I was in my early forties, I had been overweight most of my life but very active.
I worked, played and kept up with my very active husband and daughter but I was finding I just could not keep going at that pace.
I remember feeling so tired and grumpy all I wanted to do was sleep, eat and drink I just was so thirsty all the time, plenty of drinking water was a necessity.
Of course drinking lots of water made me urinate often, in fact I'd no more get done and need to go again.
Finally I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The first thing I feel a person needs to know is type 2 diabetes is not something to take lightly.
If it is not taken care of either by medications or diet it can be life threatening, but it is not hard to find help to teach you how to live with the disease.
There are many different medications available and if one doesn't work tell your doctor there are many to try.
I went through a time when I was using pills to control my diabetes that my body decided to have low, very low blood sugars.
This was an awful feeling because it would come on very quickly and then it would take me 30 min to an hour to recuperate from the extreme variations of my glucose levels it was very exhausting both mentally and physically because it happened so fast and without any warning.
It was because of these low blood sugars my doctor suggested I use Byetta.
It has helped and Ii no longer have low blood sugars and do not need any other medications for my diabetes.
The shots do not hurt, it comes in a pen type pre-set amount which making it impossible to over medicate.
I have learned so much since I have been diagnosed.
Here are a few things I hope will be helpful to you.
The differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes are, with type one diabetes, your pancreas is not making any insulin therefore you need to inject insulin into the body.
With type 2 diabetes your body is still producing insulin but sugar builds up in your bloodstream because your body cells are resistant to the insulin it is making or the pancreas is not producing enough insulin.
Doctors do not completely understand why some people develop type 2 diabetes and others do not.
There are many factors that can increase the likely hood of getting or having type 2 diabetes.
Some of these factors are weight, inactivity, family history, race, age, and gestational diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is many times easy to ignore or the signs are so mild you do not realize there is a problem.
Please, If you notice any of these signs go to your family doctor and be checked for diabetes: * Increased thirst and frequent urination * Increased hunger * Weight loss * Fatigue * Blurred vision * Slow-healing sores or frequent infections.
Then if you are diagnosed follow through with medications, regular blood monitoring at home and frequent hemoglobin (A1C) tests at the doctors' request to help avoid these common complications: * Heart and blood vessel disease * Nerve damage (neuropathy) * Kidney damage (nephropathy) * Eye damage * Foot damage * Skin and mouth conditions * Osteoporosis * Alzheimer's disease * Hearing problems As time goes on I realize I should have taken better care to do as the Doctor prescribed because I am experiencing some of the above complications.
I find stress is very bad for me and try to avoid it as much as possible.
Do realize you are in control of how you treat your body.
You only get one so take good care of it.