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I was diagnosed with type 2 in 1984.  I had recently had an unnecessary hysterectomy, resulting in a medical menopause at 36.  I also quit smoking.  I went in and out of denial about the seriousness of this disease and the lifestyle changes requiured to live a quality life. 

I tried every diet out there with no success. I also had the wrong doctor.  When I reached 290, I had gastric bypass surgery in 1994 (I was one of the first) in my desperation to control my weight, blood sugar, stress and quality of life.  The surgery was Not successful.  Back then it was considered a cure, not a tool.  No education, guidance or support.  I tried OA and ended up taking care of everyone else ( I am a life effectiveness coach among other things). 

I had used sugar as a drug from aboout age 3.  I was addicted and allergic to simple carbs and sugar.  I eliminated them and still did not lose weight.  I did not exercise as I broke (charcot) my right foot about 6 years ago and could not get a doctor to help me.  I developed pressure ulcers because of the friction on the bottom of my foot making walking unavailable. 

I recently discovered the zone anti-inflamatory diet by Dr. Barry Sears.  I lost 40 pounds.  I eat protein, veggies, a little fruit.  The only grains are oats and barley. I found a foot surgeon who believes in me and had reconstructive surgery 4 weeks ago.  He normalized the bottom of my foot by shaving the bone that had fallen from the metatarsal arch and removed some soft tissue.  The incision has healed and the ulcer has reduced from the size of a silver dollar to the size of a dime in 3 weeks.  I attribute my progress to my diet, good blood sugar control, no walking, accupuncture and light therapy, prayer and meditation.  Healing is a mind/body/spirit affair. 

In the past I have had  great success coaching people to defining and reaching their goals.  I am doing that for myself with the support of alot of people.  I still struggle with cravings for sugar.  I don't eat overt sugar and I now look for covert sugar as that is how sensative I am. 

Once I am allowed to walk ( ulcer closed and strong skin), I will start water exercise as well as weight lifting.  I am following the exercise plan described in the zone book.  I do them in bed or on a chair.  It is working.  It is because of the science of this plan.  It is a permanent lifestyle change for me so that I can regain my health and well being.  This is critical if I am going to be able to work/create income again.  I am in a very precarrious position physically and financially.  I trust that I will succeed and find my way out of the dark place (denial) that I frequently visited in my path to recovery.  The principals of the zone diet will work for anyone since they work for me and my highly resistant metabolism. 

It is about finding the key to unlocking the secret of one's own body and using discipline and courage, support and encouragement to maintain a healthy life.  The obesity must be resolved in order for all else to fall into place.

Thanks for listening.  I hope my story helps you and your patients.  Namaste...Laurie     

When I was diagnosed, I was shocked.  I knew I hadn't been feeling well for a while, but I was expecting the doctor to tell me it was some kind of serious flu and that my vision problems had to do with pressure in my sinus cavities.  Instead he looked at the urine test strip I handed him, compared it against the vial and said, "you have diabetes my dear".  I didn't know I could develop diabetes at my age, and no-one in my immediate family had it, except for my grandfather's Type 2.

I was actually relieved to get the diagnosis.  I finally knew why I felt so bad, and this meant that I could get help and start to feel better.  I didn't know a great deal about diabetes, but all I wanted was to feel better and to feel the assurance that some educated expert knew how to help me.  After struggling to get out of bed and not having the energy to shower, going to hospital was wonderful.  I could sleep all day, and didn't have to worry about going to shops and cooking and cleaning.  I felt like a child again, and it was good for a while.

I knew that diabetes is chronic, and that it meant I would have to change my lifestyle.  I became determined to look on the positive side, because there was nothing I could do to change it, and if I had to deal with it I'd rather do it in a manner that built me up rather than broke me down.  I knew that I'd have to change my eating habits, and that this would probably lead to weight loss and that would help me to feel good about myself and lead to shopping for new clothes.  I looked up lists of celebrities and athletes with diabetes, to help to convince myself that I could live a relatively normal life with diabetes. 

