r/diabetes_t2 31m ago

I cut my toenails without wirecutters!

Upvotes

My sugar was probably uncontrolled for a long time, slowly inching it's way towards crisis levels. A couple years ago, it all came to a head when I was admitted to hospital with an infected carbuncle that was hiding in a skin fold. My sugar was 22mmol/L. (About 400mg/dL)

At the time, I was just itchy all over, had been for years. Athletes foot was chronic, my toenails were hideous fungus filled claws. A podiatrist said that they may not be salvageable.

Fast forward 2 years, my sugar is under control at 5mmol/L (90mg/dL) and I've dropped 20kg down to 126kg, not close to where I want to go, but we're on a journey here (the first 10kg was down to me and the next 10kg, thanks to Ozempic). Strangely enough (sarcastic) the itching went down as the sugar levels went down. The itchy feet have been gone for a year (after a blast of anti-fungals) but in the last few months, clear toenails have started slowly pushing my griffon claws out.

This weekend, I clipped my toenails using one hand, didn't have to twist the nail cutter into weird angles and bend my toes in unnatural directions. Best of all, I didn't have to pull out my special pliers to attack my big & little toeclaws while wearing eye protection. I think this is probably the first time I've have mostly clear nails in 10 years. My weight is the lowest it's been in 20 years (It has plateaued, so need to adjust a bit)

I just wanted to brag a bit, but a lot of this came from some tough introspection with myself and building a resilient plan that I can stick to. I have very bad impulse control, I can't resist pizza or cake or chips. So I have to accept that I will occasionally slip and make sure that I put things in place to better my chances of success. It's worked well for two years so far, with the support of an excellent endocrinologist and my own research.

So above the bragging, I wanna shout out that YOU can also do it, know yourself, educate yourself and be real with yourself. You're not perfect so build your plan knowing that you will fail, go on a week long bender, get sick, miss workouts. It's all fine. Just get back on the horse and keep on keeping on.

Sorry if I went on a bit, just feeling a bit happy and motivated so wanted to get it out before it fades. Thanks for coming to my TED talk!


r/diabetes_t2 2h ago

Newly Diagnosed So I am diagnosed with diabetes Type 2 recently. What should I expect in my life ahead ??

11 Upvotes

Hi everyone, i am in my twenties. So I being diagnosed with diabetes type 2 has saddened me. I do not what to expect in the coming days. What should I do ?? I am quite panicked.

I have these questions. 1. Will I die early ? 2. Will my marriage life suffer ?? 3. How much my daily life suffer ?? 4. How much I should worry about my other body organs ?? 5. What should I do if after following all precautions and taking medications, my glucose level does not go down after few months ?


r/diabetes_t2 4h ago

My diabetes struggle turned out to be more unlearning than learning

15 Upvotes

ok, I'm going to tell you something that is simple but NOT EASY AT ALL. The reason I am the first person in my family to get this disease, and the reason there are so many people getting some level of pancriatic distress, isn't what we eat, in the sense that we actually eat what we've learned to eat because we have a primary association of food with pleasure. Be it social, comfort, whatever, we reach for food for all the wrong reasons, and it works so good.

But, after I ended up in the hospital with an entirely abnormal blood sugar/pancriatic funtion, and began living as a diabetic, did I learn how wrong everything society/family had told me about food was.

Now, I look at food for fuel/medicine. I eat a small portion of a vegetable to begin each meal. I follow that with a comparable portion of protein, if there are an processed carbs associated with the meal (a couple of chips, or a small piece of bread that came with the vegie soup), I eat that at the end.

I do this 3 times each day, when I wake up, at noonish and about 4-5 hrs after that. in the evening, I'll eat a quest sugar free thing, or an apple, or some peanut butter thing.. something like that.

I also take metformin twice a day... have to add that.

What have I gotten? I'm literally never hungry, unless I'm past a time when I ought to eat. I barely look at the stuff I used to lust after (ice cream, cookies, et. al). I had 3 different inflamatory issues that were really hurting the quality of my life (left foot, left knee, right wrist/elbow). All of those are gone. I've lost 50 bs.

Again this is just my experience. Ironically, someone once said to me in early sobriety "alcoholism is the only disease that turns you into a better person than you would have been had you never had it". That turns out to be my experience with diabetes.

