Newly Diagnosed With Type 2 or Prediabetes? 9 Key Things To Know
May 27, 2021
Medically reviewed by, Russell Braun RPH
You have not been feeling well for a while now. After putting off the visit to your doctor as long as you could you finally went to see them. You sit in shock as the doctor is explaining that you have type 2 diabetes. Wait… what? I am sick and may be on medicine the rest of my life?
Poof… your “normal life” has suddenly been pulled out from under your feet. Your doctor then proceeds to tell you:
This is a chronic disease and can be very serious. I am going to give you medications to control it. The medication may have side effects so we will have to monitor you closely.
Just as the diagnosis is sinking in, your doctor hands you a prescription. Walking out the door she tells you to get it filled and she is off to the next appointment. As you get to the scheduling desk the questions in your head start to swirl. Did your whole world just change? How do you know what do to now?
Your not Alone!
Stress tolerance: the ability to stay relaxed and composed while enduring pressure when faced with uncertain and difficult situations.
How do You Deal With a Chronic Illness Diagnosis?
Three simple words:
Get…. A…. Plan….
Just being diagnosed with diabetes can feel like a crushing blow. With all the confusion and overwhelm that set in you need a guide to help stabilize yourself. It is very important that you stay calm and don’t throw in the towel because it all seems so confusing.
Rain barrel
Think of your body as a rain barrel, when you're born the barrel is empty. During your life the barrel starts to fill up from:
-Harmful foods (aka too much sugar)
-Toxic chemicals in products all around you
-Being sedentary
-Alcohol, smoking, drugs
-Constant stress
-Lack of quality sleep
-Poor relationships
For years your body can compensate and you feel “normal”. During this phase, your liver and pancreas are working overtime to compensate. However, at some point the rain barrel becomes full and then overflows. When the liver and pancreas can’t keep up, prediabetes and type 2 are the result.
What Is Diabetes?
Prediabetes is defined as slightly elevated blood sugar that means they are likely to progress to type 2. The hemoglobin A1C range for prediabetes is 5.7% to 6.4%. Hemoglobin A1C is a marker that is used to determine the average blood sugar level over the past three months. Full blown type 2 diabetes is when hemoglobin A1C is 6.5% or higher.
Result A1C
Normal Less than 5.7%
Prediabetes 5.7% to 6.4%
Type 2 Diabetes 6.5% or higher
Does Diabetes Get Worse?
Simply put, yes diabetes will get worse similar to other chronic diseases if not treated. The good news is it does not have to!
Simply taking medications to help mask the symptoms you are having does not address the root cause. The bad habits that have become the norm in todays western society will continue to wear on your body if left unchecked. The most common long term effects of type 2 include:
Problem Diabetes Impact
Eye damage Can progress to blindness
Kidney failure Diabetes and high blood pressure are leading cause of kidney failure
Nerve damage Diabetes is the most common cause
What most people don’t realize is these are not the only effects of diabetes. There are many more such as:
Complication Outcome
Heart disease Increases risk of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure
Loss of feeling and perception Tingling & numbness lead to burning pain and finally to loss of feeling. At that point risk of sores & ulcers increases that become infected and may eventually lead to amputation.
Other nerve damage Damage to other nerve systems leads to heart rhythm changes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, urinary retention and erectile dysfunction.
Skin problems Discoloration of the skin, skin tags and bacterial and fungal infections can result.
Slow healing Due to restricted blood flow and immune system impairment, wounds heal more slowly than normal.
Hearing impairment Hearing problems such as tinnitus and gradual hearing loss present.
Sleep apnea Commonly seen with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Dementia Type 2 diabetes has been shown to increase the rate of memory loss and dementia.
Ultimately, most people end up with multiple chronic conditions that eventually lead to:
-Loss of quality of life
-Disability
-Death
However, don’t forget about the impact diabetes has on mental health. In fact, people with prediabetes and type 2 are 2-3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
As you can see in the diagram below it becomes a viscous cycle. You feel depressed because of your new diagnosis or progression of disease. That leads to a decrease in healthy habits.
