the cost of having to pay for insulin in the USA:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47491964

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

Need to lose weight and try find low sugar foods

Been there, am there and will be there for the foreseeable.
I was originally diagnosed as T2 back in 2006 and have since been rediagnosed as insulin dependent.

Follow your docs advice, tie in with your local Diabetes team and see a dietician to get a better handle on your diet.

Don't try and change your diet in fell swoop, it's much easier to take it in small steps and aim for gradual improvement rather than end up with new years resolution type situation that becomes a struggle to keep motivated for.

banie01 wrote: »

I know its not the diagnosis anyone wants to hear
But!
Look on the bright side, plenty that can be down to arrest and even reverse T2 if its caught early.

Meds are improving all the time and make a huge difference to quality of life too.

That said, it does suck balls and its okay to wallow a bit.

Feel better soon!

Need to lose weight and try find low sugar foods

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

Diagnosed with type 2 this afternoon

Fook my life

38 male , crappy diet , needs to change

I know its not the diagnosis anyone wants to hear

But!
Look on the bright side, plenty that can be down to arrest and even reverse T2 if its caught early.

Meds are improving all the time and make a huge difference to quality of life too.

That said, it does suck balls and its okay to wallow a bit.

Feel better soon!

Diagnosed with type 2 this afternoon

Fook my life

38 male , crappy diet , needs to change

Donutz

CramCycle wrote:

Pay yourself AFAIK but you can claim it back as a tax deductible. Any food that is specifically for your Diabetes can be claimed back.

Good to know. Thanks for the reply.

Donutz wrote: »

Hello everybody.

I've been recently been diagnosed with type 1 and have been put on insulin. A friend of mine told me about glucojuice for treating hypos. Does anybody know if I can get glucojuice with my LTI book or will I have to pay for it myself?

Pay yourself AFAIK but you can claim it back as a tax deductible. Any food that is specifically for your Diabetes can be claimed back.

Donutz

Hello everybody.

I've been recently been diagnosed with type 1 and have been put on insulin. A friend of mine told me about glucojuice for treating hypos. Does anybody know if I can get glucojuice with my LTI book or will I have to pay for it myself?

Posting an update from the end of Week 4 of my attempt at the Newcastle diet.

I'm now insulin free since the 25th of Feb.
My morning BG levels have crept back up again from a range of 4.9-6.5 whilst I was in the 1st 2 weeks of the diet and still taking Insulin(although on a reducing dose)
To my current range of 5.8-7.2 over the days since the 25th Feb.

The difference in range is not a particular worry at the moment, as it is actually analogous to my usual morning BG range prior to my beginning the diet.
So as it stands, 4 weeks in I am at a stage where with zero Insulin I am maintaining similar BG levels to my Insulin use from before attempting the diet.

I'm currently testing @3-4 times daily to keep a good eye on post prandial levels aswell.
Ideally I'd love to be able to share some CGM readings from pre -during and -post this diet but alas I'm not using a libre or anything similar.

I've contacted my Diabetes team and I'm swinging in to see the nurse next week to go over my numbers and get an up to date HbA1C so hopefully that will help tell a fuller story.

So long story short...
4 weeks or Halfway in, I'm very happy with the progress to date(the weight loss in particular has been a happy bonus!).
Will update again next week but if anyone has any questions feel free to ask either on thread or via PM if you'd prefer.

Hope this attempt at a diary is of some use to anyone considering giving the Newcastle diet a try.

goat2 wrote: »

any one have a bleed to back of eye, what is the usual procedure, and is it reversible,
I have a family member with diabetes, and careless with what they eat,
Can not keep away from the sugary snacks

Are they under an Opthalmologist team or Diabetes team?
How was the bleed diagnosed?
Early treatment can prevent further damage and others on here are more experienced with the options.
Important thing is however that treatment needs to be early.

goat2

any one have a bleed to back of eye, what is the usual procedure, and is it reversible,
I have a family member with diabetes, and careless with what they eat,
Can not keep away from the sugary snacks

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Banie - fantastic, thanks for keeping us updated. I'd say you're getting some real good feelings when you see those "100% in range" readings!

TBH, my control is usually fairly tight and my avg HbA1c over the last 3yrs has been in the 6 to 6.5 range.
That said however, my control was becoming more and more reliant on basal Insulin.
Having the same control with no basal dose really is a huge motivating factor for me at the moment

gerrybbadd

Banie - fantastic, thanks for keeping us updated. I'd say you're getting some real good feelings when you see those "100% in range" readings!

Week 3 of the Newcastle Diet finished

My morning BG has increased slightly since coming off insulin but it is still well below my usual trigger to raise the basal.

My usual protocol for changing my Basal is if my morning BG is above 7, I increase my Basal and if its below 6.5 I decrease it.
I have had one morning since stopping my Basal(after tapering it over the previous 2 weeks) where my BG was 7.2, but I did not add back in a Basal dose in the hope it was a one off which it appears to be.

