# Type2 diabetes



## carpiste (17 Jun 2021)

Just my luck!
Loads of recent health problems and surgeries for aneurysms, high cholesterol and blood pressure. As a result over the past few years I put on a lot of weight due to lack of excercise/over eating!
So 30th April I bought an E-bike to get me back in the saddle, excercise, and spend some of my retirement time outdoors! So as I bought the bike and started 15mile rides every other day. Just over a week ago I had a hospital appointment and was weighed.112.5 kg! Previously I had been under 90 so it was a shock. So that`s it I thought. Diet.
Then today I get the call from the GP to say my blood sugar was high and I have type 2 diabetes!
So I had lost 8lb since I got the bike but now I`m on a mission. I have to get out more often, for longer rides, diet and burn off the calories!
I`ve decided I want to get back down to at least 90kg, dodgy knees willing and get as fit as a 61 year old can asap!
I`m sure I`m not alone. Any advice or encouragement will be much appreciated.


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## raleighnut (17 Jun 2021)

Similar here.


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## classic33 (17 Jun 2021)

I know next to nothing about diabetes, but on the exercise side, take it slow and steady. 

Rush headlong into it and you might just put yourself off riding a bike. Seen as something you have to do, not something you enjoy doing. If you enjoy cycling, you'll find yourself going a bit further, because you want to. Not because you have to.


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## ColinJ (17 Jun 2021)

carpiste said:


> I had a hospital appointment and was weighed.112.5 kg! ...
> I`ve decided I want to get back down to at least 90kg, dodgy knees willing and get as fit as a 61 year old can asap!
> I`m sure I`m not alone. *Any advice or encouragement will be much appreciated.*


Ok then... 

In my late 50s my weight went up to about 115 kg and my knees were killing me. 

Then I got very ill, lost loads of weight, eventually got better and got fit again. Now aged 65, I weigh just under 90 kg and my knees are fine!

You could probably make big improvements like that to your health and fitness in 3 months if you get stuck in, and pretty much sort yourself out in a year. Good luck with that!


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## Cycleops (17 Jun 2021)

You should be able to reverse your diabetes with exercise and a healthy diet. Same goes for the BP. Good luck.


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## annedonnelly (17 Jun 2021)

Type 2 diabetes is diet-related isn't it? Has the GP given you advice on how to manage it via your diet? If it has just begun then you may be in a good position to reverse it or at least allow a lower level of medication.

And obviously healthy eating will help the cycling too.

It's good weather at the minute so enjoy being out on the bike. Look for places a little further away to head to & explore. You might've spotted cycle paths when out in the car. Do they go somewhere interesting? Hop on the bike to find out. Take healthy snacks with you so you're not tempted into cafes.

If you have panniers/bags you can also use the bike for short utility journeys - a trip to the local shops, library, etc. Make it easy to use the bike - no faffing about with special clothes for short trips. Every short trip improves your fitness for the longer rides.


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## vickster (17 Jun 2021)

Loads of info via Diabetes UK about diet, medication, implications of the condition
https://learningzone.diabetes.org.uk/?_ga=2.214642130.43897775.1623913784-1673443090.1623913784

You should also see the diabetes practice nurse ASAP to discuss self management, monitoring, diet, sustainable and safe weight loss etc


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## Venod (17 Jun 2021)

My dad and grandmother had Type 1 Diabetes, my brother had type 2 weight related, so it is something on my radar.

Regarding weight loss, having run and cycled all my life I was a bit blasé about my weight, I ate and drank what I wanted and hardly ever got weighed, so it came as a bit of a shock when I jumped on the scales last August and I was about 12st 10lb (81kg)

This morning I was 11st 0Ib 8oz (70kg) I am 69, 5ft 10in tall.

I cut out chocolate and biscuits and snacking between meals I still drink beer, but the biggest help was getting some smart scales, this uploads your weight to an app on your phone so you can see your progress on a graph, its an incentive to move in the right direction.


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## fossyant (17 Jun 2021)

Type 2 can be 'reversed' to some extent if you make changes to your diet and weight - that what causes it. If that works then great, but sometimes you do become insulin resistant, so will be on tablets and potentially daily injections if things worsen. 

Watch the carbs, exercise and lose the weight can help. Watch drinking as that's heavily loaded with carbs. 

My son is a Type 1 on an insulin pump - a whole different kettle of fish as it's an auto-immune disease !


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## carpiste (17 Jun 2021)

Thanks a lot guys. Loads of good information.
Luckily I`m not really a drinker so can avoid alcohol related carbs. I`ve got 3 months grace from the GP to see how diet and excercise goes and whether I`m in a position to beat this thing without medication.You can but try!


