Hello everyone, I wanted to take a moment to share a current event in my life that changed everything. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year. During that first year my bloodsugar was all over the charts after i was first diagnosed. My Dr. finally managed to get me on the right meds to stabilize it in the normal range. It was a difficult year health wise.
For those of you who aren't exactly sure What diabetes entails, other than your blood sugar is out of control(either high, or low), let me explain it in some detail. Simply explained, type 2 diabetes is when your pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Insulin is necessary to move sugar in your blood stream into your cells. Where your cells use the sugar for energy. When your cells, muscle tissue, etc. do not get enough sugar to use for energy they are forced to use alternate sources for energy. This causes a lot of varied problems in your body. High blood sugar is noticed as several symptoms. These can be a number of things such as:
- Always being hungry * Always being thirsty no matter how much you drink
- Excessive fatigue * Weight Loss * Frequent urination * Chronic Dry Mouth
- Itchy Skin * Blurred vision
If left untreated, and sugar remains high for an extended period you may experience these symptoms:
- Cuts or wounds that heal slowly * Yeast infections * Foot pain * Numbness in your hands and feet
Not only that, people with Diabetes are more likely to have heart disease, and suffer heart attacks. Are 50% more likely to have another heart attack after their first one. Those with Diabetes can be 4x more likely to suffer heart failure than those without.
Ok, having said all that I want to explain my current state of health, and how Diabetes has played a role in my overall health. At the end of last year i was rushing around trying to get ready for work. I tripped and fell. On my way down i managed to catch myself with one arm and not fall completely. However i heard a pop, and almost instantly my right shoulder was in pain, and felt like it was on fire. I took 2 Advil and went to work... at work i soon realized that i had no strength in my right arm, and that the pain was getting increasingly worse. By the end of my shift i was almost in tears. The next day(New Years Day) I was at the emergency room thinking that maybe i had fractured something. Long story short, nothing broken, but an MRI later revealed i had a torn rotator cuff. It was decided that i needed surgery. Fast forward 6mos. later(yes it took me that long to heal, and strengthen the shoulder) I am back at work on restrictive duty.
Now i know what you're thinking...But what does this have to do with diabetes? directly nothing, indirectly everything. Having diabetes and high blood sugar causes muscle wasting. If your sugar is high enough, for long enough, and the insulin isn't there to push the sugar into the calls the body canabalizes muscle tissue and other cells to make energy. Who knows how long my blood sugar was high before i was diagnosed. It could have only been a few weeks, or it could have been a few years. Diabetes symptoms affect different people differently. Even though you have the symptoms that point ot Diabetes, you may still feel fine for a while.. but eventually you will succumb to the disease. See, I had noticed my muscle mass deteriorating for several years. I had just thought it to be a natural part of getting older. As it is normal for men to begin losing muscle mass as they enter their 40's. Normally this is roughly about 2% a year for the average man who doesn't workout and train with weights. So i didn't think too much of it at the time. To be honest, I didn't pay any attention to the symptoms i had until I gained 30lbs almost overnight(like in 4 days time)and my pants wouldn't button. When that happened i panicked... i made an appointment with my Dr. like that morning. The next day i was diagnosed as being a Type 2 Diabetic
Why am i writing this, putting my personal experience out there for everyone to see? It's simple really.... I am almost 50 years old, i was diagnosed with Diabetes at 48... was probably pre-diabetic since i was 45, or maybe 42-43 looking back at how long i had had some of the symptoms. If my story helps one person to pay attention to the symptoms of diabetes ,and get checked earlier on in their Diabetic life, then it will be well worth it. No one should be ignorant to one of the most deadly diseases facing the western world today. I live in a country where almost 10% of the population are diabetic....And that is only the known cases. Diabetes is a truely debilitating disease that no one should ignore. It leads to so many other health issues that, If caught early and treated, can save a person from suffering many of the nasty ilnesses this disease leads to. .
I urge anyone who has two or more of the symptoms to make an appointment with your Dr. to get checked. The A1C test is a quick and easy test the Dr. administers to determine if you're diabetic, pre-diabetic, or not. The good news is that the earlier you get checked, the easier it is to treat and control. In some cases when caught early enough, some Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed through diet and exercise. So please, i strongly urge anyone with 2 or more of the symptoms get checked with your Dr.
Thank you for reading this, my appologies for it being so legnthy. I just feel this passionately about trying to save others the pain and problems i have.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE IMAGES USED IN THIS POST, AND WERE UPLOADED FROM A PUBLIC SOURCE