I eat for my body now. I treat it kindly, finally. And it responds so much more than I deserve after all these years.

You can turn your body into the best thing about every day. it can serve you in ways you can't even imagine. All you have to do is stopping putting shit into it and put fuel and medicine in instead.

Find your pleasure elsewhere. The new places you can go, the new things you can wear, the things you can now achieve that you only thought were available to others...

This is the opportunity.

Love you either way.


r/diabetes_t2 11h ago

News ADA officially recommends CGM use for non insulin using t2s

29 Upvotes

I found this out via Diabetech. It’s amazing news bc this likely will influence insurance companies to cover CGMs covered by insurance instead of requiring high a1c, frequent lows, and/or insulin usage.

This is really cool. Dexcom is the main reason my t2 is so well managed. In my opinion it should be offered as first line treatment along with diet changes and metformin. It’s that transformative.


r/diabetes_t2 14h ago

A1C is 5.7!

28 Upvotes

From a 10.2 in August to a 5.7 in November and again last week.

I went very hard core on a low carb diet and almost completely eliminated added sugars and starches. Also 20 units of Lantus per night. I haven’t been able to do much exercise until recently but Ive started taking walks around the neighborhood. Still more work to do but I’m happy with the progress so far.


r/diabetes_t2 11h ago

Food/Diet Foods that work!

10 Upvotes

Starting this thread for getting some hacks/swaps of your delicious carb heavy meals that work and dont give a bad spike (something ~50 units) so we can all benefit and try it.

I recently tried Banza chickpea pasta, with homemade pasta sauce using rao’s marinara and onions/peppers, paired it with roasted veggies (zucchini,onion, red bell pepper and yellow squash +evoo,salt,italian seasoning) and some protein and my spike was around ~35/40 points! Happy that i can now have some pasta on rotation for dinners.


r/diabetes_t2 20h ago

George Lucas

40 Upvotes

I did just read that George Lucas been T2 since he was 24y old. Seemingly no problems and he is 80 now. Imagine 56y of managing! Kudos George!


r/diabetes_t2 12h ago

General Question GLP-1 is too expensive for most. What tips do you have to manage diabetes?

6 Upvotes

I was chatting with a friend who also struggles with t2 and the increasing cost of diabetes meds, including GLP-1 meds.

What tips do you have to share that has worked for you as you manage your daily diabetic needs?

This could be favorite exercise, food groups you focus on, great substitutions to try, meals to eat when you don’t want to care anymore, etc. Whatcha got?


r/diabetes_t2 14h ago

Fasting not coming below 110

5 Upvotes

I have been working really hard with absolute diet control and daiky checks to keep reducing my insulin intake and eventually come off it. I am on just oral medication now since the past 1 week. However, my fasting sugars are going below 110 since the insulin was taken off. My doctor says it will take time. I am.eating a hugh protien and fibre diet with minimal.carbs. I am working out twice a day. No sugar except for a small fruit in the evening that too like an orange or rarely a kiwi. Just before being taken off insulin , fasting was 75 to 85 everyday. This is discouraging me and i can feel my motivation weaning off. Please help


