How did you find out you had Type 2?

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Permalink Reply by John Townsend on November 1, 2009 at 12:35am

I developed an infection and didn't think it was a big deal until it started to get much worse. This all started on a Thursday night and I went camping with my son at a Boy Scout camp. About half way through the camp, I started to really feel worse and the site of the infection seemed to be growing and getting worse. I had planned to see my primary doctor on Monday morning, but by Sunday morning, I knew I had to do something. I went into the local ER to see a doctor.

I assumed that I would wait for a long time and then the ER doc would give me some oral antibiotics and send me home. The doctor took one look at me and had me transferred up to a room to get me on IV antibiotics. I was pretty surprised. I ended up spending 5 days in the hospital.

During my stay, they ran a number of blood tests on me, usually at least one battery of them everyday. My doctor noticed abnormally high glucose levels in my blood and suggested to me that when I get out of the hospital that I go see my primary doctor because I might be a type 2 diabetic. He suggested I get an A1C test.

I got the A1C test from my primary and it came back at 8.2%. This clearly put my in Type 2. I made an appointment with an endocrinologist and she confirmed the diagnosis.

Looking back I realized that I am constantly thirsty and have to use the bathroom frequently. I also have been tired.

I am now setup to go into a Diabetes Educator series of classes and am getting set up with a Diabetes counselor. I am looking forward to going through the classes and learning how I eat right, exercise, and manage this disease.

In the meantime, I have been trying to control my carb intake and testing my blood sugar frequently. I have been able to keep my numbers between 95 and 140.

The biggest surprise to me has been how much even a moderate amount of exercise can do. I have been walking 30 minutes a night and its been interesting to see what my numbers look like before I walk and after!

Anyway, that's my story :)

--> John

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Permalink Reply by Elaine on November 1, 2009 at 9:11am

I had blood work done for an unrelated problem (I get petechiae when blood pools in my arms during exercise), and was very surprised to get a call from my doc's office saying that my fasting blood glucose was a little high. This was a new doc & the first time I'd ever had a fasting test. My previous doc only ordered non-fasting tests & never said anything about my numbers being out of range at about 160 mg/dL or so midday. I guess it wasn't what he was looking for, so he didn't see it. As long as my platelet count looked good, he was happy.
I had no obvious symptoms of diabetes & didn't know at the time that I had one major risk factor (genetics), so there was no reason for my doc to look for it.

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Permalink Reply by Raeco Donalds on November 2, 2009 at 9:30pm

I had Gestational diabetes 19 yrs ago, 16 yrs ago for 4 yrs I had hypo(low sugar), was told I had pre-diabetes, then for no reason my numbers went normal- kinda surprised my doc, back this past may I got sick (low) and ate immediately and got to wondering about 2 hrs later, got out a machine and tested and it was 216! I didn't panic just tested for a wk 2 to 3 hrs after each meal- it ran between 195- 290. Went to the doc he ran a fasting it was 109, I asked him to run a A1c and he came back in and told me it was 6.3. I stayed between 115 and 120lbs until I was 27, about the time my sugar went normal, then I gained 50 lbs in 1 and a half years. I'm now 40 and have type 2. I believe I changed slowly over the yrs. i lost 50 lbs on my own, kept it off for 2 yrs then bam, 30 lbs in a yr. Wondered why i got sick and slept ALL day some times, have been tired ALL the time, eating like a pig, now I know. Also have complained of numbing and tingling for 12 yrs along with not peeing, doc had me do an EMG, I have neuropathy- shock there but I have a name for it now. I am on Byetta and doing good, around 109 after meals, going for my 3 mo blood work tommarow. I do have 300's sometimes and let me tell you I hate them cause i"m down for the day. Weird thing is my sugar has been down 99% of the time but still have all the symptoms. I had a low this past sunday, got it back up to normal and still extremely tired, laid down and slept for 17 hrs! Go figure.

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Permalink Reply by Clee on November 9, 2009 at 9:03am

In November 2000, I had noticed my abdomen becoming increasingly larger and larger and exercise was not helping at all. I went to my doctor, she did an ulsound and found out I had fibroids and needed a hysterectomy. Because of the heavy surgery schedule, I was not scheduled until April 2001. By the time the surgery was done in 2001, my abdomen was the size of a 6 month pregnant woman. Well, after the surgery, I went in for a check up 5 months later and in the course of regular blood work, I found out I had diabetes. I cried and cried and cried. I just don't understand how it was missed during the course of my pre-op workup for surgery. Of course, since I could not exercise after surgery, I'm sure that played a huge part in it........ I'm still in the wondering state. Diabetes does run in my mother's family (her mother and 2 of her brothers)....and I had to be the one it decided to latch on to.....of course....I'm just glad that my son and daughter (son 28 and daughter 26) don't have it. I would rather me have it than my kids.

I'm getting better at accepting this monster but there are times it's just unbearable. I really hope that in the near future a cure will be found.

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