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.

You need to see a therapist who will help you with your addictive behaviours.

Many people who are addicted to something simply replace it with another addiction - it doesn't have to be food or drugs, it can be gaming, gambling, anything.

You also need to ask your GP to refer you to an NHS dietician to help you construct healthy eating patterns.

Yes, you will die.
We all do.

But you are likely to have many years of very poor quality of life including blindness or amputations because of uncontrolled and severe diabetes.
Death would be an easier option compared to the disability you might get.

I googled milk and carbs. There's 5 grams of carbs in 100ml of milk. 2 litres of milk a day will have more carbs than a diabetic can tolerate. Where did you get the notion that milk is carbfree? For a diabetic, any sugar is worth avoiding, lactose is not some magic safe sugar for a diabetic.

OP, if you feel crap on a low carb diet that could actually be a good thing. When your body is used to high blood glucose, you can feel like absolute shite while your body adjusts to the new lower levels.

The addiction is the hidden key here: transitioning your addictive behaviours, thoughts and feelings straight from alcohol to food and calories reveals that it's the underlying need you're trying to meet dysfunctionally which is causing the problems. I seriously recommend therapy to target this.

Also, I recommend hypnotherapy videos to help ease you into a more positive mindset around your eating, as you said in a previous comment that you always go into your healthy eating days with a negative mindset. I've found hypnotherapy videos, especially just before sleep/as I'm falling asleep, astoundingly effective, and I had no belief that it would work before I did it! I used hypnotherapy videos for confidence mainly and they changed my life.

Also, basically, yes, if you continue this way you are at great risk of death and serious complications. Please insist on being referred to a dietitian specialising in diabetes.

My uncle recently died from complications due to his diabetes. He couldn't walk properly for years and had to have some toes amputated. He also was partially blind. My auntie spent years and years looking after him and had to essentially give up her own life to care for him. All because he wouldn't give up his unhealthy lifestyle.

You can definitely reverse the symptoms by losing weight - I do slimming world and buy the magazine/follow people on Instagram who follow the plan and people who have lost a lot of weight often have stories of their medical conditions ie diabetes/asthma/joint problems being reversed by getting down to a healthy bmi.

You can't carry on as you are and be healthy - you're just setting yourself up for a lifetime of declining health and will possibly end up getting problems that are irreversible if you don't do something about it now.

Have you looked at slimming world at all? It often works well for people who have big appetites as the plan works by not denying yourself food when youre hungry but eating the "right" things. It's essentially a low fat diet that focuses around eating lots of fruit, veg, lean meat and doesn't ban things like pasta/potatoes.

But yes, you need to do something now or accept you are going to have health problems.

Hello from someone in a similar situation. Ask for slow-release metformin as this will help with nausea.

Can I suggest the book that was the turning point for me - I have a spare copy I can mail you if you'd trust me to DM your address. It's called Life After Diabetes. THe professor who wrote it is studying diabetes in Newcastle and an expert in his field. Reading this helped me put biology and psychology into context of my actions and change my attitude toward it to the point where I turned a corner and my 9.6 dropped down to 4.

A short sharp immediate weight loss shock is what the book and lots of medics recommend - get it off to see the impact quickly as that's more motivating and also stops niggling damage. As always eaten a lot, I found it easier than I thought. Fast 800 with meal replacement shakes, or I did 800-1200 calories a day with at least an hour of just walking (no other exercise) and I dropped 3 stones and the HBA1C. Low carb. And I did not have alcohol for 3 months but as a wine expert have not kept that up, lol.

Even 16:8 intermittent fasting is easier than you think - you eat in a window of time and don't the rest of the time. If you can't do 16:8, I bet you can do 12:12 or even 14:10 even that makes a difference.

The book helped me associate what I was doing and what I was controlling with what is out of my control (my physiological response to the food that other people would eat with no consequence). There are huge shifts in research around T2 and the factors and indicators that mean that you and I have this to deal with.

