[Merenguero]

Does anyone here have diabetes? If so, when were you diagnosed? Do you have Type A or Type B? What kind of treatment to you have? Are there effective treatments which can be taken orally and without injections?

The reason I am asking these questions is that I am almost positive that I have diabetes, but have never been diagnosed. Many of my family members have been diagnosed as being diabetic and I suspect there are some who are diabetic, but who have never been diagnosed. Over ten years ago, I often began feeling dizzy and often had blurred vision. I would also become ill after consuming foods which contained sugar. Since October 2001, I have completely abstained from all foods which contain sugar per se. I do eat carbohydrates almost on a daily basis. I do not consume any alcohol unless I am on vacation. I have been exercising vigorously almost every day since October 2001. The dizzyness and blurred vision has been almost nonexistent since October 2001. I feel as though if I am diabetic, the diet and exercise are merely a means of ignoring the condition rather than effectively treating it. I therefore believe that within the next week or so, I definitely need to be dignosed, so that I can be properly treated. I would actually be shocked if I were told that I am not diabetic. Thanks in advance.

[kbell]

Its type 1 and type 2. Type 2 there is still hope of the pancrease recovering. Type 1 the beta cells (ironic name) have all died out and can not make any insulin. Dr. Bernstein Diabetes book is great book to read, very low carb, but might help you out. Get diagnosed first and cut back on your carbs quite a bit.

[Thomas the Rhymer]

(08-19-2012 10:31 PM)Merenguero Wrote:  

I feel as though if I am diabetic, the diet and exercise are merely a means of ignoring the condition rather than effectively treating it.

Diet and exercise are the best means to treat Diabetes Type 2 but most people can't be bothered to exercise and diet. Theý'd rather take a pill. Plus as a doctor it takes about 20 minutes to properly explain how to diet and exercise and most doctors are not willing to spend that amount of time on a consultation.

There are actually multiple types of Diabetes, a recall a schematic I once read outlining 5 types of diabetes, but these are academic categories.

In practice, diabetes is divided into:
Insulin dependent diabetes (which corresponds with Type 1) Typically a genetic disease where the body fries its own pancreas cells. You end up dying without insulin jabs
Non-insulin dependent diabetes (which corresponds with Type 2) Typically a lifestyle disease where glucose overload stuns your pancreas cells and eventually kills them. Can be somewhat managed with pills but often deteriorates into a state where you must start taking insulin.

Other types exist: Late onset auto-immune diabetes, which despite being similar to Type 1 diabets can often be treated with pills only; Anti-insulin antibody diabetes where the problem is not with the pancreas but that the immune system is knocking out the insulin molecule directly; Trauma-induced diabetes where direct damage to the pancreas prevents it doing its job - treatment will depend on the extent of the damage; there are probably a few more categories that some professor has dreamed up of.

And this is then complicated by the existence of Insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic state where you are sugar overloaded but your pancreas is still trying to win against all that sugar.

But really, you want to know if you need insulin or you don't need insulin, right?

So here's what you do:
Make an appointment with your doctor
the night before you appointment, do not eat after 10pm
Do not eat or drink the day of the appointment. Only drink water with nothing added.
Ask your doctor to test your blood sugar for fasting glucose and for HbA1c.
The results will tell you if you are diabetic.

At the very least, given your symptoms, you are predisposed to insulin resistance.

You can take pills if you want or if your doctor feels they are really necessary but insulin resistance is best managed by exercise (which improves your body's ability to suck sugar out of the blood stream), weight loss (which shunts sugar away from useless fat tissue and into your organs, where they are actually used), and diet (to prevent sugar overload in the first place).

If you are diabetic, make sure you don't get prescribed a sulphonylurea drug. Those drugs will just burn out your pancreas in ten years and then you need to go on insulin.

Rather go on Metformin or Vildagliptan. Although vildagliptan can sometimes cause liver failure. Metformin on occasion also kills people through lactic acidosis, but it's safer than being diabetic.

