Though nobody at my health centre had told me or even discussed the possibility, it seems that my HbA1c score has tipped over the line from pre-diabetes into the Type 2 category. Ironically, a likely cause of this nudge up is the blood pressure medication I am on.
If it isn't one thing it is another these days.
Anyway, home from London I arranged one of these special eye tests at our local hospital - The Royal Hallamshire and went there this very afternoon. I attended the eye clinic where I was dealt with by two nice young ladies - one from Kerala in India and the other from Iraq.
The first young lady put special drops in both of my eyes to enlarge my pupils. The second young lady photographed my eyes for signs of diabetic retinopathy. Apparently, the results will be sent to both me and my health centre within three weeks.
In the meantime, I need to start making a few personal changes to lower my HbA1c level - down from the 50 score that I am currently on and back out of the Type 2 category.
One small aim is that I am going to try to stop having any sugar in my hot drinks. All my life, I have added sugar to both tea and coffee. When I was growing up in East Yorkshire, every member of my family had two spoonfuls of sugar in hot drinks. About forty years ago I went down to one spoonful of sugar and today I started to find out if I could manage with no sugar at all. After all, plenty of other people are sugarless - including my two grown up children.
There are a few other things I plan to do - small adjustments that should help me to turn the corner - that's if I can stick with those changes.
I go for those retina exams every six months. Afterwards, I wear what I call my "old man wrap-around sunglasses" to shield my eyes against the light. They prevent light from coming in via the sides too.
ReplyDeleteCan you sing like Roy Orbison? You've got this, soon your health woes will be under control.
ReplyDeleteThat is a sobering diagnosis but you are doing a good thing, reducing added sugar. As someone who had gestational diabetes and had to learn a certain amount about the disease, I would suggest cutting back on fats and oils as well - not completely, because you need a certain amount, but because the number of calories in oil is much higher than the calories in the same amount of sugar, so it is easier to overdo and thus increase weight (or make it harder to decrease weight). Have you been offered an appointment with a dietician? It would be helpful, as calories lurk in places we might not suspect (such as meat, nuts, and dressings/gravies). Good luck with your new regime. I suspect you have all the self-discipline you will need.
ReplyDeleteI have learned over the years that there is more sugar in the foods that we eat on some days than in that spoonful of sugar that one might put in their coffee or tea. Reading labels on foods other than fresh fruit has become an art form for me!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about this latest, unwelcome development with your health. From early childhood on (and probably since my birth), my eyes have been the weakest part of my body in terms of health, and I am very conscentious about my quarter-yearly visits to my doctor, taking my drops (the only regular medication I am on) and being careful about time spent staring at screens or in glaring sunlight.
ReplyDeleteSince you have only just crossed the threshold to Type II diabetes, I am confident that your adjustments will work and you'll soon be out of that particular danger zone.
Take care of yourself, this is a very manageable illness, with a little discipline.
ReplyDeleteThe diabetes eye test here is part of our free biennial eye test.
ReplyDeleteOnce you are used to tea and coffee without sugar, the taste of sugar in the drinks will become unbearable. I began with two sugars, reduced to one, then cut it altogether. Now if there is added sugar, the drink tastes like sugar syrup, undrinkable.
I hope the dietary changes do the trick and you become diabetes free. I grew up with sugar in everything too, yet somehow have managed to avoid diabetes. I still put sugar in my coffee, but drink far fewer coffees during the day and now put honey in my tea instead of sugar. I have given up ice cream and eat far less chocolate these days. The "good stuff" is too expensive now anyway.
ReplyDeleteMust be a bit of a shock but I am sure decreasing the amount of sugar and adjusting your diet will help. My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 14 years old. But has adjusted well to insulin and also what he eats. It absolutely terrified me at the time though.
ReplyDeleteDon't you start ogling pretty women quite so obviously. Greer! Mercy!
ReplyDeleteEveryone had 2 spoons when I was growing up. I went to 1, and then 0 when I was about 30. I like the bitter flavour now. My wife has those awful sweeteners. I can't bear even to touch them.
Oh dear, you are facing a lot of medical problems at the moment, but the diabetes can be reversed with a few changes. You will soon get used to having no sugar in hot drinks (i used to have two spoons as a child, then stopped that as a teenager and now cannot bear hot drinks with sugar in them.) As Jenny said, there are hidden sugars in all sorts of things including carbohydrates, so bread, biscuits and, dare I say it, Yorkshire puddings are on the list of things to avoid too. Fruit and veg are quite filling and better for you, as well as pulses. I was once told I was pre-diabetic and was referred to a 12-week course of free NHS-paid gym classes. That worked in getting the HbA1C levels down and I have been going to the gym ever since on a pensioner-rate membership. I know you do a lot of walking but your GP may be able to refer you for that course too.
ReplyDeleteHow would you have energy to hike without sugar? Lucozade keeps me going all day.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of Dr David Unwin's low carb diabetes diet (also known as the Southport GP diet)? It is recommended by the NHS as a way of reversing type 2 by dietary changes. All the best with reducing your HbA1c levels.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a hell of a year for you, hasn't it? I'm so sorry. Eventually, all of these changes will have been worth it but that hardly helps when you want your tea the way you want your tea, does it?
ReplyDeleteHow's the weight loss going? Your hba1c will improve as you drop the kilos.
ReplyDeleteYou have good motivations for getting healthier so if you focus well, you'll do it
Sugar is hard to give up because it's already in so many things.
ReplyDeleteWe use raw sugar in our Iced Tea and Agave in my one morning coffee or hot tea.
The diabetes diagnosis hits hard. We live an active life and then it hits us. I'm surprised you get this diagnosis since you are so active. Keep on walking. Then diet has to be adjusted but no doubt you can take care of that.
ReplyDeleteExercise is one of the best things for lowering blood sugar, but you already do that. Do you walk every day?
ReplyDeleteWe do our best, but eventually the diseases of age catch up with us.
You could always try a non-sugar sweetener like Stevia, though in my opinion none of them taste quite like sugar. It's always something, right?!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear but hopefully, you can get it under control. Good luck, Neil.
ReplyDeleteI got my sugars down to normal with meds and I hope to stop them soon ….go to the dietitian lecture it’s useful
ReplyDeletethere's not much to recommend this old age malarkey, is there? I forgot to take my statins yesterday..... the pack is rather handily stamped so that the days are printed on each blister, so even with my forgetfulness i can tell which day i missed....... good luck cutting out the sugar..... not that i'd recommend but there are alternatives to sugar in drinks..... stevia? saccharin??
ReplyDeleteI used to have four spoons of sugar in tea when I was 14. I cut it out immediately one year and never missed it. You'll be fine. That Yorkshire grit will serve you well.
ReplyDeleteWell, hell. It really has been one thing after another for you! My daughter had gestational diabetes which increases the chance of it later in life. She doesn't follow a strict diet for diabetes anymore, but would tell you it's a pretty easy and satisfying one to stick to. I hope your eye results are good. I have to get a retina check at least once a year due to a medication I take for RA and I hate having my eyes dilated. Not only do I wear my regular sunglasses when I leave, I double up with the stupid looking plastic ones they provide. I've reached a point in life I don't care what others think.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that further complication to life, but hopefullly early discovery and adjusting your habits accordingly should be helpful. Both my parents got type 2, so knowing I'm at risk of getting that too, I'm trying to basically keep to "low GI" diet since over a decade now. (Or at least avoiding too many "highs".)
ReplyDelete