3 ms·

T2 Diabetic for ~12 years (actually probably a lot longer but I only got diagnosed 12 years ago). I've "beaten diabetes" (i.e. I tested as not being diabetic)

T2 Diabetic for ~12 years (actually probably a lot longer but I only got diagnosed 12 years ago). I've "beaten diabetes" (i.e. I tested as not being diabetic) twice now by losing weight (via calorie counting) and getting fit, but found it too hard to maintain that lifestyle. I've made dietary changes but they had less/no effect. Keto was fine, but my wife didn't get on with it and making two meals every time we ate was too onerous. I stopped measuring my blood sugar a few months after getting diagnosed because it was kinda pointless. I haven't had a single symptom. If I didn't visit the doctor every 3 months or so I'd never know I was diabetic (and I was probably diabetic for 10+ years before getting diagnosed). I take Metformin regularly mostly for the anti-aging side effect. The endless diarrhoea from Metformin is something I got used to, though I had to suspend taking it while travelling because the combination of Metformin shits and travel shits was too much. It all feels like a non-thing to be honest. I know people lose limbs to D2, and go blind, and stuff, but it's hard to take that personally and know that as a definite risk that mean I need to make drastic and difficult lifestyle changes. I keep getting checked and told there's no sign of any damage, but my blood sugar is too high. For 12 years now. I know this sounds a bit anti-vax, but it feels like the science is wrong here. I do not want to go down an anti-science rabbit hole and end up in a conspiracy theory world of my own. So I just keep doing the thing they tell me as best I can. But when/if someone finds out that we've been thinking about D2 all wrong, I will not be the faintest bit surprised. edit: and another thing: I've never had consistent advice from doctors around this. Some GPs say I need to come in every month to get checked up. Others says I only need once a year. Some examine my feet and eyes. Others don't. Some think I'm on too high a dose of Metformin. Others say it's fine. Some are really strong on the diet thing, others not so much. Almost every aspect of this disease seems to be subject to personal opinions about treatment.

bruce511 3y ago
Opinions vary a lot, because people vary a lot, and because of this science "that applies to everyone" is very hard to do. There's no question that there us good medical science, but equally there is a lot of junk-science and so in this age of "hearing everyone's opinion", it can be hard to separate fact from opinion. I think we can agree on some stuff. Smoking is bad for you, exercise is good, and so on. Keeping your weight down, more accurately keeping % body fat down, and so on. Making small, incremental, sustainable changes to lifestyle that trend you in good directions, are definitely the best. GPs are (with respect) not a terribly good source. They tend to see sick people all day, and gather lots of superficial anecdotes. Which is not to ignore them, but to understand their POV. But it's worth taking their opinions on board as an hypothesis.
- marcus_holmes 3y ago
  Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I get that it's a muddle. It just feels like it shouldn't be ;) The ambiguity seems to point to "we don't understand this very well yet, but this is what we think you need to do", which would be fine if that's what anyone said. But it's presented as "we know exactly what's going on here, and this is what you need to do", and then different people give contradictory advice with exactly the same level of confidence.

bruce511 3y ago

Opinions vary a lot, because people vary a lot, and because of this science "that applies to everyone" is very hard to do. There's no question that there us good medical science, but equally there is a lot of junk-science and so in this age of "hearing everyone's opinion", it can be hard to separate fact from opinion. I think we can agree on some stuff. Smoking is bad for you, exercise is good, and so on. Keeping your weight down, more accurately keeping % body fat down, and so on. Making small, incremental, sustainable changes to lifestyle that trend you in good directions, are definitely the best. GPs are (with respect) not a terribly good source. They tend to see sick people all day, and gather lots of superficial anecdotes. Which is not to ignore them, but to understand their POV. But it's worth taking their opinions on board as an hypothesis.

marcus_holmes 3y ago
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I get that it's a muddle. It just feels like it shouldn't be ;) The ambiguity seems to point to "we don't understand this very well yet, but this is what we think you need to do", which would be fine if that's what anyone said. But it's presented as "we know exactly what's going on here, and this is what you need to do", and then different people give contradictory advice with exactly the same level of confidence.