Do You Remember Your Diabetes Diagnosis Date?

Very Definitely 10/14/2003. I was admitted to the hospital for angina and the heart doctor told me I had type 2 diabetes.

I do not celebrate as it is just another day in my life.

No. It was around 15 years ago, but I couldn't even tell you the exact year - my sugar was around 485. And I was doing all the things you're supposed to do all this time, including taking 5mg of Glipizide daily. My fasting sugar ran from 90-130, which they consider "good". (I never had a blood pH done, because that requires an ABG, and I don't need the pain of some student trying to stick a needle into an artery, but I'm sure it was low (meaning bad) for a long time.)

Now it's around 90 all the time (unless it drops a little lower) with no medication (I've been off Glipizide for 6 months) and at the moment I'm starving because I haven't eaten in two days (my choice - I wasn't hungry), but I eat one huge meal a day, mainly Iceberg lettuce (no carbs), a little tomato (a few mg of carbs), a little onion (a few mg of carbs), some chicken and oil and vinegar dressing. Sometimes I can't finish (YOU try eating 2 pounds of lettuce, and in season the heads run close to 2-3/4 pounds). So I'm never hungry, my body gets what it needs and none of what it doesn't need and I don't have to take any meds.

On the rare occasion I do eat some carbs (if I take the Grandkids to Golden Corral, I MUST have ice cream with whipped cream for dessert (the whipped cream is sugar-free, though), my sugar the next morning drops 10-20 dl/mL over the previous day. (I don't do postprandial checks, or 6 checks a day - I can tell how the day is going to be with 1 - but on the days I've tried something like every 2 hours, eating or not, it stays pretty stable.)

I'm not recommending it to anyone - always check with your endocrinologist before a dietary change - but it's been working for me for over a year. (I just don't lose weight if I eat 10 oz of chicken every night, so I'm still adjusting things - like maybe eat every day, but only 5 oz of chicken.) But my endo said, in May, as she walked into the room, "What are you doing here? You're not a diabetic!" With a constant A1C of 4.7, I'm not having blood sugar problems, but I AM a diabetic. But type 2, which - I'm starting to think - is TOTALLY different from type 1. Many of the symptoms are the same, but low B12 and iron show many of the same symptoms as an internal bleed too. And you don't "cure" bleeding with B12 and iron.

Maybe type 2 isn't a disease, it's a trait, like dark skin or red hair, and we just have to live the way people with out trait have to live. Do we "cure" red hair? Burgers? Yes. But not on a bun.

Hi Al Klein, Thank you for sharing your story with the Type 2 Diabetes community. You are correct that Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes are different. If you were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes it is possible with lifestyle changes to go into remission. To learn more you can read the following article: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/11/2133.full.
As for your diet, make sure you are not being too restrictive as that can make losing weight a challenge. In addition to meeting with your Endo you may also want to meet with a registered dietitian. You can also check out the diet and nutrition section of type2diabetes.com for more information. Thanks again for sharing your story! Take care,
Meryl Krochmal, RD, CDE Community Moderator.

Late July,2014. I went to the hospital for gall bladder problems and after the surgery they told me I had diabetes. I believe it was some like this; "You know you have diabetes?". Total shocker. I mark the anniversay, but celebrate? No, most definitely not.