Masters Running

Annual warning/plea: Avoid type 2 diabetes (Read 198 times)
lswife


posted: 6/23/2009 at 8:58 PM
modified: 6/23/2009 at 8:58 PM
In January '07, I began a running program (C25K), joined Weight Watchers, began to fix healthy meals - became a runner and lost 35+#.  I should have done all 3 steps,  years/decades earlier (I'm now 61).

In June '07 at my annual physical and blood tests, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Sure, my dr had told me over the years to lose weight/exercise/eat healthier/blah-blah-blah, but I was way too busy. I never knew what I was risking.

Type 2 diabetes - my pancreas doesn't work well anymore, and I have to make major adjustments to my life in order to help it out, slowing down serious complications (blindness, amputations, kidney failure, heart attack, early death). I might be able to control this disease in my body but will never be cured - once a diabetic, always a diabetic. I'm on a low-carb diet (but I love carbs), am now on 2 different diabetes meds (thankfully, not insulin yet), and two weeks ago received more encouragement from my docs (2 of them) to exercise 5 days a week and to lose more weight - and, of course, to stay on low-carb foods. One dr is a woman marathoner so she likes my running.

Just in case any of you have been told you are pre-diabetic, or have friends/loved ones with that diagnosis, encourage them to do right. When you have the yearly blood work done, ask for an A1c - a much better blood test for testing blood sugar than a fasting blood test. 

I don't wish this disease on anyone. 

Roberta
posted: 6/23/2009 at 9:16 PM
Thank you for that warning Roberta!!  I wish you didn't have this disease either, but am thankful that you adopted a healthy lifestyle and are keeping it under control.
Tammy


Neighbor Lady

posted: 6/23/2009 at 9:25 PM
Thank you, Roberta.  I sure wish my DH, who was diagnosed as prediabetic a couple of years ago (along w/having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and, on a scale of 1-10 being around a 7+ for a heart attack), would heed his doctor's advise.  Unfortunately, he won't.  So I take care of myself, because I'm the only one I'll be able to count on down the road.
Leslie
Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain
-------------
"Do it! Throw yourself at it and smash it into oblivion. Do NOT think for one second that it's bigger than you, that it requires a level of badassery that you don't have. Shatter it... and trample the pieces!"

2010 Goals: 02/20-Hagg Lake 50k, 04/10-AR50, 09/11-McKenzie Forest 50k, Oct-Whiskeytown 50k, Dec-Desert High 50k
posted: 6/24/2009 at 10:51 PM

I've seen close-up what un-checked diabetes can do to a person.  One of my younger sisters was diagnosed with diabetes (type 1) as a teen.  My parents sent her to diabetes camps and did all they could to help control the disease.  Only problem was that, as a teen, she was invincible and all the bad stuff she did didn't bother her in the least.  She never was able to discipline herself to do the things the Docs wanted her to do.  She went on dialysis in her twenties then a kidney transplant which helped for about 8 years or so but then that wore out.  Back to daily dialysis - no kidney tranplant this time because they new she wouldn't take care of herself.   On to amputations - first a toe, then a foot and then finally both legs just below the knee.  Her last years were spent in and out of hospitals and emergency rooms.  She passed away at 39 years of age.  I miss her terribly. 

Do not put off for a minute taking care of this thing.

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
lswife


posted: 6/25/2009 at 12:30 AM
So sorry, Ken, about your sister - what an awful progression of this disease, and probably it was harder on her family to watch her life than it was on her.  Thanks for warning others - and for reminding me too.

Yes, people, these are the results of unchecked/undiagnosed diabetes. 


Before the Killers

posted: 6/25/2009 at 11:47 AM

L's, I am glad you are doing what you need to control it. Does that mean you have to eat a special diet all your life? Or just until its under control?

 

 

Laurie

 

ps we miss you over on the newbie thread.

