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.

I am also type2, but recently diagnosed.
Analyse what you can and should not consume. There is lots of advice on Google and other places so list what you consume and also the better things you should eat. I drink a lot of tea (no sugar), but also have coffee and water. Drop glasses of milk. Eat vegetables and fish, avoid fried, junk and processed stuff. Snack on fruit, it contains sugar but better than sweets and cake, get into the habit of having healthy foods and get a book on healthy diabetic eating.
Walk everwhere, swim, and active competative sports are great.
Have more sex, it will make you feel better about yourself.

I don't think the milk alone is the issue as you say cards and sugar too. Diabetes is a terrible disease if not controlled, its your feet and circulation that's worse , I work in health care and seen awful sights from people not taking diabetes seriously. My answer and honestly it's best thing I and my husband have ever done ( he said it himself) Slimming world I've lost 3.5 stone. I said for years I wouldn't pay to have someone tell me what I know thatvi need to lose weight eat healthy, but uniform getting tighter and thought I need to do something all I had to lose was the money I paid , sooner I lost the weight quicker I got to target than don't have to pay anymore. Point is people have reversed their diabetes and come off meds from doing slimming world , and improved other health conditions. , you can still eat loads of things that other diets restrict . For the sake of your health just try it or weight watchers if you go docs first you can get vouchers to help with cost , good luck

Not cards, Carbs lol

This.
We will all die sometime, how we live is changeable, diet can be a factor, exercise helps too. There are many horrid complications if diabetes and non of them are improved by having your diet stacked with carbs.
Read up on pairing, you may find this easier to manage. Remember every single improvement will help a little. Lots of small improvements will help alot.
Best wishes for your next blood test.

I've just learned that eating disorders can be linked to having ADHD, as your executive functioning is impaired so your have trouble controlling impulses.

You sound so beat. Are you still drinking wine?

I am 5ft 3 and at my heaviest I was just over 20 stone. We went on a dream holiday last year with the kids and I struggled to get out of the hotel room as it was so hot and I ended up with as nasty skin infection that I am still recovering from. I have been on a diet for almost 30 years and have struggled with binge eating due to anxiety. Since then I have gradually lost 3 stone with a combination of slimming world and changing my mindset. I have used mindfulness techniques to help with my anxiety, literally forced myself to get out of the door and join local groups (choir for
example) and tried to focus not on loosing weight but on enjoying my life more and not making every day about food. Try to start small by just making better choices every day - swop alcohol for fizzy flavoured water for example and just notice how you feel the next morning. I used to drink a bottle of wine a night and now I don’t miss it. Be kind to yourself and if you are really struggling perhaps ask your GP
about antidepressants
or talking therapy.

My extremely overweight friend (much more overweight than you) was so frightened by her diagnosis that she did everything the Dr and diabetic nurse told her to. She has reversed her diabetes. I’m so fucking proud of her; I genuinely thought we might lose her.

My uncle has ignored all advice and is about to lose his foot.

It IS possible to change- you’ve had some good advice on here with regards to your medication. Please tell your Dr that you haven’t been taking it, and why. That’s your first step. Good luck. Xx

I don't think it's just the milk you need to address its your whole diet. A lot of carbs also contain sugar. Fruit also contain sugar so you need to monitor what you're eating. Get yourself a monitor for your glucose levels and also monitor your food via fitness pal and you can input /scan what you eat.
Urinating more and fatigue are both signs of high sugar levels.
At least you recognise you have a problem but you do nerd to urgently take action

Check out what psychological services are available in your area. In ours you can access it for free. It sounds like food is an addiction for you. You may well die if you carry on, uncontrolled diabetes can have lots of severe implications.

