Will I die if I don't change?

[hadntbeen]

I'm a 30 year old female. Full disclosure - my eating is out of control. Full of carbs, sugar and I drink a lot, and I mean a lot of semi skimmed milk which is just full of sugar. I am 5 foot 4 and weigh around 15 stone.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 2 years ago when I started to become very sleepy throughout the day.

My hba1c results in October were 8.0 so not too bad, however, I hadn't been taking the 2000 mg metformin that was prescribed to me. I was honest with my doctor about this and so she told me to just take 500 mg and we would do another test in January.

I didn't do that - I honestly don't have any other reason for it other than the tablets make me feel sick and I don't like swallowing them. I've noticed over the last month that I have been urinating a lot more. I just got my hba1c results back and they are now 9.6.

I'm quite worried by these results as my diet hasn't changed since my last results in October but still my sugar levels aren't even staying the same they are just rising.

I'm scared to talk to my doctor. My plan from today is to start taking my one tablet 500 mg of metformin and to cut out the milk. I literally drink about 2 litres a day.

Is it reversible still at this point? If I continue the way I am, what can I expect going forward?

Every part of my life is going so well, I just can't quite get a grip of this.

I guess I need some horror stories/cold, hard facts to shock me into action.

Have you tried to uncover the reasons for over eating? You mention that you can’t get a grip of it. Until the balance in your mind is tipped that you value your health over the food, drink etc then the pattern could well continue, I agree with an above post about possibly having therapy?

Have you looked into Saxenda - you can get it privately online or thru the nhs is you fit the criteria. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta664/resources/liraglutide-for-managing-overweight-and-obesity-pdf-82609259121349?fbclid=IwAR15z--RYnP7C0agQ5Z7W0l3_GylFWWl47n9cwgf2DL2LphPjxpzkeKcZ40

Sugar is very addictive so don't blame yourself. You need to up your protein, count calories on something like my fitness pal and engage in regular exercise. Use sugar substitutes like sweetener. Once you get higher levels of protein in your blood and lower carb levels the sugar cravings should diminish quite a bit. Good luck xx

Would it spur you on to know that Metformin can help with weight loss, I take 2000mg per day along with Jardiance and my last hba1c was 50
( in old money). I eat a balanced diet but if I want something sweet I will eat it in small amounts, I am also very prone to snacking. Try to persist with Metformin, the results might surprise you, Good Luck

If you are able, please look into Noom, the program that helps a person make changes in their relationship with food and eating.

It's not a matter of toughing it out by yourself... as if you could just have more resolve and eat less. It just does. not. work. that. way for a lot of us, despite what others her say.

Noom provides psychological help and support is FAB.

Please try it if you can. I think you can trial it for free or cheap for a week.

It helped me tremendously to lose weight and understand and change my self-destructive behaviors.

Best of luck! My heart goes out to you.

@Bestcatmum No, 8.6 is just the old way of getting results. Excellent would be between 5-7, 8-9 is good/okay. They use a new system now that I don't really understand or a percentage.

OP - unless you want to die of a stroke or ketoacidosis, you need to get this sorted. Talk to your Dr about diet only management as a starting point and at least drink skimmed milk instead. I find Options etc hot chocolate really helps with comfort and cravings. If you lose weight, you may find you don't need meds to treat it. If your sugars are out of control you will crave sugar and carbs. I'm sorry to say you need to go cold turkey and get through the withdrawal symptoms (about a week of hunger and headaches) to then be able to tackle things. Don't do fad diets. Look for diabetic cookbooks that think low fat balanced carbs rather than high fat or no carbs.

I’m coming back to this - just heading out.

This plus, if possible, psychological help to identify why you are over eating. When you are ready to change your diet: don't go for artificial sweeteners - they are incredibly bad for you and feed your sweet tooth. Better to wean off by cutting down on sugar gradually. Also low fat is not helpful - Greek style yogurt and avocado have healthy fats and help you feel satiated. My personal situation - I know this condition well; my husband has type 2 Diabetes and is much less overweight than you. He could do with losing a bit (no one is perfect) but there are strong genetic factors in his family. We eat healthily, if too much, and his compliance with his medication is excellent. His doctors think he's done pretty well compared to many but after 25 years of being diabetic he is functioning biologically like someone at least 10 years older. Please seek help sooner rather than later.

Watch my 600lb life.. that will shock you! If you’re finding it difficult to tackle this on your own, why not join a slimming club. You meet people, get support and advice and everyone has the same goal- to lose weight.

It’s not the milk. You are eating too much.

www.fielddoctor.co.uk/pages/book-a-dietitian You can make dietetic consultations here with a diabetes specialist dietitian and they have a range of meals for diabetes too.

