carterjp wrote in message ...
Quoted message said:Also, will I likely need to be on drugs right away? I was thinking of quitting my job and looking
for a new one, but that may be a terrible idea if I will need insurance continually.
What inner damage could I have? Oh God! I am worried sick. Please advise.
You are still in "early days". Chances are you don't have significant damage, but chances are
that the damage is starting.
For a better idea of what's going on, see:
The Progression and Natural History of Type 2 Diabetes
A very good speech to doctors by an Endo, given at the 2001 ADA convention, presented at the URL
shown below.
medscape.com145Open ↗
Don't panic, you won't die tomorrow. Your goal is to freeze all damage progressions. However, you
must work on this disease to avoid the nasty parts.
Your first move will be to restrict your carb intake, eat slowly digesting carbs, and get more
exercise. A two-mile walk each day is a fine start.
The meal you quoted in your original post was not a Diabetic Friendly meal,
i.e. large dollops of concentrated carb, and many "fast" carbs (the sugars in that Mango juice and
cake, the wheat in that cake and bread).
Pasta is your friend. The Glycemic Index is your friend. You want slowly digesting carb, and
restricted amounts. The formal ADA diet calls for about 200 gram of carb a day but most serious
diabetics think they are out of their minds.
(Actually the 200 gram carb diet can be made to work if you inject a potful of insulin each day but
most diabetics seek to avoid that)
Glycemic Index Discussion:
diabetes.about.comngilists.htmOpen ↗
Health Insurance is an awful problem for Diabetics. Some folks do plan their entire careers based on
the availability of Health Insurance. Currently, most individual plans restrict the admission of
diabetics. Group plans at a place of employment and the like usually "have" to accept you though
there are often conditions. Don't willingly "drop" any health insurance unless you have really
studied the matter.
". . .will I likely need to be on drugs right away? . . . " You will get almost as many answers to
that as there are doctors. As I said, one technique is to load you with anti-Insulin Resistance
meds, b.p. meds and anti-cholesterol meds at first diagnosis, then taper off when your numbers hit
safe ranges. Other docs let you try to get into safe ranges via diet and exercise only. Personally,
I am a bit nervous about that latter approach because there isn't a lot of difference between
"letting the patient work it out" and "letting the patient flounder". It all depends on how bad your
numbers are: HbA1c, Fasting blood sugar history, blood pressure and Lipid Panel.
"Safe Ranges" tends to depend on your doc's personal opinion. The best docs in the field may not
agree with him. It's time for you to start learning about this disease. Make certain that you get a
copy of your lab results so you can look up the recommended diabetic targets and make some
judgements for yourself.
You may want to switch docs if you decide your current one is not aggressive enough. In general,
diabetologists are the best choice for handling diabetes but there aren't a lot of them around. Most
Endocrinologists are also diabetologists.
A 35-year old male in your position could be expected to live a healthy, normal life for another 40
years of so; but not if he screws up dealing with his diabetes. Your job is to "not screw up". Sorry
that this got dumped on you but this is not a time for panic, it's a time for grim determination.
Keep coming back. We have "been there, done that" in almost every area of concern that you face
(alas, including "screwing up"😉.
While you're at it, consider calling the local hospitals to ask if any of them have Diabetic
Support Group meetings. They are mostly not support group meetings; they are mostly informal
lectures by medical professionals with lots of opportunity for asking questions before, during and
after the lecture.
They also have CDE (Certified Diabetic Educators) running the meetings. You really want to meet some
of these CDE and get to know them. Most CDE can "beat" all but the best docs in advising diabetics
about day-to-day diabetic living. The ones I know are magnificant.
See if you can get a referral to a Diabetes Training Course at one of your local hospitals. The
standard training course is 10 classroom hours. No doc can match that kind of patient-training via
informal talks in his office no matter how good his grades were in medical school.
Err. . .those training courses are so useful I would define 100-mile radius as "local". Actually, I
had classmates who drove 150 miles to attend the training course I took. The courses I am familiar
with charge for the patient and let a spouse sit in free.
Regards
Old Al