"If youre too open minded, your brains will fall out" Red Green
lswife


posted: 6/25/2009 at 2:02 PM
modified: 6/25/2009 at 2:25 PM
Laurie, I'll have to eat "wisely" the rest of my life.  Unless there's a cure, type 2s have to limit carbs, exercise faithfully, and most take meds to help out...for the rest of our lives. Statistics are discouraging: we tend to die 6-7 years earlier, and 2 out of 3 will die of heart attacks.  Just a tiny bit of extra sugar in our blood hurts the small blood vessels in our bodies (feet, eyes, brain, kidney) which leads to complications: amputations,  blindness, dialysis, heart disease, stroke. 

Carbs (or what used to be called starches) turn to sugar in our bodies: sugar (of course), and then there's flour, rice, potatoes, beans, many fruits, most veggies have to be limited or even avoided.  Each diabetic is a bit different as to how our pancreas/bodies work together, so what works for one, may not work at all for another. One piece of whole wheat toast in the morning with a boiled egg - the toast skyrockets my blood. A banana for a snack - can't do that either. Diabetics check (or should check) their blood regularly, say first thing in the morning and 2 hrs after a meal to be sure their blood sugar is under control or to see if a food's effect on us has changed. 

If you, or anyone else, knows a diabetic, be encouraging, learn a bit about the disease and what works for that person. . . don't be the person's police officer or blame the person for bringing the disease upon himself/herself, just be a supporting friend. And if you are ever around me, please don't put donuts or cookies or Snickers bars in front of me.  ; )

Roberta  
posted: 6/26/2009 at 1:13 PM

Hi Roberta, I'm glad you are doing well.  I recently got a continuous glucose monitor, and it's been a real help.  Since I'm Type 1, insulin is not negotiable, but necessary for sustaining life.  So I wanted to encourage you that if you wind up needing insulin (not saying you will), it could be a great tool in your arsenal and I'm betting you would use it to its full advantage.  Keep up the good work! 

 

For those of you with relatives or friends with diabetes, whether type 1 or type 2, the best thing you can do is to learn about what it's really like for them as an individual to LIVE with it.  As Roberta said, don't be the food police or judge them.  Whether brought on by an autoimmune response, a genetic predisposition, excess weight or some other unknown factor, noone ever plans to get this.  While a healthy lifestyle may mitigate the risk of SOME of those factors, it is not a guaranty that you will not get it.  I was in my 20's and weighed less than 110 lbs when I was diagnosed.  Carbs are necessary for sustaining life, as is insulin (whether produced by your pancreas or injected) so it's a matter of personal balance of meds, diet, and exercise.  Living with something for a lifetime is far different from going on a diet or making a short term change, or taking meds to cure a short term illness.  And the fact that the outcomes are not always predictable, even if we are "good", can make sustaining those changes even harder over (hopefully) many years.  

Progress Trumps Pefection
lswife


posted: 6/26/2009 at 1:17 PM
Carol - perfectly explained and said!!  You wrote what I wanted to but didn't know quite how to write them.

Thanks for your wise words. 
posted: 6/27/2009 at 9:34 PM
Thanks for the info.  As Carol pointed out, though, a warning/plea to avoid this disease will not necessarily prevent someone from getting it if there are genetic factors against them.  I eat healthy foods, have always been thin, and run a lot, and I sure hope I don't get diabetes or any of the slew of other diseases out there.  But there's nothing certain in this life except death and taxes.   Good luck to lswife and Carol and any of the rest of you dealing with this.
Carolyn


Neighbor Lady

posted: 6/29/2009 at 8:55 PM
Quote from wildchild on 6/27/2009 at 9:34 PM:
Good luck to lswife and Carol and any of the rest of you dealing with this.

 

 

Yes! 

Leslie
Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain
-------------
"Do it! Throw yourself at it and smash it into oblivion. Do NOT think for one second that it's bigger than you, that it requires a level of badassery that you don't have. Shatter it... and trample the pieces!"

2010 Goals: 02/20-Hagg Lake 50k, 04/10-AR50, 09/11-McKenzie Forest 50k, Oct-Whiskeytown 50k, Dec-Desert High 50k
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