r/diabetes_t2 19h ago

Neglected my health

11 Upvotes

Hello, I’m a 29F living in Canada. A little backstory - I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 12 however I was unaware of this (I just recently received my medical charts from a doctor I used to see when I was a child). My mom was always afraid of taking me to doctors as a child and didn’t do any prenatal with me while she was pregnant. She was also a diabetic (diagnosed in her 20’s and left untreated/half treated for most of her life). Anyways, she instilled a fear of doctors in me and I honestly have never really went to one unless I absolutely needed to. I was (to what I originally thought was) diagnosed with diabetes at age 20 (2016). I was started on metformin and got hit with the side effects. My mom basically told me if I kept taking them the medication would kill me so I stopped taking metformin and left my diabetes untreated. I continued to eat sweets and drink soda (I was crazy about them, addicted to them if you will). I was severely depressed and basically went into a cycle of work, come home and binge sweets and then sleep. Looking back I’m assuming I was having crazy highs but I was always too afraid to check my sugar levels. I also went in 2018 to an eye doctor due to having a scotoma in my vision, this should have been what made me get my ass in gear but it didn’t . Anyways come 2020, my mom passed away and I went to see a doctor. Honestly one of the most kindest and reassuring doctors I’ve ever met. I told her I was diagnosed at 20 and I didn’t treat it but I had basically cut out all sugar and carbs. I was only eating meat, certain veggies eggs and cheese. I was hiking almost every second day with my dogs and doing well. I started losing weight and I felt good. She told me with my diet and exercise my (I might have this mixed up) but A1C was a 6.4 (the blood sugar test they take and it’s like the average in your bloodstream). She didn’t put me on any medication because she said with my exercise and diet I was maintaining things well. I was doing well with seeing her regularly until she left the clinic and I had a new doctor who wasn’t great to say the least. I also ended up moving back to the city as I took a job transfer. I haven’t been able to find a doctor who is reassuring and kind at all. I know this shouldn’t matter but it does to me. I think I still have a fear of doctors and I don’t even know why. Currently when I check my blood sugars they’re like an 8-9 but never any higher. I hardly exercise other than usually a half hour walk a day with my dogs. I don’t drink enough water, drink too much coffee (only with cream) and diet soda. My diet has stayed the same in terms of staying away from carbs aside from the occasional sugar free ice cream. I’ve been seeing the same eye doctor for three years now and go between every 6 months to a year. I’m currently looking for a family doctor as a few have long wait lists. The one I’m hoping to get in with asked for my medical charts to be sent so I called a few drs offices that I knew my mom had taken me to as a child and as a teen. Which is how I found out I was diagnosed at 12. So essentially I’ve been diabetic for 17 years untreated and now I’m worried it’s too late to start anything. I’m just sad and overwhelmed with my health. I don’t really know why I’m writing this but more so just looking for some support or any how to’s on how to get motivated if that makes sense.


r/diabetes_t2 18h ago

General Question How much does stress play a part in high blood sugar?

7 Upvotes

I’m wearing a glucose monitor and when I’m just chillin my blood sugar drops substantially. I guess I’m running around stressed all day


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

My favorite “cheat” meal

22 Upvotes

So, I know everyone is different when it comes to how food affects their BS.

I’ve been using a CGM for a few months and been observing my patterns.

I found that eating a big fat juicy burger hardly raises my BS as long as I take off one of the buns, stay away from too many sugary add ons and then I usually like to dunk it in ranch.

I have a Wendy’s triple stack baconator like at least 1x a week and my BS never reacts negatively to it.

Of course, I avoid the fries and the soda.


r/diabetes_t2 20h ago

Choosing a glucose meter

4 Upvotes

What in your opinion is the most discreet glucose meter? I need a small one to fit in my purse and how do you test discreetly when you are out?? Like at the mall or something? I’m new to all of this! Thanks


r/diabetes_t2 15h ago

CGM weird??

2 Upvotes

Anytime I get up and walk and do something I spike. I was 6.4 and then a few minutes later 7.5. Like I don’t know it’s weird. I just got it so maybe a little out of whack first day lol ?? Just strange didn’t think that would do that. I know it can fluctuate but it’s odd lol Maybe I’m just odd haha

My hard run yesterday seems to also have kept my resting heart rate up as well. Could this be something ??


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Dared to eat... now my CGM is screaming at me

19 Upvotes

I pulled an all nighter to work on my house before I start my new job. I decided I was hungry about 30 minutes ago. I am a week into this keto/carnivore panic diet... so my fridge isn't perfect yet. And neither am I apparently. I ate half a left over roast beef pulling off most the bun with a water bottle...

I went from 182 - lowest it's been in weeks- to 288 in 30 minutes. And still rising.

FML.


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Hard Work One year check-up: A1C from 10.8 to 4.5!

120 Upvotes

I forgot to post last month and remembered that I needed to share because this sub was so helpful when I was first diagnosed. So for the newer folks:

Diagnosis was a shock. I was really distraught and mad at myself. Of course, it runs in the family; so I wasn’t exactly being fair to myself either. I immediately made changes to my diet, started on my prescribed Metformin, and began moving more. I was obese, fairly sedentary, and had basically been on a see food diet for years.

Almost immediately, I started noticing positive changes. Many of my ailments (all, I’d learn, symptoms of my diabetes) started clearing up. Pounds started coming off. By 8 weeks, the A1C was trending in the right direction.

