Before I begin to tell you how I beat type II diabetes, I need to tell you about the complications to your health type II diabetes can cause. A few of these complications will be with me the rest of my life. But these complications motivated me to change my lifestyle.
Disclosure: I am not a physician but I am under a physician's care. And I am not selling a miracle cure or mystical elixar.
In a series of posts I will tell about my struggles and eventual triumph over Type II Diabetes.
I must stress that diabetes has taken its toll on my body which will likely be with me the rest of my life.
Complications from Uncontrolled Diabetes
Uncontrolled diabetes, excessively high blood glucose, that is not being monitored and treated to lower it can lead to serious health complications. The complications develop over many years as high glucose levels damage tiny and large blood vessels.
The long-term complications of uncontrolled (high blood glucose leves) type II diabetes are nephropathy (kidney disease), diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, and macrovascular (heart, brain, and large blood vessels) problems.
Microvascular Complications
Consistently high blood glucose levels can damage small blood vessels over time. When the damaged blood vessels cannot deliver blood this leads to problems with the eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
- Eyes: Over a long period of time high blood glucose levels can cause loss of vision via cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy. Retinopathy is the damage of the blood vessels on the retina.
- Kidneys: Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to the kidneys being unable to clean the blood (diabetic nephropathy) and eventually kidney failure.
- Teeth: Diabetes leads to a higher risk for gum disease like gingivitis and periodontitis.
- Nerves: Long-term high blood glucose levels damages the tiny blood vessels feeding the nerves and cause nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy).
** Limbs: Long-term excessive blood glucose levels can cause tingling, numbness, burning sensation or pain that starts at the tips of the fingers or toes and gradually moves up the limb.
** Gastrointestinal Tract: Nerves damaged in the digestive tract can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation.
** Sexual Dysfunction: For men, the nerve damage may lead to erectile dysfunction.
** Feet: Nerve damage in the feet may leave cuts and blisters untreated that heal slowly or develop serious infections. These infections could lead to requiring amputation of the toe, foot, or leg.
** Skin: Diabetes can make the skin more susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections.
** Ears: Nerve damage in the ears can lead to hearing impairment.
Macrovascular Complications
Type II diabetes can also cause plaque to eventually build up in large blood vessels over time.
- Cardiovascular System: The plaque build causes narrowing of arteries leading to coronary artery disease with chest pain (angina), stroke, and heart attack.
- Brain: Uncontrolled diabetes may lead to Alzheimer's disease.
- Legs: Leg cramps and changes in skin color can result from problems with large blood vessels in the legs.
My Complications
For several years I have been monitoring my blood pressure readings. Here is the timeline of events and complications I logged.
| Date | Event/Complication |
|---|---|
| 27 March 2015 | I went to the doctor because of my high blood pressure readings. The doctor prescribed medicine to treat high blood pressure and scheduled me for a complete physical. |
| 8 April 2015 | During my regular eye examination the doctor told me I was developing cataracts and asked me if I was diabetic. I said I had no been diagnosed with diabetes but would have the physician check that during my physical. |
| 24 April 2015 | I went in for my physical. I told the doctor about developing cataracts in both eyes and that my blood glucose needed to be checked. The blood results came back indicating a high glucose level. The doctor scheduled me to come back for a followup A1C test. |
| 4 May 2015 | I was diagnosed with type II diabetes and put on diabetes medicine. I was immediately signed up for diabetes classes. |
| 8 May 2015 | I started logging my blood glucose twice a day along with dietary habits. I would log when I ate high carbohydrate (starch) meals to see what effect that had on my blood sugar levels. |
| 27 May 2015 | My cataracts were starting to intefer with my driving and my work. A doctor visit to an eye specialist diagnosed me with rapidly developing cataracts due to diabetes. This was the start of me going blind. |
The diabetes classes I was signed up for started in June 2015. With an A1C score of 13.5%, I had the highest score in the class. One person even remarked that "you should be dead" with that high of an A1C reading. I was not dead, but I was going blind. I had to use a magnifying glass to read the class materials. I also bought two pairs of reading glasses with 3X magnification.
 |  |
On 22 June 2015 I met with the eye surgeon to prepare for my first cataract eye surgery. It was at this appointment that I was declared legally blind.
My first eye surgery was 2 July 2015. The 15-20 minute surgery miracously restored sight to my left eye.
10 minute video of cataract surgery by Uday Devgan published on 9 February 2017
Three weeks later I had the surgery on my right eye. It was truly amazing to see all the vivid colors in the world again with both eyes.
At another doctor visit on 10 July 2015, the physician diagnosed me with peripheral diabetic neuropathy where there is a tingling and loss of sensation in my toes.
The eye surgeon told me there was a chance my cataracts may develop again on a membrane behind my artificial lens. Sure enough I was back in for surgery on 13 May 2016 where a laser was used to remove the diseased membrane.
The loss of my eye-sight along with nerve damage in my toes and possible kidney damage was enough to motivate me to change my dietary habits and do what I needed to do to beat type II diabetes. However, the eye damage (my new artificial lenses) and the nerve damage in my toes will be with me the rest of my life.
Source and More Information
Diabetes Complications, Mayo Clinic
How Does Diabetes Affect Your Body?, WebMD
Type 2 Diabetes Complications, endocrineweb
Diabetes Complications, Healthy-ojas (Vital Info for Healthier Life)
Previous Posts in this Series
How I Beat Type II Diabetes -- A New Series of My Personal Struggles and Triumph
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