I need to get a bit more off so I have a safe zone I can put more weight on again without tipping into being too high. I think I need to lose another 2 stone. I only have myself to blame for that as I put 1 stone back on again through being careless in my eating and starting HRT/dealing with all that. My goal is to be able to travel the world in a few years without needing to take the pharmacy with me.

Set a goal of some kind, any kind. But do it. DM me if you want and also let me know if you would like a copy of the book.

Please do try and be honest with your doctor. They're not going to be upset with you - they want you to get better for you, not to make them happy! I'm a GP, sometimes with my patients with diabetes who are having trouble with their medication I stop everything and reintroduce slowly, to see what can be tolerated. There are lots of options, and some people do really struggle with metformin. Seeing a diabetes nurse specialist would also be a really good idea.
Its great that you've recognised that things aren't going well, and some of the things you can change. I don't think you need scaring into it, you just need some support. Lifestyle change isn't easy, but it will be really effective.

We are all going to die….some of us sooner than others due to our life choices and not looking after ourselves better. Being overweight will shorten your life, eating a crap diet will shorten your life. Yes you need to make changes and it sounds like cutting out the amount of milk you are drinking is a small start but it’s not the biggest issue, milk isn’t that bad. It might help speaking to a dietitian and it might help to exercise more? I find exercise and keeping busy stops me thinking about food as much and helps my mental health. Meal planning whilst doing my food shopping online also helps, I can plan healthy meals and stick to the plan, I don’t buy any extras (chocolate, crisps etc..) so then I am not tempted to eat more than I need too.

Op, please give your metformin a chance. It can absolutely cause gastric distress, but I found that taking one a day for 4 days then taking one twice a day for another 4 days, then adding one extra for four days before finally taking the other extra one to make 2 tablets twice a day makes it a bit easier on the system. If after a few weeks it is still causing gastric issues then contact your diabetes nurse for an alternative.

I also found that very poor dietary choices were also triggering the gastric issues.

I was 33 when diagnosed, and was told I likely had it for a few years already. It is hard to accept that you need to make changes that are not always easy, but the consequences for the future can be horrendous. Do you have anyone to support you in making the changes necessary? You clearly are not in the category of people who have a lightening bolt moment and change everything just like that, I'm not either.

The best thing to do is start gradually. Take the medication. Then think about some easy swaps you can make to your diet. Up your activities a little bit. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will get there eventually.

Do you use any tools to track your progress? Like My Fitness Pal? Or Apple Health?

When you do a day, you get a buzz in doing a full day, and then suddenly have a streak of a few days and you don't want to break it. It does work.

If you have given up alcohol, you can do this!

I would say, most addictions (food, drink, whatever) have a root cause of masking emotions on some issue that you have experienced, often something relationship breakages, and longer-term it may be worth thinking about exploring

Some unsweetened plant based milks are lower carb and sugar, and more soluble fibre - could you look into at least swapping if you find one that is lower and that you like?

There are other treatments than metformin, ask about them as metformin can make a lot of people feel sick. I’m about 25 years on from you, my eyesight is damaged, my organs are damaged, if your blood pressure gets too high or cholesterol gets too high (common in T2 diabetes) that can have much more serious side effects.
If you ask your doctor for help they can refer you to a dietitian for help and prescribe you a medication that doesn’t make you feel unwell.

I'm sorry but you are very misguided.

The carbs in milk are not harmful. They are not refined carbs or pure sugar. They are not processed sugar like in cake, biscuits, chocolate, ready meals etc, or the carbs in grains and cereals.

They are lactase.

Please stop this amateur nutritionist stuff as it's completely unhelpful.

The issue is not the milk per se, but the fact the OP cannot control her addiction.

There isn't that much sugar in milk. Are you drinking it because you are thirsty though? If your sugars are high you will be thirsty and tired and more likely to make poor choices which raises your blood sugar further and on and on.

I would be going back to the GP or Nurse/dietitian. Get a plan - including medication- that works for you.