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## fossyant (17 Jun 2021)

Give it a go. I believe loads of folk have been coming up close to T2 during the lockdowns - my nurse mentioned at my blood tests - lots of folk testing for T2 or pre-diabetic. Regular exercise and watch the carbs - so really cut down your carb intake - chuck in more veg, and don't eat late at night. I've managed to shed 6kg in the last 6 weeks by cutting carbs and cutting out the wine/beer during the week - weekends only.


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## Once a Wheeler (17 Jun 2021)

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/p...sley-author-Mimi-Spencer-author/9781780722375
This works well for me and I find it easy to do. Perhaps its strongest point is that for five days a week one does not have to bother about it at all. My doctor is supportive of it, too. I suggest you read the book and, if it makes sense to you, have a discussion with your doctor and then give it a try. All the best.


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## Ming the Merciless (17 Jun 2021)

Weight loss mostly comes from diet. Weight gets put on gradually it is very rare that it goes on quickly. You just get heavier over the years. So weight loss should also be gradual , no more than 1kg a week.

Take a look at your diet and see what you can cut down. Eating pudding and desserts every day? Try just having them 6 days a week. Then try just having them 5 days a week.

Having cereal for breakfast and filling up the bowl. Try only filling the bowl to halfway. Filling it to halfway, fill it to 1/4 way etc.

Drinking fizzy drinks every day. Try one day a week without them. Try two days a week without them.

Eating chocolate bars every day. Try one days a week without them. Try two days a week etc.

In other words cut down the amount of each a little each week.

As for the exercise. If it is new to you, don’t go mad. No more than an hour each time, and don’t push too hard. Slightly out of breath but not gasping is good. Try and make it a habit, get out daily. Is a regular time if day possible? Mix up walking and cycling. If your knees hurt walking limit yourself to 30 mins initially.

Also just try and be more active throughout the day. Don’t go for a ride or walk then spend rest of day on sofa. Pop out for a 5 or 10 min walk about once every couple of hours. Don’t spend long periods sat.

Good luck in your quest for better health.


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## carpiste (21 Jun 2021)

Thanks guys. I have an 8 week diet book from my son in law. He lost around 40lb and stuck with it.I`ve lost 10lb so far without even trying!
The cycling has also improved already.
There was a revelation tonight. I had some very thinly sliced roast pork with cauliflower and courgette. I usually light fry the courgette but tonight had it...wait for it.... boiled for 4 minutes! It was deliscious!
Also had a small sachet of BBQ Skinny sauce. OMG what a great taste and a great addition if anyone is worried about lack of flavour! They also have lots of different flavours 
This diet business is easy peasy


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## JhnBssll (26 Jul 2021)

Sounds like you're on the right track, well done  I managed the accolade of double diabetes for a short time a few years back, having both secondary type 1 and type 2 simultaneously  I was I hospital for several months but fortunately as my health improved my pancreas picked up the slack and I came off the insulin pump 😊 I consider myself very fortunate, and try to keep myself trim, but lockdown has been tough on lots of us and I'm carrying about 15kg more than I ought at the moment - I best join you on that diet 😋


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## numbnuts (26 Jul 2021)

I'm a bit late, but I was type 2, so started throwing all the bad stuff out of the cupboards, more cycling and also took up walking. Lost 3Kg in weight and 12 months later had blood tests done “your not diabetic any more” - sorted


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## carpiste (4 Aug 2021)

So I`ve been pedalling lots, cut down more than lots, no sugars,carbs or fats to speak of.....just got under the 100kg mark, that`s 1lb under 2 stone!
I`m really, really pleased


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## carpiste (31 Aug 2021)

carpiste said:


> So I`ve been pedalling lots, cut down more than lots, no sugars,carbs or fats to speak of.....just got under the 100kg mark, that`s 1lb under 2 stone!
> I`m really, really pleased


I`m now 2 1/2 stone lighter than when I started! And still not missing cake, sugars, carbs!


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## ColinJ (31 Aug 2021)

carpiste said:


> So I`ve been pedalling lots, cut down more than lots, no sugars,carbs or fats to speak of.....just got under the 100kg mark, that`s 1lb under 2 stone!
> I`m really, really pleased


Well done - keep it up! 

But... don't try to cut _ALL _fat from your diet - you need _some_ - see *NHS advice*.


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## Archie_tect (31 Aug 2021)

How tall are you @carpiste?


