2004 or thereabouts I just wasn’t feeling well, overweight, uncomfortable, sluggish not bad, but just not well. I had taken a fasting glucose test a couple of times where they make you drink that fake nasty wannabe Fanta drink and my doctor determined I was borderline diabetic and had “insulin resistance” or some nonsense. Well on that last fasting test I crossed on over into Type 2 Diabetes land. My doctor gave me a prescription for Metformin, a diet book from the American Diabetes Association and sent me on my way.
Anyone diagnosed with diabetes in the early 2000s had to have gotten the book. It was a colorful little book with pictures of fresh veggies and such and a meal plan with suggested foods. The calories were limited (I think) to about 1200-1500 per day. Needless to say, the way I was eating at the time, I lasted all of three days on that diet. First of all it was low-carb and no sweets which are of course my favorite things. THEN this plan recommended nasty food like cottage cheese. BLEH, who eats that? I couldn’t do it. I went into full scale rebellion mode, eating all the food, all the snacks and drinking all the pop. Of course doing so for the next two years only made matters worse.
I was having WILD swings in my blood glucose. I would spike up to 280-300 and drop down into the mid 50s. The lows were really scary because I would start sweating and shaking and being all panicky as is wasn’t helping. My diet was trash and I knew it but was it THAT trash? I went back to the doctor, told him about the wild swings and you know what he did? He gave me some more medicine. This time a shot that I had to administer every day right into my fat stomach. That was 2006. The medicine worked I was still eating whatever I wanted but I wasn’t having all the wild swings anymore. Byetta was a life saver, a least for the moment.
I started a new job in 2007. I recall going into the restroom at the job, every morning, listening to make sure no one was coming so I could expose my stomach and shoot up. I wasn’t good enough at it where I could just look down and handle my business within the confines of a stall, I needed a mirror. I felt better but NEEDING to do this every day sucked and I very much wanted to not need it anymore. That same year a member of the management team at my job passed away suddenly. He was only 3 years older than me at the time. Not only did the entire office mourn is passing, but I was scared sh***ess. I went to my new doctor at the time, an absolutely awesome lady doc who kept it 100 at all times and told her I didn’t want to take any of those meds anymore. She said getting off the medication required getting the weight off. I complied and have been Diabetes drug free since then.
That’s the long and short of how I became Type 2. Do I do right all the time? Nope, my struggles are well documented, but I do the best I can most of the time and when things start getting out of hand, my body and my doctor of the last 4 years, Dr Diva, let me know and I get back on track in. Diabetes is nothing to play with, complications can be severe, however with proper management you can still live your best life.
What about you? Are you Diabetic? Want to tell you story? Hit me up in the comments or in the usual spaces. I’d love to have you do a guest post here on Powered By Soul sharing how you live your best life with Diabetes.
Until next time, see you at the grocery store, where hopefully you’ll see me reaching for broccoli, instead of Tostitos.
Photos: Meds, Web MD; all others, MsThorns
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You know ill tell mine, but we might need like a month…lol..lol
And I will eagerly await your post. 😁