[shameus_o'reaaly]

yeah, i'm 6 years of type 1 (insulin shots)
you might have high blood sugar from the sound of it.
this can lead to type 2 (insulin resistance) but hey treat that with lifestyle and sometimes oral meds. Most type 2 is obesity related
If you had undiagnosed and untreated type 1 or a serious case of type 2, you would know it, you'd be getting fainting spells, constantly needing to piss (like every hour) sweet smelling sweat and urine, thrush, disturbed sleep, terrible insatiable thirst, real difficulty getting turned on,
I'm no doctor, but if symptoms haven't worsened or reappeared in ten years, and your lifestyle has improved that much, you haven't anything to worry about.
Get tested for it by all means, because if you happen to be at risk, you should know.
But healthy lifestyle and diet helps patients mitigate and control diabetes, of either type, much better.
but yeah, this sounds more like insulin resistance, which more people are prone to on account of western simple-carbs diets.

Nonetheless go to a doctor. A list of symptoms doesn't mean a lot by itself. And, whether you do or don't, your lifestyle is in your favour

[Merenguero]

(08-21-2012 03:08 PM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  

yeah, i'm 6 years of type 1 (insulin shots)
you might have high blood sugar from the sound of it.
this can lead to type 2 (insulin resistance) but hey treat that with lifestyle and sometimes oral meds. Most type 2 is obesity related
If you had undiagnosed and untreated type 1 or a serious case of type 2, you would know it, you'd be getting fainting spells, constantly needing to piss (like every hour) sweet smelling sweat and urine, thrush, disturbed sleep, terrible insatiable thirst, real difficulty getting turned on,
I'm no doctor, but if symptoms haven't worsened or reappeared in ten years, and your lifestyle has improved that much, you haven't anything to worry about.
Get tested for it by all means, because if you happen to be at risk, you should know.
But healthy lifestyle and diet helps patients mitigate and control diabetes, of either type, much better.
but yeah, this sounds more like insulin resistance, which more people are prone to on account of western simple-carbs diets.

Nonetheless go to a doctor. A list of symptoms doesn't mean a lot by itself. And, whether you do or don't, your lifestyle is in your favour

Thanks, guys. You have answered most of my questions. I urinate very frequently, much more frequently than anyone I know. I drink a very large amount of fluids, so the frequent urination may be due to the amount of fluids which I drink and not due to diabetes or any other ailment. Some of the foods which we often eat in South Jersey, such as Italian hoagies, cause me to be constantly thirsty. The salt in the lunchmeat is probably the cause of the thirst. My sleep is very often disturbed and that problem seems to have increased over the years. My erections were very strong from October 2001 until about six months ago. About a year or so ago, I began drinking a large amount of protein shakes, specifically Muscle Milk Lite, which is said not to contain sugar. I was drinking at least one shake per day, every day. Several months after I started drinking the shakes, I noticed some erection problems. I stopped drinking the shakes completely about three months ago, but I do not notice an improvement. There is very conflicting information on the internet regarding the correlation between protein shakes and erection problems. Someone said, "Protein shakes will only cause erection problems if you are an alien." Other information has stated that those protein shakes contain whey and that whey can cause erection problems. I have only had problems getting aroused for a girl one time in my life and that was in Medellin about a year and a half ago. I picked up some girl during the day at Santa Fe Mall (that place can be a goldmine and it is not discussed very often, if it is discussed at all on this forum) had sex with her, and later that night another girl was burning up my phone and I went to see her and couldn't get aroused. It didn't bother me because I had sex with the second girl multiple times both before and after that problem. The last time I had sex was a few weeks ago in New York when I got my Panamanian flag (I'm not proud of that one. Makeup and favorable lighting can work wonders) and I had no problem then. My guess is that I had some physcial condition, probably diabetes, which was controlled by vigorous exercise, but that my frequent consumption of protein shakes exacerbated the existing problem. My plan is to get to a doctor, get tested for diabetes, and see if some medication, preferably not insulin, can control all the existing problems. I do not see the point of going to a urologist at this point, because any erection problem is most likely the result of some other problem, probably diabetes. Unfortunately, this is the busiest week of my life. I should be able to see a doctor on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of next week.