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## carpiste (1 Sep 2021)

5`10"


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## Drago (1 Sep 2021)

I feel sorry for Mrs D with diabetes

I always grumble because a chap I know - a nice bloke, as it goes - is only 5'10" and 22 stone and has managed to eat his way to type 2 diabetes and now gets free prescriptions.

Conversely, Mrs D has multiole sclerosis, requires 14 different medications a day, a daily injection, and a second different injection once a week, did nothing to bring about her illness and has to pay for her precriptions.

The good news is, if one can describe it as such, is that Mrs D is also now Type 2 diabetic as a consequence of the ongoing treatment she has been having for MS, so now gets free prescriptions herself.


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## ColinJ (1 Sep 2021)

Drago said:


> I feel sorry for Mrs D with diabetes
> 
> I always grumble because a chap I know - a nice bloke, as it goes - is only 5'10" and 22 stone and has managed to eat his way to type 2 diabetes and now gets free prescriptions.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear about Mrs D. 

Yes, the prescription charging policy makes no sense. I am on anticoagulants for life but had to pay charges until I was 60. I can't see the difference between one lifelong life-threatening illness and another in terms of charges!


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## Drago (1 Sep 2021)

Yep, smoke dope til you turn schizophrenic, eat doughnuts until you get type 2, smoke fags until you get lung cancer and they reward you with free prescriptions.

Do nothing to contribute to dozens of other unpleasant, life limiting conditions and they make you pay.

I'd write to my MP to protest, but if you knew who it was you know why I don't bother.

And respect to the likes of @numbnuts and my own friend Nick, who got the diagnosis and then worked hard to correct things while they had the chance.


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## mustang1 (1 Sep 2021)

I thought once you get diabetes then you cannot reverse it but you control it's effects.

What I don't understand is there was a level at which you was considered diabetic and at some point that level was changed. It's a bit like the pass mark on an exam paper which was 70% but then someone changed it to 80%.


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## Drago (1 Sep 2021)

Its something to do with your pancreas. If you can improve your physical wellbeing to the degree that your pancreas, now working at a lesser efficiency, can manage then I think you're right - technically you remain diabetic, but for all intents and purposes youre fine.

In Mrs D's case its steroid therapy thst did it. She bets hammered with massive doses, 10 or 20 times what you might receive for other ailments, and her weight baloons. Once shes regainsed some equilibrium and the threrapy stops she loses the weight eventually, but sues been through thisncycle enougn times now that her pancreas aren't doing their thing properly any more. She has a special diet and a weekly injection for that, on top of all the other medicines and injections for the MS.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Sep 2021)

mustang1 said:


> I thought once you get diabetes then you cannot reverse it but you control it's effects.
> 
> What I don't understand is there was a level at which you was considered diabetic and at some point that level was changed. It's a bit like the pass mark on an exam paper which was 70% but then someone changed it to 80%.



Type 2 can be reversed depending on how long and how bad the damage. There’s some good scientific research looking at it. There was something about the amount of fat in the pancreas being a cause of the problem. As you reduce the internal fat you can eventually reduce that in pancreas to the point its able to function optimally again.


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## sasquath (1 Sep 2021)

Not all fat is bad, cutting out saturated (not plant) fat will help both with weight and blood pressure(by reducing cholesterol).
Jumping to 0% fat diet can and will have nasty consequences, replacing crisps with nuts works wonders 
@carpiste good job, keep it up!!


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## carpiste (1 Sep 2021)

When I was diagnosed type 2 the doctor sent me to the practice nurse to be advised re. diet etc. in the hope of reversing it. I had already pre-empted that and was on the way to losing weight. There was never any discussion about medication until I had been given the opportunity to fix the problem myself. It appears this is most normal as type 2 is commonly reversed by a change of lifestyle. Unfortunately this isn`t always the case, as in Mrs Drago. The body is such a remarkable thing. Easily broken but, as in type 2 diabetes, liver, and other common diseases is easily fixed with care, meds and lifestyle changes.


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## KnittyNorah (1 Sep 2021)

mustang1 said:


> What I don't understand is there was a level at which you was considered diabetic and at some point that level was changed. It's a bit like the pass mark on an exam paper which was 70% but then someone changed it to 80%.



It's more that nowadays a level of change known as 'pre-diabetic' is recognised - tests and so on being much more sensitive and sophisticated than they used to be, and the causes of type 2 diabetes better understood - and if your condition is caught when it's at that point, and you take yourself in hand determinedly, the changes can usually (very often, but not always) be not merely halted but, with a modicum of luck, actually reversed.