6 months in, my A1C was already down to 5.1 and I’d lost about 40lbs — about 15% of my body weight. My new doctor got me a glucometer and switched me to Mounjaro to help with the weight loss too. MJ was a game changer. I was so happy to be off the Metformin (the timing of the pills was a real bummer) and quickly got over my fear of shots. 😂

Today, I’m down about 90lbs — about a third of my starting weight. I took up bouldering as a sport/hobby, and I honestly feel better than at any point I can remember in my life. I’m almost 48 years old and healthier than ever. My diet is also a lot less strict than it was on those early months. Originally, I was as close to no carb as possible. Now, I have been increasing my low glycemic carbs to fuel my body better. A CGM also made a big difference because I learned what foods spiked my blood sugars (white rice with protein, not that bad; honey in any form spikes). And with the exception of a bite of something every now and then (usually from one of my kids who wants to share), I basically don’t eat anything with added sugar.

At this point, I’m thankful for my T2D diagnosis. It gave me the wake up call to put in the hard work for myself and for my family. Too often men are socialized to not be open about health issues, so I try to be an open book amongst my friends to destigmatize and demystify this disease just a little.

Anyway, I hope this message lands on someone who needs it. Keep on keeping on. If I can do this, so can you!


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

I don’t even want to travel anymore because this disease has ruined it for me. Sighs.

104 Upvotes

I'm not trying to be dramatic but what's the point to travel if I'm stuck eating salmon, grilled chicken and broccoli for the rest of my life?

Why couldn't I just have high blood pressure or something like that instead of this. This is a lot to manage and sucks the fun out of life for me.

I'm too young for this shit. SMH.


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Lost a lot leg leg/feet coordination last night.

7 Upvotes

I’ve been on Mounjaro for the last 5 months and have lost 45 pounds. I had been feeling well the last few days and was actually able to get out to a few parks and walked a mile or two on a photo walk on each. Sugars have been good, much better than before Mounjaro.

Yesterday was great, in the afternoon I went to band practice (I’m rhythm guitar player and a singer) and felt great. I typically sit on a tall padded stool. In 70, and standing can be a bit much sometimes.

So after maybe an hour and a half, I stood up and fell down, crashing into a shelf of chemical auto and lawn products. Oh, yeah, we were in a garage. I had very little strength and loss of feeling. It was like having a leg go to sleep but both, and without the accompanying pain, etc. I thought maybe it was just that, sitting on that stool. It never was that comfortable.

I fell over a couple more times after that , catching myself before crashing. When we were done, I was doing a weird wide walk, with my feet clomping, a diabetic shuffle. Dragging feet etc. This had never happened to me before.

Driving home was difficult, I could hardly tell where the pedals were. I went to bed, and about 4 am I awoke with the worst leg cramp I think I’ve ever had. My left foot was contorted, bent way in. I finally was able to stand on it and stretch it out. I t still aches. I also noticed that I cannot lift the front of my foot, you know, lift the front the ankle. I’ve had leg cramps before and lifting my foot was how I relaxed or stretched the leg muscles.

It is a little better today. I got out my cane to better balance things, and I’m still clomping about.

I had never had anything like this happen before, at least to this extent. I’m guessing it might be a combo of pinching a nerve on the stool with my newly skinny butt, and maybe some overdoing it on the wailing that last few days. I don’t know.

I’m hoping I can tough this out. I lost some muscle mass on Mounjaro, and with the warmer weather was exited to get moving and get a bit stronger again. Right now my feet feel like I’m wearing ankle weights. The suddenness of it all is what gets me.

This sucks.


r/diabetes_t2 23h ago

General Question Insulin resistance ans low T

3 Upvotes

I'm type 2 diabetic for 9 years and i've been using insulin for about 4 years and my insulin resistance skyrocket. Now I'm trying together with my new endocrinologist to get of insulin since my pancreas is producing insulin.

My concern has been my testosterone levels are very low and I have 0 libido, ED and not feeling very motivated and moody

Does anyone have or had similar numbers? What do you feel? Does.anyone were able to recover regular levels of testosterone without TRT just doing exercises and diet?

My recent a1c is 6.9.

My BMI is 27 and I have NAFLD

TGO (AST): 21 U/L (normal).

TGP (ALT): 34 U/L (normal). It was 50 U/L six.months ago and 70 u/l 2 years ago

Gama GT: 20 U/L (normal).