I recommend book-
How Not To Die Cookbook by Dr Greger

Carry on and you’ll be on insulin injections!
Diabetes isn’t reversible although your weight is making your body more insulin resistant… I believe their is an injection you can have instead of the metformin if you can’t tolerate it, maybe ask about that.
Seek help with your eating disorder… you are self harming.
You will be damaging your eyes, your nerve endings -
which will result in blindness and loss of feeling in your toes and fingers…. Diabetes (high sugars) makes you thirsty… try drinking something else instead of milk and force yourself to do a walk everyday… start with 10 minutes a day and increase slowly so that you eventually do an hour a day…
set yourself SMALL targets….. a 10 minute walk and cutting out milk …. Each month increase the walk and cut our/reduce another sugary food. Don’t do it all at once as it will be too hard…. Baby steps for success x Good luck!!
Learn to love yourself again and have a healthier relationship with food x

What type of therapy can help with this though? I have told my doctor and nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️

Have a plan… download something like myfitness pal (so you can scan stuff) or make a list of everything you eat and drink in a typical day

then look at this list and set some goals… but as others have said, one thing at a time

so you might in first 7-10 days limit milk to 250mls in a day
the next one might be halve added sugar to diet
then to add X veggies into food (if you cook them and blend of grate them you probs won’t even notice they are there! Check kids recipes for ideas on hidden veg)
try to add more movement into your day too so you aren’t thinking or easily able to snack on stuff

spend a few days letting each change sink in and before you know it you’ll be much healthier
good luck!

I had gestational diabetes during my last pregnancy and was prescribed metformin which I absolutely could not take because it totally floored me. I felt extremely nauseous all day and my stomach just killed, I was bent over in agony. I have other DC to care for and it was during lockdown so they were all at home, I couldn’t do it. Hideous side effects so don’t blame you for not wanting to take it.

Type 2 is fully reversible through diet changes. To be Frank, you will die if you don’t get it under control, yeah. Obesity kills for other reasons too. You need therapy and a lot of willpower but you can lose weight, anyone can. If it’s a matter of life or death then you really need to ask yourself how much you wish to live. If you’re happy dying in your thirties then carry on.

‘Milk is full of sugar’?????

I pay for my own therapy now. I'd been in and out of the mental health team for over a decade. It's not CBT, we talk about everything and anything and it has really helped me see where my binge eating came from. I know private therapy isn't accessible for everyone though. CBT through the NHS just didn't cut it for me and I was "too unstable" for the DBT the MHT wanted to put me on.

A dietitian can still help you, even though in the past you had a way of eating that was healthy and worked for you at the time. They are specialists in helping people find a healthy way of eating that works for them at the present moment. They know peoples' lives change and what worked in the past may or may not be what needs to be aimed for now. My family member is a dietitian who specialises in diabetes, and his whole thing is working in a person-centred way, using some counselling skills really, to find ways to eat healthily that work for that specific person. It's not simply about teaching what's healthy and what isn't.

I just checked and the milk in my fridge has 4.8g of sugars per 100 ml.
If I were to drink 2l, that would be 96(!!!) grams of sugar. Insane for someone with diabetes.

This is fantastic advice, especially around mindset change and focusing on adding things IN to your life to make it more fulfilling and enjoyable, instead of all the focus being on what to take OUT of your life and diet.

Also want to say well done Hopeandmoss, you're doing incredible and your body will already be reaping the benefits of the changes you've made.

Wow that’s shocked me. I’ve just found this. Can you afford to go the a boot camp, I did it for a week years ago and it really helped me with my food. Good luck x

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I have an awful gastric problem, lots of stomach pain: I had no idea that this could be owing to the type of Metformin I take daily. I had trouble with statins, having been prescribed the cheapest one, but this cleared up when I was prescribed a different, more expensive one. I feel nervous about broaching the Metformin change with my GP though.

I’ve not rtft so apologies if this has been mentioned already.

i wondered if you might be able to ask your GP to prescribe a Freestyle Libre (or self fund if that’s a possibility)?

they are incredibly helpful for people with T1 diabetes to basically see what their blood sugar does at any time of day. It’s hard cold facts and there’s no way to ignore the data once you can see what a slice of bread/cake/pint of milk does to your BG. If you feel you need an external motivator, this might do the trick!

Just to add, and to shock you into doing something now. Don’t assume that you will get a long term warning of things happening, like damage to the nerves in your feet. You could be walking along one day, and the next, the nerve leading to your foot is completely damaged and you will not be able to stand. You could have blurred vision one day and be totally blind within weeks. That is an extreme case, but it does happen. You’re not going to get warning of some of the problems.