# Im 25 and I've basically just cried and cried



## Starkss (Jan 7, 2017)

Two days ago I was given the heads up I was a type 2 diabetic when i went to the doctors about a sinus infection and when I started to ask questions  (especially since this blood test was done 7 months ago with nobody telling me in the meantime) I got told to make an appointment for a further two weeks time.
 So understandably I'm freaking out completely scared and wondering how I'm ever going to take the medication I need when I can't even swallow a tablet??
There's so much that comes with diabetes blindness, loss of teeth and hair not to mention  nerve damage etc and as somebody who has always been overweight (on a vegetarian diet) but always fit due to my love of dance and hiking I really am completely struggling to see how much i can change and how much longevity is left in my life ...10 yrs ? 30 yrs? And what I can do to improve it ...
I've only just made the decision to go back to university to study marine conservation to try and build a better more enjoyable life for myself and the family I one day wanted to have in my 30s. 
Now I'm thinking whats the point? Will I even have any health left by then?
This maybe the most morbid first post anybody has put on here but this is probably the most scared I've ever felt.


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## grovesy (Jan 7, 2017)

Welcome.


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## Mark Parrott (Jan 7, 2017)

Hi Starkiss & welcome to the forum.  You've obviously heard all the scare stories in the media.  This really needn't be the case.  Diabetes is a serious condition, but one that can be controlled.  We have members on here that have been diabetic for 50 years or more with little or no problems.  I don't want to bombard you with too much in one go, so I'll try to keep it simple.  You will need to look at your diet.  Us diabetics can't tolerate carbs very well.  They send our blood sugars (BS) up.  This includes things like bread, pasta, rice & starch veg such as potatoes, as well as the usual cakes & biscuits.  To keep good control, I would recommend getting a blood glucose meter.  If you are really lucky, your doctor may prescribe you one, but if not, the cheapest one is the SD Codefree from Amazon or Home Health.  I was diagnosed a year ago & am not taking any medication.


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## Amigo (Jan 7, 2017)

Starkss said:


> Two days ago I was given the heads up I was a type 2 diabetic when i went to the doctors about a sinus infection and when I started to ask questions  (especially since this blood test was done 7 months ago with nobody telling me in the meantime) I got told to make an appointment for a further two weeks time.
> So understandably I'm freaking out completely scared and wondering how I'm ever going to take the medication I need when I can't even swallow a tablet??
> There's so much that comes with diabetes blindness, loss of teeth and hair not to mention  nerve damage etc and as somebody who has always been overweight (on a vegetarian diet) but always fit due to my love of dance and hiking I really am completely struggling to see how much i can change and how much longevity is left in my life ...10 yrs ? 30 yrs? And what I can do to improve it ...
> I've only just made the decision to go back to university to study marine conservation to try and build a better more enjoyable life for myself and the family I one day wanted to have in my 30s.
> ...



Whoa Starkss, hold the funeral plans for now!  In fact stop in your tracks and take a big and more realistic breath! You may have a condition that is very controllable and have little or no effect on your longevity, it certainly shouldn't be holding back your career plans at all. You're very young and we don't know what your Hba1c is (that's the blood test where they take blood from your arm and it gives a 12 week average). It could be you won't need medication at all at the moment, many type 2's keep their BG (blood glucose) levels in check with a lower carb diet. Including me. If you need to take medication, you'll need to discuss your problem with swallowing pills but this is sortable. 

As Mark says, there are people on here who have had diabetes for decades and have few or no complications and full lives. My mum has had diabetes nearly 30 years and is now 87! She still got all her limbs and hair and hasn't suffered diabetic problems. Her sight issues were wholly attributable to something else.

You need to stop googling scares stories (nobody posts the good news stuff) and see this for what it is. Yes it will involve healthier lifestyle choices and check ups on your feet and eyes as a precaution but it's no reason to go into freefall and view your life as over. It's just beginning and you can incorporate diabetes into it without major restrictions. All is well...you've unnecessarily gone into panic mode! You might need to give up bread and chocolate cake not life itself!


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## Copepod (Jan 7, 2017)

Welcome to the forum Starkisss. Thekey is to control your diabetes and blood glucose levels - doing so keeps your risk of health problems almost the same as someone who doesn't have diabetes.
Regarding taking tablets - it takes a bit of practice, but sitting or standing, drinking fluid first and with and after tablet helps. Personally, I have to place a tablet on the back of my tongue.


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## Pine Marten (Jan 7, 2017)

Welcome to the forum, Starkss. Please take a good deep breath and try to relax. Until you have more information about your HbA1c (as Amigo says) you won't know if you'll need medication. If you can take control yourself by changing eating habits you will feel much more positive about things, and if you're fit anyway through your dance then that's a great start.

