GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #22: Getting Older With Type 2

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2022, so it’s become a “part of who I am”.

I’m gonna confess it right here – I haven’t changed in most ways. I DO exercise more (I bike, on average of three miles a week, between nine and 21 miles a week – depending on how much time I have, the temperature, windiness, rain, and even if I feel like it or not! Even so, my accumulated miles over the past two years went past 1000 a couple weeks ago! AMAZING!

However, I still do Dairy Queen occasionally; I eat peanut-butter/better roll ups for lunch sometimes; eat cookies, candy, and other stuff that’s not good for me…OTOH, I DO watch my diet better than I ever did before my diagnosis. I’m more aware of how foods and exercise affect me; so overall, I’m more cautious about what I eat and how much I exercise than I EVER was in my entire life!

I’m aware of my blood pressure as well. Research has clear connections between diabetes and high blood pressure: “High blood pressure can lead to many complications of diabetes: eye and kidney disease; heart and circulation problems; damages arteries and makes them targets for hardening, called atherosclerosis. That can cause high blood pressure, which if not treated, can lead to trouble including blood vessel damage, heart attack, and kidney failure; coronary artery disease or heart disease; stroke; peripheral vascular disease; hardening of the arteries in the legs and feet; heart failure. Even elevated blood pressure that's at the higher end of normal (120/80 to 129/80) [!!!! My current 20 day BP average is 115/82 – and the bottom one, “diastolic” is more important than the top one “systolic”] impacts your health. Studies show that you have a two to three times greater chance of getting heart disease over 10 years.”

So – how does my upward creeping age affect my diabetes?

“Many of the things you do for your diabetes will also help with high blood pressure:

1. Control your blood sugar – working on it.
2. Stop smoking – never did.
3. Eat healthy – I try…
4. Exercise most days – yes.
5. Keep your weight in a healthy range – what the heck is THAT??? Ideal weight 177-188…in the name of perfect transparency: I’ve been 250 +/- for a LONG TIME…
6. Don't drink a lot of alcohol – don’t do this AT ALL…never have.
7. Limit how much salt you eat – lately I’ve been experiencing water retention (one of the bits of advice in the article referenced below “Your symptoms may be different”. I’ve never experienced water retention – I suppose that’ll be a great subject for my next “GGTA: Diabetes”…
8. Visit your doctor regularly – done

With that, I bid you adieu…

Source: https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/changes-after-age-50#changing-symptoms , https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/high-blood-pressure
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-diabetes.jpg