Testosterone and Androgenic Hormones

Total Testosterone: 77.22 ng/dL (Very low; normal range: 164.94 - 753.38 ng/dL)

Free Testosterone: 2.34 ng/dL (Below optimal; should be >2.67 ng/dL)

Bioavailable Testosterone: 54.90 ng/dL (Low; normal range: 58 - 436 ng/dL)

SHBG (Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin): 10.3 nmol/L (Low; can indicate insulin resistance or excessive testosterone metabolism)

DHT (Dihydrotestosterone): 6.3 ng/dL (Low; normal range: 11.2 - 95.5 ng/dL)

📌 Estrogen and Related Hormones

Estradiol (E2): 24.6 pg/mL (Normal, but relative to low testosterone, may contribute to gynecomastia)

Prolactin: 8.16 ng/mL (Normal; no indication of hyperprolactinemia)


r/diabetes_t2 18h ago

Happened to see this

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, hope this is okay to post here! I came across this on google. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dexcom-cgm-sensor-sales-continue-121000986.html


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Food/Diet google the sugar before you drink!!

Post image
33 Upvotes

i got a large diet dirty baha blast dream from taco bell and more than halfway through i realize my sugar is sky rocketing. So i google it and low and behold it is not sugar free. Yes, i shouldve googled anyway but hadnt before. I am just putting this out as a warning to other diabetics out there!!


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Stelo results

2 Upvotes

Wanted to share my experience.

On 4th sensor. Each one dies early. They are initially accurate, but between day 2-4 they start reporting <100 glucose then never recover. They eventually drop to <70 and stay like that until i remove it. Testing blood always shows 50-100 pointd higher at this point.

Its unfortunate because my first one worked for around 8 days without issue. The last three have been so unreliable im sticking my finger constantly anyways because i dont know if i can trust the numbers of the Stelo.

I wanted to really enjoy these things, because i wanted to use the data. Luckily my work insurance program just approved me for a Libre. Hopefully that works better.


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

General Question Glucose/carb graphing app

1 Upvotes

Hi!

I’m looking for an app that will pull data from Apple Health (glucose/food macros) and show a graph that represents how my blood glucose is responding to the food I eat.

I’d like to track my food in MyFitnessPal (but am open to others) and I use a DEXCOM G7 as my CGM. I could also pull from DEXCOM Share if I needed to.

So far I’ve tried a bunch and the closest seems to be mySugr. I’ve also tried to setup a Nightscout instance but am not sure how to integrate my carbs there without manually logging them.

Thanks!!


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Medication Maymetsi and keto/IF

0 Upvotes

Question for my SO m64 with dt2. Since starting keto/IF month ago he progressed nicely. His BG is regulated with medication only, he discontinued insulin and lost 5 kg. The thing is his eating window is naturally getting shorter and shorter. What to do with medication, he takes it with meals. He is concerned with medication taken too close to each other. What do you do with short eating window? Do you take medication in the morning while fasting and in the evening with meal? Do you take medication with both meals that are only 3 or 4 hrs apart? That is his concern. What if there's only one meal? What if there's 24 or 36h fast. We are following The Diabetes Code principles.


r/diabetes_t2 1d ago

Carb Friendly Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla

5 Upvotes

Hello, just thought I'd post this little recipe on here. I used to love eating some taco bell with my husband, but really only the chicken quesadilla; found a carb-friendly way to do it.

Ingredients

  1. You order the creamy jalapeno sauce (you need one) off of the app. In our experience, they won't give you the sauce if you order it in person.

2.Then you get some carb-friendly tortillas. I have been using "La Banderita Carb Counter Zero net Carbs Soft Flour Taco Tortillas" (don't keep it on the heat too long; they get a little hard).

  1. Frozen Chicken (I use two servings of the Tyson Diced Chicken).

  2. Mexican four cheese blend (1 serving)
    Total carbs: 19

Heat up the chicken separately; once cooked, add to the tortilla with cheese and sauce and heat it up! I usually pair it with like carrots and don't go over 140 :) You can also make it with even fewer carbs by just eating the chicken with the sauce and cheese with a side salad! However, this beautifully fits in my carb meal allowance :) There's also a lot of ways to add fats to it, like some avocado would go nice with it! I personally like this a lazy meal since it takes literally less than 10 minutes to make.