HbA1c tells you what your blood sugar is as an average of how much has stuck to you red blood cells in the last few months. You need to know your blood sugar right now.

Technology is your friend. Get a continuous glucose monitor and learn how to manage it. Find out how many carbohydrates are in your usual meals and reduce them. Eat more fibre. Eats lots of vegetables. Stop snacking. Drink water.

Let professionals help you. Don't hide away.

Doesn't matter what type of sugar it is. She is taking in 800-1000 calories a day in milk only. Of course it's making her fat! Calories are calories!

OP I wonder if your GP might refer you for help by using the 800 calories a day diet?

This was developed at Newcastle University (medical dept) and it's had great success.

The 'plan' is an 8-week low calorie diet that reversed diabetes.
It's done under medical supervision.

Yes, it's not meant to deal with your addiction, but it could kick start your weight loss and give you motivation.

You ask if it’s reversible - you might be able to get to the point where your diabetes is well controlled just by diet without needing any medication, but you’re quite far from that point physically and psychologically at the moment.
However right now your sugar levels are high and will be causing damage to your organs, kidneys, eyes and making it more difficult to control your diabetes down the line.
It’s telling that when you had issues with metformin (really common!) you didn’t speak with the GP / nurse, but stopped taking it. I’d suggest some psychological support to help you be better equipped for managing your health as you’ve recognised yourself. In the meantime - there are other medications, and also metformin is available as a modified release tablet with fewer GI side effects which might work really well for you.

You need to think in terms of changing your diet, rather than going on a diet. The latter has the implication that you will also come off the diet in the future, whereas you need to make a change that is permanent. You have to change your mindset.

It's not about the lactase in milk.

Milk sugar is not the issue.

You might as well focus on the protein or fat content of milk (both a higher percentage than lactase) as they will make anyone put on weight if they drink enough of it.

If someone gorged themselves on almost anything they could in theory put weight on. Even fresh fruit and some veg.

It's sad that so many posters don't get this and think that lactase is the same as sucrose or fructose. It's not.

Bless your little cotton socks, but you don't know WTF you are talking about. Are you diabetic? How much training do you have in diabetes? Any carbs that are avoidable should be avoided, it really doesn't matter where they come from for a diabetic. Carbs will spike your blood glucose end of, doesn't matter if it is milk or chocolate or brown rice.

OP, my blood glucose was over 20 when I was finally diagnosed. I've now got an HbAC1c of 5. I'm low carb, on metformin ER. I started ozempic last year and it has helped. I don't think it's easily available for diabetics in the UK yet though.

The carbs in milk are not harmful. They are not refined carbs or pure sugar. They are not processed sugar like in cake, biscuits, chocolate, ready meals etc, or the carbs in grains and cereals.

I have type 1 diabetes and the carbs in milk absolutely raise blood sugar.

I can drink milk when having a hypo and it brings up blood glucose quite quickly for me.

Yes you will die.

Like my mother did at the age of 31 from diabetes.

She suffered horribly, I won't go into too much detail but her body slowly died, organ by organ. She was fully aware of what was happening but unable to stop it as it was too little too late.

Get your ass into gear and sort your life out now before you die an equally horrible death.

My brother in law was registered blind in his 40s due to type 2 diabetes. He also has unbearable pain in his feet and lives a pretty miserable life.
On the other hand a friend husband was diagnosed in his late 30s and now has completely turned it around with a sensible diet and exercise, nothing to severe he started with walking then cycling. He was on meds for a while but has been told he doesn't need them now. It's totally possible to turn it around.
Be honest with your dr you need medication at the moment to control it.

OP you are drinking loads of milk because your a1c is 9.6.

You are going to have a horrendous, unquenchable thirst.

I am nearly 51. Was pre diabetic about 3 years ago despite having a healthy BMI. Reversed it with walking and diet. It can be done but needs willpower. You are young enough to reverse it but you have to want to.

Milk sugar is not the issue.

Lol of course it is. The OP is diabetic with an a1c of over 9 ffs!