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## JhnBssll (1 Sep 2021)

Depending which test I take I'm either a Type 1 diabetic or completely normal  It fooled my GP well enough in to sending me to a specialist who took a look at the two tests along with my medical history. His verdict was that it was fairly normal for someone in my position and that I wasn't diabetic 

The confusion arises from the fact I had acute necrotising pancreatitis about 5 years ago - it was particularly grim and nearly finished me off. I was in critical care for 11 days and hospital for over 3 months, taking 6 months off work to recover. I had an operation known as a necrosectomy whilst in hospital to remove the dead area of pancreas - I was told at the time that I have somewhere between 5% and 50% of healthy pancreas remaining. We now presume its nearer the top end of that estimate as I wouldn't be this well otherwise  With my itty bitty pancreas I fail the glucose tolerance test miserably as its simply not able to produce enough insulin quickly enough to lower the blood sugar level quickly. However, looking at my HbA1c results we know my long term blood sugar levels are normal - in fact the specialist pointed out mine were better than his  In effect I can produce enough insulin to get by if my diet is good, but things like energy gels aren't a brilliant idea 

The downside of all this is I'm at increased risk of pancreatic cancer and both secondary type 1 and type 2 diabetes in later life, so I have to look after myself. No more haribo binges for me  And yes, despite all this I still have to pay for my prescriptions


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## carpiste (14 Sep 2021)

Big milestone today.... 2 stone 11lb weight loss takes me a pound under 15 stone just 5 days before my next big blood testing. Will I be type 2 free?
Either way, I have to say it feels really good and my fitness and energy levels are stellar to how they were


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## figbat (14 Sep 2021)

Now find something that is 18kg, pick it up and revel in the fact that you are not having to carry this around all the time any more. I find this quite motivating.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2021)

figbat said:


> Now find something that is 18kg, pick it up and revel in the fact that you are not having to carry this around all the time any more. I find this quite motivating.


I was thinking along those lines today... 

Lidl had a £5 off if you spend £25+ offer so I did a bigger shop than usual. I walked back with a 35 L rucksack and a shoulder bag, both full of shopping. It felt damn heavy so I weighed the shopping and it came to a total of 17 kg. 

I used to carry that 17 kg in fat plus 12 kg more over what I weigh now. No wonder my joints used to ache and I struggled to cycle up steep hills...


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## Spoked Wheels (15 Sep 2021)

I have reverted diabetes twice.

After the first time I managed the condition through diet and exercise but I was asked to stop cycling for a little while after a HA and then go slowly which I found boring so stopped cycling for quite a while.... I was never a fast cyclist but to keep an eye on my HR was not something I handled well... too scared.

So after 6 years, diabetes came back and during lockdown my A1c went totally out of control... 135mmol/L when it needed to be 42 - 48. So more tablets.

At that point I began to search for an alternative way to treat diabetes and I finally learnt what really causes diabetes and how to reverse it..... doctors only give you tablets which only make it worse over time.

I'm not going to tell you what to do but look into intermittent fasting and keto diet. YOUTUBE has some good videos.... Dr Jason Fung and Dr Sten Ekberg are my favorites.

The British and American diabetes society recommend 40% of carbs.... on a 2000 cal diet that is 800 cal or 200g of carbs per day .... that's far too much for a diabetic.... I now eat between 10 and 20 grams a day and it made a huge difference. 

Intermittent Fasting is my new way of life and I got used to it, being doing it for 9 months now.... from 12 hours all the way to 4 days or 96h.... I don't do the long fasting now as my diabetes is reversed but I can do a 18h or 24h, depending on how I feel or what's for dinner lol
18h is easy.... dinner at 7pm - sleep during the night - miss breakfast and have a late lunch. 

Keto diet is great but I got into it only in the last 2 months.... my diabetes was already controlled but I can still notice how it helps to control my glucose.

*Whatever you do, don't try any of these without monitoring your glucose closely while you are on medication. *


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## CXRAndy (3 Oct 2021)

Spoked Wheels said:


> I have reverted diabetes twice.
> 
> After the first time I managed the condition through diet and exercise but I was asked to stop cycling for a little while after a HA and then go slowly which I found boring so stopped cycling for quite a while.... I was never a fast cyclist but to keep an eye on my HR was not something I handled well... too scared.
> 
> ...



I watch Dr Ekberg and a few others..I started LC/HF Sept 6th last month 

After a week I'd got over Carbohydrates delete, so called Keto flu. 

End of week 2, I started my first 18/6 intermittent fast, now daily.

Today my first Omad day.


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