Have a read around the threads here, come and ask any questions you like, and we'd be very happy to help. All the best to you


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## ChrisSamsDad (Jan 7, 2017)

I'm 53 now and have been diabetic for about 7 years. I'd say that I'm the healthiest I've been for 30 years. I'm now 30kg lighter than I was then and dance and laugh a LOT more. It's not that diabetes is a good thing, obviously, but basically you're just going to have to be take control and the good news is, the things you'll do to control it will all make you healthier. Being overweight is the obvious one, but there's a strong chance that you're overweight because of the diabetes rather than diabetic because you're overweight - and eating a low carb diet is not only going to get your blood glucose down to levels where it's no longer a health problem, but it'll make you lose weight and the even better news is that it's not a deprivation diet, you'll be able to eat good, tasty and healthy food when you're hungry. 

E.G. Yesterday's meals for me were: 
BF: Full fat greek yoghurt with some dried cherries, walnuts and seeds (15g carbs in the cherries, 4g in the yoghurt, 5 in the walnuts)
Lunch: Some left over chicken curry, (about 10g carbs in the chickpeas and 5g in the tomatoes)
Afternoon snack ( I went to the gym at lunch and ran 5Km so I was starving) - a tin of mackerel fillets (0g carbs)
Tea - Subway Salad with lots of full fat chipotle mayonnaise and a date and cashew energy bar, (about 5g carbs in the salad, 15g in the energy bar)
with mixed nuts for grazing during the evening (about 10g carbs) (went to the gym again as daughter is getting into it now and needs support, burnt off another 500kcal so, again was hungry)

This morning I had a diabetic-friendly brunch - Black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce and some low carb toast and marmalade. (about 5g carbs in the black pudding, a couple more in the tomatoes, 10g in the slice of toast, about 10g in the marmalade)
I also went out on a Park Run (5km), but I wouldn't want you to think the exercise schedule is normal or necessary for me or any other diabetic. 

Diabetes isn't a death-sentence by ANY means. True, you'll have to re-evaluate your relationship with food, treat carbs not calories as the enemy, embrace fat in your diet and ideally, exercise. I'm a big fan of Eddie Izzard and he does this sketch about the church of England - how they used to torture and burn people, but now it's all about cake, and the running joke is 'cake or death?' Well, to MASSIVELY oversimplify it, your choice now is 'NO CAKE or death'. (Hint: Cake's OK but it's not that good)

Of course it's not just sweet things, it's any starchy or sugary things - potatoes, pasta, rice, flour as well as biscuits, toffees or cake. And it's not even that you can't eat them at all, you just have to set a limit. That's different for everybody and only testing with a blood glucose meter will help you find what works for you and what doesn't - I love porridge and some Type 2s can have a decent bowl of it and it's doesn't cause their BG to go too high ('spike') - but for me it really did, so I've had to compromise, so I can have a small bowl, but with cream instead of syrup like I used to have and I can add nuts and seeds to bulk it up, and incidentally make it taste great. I've found that a good rule of thumb for me is 25g per meal - you'll have to start really reading the nutritional values on everything, but can ignore everything but carbohydrates.

I have found that a doughnut doesn't spike me too much above acceptable limits, which is odd, but I rarely have them anyway, as I've found that when I have a budget of 25g I'd prefer to 'spend' it on something nicer than a deep-fried cake covered in sugar then stuffed with more sugar. 

You'll be surprised how many nice things are low enough in carbs that you can eat reasonable satisfying amounts of them:
Dark Chocolate
Chocolate eclairs/Choux buns (choux pastry is mostly air)
Chocolate Mousse,
Eggs,
Cheese
Cream
Butter
Gelatti (fruit and cream basically)
Peanut butter

I'm rambling on now, but the other thing to remember is that, and it really does pain me to say it, as 99% of the time, it's terrible advice - but for diabetes, the NHS has pretty much got it completely wrong and their view of diabetics is in essence: "Diet and exercise could work, but people won't stick to it and it's not our job to help them with that anyway, so we'll give them increasing levels of drugs, and watch out for the inevitable decline in their health and early grave'. They seem to be stuck with some very old and out of date research in all this and especially their views on diet. 

Lots of people here and on other diabetic forums have reversed their diabetes or are in remission thanks to self-help and diet and exercise. Admittedly there are people who won't take that route - they'd rather be passive and let it happen to them with someone else making the decisions, but you're here asking, so hopefully you're not one of those people and you'll soon be thinking of diabetes as an inconvenience at worse and possibly something that's been somewhat positive and kickstarted you into a better, happier lifestyle.