So on the screenshot below, my Week 3 average BG has increased slightly but to my mind this is more than offset by the elimination of my insulin need so far.
On the weight front, I have dropped a total of 7kgs to date. A loss of @6%; overall to date.
The cravings have for the most part passed and apart from a slip last week where I inhaled a sandwich (That seriously threw out my BG too) I've been coping quite well.

Thanks for the encouragement folks.

The latest models/theories of Diabetes diagnosis and treatment are to my mind pointing more and more towards a spectrum of diabetes with particular regard to Type 2 and Insulin resistance.

In my own case, I was diagnosed as T2 at 26 while very fit and active. Was dignosed by fluke really.
Treated as such for 10yrs before a change of Endo led to a discussion of LADA and a type 1.5 diagnosis and the start of a basal insulin dose for the last 3 years.

It is a combination of impending middle age, reliance on more and more insulin for maintenance of control rather than improving it that have led me to wanting to actually drive a change.

The onset of early diabetes complications in particular retinopathy all led to me deciding that rather than just carry on with the status quo, that I'd give the NC diet a try.

It's still early days and I have @ 6weeks to go before I'm done but I'm very pleased with the progress to date.

Today was my 2nd day with no basal insulin.
Prior to starting this diet my usual regime would be 32units Lantus at night and a morning BG of @7.5.

This morning, with no Basal my morning BG was 5.8!

There is definitely some potential improvement to be gained and hopefully maintained.

wakka12

Well, for a lot of people it is, but mainly because they just keep getting fatter and lazier as they age

silverharp

so much for the old supposed mantra that diabetes is a progressive disease

Royal Legend

Brilliant, keep it going and keep posting

That is epic, well done.

2 weeks in to the Newcastle Diet and I'm still persevering.

Today is my 1st day in 3 years without a basal insulin dose!
Over the course of 2 weeks my basal has reduced from a steady 32 units of Lantus, to yesterday's being none!

At my peak my basal was 60units and I'd always worked hard to keep it low as the side effects of too much insulin with weight gain and so on aren't great for any co-morbidity.

I weighed myself this morning too so as I can share an indication of how that's going.

I'm down @5kg since starting so @4%, but weight isn't a factor for me in this.
My aim is to reduce my insulin dependence and improve my overall insulin response and health and to date, I'm very surprised and bloody delighted too!

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Well done! I'm excited to see how this goes for you. Have you had any hypos?

My wife has me on a diet with her now at the minute, i've had a lot of hypos on it. However, i'm finding i'm losing a lot of weight. There are days I don't need novorapid - at all! And my tresiba has reduced from 64 units to 56.

Started out weighing in at 13 stone 7 pounds. I'm 12 stone 10 pounds as of this morning.

Well done on your own inprovements to date!
That's a big difference!

No hypos and lowest read to date is 4.2.
I'm fairly hypo aware too so hopefully if I have had any I'd have realized.

I started out at 110kg, but I have the added benefit of being 6'5"

and still carrying a fair deal of muscle albeit with an incipient paunch and middle aged spread.

I'll keep the thread updated on a weekly basis with some BG screenshot averages and any other related things.

gerrybbadd

banie01 wrote: »

Week 1 of the Newcastle Diet completed yesterday.
My average BG over the week has reduced by @8%.
Currently down from 6.5 to 6.0
My basal Lantus dose has already reduced from 32units to 14units!
That's about a 60% improvement in insulin reliance inside of a week!

I've not weighed myself, as to be quite honest tracking weight loss is not a major part of this for me.
I did weigh myself at the start, and I will at the finish but in the interim my main focus is going to be BG levels and insulin use as a measure of any success.

Well done! I'm excited to see how this goes for you. Have you had any hypos?

My wife has me on a diet with her now at the minute, i've had a lot of hypos on it. However, i'm finding i'm losing a lot of weight. There are days I don't need novorapid - at all! And my tresiba has reduced from 64 units to 56.

Started out weighing in at 13 stone 7 pounds. I'm 12 stone 10 pounds as of this morning.

Week 1 of the Newcastle Diet completed yesterday.
My average BG over the week has reduced by @8%.
Currently down from 6.5 to 6.0
My basal Lantus dose has already reduced from 32units to 14units!
That's about a 60% improvement in insulin reliance inside of a week!

I've not weighed myself, as to be quite honest tracking weight loss is not a major part of this for me.
I did weigh myself at the start, and I will at the finish but in the interim my main focus is going to be BG levels and insulin use as a measure of any success.

Buford T. Justice XIX

I got a letter in the post this morning from Animas telling me my pump is now out of warranty, instead of next September, and I need to move over to a new maker as as replacement pumps I might require from breakages or anything else will not be supplies by Animas.

So just heading to the busiest time of the year, I'll have to take time off to attend an introduction course and possibly more as there was 2 days of a course when starting with Animas.

'Sake:mad: