You know fur, I've question weather I'm really a diebetic or not.

I test 2x a day and for the most part stay within acceptable ranges but I do occationally see a spike which reminds me that I have to stay dilegent.
But I have to say for the most part I haven't changed much with my lifestyle, theres nothing I can change that would really make that much of a difference.

Anything you say about Type 2 diabetes is going to be an oversimplification which applies to some people and not others, so there's no point in getting bent out of shape whenever you think someone else's oversimplification isn't as good as as your own oversimplification.

Nobody's oversimplification is privileged. If the people who think it's only about lifestyle are wrong, so are the people who think it's only about genes.

Unless we're willing to tolerate a certain amount of generalization, diabetes cannot be discussed at all. I'd rather have the discussion than not have it, even if the discussion is imperfect because it doesn't come with little footnotes saying "(However, this isn't true in 12% of cases.)"

>> What do I need to do to garner your attention and address my very real concerns pertaining to this diesease?

Have you considered firing your doctor and hiring a competent one? Does your health care organization allow you to do this?

Shire

Packer50

You need a NEW doctor. Don't put your well being into the hands of this dork. You have to be your own health advocate, and keep trying until you find a doctor who will listen to you.

I really can't handle doctors who just prescribe medication and that's it. My late mother had one like that, but she wouldn't change. She came from a generation that taught, if the doctor told you to stand on your head every day, you did it. No question. These guys (they were mostly men) were gods. I often think that her doctor may have contributed to her decline and passing.

I myself don't really know whether genetics played a role. I don't belive either of my parents were ever tested. When asked if there is a family history of diabetes, I have to say, not to my knowledge. I really don't know. Both parents had heart disease, and the disease was very common on both sides. But no one really said anything about diabetes; therefore, there is no evidence one way or the other that diabetes even had a role in their heart disease. For me, most definitely the cause was a lack of physical activity and horrible eating habits, but I can't say that's the cause for everyone either. I'm finding out as I go along on this journey that everyone is different. We may have different causes, different ways of treatment and even different reactions to diet and exercise.

Really, I think most of what we know about diabetes can be balanced on the head of a pin. Lots of conjecture and guesses, but we still don't have the knowledge we should about diabetes and its causes.

I am a nurse myself and was taught in school that if you ate healthy, and exercised that you would not get diabetes. unfortunately i did not adhear to that advice, i am overweight and have lead a sedentary lifestyle, and have the abdominal girth, which directly affected my becoming diabetic.
I am a newly diagnosed diabetic, and have been put on a low dose of oral meds, and since being daignosed, I have been working out, and eating healthy, and losing weight. My blood sugars are near the normal range now. My Dr. basically said that if i could get the weight off, and maintain this healthy regime then i would be able to get rid of my diabetes.
I have no family predisposition for the disease, and yes, i do blame myself for being lazy and overweight. But, as they say, you live and you learn. I have learned what put me in this situation, and now I have the knowledge and willpower to get out of this situation.

Saying diabetes is preventable through diet and exercise is similar to saying sunburns are avoidable by avoiding sunlight. Some people can spend all day in the sun and only get a tan, some people will get a sunburn after a few minutes in the sun without sunscreen.

That being said, would you say getting sunburns, is environmental or genetics?

I would think the obvious answer is that when environmental factors exceeds the limit determined by your genetics, you will get a sunburn, or in our case Type 2 diabetes.

Now continuing the sunburn analogy:

Imagine the frustration an albino would feel when someone lectures them about bad behavior which caused them to get sun-burnt. It would seem insensitive.

Realize how a someone would feel if they said, "wear sunscreen so you can avoid sunburns and skin cancer" and they get yelled at for saying that because, "Some people never wear sunscreen and never burn, some people are very vigilant about sunscreen but still get burnt." It would sound unreasonable to discredit generally good advice for those who are susceptible because it does not describe 100% of all case.

OK, now that I offended both sides of the argument, I implore your forgiveness.

Time to change to a different doctor!

Doesn't that just burn you up?

I had heard for years "if you would lose even 40 lbs, your diabetic symptoms would disappear..." I lost 99 pounds and my bg levels went thru the roof, They were a lot higher than they had been for years.

I feel like some kind of science experiment sometimes.

Just have to chime in... I'm an RN myself and was taught in college and still believe that eating a healthy, well balanced diet and getting regular exercise and keeping your weight down were all things you could do to *decrease the risk factors* for developing type 2 diabetes. That's different than saying they're things you can do to *prevent* it because those are only a few risk factors. Genetics/family history definitely play a part, too, and there's very little you can do to change that. From reading these posts I think I must be lucky to have a doctor I really like and trust. She told me that if/when I get to a point where I can control my BS with just diet and exercise, I will always need to control them... the diabetes won't be cured or reversed, just controlled. But she was pointing out the positive, saying I CAN get to a point where I can control them with just diet and exercise.