[shameus_o'reaaly]

Good for you.
Another thing-any sudden, severe, or inexplicable weight loss?
If not, I won't say don't worry, but you might worry less-insulin resistance or type 2 rather than dependence and going on shots in type 1.
Anyhow, get to a doctor quick.

[kbell]

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Bernsteins-Diab...s+solution

That's the latest version of the book. The guy is at least 70 and type 1 diabetes. He is an engineer turned doctor who figured out a low carb way of keeping the insulin low. Although if you decide to bulk you might want to up your insulin.

[Sherman]

I was diagnosed with Diabetes II years ago. I took the pills for awhile that the doctor gave me, but then threw them away and changed my diet. Now my blood sugar is normal. What the doctor doesn't tell you is that the II can be reversed if you change your diet, but if you take the pills you may eventually need insulin.

[Merenguero]

(08-22-2012 07:35 AM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  

Good for you.
Another thing-any sudden, severe, or inexplicable weight loss?
If not, I won't say don't worry, but you might worry less-insulin resistance or type 2 rather than dependence and going on shots in type 1.
Anyhow, get to a doctor quick.

My weight fluctuates between 150 and 205 pounds. For the last ten years, I have usually been in the 170's and 180's. I really don't attribute the frequent weight gain and weight loss to any ailment, such as diabetes. I have excellent exercise habits, but I tend to overeat. When I go a week or several weeks without overating I tend to loose weight. When I constantly overeat, I do not usually gain weight, but I tend to stay in the 180's. I burn so many calories that I can eat like a pig without gaining weight. I will hopefully get to a doctor in the next four or five days.

[Pusscrook]

(08-22-2012 09:56 AM)Sherman Wrote:  

I was diagnosed with Diabetes II years ago. I took the pills for awhile that the doctor gave me, but then threw them away and changed my diet. Now my blood sugar is normal. What the doctor doesn't tell you is that the II can be reversed if you change your diet, but if you take the pills you may eventually need insulin.

Bingo!

[Merenguero]

After all that, I don't have diabetes. I got the results of my bloodwork today. I had been really busy and did not have the chance to go back and get my results. They also told me that I have no heart problems or kidney problems either.

Here is my dilema. I also went to a urologist today. I explained my situation to him and he performed some tests, which now seem to me to have been half-assed tests. He told me that there is nothing wrong with me and that any erection problems which I may have are completely psychological. His assessment was that I appeared to be very nervous and that my problem is that by thinking about having sex with a girl beforehand, I am psyching myself out and that is the source of any erection problems. That is the farthest thing from accurate or the truth. I am pretty high strung, although I have gotten much better, but that plays absolutely no role in my ability to acheive erections. I also think that in 2012 in the United States, with all these fat people walking around, some people see a young-looking, in-shape guy and think that there is no way he could have any health problems. There is something physical which has been making it difficult for me the last few months, yet neither I nor any of the doctors I have consulted have any idea what the physical problem is. All I can do at this point is get a third, and if necessary, a fourth and fifth opinion. Does anyone know of any urologist or primary care physician in the D.C. area who is competent and would not immediately start saying that the problem is psychological? If so, please P.M. me. I would of course prefer that such information not be posted in a thread.

[Cincinnatus]

Glad to hear you're diabetes-free, Meren.

I hope you can sort everything else out.

[el mechanico]

Merenguero it sounds to me like a simple skin tone anxiety issue. Stay out of the sun and you'll be fine..oh and don't travel to any latin countries where an attack can trigger.

[Faust]

I'm glad you don't have diabetes man. Very glad to hear that.

Reading your posts though, you sound like you've got anxiety issues.

You said, " I am psyching myself out and that is the source of any erection problems. That is the farthest thing from accurate or the truth. I am pretty high strung, although I have gotten much better, but that plays absolutely no role in my ability to acheive erections."

That's a definitive statement, but how do you know this? Is this just something you think you know, or do you have something to back it up?

You said the tests were "half-assed". How do you know? Do you know what tests he did, and what they're supposed to look like? Did he drop your urine sample on the floor, mop it up and pour it back into the cup?

Keep in mind, you started this thread damn sure you had a massive fatal disease, and that didn't work out.