I was in a similar position though a lot older than you. I joined Slimming World and started swimming regularly. I lost 3 stones and was told by the nurse that if I'd shown up with my test results, I would not be regarded as having diabetes. Not cured, just controlled. You can do the same. It's not all plain sailing and I've had setbacks but never gone back to my previous weight. Take the plunge, enrol for whatever slimming group works for you tomorrow. You will not regret it!

I don't have diabetes, but I eat like this, and cannot stop!

In 2022 I managed to get up to a very healthy lifestyle (healthiest I've ever been) exercising at least 2 days for an hour, porridge, salads and soup every day... Until I met my partner and became pregnant.

Now I don't do any exercise and eat crap all day and have put on 1.5 stones on.

I think for long sustainable change, you need to make small adjustments. Eat porridge for breakfast, then eat what you want for the rest of the day.. the. Slowly make this porridge healthier and healthier..until you now only eat porridge for breakfast.. then you start improving the rest. Also keep an eye on how much you eat, I know this sounds like a pain, but if you normally eat 3 slices of pizza, go down to 2. This will make a massive difference.

Anyway... I'm on the same boat and can't really give advice.. but I felt like just writing is has helped me 😂 and I will be seeing what other people write to get some advice for me too lol

Sorry for the typos 🤣 in a rush to write

I am 5 foot 4 and weigh around 15 stone.

Oh wow

Well, TBH you’re going to die even if you do change. But hopefully not as soon.

If you Reaaaally want some horror stories let me tell you that “will I die if I continue like this” is not the worse case scenario… just going to be blunt here please o if this is offensive to anyone! You might end up with one or several of the following- blind, with non healing ulcers on your legs, needing a kidney and or liver transplant, with amputated limbs, with heart disease… if the metformin makes you sick please be honest with your doctor and ask for something different! There is so many different medications out there honestly! And yes it is reversible :)

That was supposed to say “ please delete if offensive”

Why lay into someone re results? You were wrong. They aren’t 8. They’re 81.

of course they’re rising. You’ve not changed anything. It’s going to keep rising until you sort it imagine turning the stove on and putting on a pan of water. It will get hotter and hotter until it boils without altering the temperature. Same thing. Only instead of boiling best case you die.

you know what you’re doing. You’re choosing it.

Type 2 diabetes is reversible, type 1 is not.

I know people who cured themselves of T2 diabetes by following a keto diet combined with intermittent fasting. When followed TO THE LETTER it can also cure overeating as the fat and meat consumed is very sustaining and fulfilling.

Keto cuts out all sugars and starchy carbs like bread and cakes that are terribly more-ish and often lead to overeating. It's very hard to overeat meat!

But you have to WANT this for yourself. You have to want to choose life over death and fitness over illness.

You need counselling to address why you are using food to self-soothe. You have to find a different way to comfort yourself

Hi OP. Firstly sending supportive vibes.

I came on here to suggest perhaps your (very valid) challenges have a wider context that may be worth addressing? A lot of people have a missed mental health and/ or neurodivergent diagnosis e.g. Autism or ADHD. I'm one of them and my frustratingly disordered eating and binge eating tendencies only made sense when I was diagnosed and learnt about ADHD (especially in women diagnosed later, rather than the stereotypical hyper school boy version). That's just an example, our brains are more varied than we are often led to believe. Also some women can be diagnosed with anxiety and depression when they are actually just part of something more.

Anyway, for me (everyone is different) it is way easier to do positive things for myself knowing more about how my brain works, and my more negative characteristics naturally decrease then. Not saying it's easy exactly but easier.... Happy to get a PM if you want to be pointed in the direction of any useful info.

I reversed mine which was horrific when first diagnosed. I basically started the next day after staying up all night to research and low carb is the way to go. I started walking 10,000 steps but quickly upped that to 90 mins a day walking, getting up and out at 6am to cram it in with further walks at lunch and after work. I’ve lost 3 stone and quit drinking but started with walking and low carb. I rarely have breakfast and go straight to lunch, but will eat earlier if hungry. It’s not just the diabetes, it’s the organ damage and high blood pressure too. I did buy a finger prick test and in the beginning religiously ate and tested two hours later and that helped to see the effect food was having and to adjust what I was eating and to make better choices. I do the odd test now and then and I’m firmly in the higher normal or lower end of pre-diabetic range. It did take a while for the weight to start coming off as the blood sugar needs to be under control first so do t give up. The diabetes.org message boards are also a good source of info. Good luck!!!

Yes type 2 is reversible
google dr fung
google dietdoctor.com
start reading as much as you can
change will come when you find the right inspiration for you xx

Sugar is so addictive , get yourself lots of raw carrots and celery etc anything with lots of fibre
switch to whole meal good bread etc
when your are comfort eating
I found it helped i initially to eat lots but healthy, never shop hungry, ban yourself from all take always , drink hot water lots
have a problem I identifying whether I’m actually thirsty or hungry, so I always drink a pint of water before I eat anything