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## Katieb (Jan 7, 2017)

Hi Starkss. Sound advice from ChrisSamsDad. Yes it is upsetting that you have to deal with this diagnosis and you are allowed to be upset and understandably so. You are very young to have to deal with this and it doesn't sound like your GP has been as supportive as they could have been. However, there are many young diabetics like you on this site and I am sure they will get on board to support you/advise you. It is not the horrible, uncontrollable condition it used to be when my dad was diagnosed at 21 when advice was poor and the condition not understood very well. Even so, he lived until age 78 - a full and fulfilling life despite poor management which was not his fault. Today, much more is known and understood and many people achieve amazing things living with (rather than in spite of) their condition. You don't have to let this take over your life. You will, with good support, find the strength to deal with this and achieve all the things you wanted to before your diagnosis. You may have to make a few tweaks on the way, but you will! The good thing is that you have come to a place where advice is sound and support is plentiful. You are not alone in this. There are many people here to help you. You are allowed to be angry and upset - this is natural - but with the right help and support I hope you will be able to see that this diagnosis does not stand in the way of you achieving your life goals. Welcome. Katie


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## Manda1 (Jan 7, 2017)

Love its always scary when you are faced with a new challenge but we are lucky because we can control this condition by eating sensibly and cutting down on carbs and you don't even have to cut them completely x I am new to all this myself so please listen to the others on here as they have a wealth of experience behind them x please don't freak it will be OK just give it time and keep dipping in on this site for support it has truly helped me x


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## Mark Parrott (Jan 7, 2017)

ChrisSamsDad said:


> Tea - Subway Salad with lots of full fat chipotle mayonnaise and a date and cashew energy bar, (about 5g carbs in the salad, 15g in the energy bar)



I've been getting those date & cashew bars.  I had one today & checked my BS 1 & 2 hours after & it barely budged.


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## SB2015 (Jan 7, 2017)

Hi Starkss, it is no surprise that you are feeling scared , and the stuff on the internet tends to be gloom and doom.  As others have said, this is manageable condition, and you are now entitled to very regular check ups. Be proactive and take control of this.  There is a lot of help available on here so don't be afraid to ask for help.


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## Manda1 (Jan 7, 2017)

Mark Parrott said:


> I've been getting those date & cashew bars.  I had one today & checked my BS 1 & 2 hours after & it barely budged.


Where do we get these bars ?


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## ChrisSamsDad (Jan 7, 2017)

Manda1 said:


> Where do we get these bars ?


Aldi do a whole range of 'paleo' bars:
http://www.theawkwarddinnerguest.co.uk/2016/11/03/aldis-raw-paleo-and-protein-bars/


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## trophywench (Jan 7, 2017)

Hiya.

OK so you are overweight.  OK so your blood glucose level is up.  However - you are only 25.

Exactly what blood test(s) did your doctor do, to convince him that you are T2 and not T1 ?


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## Lilian (Jan 7, 2017)

Welcome to the forum.    Yes these things can happen but they are not inevitable.    Let them be a motivation for you to look after yourself.   You have to do no more than anyone should do, eat sensibly and keep active.   Dancing is a great exercise and fun too so keep that up.   Basically as said above type 2 diabetes is that you body cannot deal with carbs too well.    Think of it as being allergic to sugar and intollerant of other carbs.    I think the hardest part is that often diabetes makes you crave for the things you cannot have or have to keep very limitted.    However if you keep your resolve you will find it easier as time goes on, it becomes a habit to say no to puddings etc. and eventually you will actually mean no you don't want it lol.    You will learn  what are good substitutes.    If you have to take medication then ask for an exemption certificate as you will be exempt from paying for all prescriptions.    If you are offered pills then you will have to discuss the question of not being able to swallow them with your doctor/nurse.   There might be an alternative.     Most of all do not go into denial, be scared only enough just to keep you motivated and you can live a long life without any diabetic problems.


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## Carolg (Jan 8, 2017)

Mark Parrott said:


> I've been getting those date & cashew bars.  I had one today & checked my BS 1 & 2 hours after & it barely budged.[/QUOTE


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## Carolg (Jan 8, 2017)

hello and welcome, all good advice from people here. Ask questions and if you don't understand, ask again. . As others have said, you learn something every day


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## Grannylorraine (Jan 8, 2017)

Welcome - I was diagnosed on Friday and feel completely overwhelmed, I am older than you, but I can understand the way you are feeling.  Once we get over the shock I we can start to move forward.  But continue with your plans.


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## HOBIE (Jan 9, 2017)

Welcome


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## Maz2 (Jan 10, 2017)

Welcome to the Forum StarkSS.  I am so sorry to hear of your diagnosis at such a young age.  You will find the advice and support on here invaluable and I hope it will help you come to terms with this.

One of the first pieces of advice I had when I joined the Forum was getting away from the internet as this tends to scare you and gives all the worst scenarios. 

I am at present high risk which also came as a complete shock.


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## RafflesNH (Jan 11, 2017)

ChrisSamsDad said:


> I'm 53 now and have been diabetic for about 7 years. I'd say that I'm the healthiest I've been for 30 years. I'm now 30kg lighter than I was then and dance and laugh a LOT more. It's not that diabetes is a good thing, obviously, but basically you're just going to have to be take control and the good news is, the things you'll do to control it will all make you healthier. Being overweight is the obvious one, but there's a strong chance that you're overweight because of the diabetes rather than diabetic because you're overweight - and eating a low carb diet is not only going to get your blood glucose down to levels where it's no longer a health problem, but it'll make you lose weight and the even better news is that it's not a deprivation diet, you'll be able to eat good, tasty and healthy food when you're hungry.
> 8<



Very interesting read, Chris. Thanks!


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