I have found some ways of incorporating treats into my diet, so that I don't feel deprived.  I spent a lot of time in the supermarkets learning how to read labels and find food that I could eat.  I got really excited every time I could add one of my favourite foods to the list of things I could eat - like biltong (which is similar to jerky), balsamic vinegar and bell peppers.  I spent ages on the internet looking up recipes (the first one was for chocolate cake!), and bought the cookbooks my dietician recommended.  I found a diabetic hot chocolate, which I drink when I am craving chocolate.  My aunt figured out a way to make fake roast potatoes (one of my favourite foods), using baby potatoes and non stick spray.  My mom made homemade frozen "ready meals" using the recipes in the cookbooks, so that if I got home and didn't have the energy to cook I would still have a healthy and balanced meal to eat.

I am aware that it's probably going to get much harder in the future, particularly once the honeymoon period ends, but at the moment I'm doing fairly well.  The doctor is pleased with me, and I'm proud of myself for coping so well.  I think it's important to celebrate the successes and not to focus on the difficulties, and to give myself credit where it is due.

I was terrified when I first heard my diagnosis.  I didn't know exactly what it meant for me - and I didn't  know what the do next.  My primary care clinician was only vaguely helpful - and tried to be reassuring by telling me it wasn't so bad. 

To me it felt like a death sentence....a long, lingering one.

My PCC did give me an RX for meter and strips, and a few phamplets (put out by the drug companies).  I went home and got on-line.  I discovered David Mendosa's website - and Gretchen Becker's excellent book "The First Year of Type 2 Diabetes:  an essential guide".   Without those excellent resources - and the on-going resource of webgroups that I belong to, I'd be sunk.  I have learned that my clinicians may know more about the physiology of this disease - but they know little about maintaining strict control.  I have yet to be seen by a clinician that believes (as I do) that the  recommendations of the ADA are not restricted enough. 

mte

I am a 57 year old professional, wife and grandma. I had been feeling tired and worn out for a very long time. I thought it was stress, overwork, menopause, obesity, hypochondria. Whatever it was... I had no time for it! I was so used to dragging myself through each day, the added symptoms of weightloss (I was thrilled!), increased thirst, blurry vision and endless trips to the bathroom - all of which should have set off warning bells in my head - just didn't register.

In September of 2007, I saw my doctor for what I thought was a simple bladder infection. Instead of the easy Rx for pills I was expecting, I found myself in the hospital, hooked up to IV antibiotics and receiving IV rehydration.

"You have a serious UTI, complicated by Diabetes" my Doctor said.  "........" he added.

I didn't really hear much after the Diabetes part. All I could think about was Uncle Donny, footless in his wheel chair, and Aunt Marty, who died young. "The sugar, you know..." they would say.

Great.

My Blood Glucose was 390, my A1C was 9. Apparently, this had been going on for some time. Diabetes runs in my family. I really should have known!

I spent 5 days in a private room, mostly alone in my terror. Five days of insulin injections and finger sticks, measured meals, little pamphlets and scribbled dietary instructions. It all seemed surreal - surely I would wake up soon.

"How am I going to handle this at home? Will I have to use a needle? It's not fair!"

"WHY ME?"

I cried a little and cussed a bit, wish it away and wallowed in self pity some, too. I held my own hand through the worst of it and then resolved to make the best of things, to TAKE CHARGE. I decided to view diabetes as an adversary that I could control through medication, knowledge and determination. I would know my enemy. I would learn all there was to know about Diabetes!

Like a Phoenix rising from the flames - I had purpose! Well... at least, I could pull my head out from under the blanket. That was progress.

Once home with my meds, instructions and a sparkling new BG meter, I took a week off work to get my act together. I wore Google out looking for information. I stumbled on Dave Mendosa's helpful website, which led me to the very best book, "The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed " by Gretchen Becker. Gretchen's book put my legs back under me, gave me firm ground to stand on and a foundation to build upon. I cannot say enough about her book.

With a good physician and lots of self-education, I am in charge of my health. My numbers are great, and I know how to keep them there. I have Diabetes, but it does not have me!