Unfortunately, depression, overwhelm and despair causes people to:
-Make poor diet choices
-Exercise less
-Stress more
-Get poor quality sleep
-Turn to alcohol, smoking or drugs
#1. Don’t go Into Denial
Hopefully the numbers above will help you realize that this is happening to a LOT of people. At first you may want to think it couldn’t happen to you. Have you wondered….
-Maybe the test was just wrong?
-I wonder if this will just go away?
If so, those are completely normal questions. However, more than likely you do have a blood sugar problem. Diagnosing prediabetes and type 2 is a fairly simple one for your doctor.
Ignoring It Is Not An Option
Ignoring your diabetes will lead you straight into the cycle of despair and worsening disease described above. Instead of trying to pretend it does not exist, draw a line in the sand. Your life should be divided into before and after the date you were diagnosed.
After that date, you will start to build new habits that will make you healthy again. Ultimately, leading you to be as healthy as when you were much younger. This will break the cycle for you and give you the story you can share to uplift others who also need to get healthy again.
You CAN change the bad habits and be free of the disease. However, to do that you must not go into denial and act like nothing is wrong. Those who deny and ignore will see the following results:
-Lose your freedom to do what you want with your life
-Change long term plans
-Lose sense of purpose
-Drift apart from friends
-Potentially become unable to perform at your job
#2. Stop Blaming, It Is Not Your Fault
Many people feel ashamed when they get diagnosed with diabetes. That is unfortunate because there is no reason to blame yourself or feel ashamed. The world we live in is full of toxic chemicals and addictive foods, it promotes being sedentary, downplays sleep and triggers constant stress. Those factors interact with your genes over time and eventually one of these chronic diseases emerge.
Think about it, when is the last time you saw a broccoli commercial? However, I bet you can think of numerous commercials for sugary foods & pharmaceutical drugs… right?
That is the problem with todays society and healthcare. We try to fix things with drugs and not address the root cause. Do you think you have a deficiency in blood pressure medication? No way, that is not a chemical your body has ever seen in your life until it was prescribed to you.
#3. Your Family May Not Understand
Your chronic disease may have an impact your family. That could mean physically, mentally, emotionally or financially.
They may not get what you are going through and that can be discouraging. You may not look sick to them. That can cause issues for both parties. You need to make sure you talk to them early and often and get your thoughts off your chest, not bottled up inside. This is important as you are already probably stressing over your diagnosis.
Men
Diabetes is more likely to be fatal for men. This is because they get more large blood vessel diseases like heart attacks. Over time these become a primary cause of death.
Studies have found that men get more social support from family and friends. It is believed that this be due to men having better coping mechanisms.
Women
Females actually have more nonfatal diabetes effects. While women are increasingly at risk for heart disease they actually have a higher incidence of:
-Dementia
-Slow healing
Women also tend to have a harder time dealing with the disease emotionally. This correlates in women also reporting depression due to disease more often.
#5. The 5 Minute Rule
Find yourself a timer and get ready for an exercise that will help you immensly. Give yourself 5 minutes. These 5 minutes you can moan, cry, whine, complain and let all the negative thoughts in your head out. Make sure you take full advantage of all 5 minutes. Go ahead and set your timer now.
Shew.. that feel better?
Now your next step is to recite these four three words:
“Can’t change the past”
From here on out you are done complaining, whining and feeling like a victim. From here on out your going to learn how to get healthy and spend your time creating habits that get you there. In the future when you have negative thoughts in your head:
-Set your timer
-Spew out the negativity thoughts for 5 minutes
-State “Can’t change the past”
-Keep getting 1% better each day
#6. Don’t Get Wrapped Up in Online Groups And Forums
Having strong support groups around you while you take on diabetes is a great idea. However, many online groups and forums can become discouraging. Certainly there are groups that can be uplifting and encouraging. Just be sure to evaluate how you feel when interacting in these types of places.
Bad Advice
Another issue is that you can get some really bad advice about your health online. You have to remember that everyones situation is unique. There are many variables that could affect things that would work for you compared to someone else. For instance differences in the following could completely change advise you should take.
