Tough love answer but so true

Hello Ryan you are asking a gigantic open ended question

The answer is "where do you want to go from here"?

You are relatively young (42) which means if you want to reach "life expectancy" you are going to have to manage diabetes for minimally 40 years - ya, that's 4 decades

If you want to make it and still have good function 20 years from now you are going to need to quickly get exceptional control of your blood sugar levels and manage them as close to "non-diabetic normal" as you possibly can

If you follow the general guidelines - maintain an A1C of 7.0 then by the time you are in your mid 50's you will be fully experiencing the complications of Diabetes

To actually live to grow old you are going to need to see A1C numbers "south of 6.0" at least for the next 20 years and that is no small feat

If you are overweight you NEED to get your BMI below 25, with low 20's being better

If your blood sugar is high you need to find a low carb diet that works for you and/or take the meds prescribed - the more you do for yourself the less you will have to rely on meds

Meds only work for so long before you progress and again you have 40 or more years to deal with so the more you do yourself today the better your outcome in the long run

If you choose to ignore your condition, and many do especially if you are diagnosed at a younger age, it will catch up to you - nobody gets a pass

You shouldn't be afraid but you need to give it some respect or it will run you over like a steam roller

Diabetes Sucks and it's going to suck for you for a long time - that really sucks

But your future is fully in your hands. You just have to decide whether you are going to work hard, make excuses or ignore it

Thank you so much. I hear what you say and agree with all of it. I have trouble understanding what i can eat and cant eat. Product packaging also is so different from each item that it nakes it hard to underdtand the true nutritional value of the priducts you are looking at. Yesterday I took my family to our local fair and it opebed my eyes to what is around us food wise. Notnally fair food is a big no no but i was surprised to ser that many vendors had healthier options to the run if the mill burger and chips etc. I managed to find a Low Gi seed bread tuna and avocado sandwich which surely is safe option. The health and longevity of anyone living with diabetes is 99% mental readiness/acceptance of the fact that you can manage what you eat. Its not to say that I will never eat a burger and chips again but that I will eat it when my body is ready to receive it. Positive thoughts equal positive results. Have a great day you all. From South Africa.

I can vouch for what @A DiabetesTeam Member mentioned, it all depends which direction you wish to use. I was diagnosed Aug 2019 started off on Metformin and Diabeta, by Oct 1st I ended up sick in ER and dehydrated from a new diabetic medication which was changed 1 week prior to Synjardy, they took me off of it and only went on Diabeta (Sulfonylrueas) and I remained on sick leave till my retirement day end of March 2020 which was planned since 2018. On Dec 31st 2019 we went and to ring in the new year at my spouses friends place. She was an ecellent cook and I tired everything she made (I was fairly new diabetic on sick leave till I retired March 2020), and I was still on steroids at the time. So oops my sugar levels went real high and as per doctor once told me to take an extra Diabeta is needed for which I did. The next day I realized "why am I relying on medications to control my diabetes and not just control what I actually ingest" So Jan 1st 2020 I went on a quest, the diabetic diet was not working for me as we did not know at the time I had gastroparesis and the 2 diets are total opposite, so I ventured into the Keto friendly diet (not the true Keto of 20 Net Carbs, nor the lazy Keto of 50 Net Carbs as this is not easy to achieve and in my case caused low blood sugar when I did try), so I eat between 90 to 110 Net Carbs per day, I only use the Keto friendly diet as I call it for the meals and snacks which are low Carbs. mid March 2020 my A1C was 6.5 % and something else amazing happened I was on lower doses of steroids at the time, but my autoimmune blood tests came back normal for the first time in over 40 yrs, it seems the Keto friendly diet I chose helped my 5 autoimmune diseases while in the process, now the damages of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis cannot be revers after 40 yrs, but the inflammation in my blood test were finally normal. I came off all diabetic medications by May 28th 2020, going on 3 yrs now I manage my diabetes with diet alone. I know there might come a day I may have to go back on medications as the diabetes progresses, but while I am able to manage with diet alone I am going to do my best for as long as my body can tolerate it. I have 18 diseases with no cure and 5 are autoimmune, it makes it an even greater chalenge at times when I flare up, but at least my Diabetes is well managed with food alone. My wake up call was taking that extra pill that one night and why depend on medications if I can change my lifestyle, that woke me up. Graham helped me a lot and so did many other people in here. 1 day at a time, 1 hr at a time if need be.

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