In 2001, after several weeks of business travel, I got an ear infection. The next week, while on business in another state, I got a bladder infection. I thought sure the recent ear infection antibiotics were the reason why. I've had bladder infections before, and knew the symptoms well. In the evening after my workday was over, I went to an "urgent care" office I saw from the roadway. Those people, and the doctor, will forever be heros in my book. They correctly diagnosed me as diabetic based on a urine test and fingerprick. (and gave me care for my bladder infection). They were kind, patient, non-judgemental, reassuring, and answered my questions. Days later, when I was at home, I looked back at a copy of an annual lab test done the year before, and my fasting BG was 120. I should have been diagnosed long before.

Back at home, I had to find a new doctor. I lucked into finding another who was non-judgemental, and he helped me get started on Metformin, then added Glyburide some months later. I bounced around doctors for the first 2 years until I found one who acted like my partner.

The early days was a very difficult time. My father is diabetic, and my mother always blamed him for his disease -- as if she thinks it is weakness of character or some personal failure to have diabetes. Having been overweight all of his life, she thinks obesity is the direct CAUSE of being diabetic. Well, I have always been fat, too, since I was 2 years old. I know now that for my body, whatever it is that makes it so very, very easy for me to store fat and have a huge appetite is inter-related to my obesity and my diabetes -- not my lack of willpower or character flaws. I think in the years to come, we'll find out that there is a huge matrix or variety of metabolic issues at play for what we today simplify into "type 2 diabetes".

I felt betrayed by my body, and vulnerable to being accused of having caused my diabetes myself.

I feel as if I have to keep my diabetes a secret from my parents, my co-workers, my employer...everyone. To this day I have not told anyone except those involved in my direct care. I have told my best friend, but regret that, as I want to keep my status a secret - and I'm sure she's told at least one person. The exception is my dear, sweet, helpful husband. Anything I have asked him to do, like "ask me to test  my blood sugar if I get really grouchy or act funny" or "ask me if I took my meds before I leave the house" he does. Lovingly.

I rarely exprience lows, and always have a small can of apple juice handy or hard candy - so I haven't had a low sugar crisis.

In the first few months, I visited a Diabetes Educator (well credentialed, but I don't know remember the specifics). She used a fancy resource book (I think from Lily), and devised a daily diet for me. I was absolutely shocked! There was no way I was going to eat that much (a) carbohydrate and (b) extremely processed foods! She was including "fruit leather" as a daily item! I had been eating a reduced carbohydrate for years already (Carbohydrate's Addict book) and knew that if I added the carbs she was recommending things would get worse, not better. The only real benefit I got from those hours was a huge suspicion of any diabetes information/advice/instruction that any any drug manufacturer's name on it, or the ADA.

What helped me the most in the early days is not accepting the mainstream American Diabetic dogma as the only option. Using the internet and the library to find alternative approaches helped a lot to understand ways to manage diabetes without ending up a walking pharmacy. I am also grateful to Dr. Richard Berstein for writing his book. It served as my encyclopedia, and still does.

I continue to use the internet as my primary source of information, especially about medication side effects and helpful supplements.

David Medosa's recent book about losing weight with diabetic medication has caused me to shift drug strategies recently. In the past 3 years, I've lost 70 pounds (from a high of 330  -- thanks a lot, Avandia!) but had stalled my weight loss for about a year. Now, I use Byetta and my weight loss has slowly resumed.

My current regimen: (last HgA1c 5.7)

-I exercise at least 3x per week; more often when it isn't over 100 degrees outside. I use Curves for Women, and walking.

-I take Metformin and Byetta (and birth control pills, and asthma & allergy meds)

-I test my blood sugar at least 3x daily (alway upon waking, before I go to sleep, and then a variety of other times), and keep a daily BG and weight log so I can understand the effects of stress or food choices on my body.

-I keep my carbs down to under 60 grams per day. I do not eat any dairy, no grain of any kind, no beans. I do enjoy a small amount of chocolate each day - primarily 85% cocoa bars from Lindt, or other dark chocolate. I eat any nuts or meats I want; and any non-starchy vegetables I want. I eat berries and cantelope a few times per week, and the very occasional half apple or pear. I do not consume caffeine (except for my chocolate). I avoid artificial sweetners, except for 1-2 serving of either Splenda or Stevia per week. I do not keep track of fat or calories. I avoid high fructose corn syrup, even in foods that otherwise seem "low carb" like some salad dressings and sauces.