Age Weight
Kidney function Gender
Genetics Allergies
Disease states Medications used
#7. Adopt a Routine
Having a routine grounds you and gives you the promise of hope for the things you look forward to. It also puts a cap on the length of time spent doing things you do not enjoy. Once you take the time to set a routine you will want to get out of bed to complete the tasks of the day.
One of the biggest benefits of a routine, is to reduce stress. With all the decisions you make in a day it is easy for small things to throw you off your schedule. Routines with specific times for various tasks prevents that from happening.
Sticking to a routine increases the likelihood of healthy eating habits, exercise patterns and sleep schedules. These things will help you get your health back from chronic disease.
Follow this process to create a routine:
1. SLEEP SCHEDULE
Get to sleep within 15 minutes of the same time every night.
2. SET DAILY ACTIVITIES
Getting routine activities done helps reduce stress and causes you to exercise.
3. SCHEDULE MEAL TIMES
Try to eat at the same times each day. This helps keep blood sugar in normal ranges.
4. SCHEDULE EXERCISE
Getting 150 minutes of physical activity every week is vital. Split that up and put the time in the calendar.
5. BE FLEXIBLE
Your routine will evolve. Try new things and make tweaks along the way. Do not stress over missed items, just don’t miss two days in a row.
#8. Lifestyle Changes
You may think you have heard the lifestyle change thing before. Maybe you were overwhelmed with what you needed to do or didn’t know where to start. The difference this time is:
1. You now have a guide, refer to it often.
2. The diagnosis or worsening of the disease means your body is telling you that waiting to start is no longer an option.
Lifestyle Habits To Get Your Health Back.
Food
Most people know they should eat healthy. However, most don’t realize how unhealthy most food options are. Ultra processed foods are driving many diseases and they should be avoided at all cost. Make sure you increase your servings of whole foods specifically fruits and vegetables. Ramp up the servings of these to 7-9 per day and watch how much better you feel.
Relationships
Having deep connections with other people has been proven to improve your health. Loneliness and isolation has been proven to lead to depression especially in those who have chronic disease. Make sure to take time out to connect with family and friends.
Exercise
Bad Habits
Smoking, excessive alcohol drinking and sugar addiction likely played a role in your diagnosis. Depending on the problem there are different ways to cope with these addictions. Don’t get overwhelmed and tackle these in order from smallest problem to largest. That way you will build momentum as you go to beat all three harmful habits.
Destress
Even though you may feel more stressed than ever due to your diagnosis, you must fight back. Stress is a key driver of poor health. Finding ways to deal with stress that you enjoy and will stick with is vital. Just like with exercise incorporate these into your routine.
Objective
Mindest
Your brain is the key to regaining your health. Your mind creates the reality that you perceive. Even though you have succumbed to a disease, you can still change your mindset. When you do this and have a clear objective building healthy habits is going to become easy to do. Just like you exercise your body, you need to exercise your mind.
Sleep
Your body restores and heals yourself from the stress of the day during sleep. Without good restorative sleep, you will not be able to get healthy. A minimum of 7-9 hours per night of good sleep is a must. Part of your routine should be going to bed and awakening about the same time every day.
9. Manage your medication(s)
Unfortunately, most diseases are quickly met with medications instead of changes in lifestyle. That is why according to the CDC 1/3 of Americans 60 to 79 years old use five or more prescription drugs!
The problem with medication is it simply masks your symptoms. What you need is to address the root cause of the problem. More medication means more risk of adverse reactions. Often this leads to another medication to deal with a side effect of the first.
Medication is also expensive. Many people struggle to afford the costs and many stop taking medication due to this issue.
What to do Next….
1. Make a list of questions to ask your doctor.
2. Get help with the lifestyle changes above so you can eventually get off of medications in a plan you make together with your doctor.
3. Continually learn about the disease you have. Find out what you need to get checked out and how often. Here is a short list of the labs you should check into.
-Blood pressure – at home and at the office
-Kidney function
-Liver function
-Eye exam yearly
-Dental checkup every 6 months
-Blood sugar and hemoglobin A1C
-Vitamin D level
-Ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids
You Are In Charge of Your Future!
