Are You Embarrassed Being T2

As Mo posted about being embarrassed or not for T1 l thought l would kick it off for T2.

We are the ones accused of bringing it on to ourselves, the "fatties" who deserve it. How do you feel do you hide it or tell everyone or some people and your reasons.

We go to the pub for a meal a fair bit and at first l used to go to the toilet to do a finger prick now l do it at the table. l am happy to tell folks about it if health or age comes up...or weight loss and what l have done to change my life how and the result.

Work wise only a couple of places know about it... those l have worked at before as they know me and l do worry about pre judging.

I walk round the supermarket muttering about all the overweight folks buying low fat and so want to tell them to stop Once people know l am T2 l am a total evangelist for LCHF and am always sending emails etc off to friends about it. So far have converted that l know of 2x vegans and 2x T2 1x T1 and a selection of "normal" people to LCHF. All of them say has made a huge weight difference, they don't feel hungry.

Work colleagues and other acquaintances comment on my weight loss and how well I look and I have no problem telling any of them why and what I am doing. In the process I can bore people for England about the rubbish that is talked in the media about diabetes, T2 especially.

Do you get annoyed about the ignorance or do you see it as a challenge and try to educate them ? I must admit, a couple of occasions someone has made a comment about my diabetes which was totally wrong but I just couldn't be bothered to sit and explain everything. I usually try to but sometimes I just stare blankly :-)

I don't try and evangelise but most of my friends and colleagues are quite receptive.

I was diagnosed T2 with a BMI in the low end of the normal range, it just goes to show there is more to it than just being overweight, 80% of obese people are not diabetic and 20% of T2s are like me with a normal BMI are!

Graham

lt depends in the person who made the stupid comment and if l am in the mood to correct them.

Now, us type two diabetics are labelled as fat and lazy by the media, who brought type two diabetes on ourselves. The most obese group of people on the planet are Sumo wrestlers, how many are type two diabetics ? Almost none, some are insulin resistant.

The leanest people on the planet suffer from Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy, a very rare condition, these poor souls have no fat cells and cannot put on weight. How many are type two diabetics ? All, every single person.

More to type two diabetes than being overweight eh !


Kind regards Eddie

It breaks my heart when I look round at work and see women (it's usually women) eating their low cal lunches of crackers and wafer thin ham, with 3 strawberries.

They may be losing weight (through calorie and fat starvation), but what a miserable way of doing it!

Meanwhile, I sit there, the porker in the corner (who happens to be slowly and gently losing weight), eating Brie and pork scratchings for lunch.

Hi Brunneria and welcome to the forum.

Quite agree with you - and brie is one of my favourites too.

Although I am not diabetic I eat LCHF no more than 50 carbs per day and it's a great lifestyle.

'Talk' again soon I'm sure

All the best Jan

i dont mind people knowing or thinking i brought it on myself, i am blessed with not giving a monkeys what anyone thinks of me, it makes life so much more fun, im not sure if some people can bring it on themselves as a friends wife who is possibly the thinnest person i know has just been dx t2, but if we can, then i did, i am/was a text book lazy fat junk foodie, i cant even say i regret it, i enjoyed every mouthful and every moment sitting on my bum, with hindsight i would have tried not to become diabetic but heyho no point worrying about the things you cant change huh

I suppose I do still feel a bit shy about it, but not so much shame now. I don't know, it just feels awkward. If people see me doing a finger prick test they'll ask awkward questions, it's that kind of "fear" I suppose.

Nobody has noticed my recent weight loss yet, or more to the point they haven't commented on it. But if they do, my response was going to be something like "well I had no choice, I found out I was in the early stages of diabetes". I don't suppose I mind talking about it, it's just that I don't really know how to bring it up. Only my manager and manager's manager know about it - and that's only because I needed time off for medical appointments and some funding for CBT about the overeating thing. They've been very supportive though.

Sorry, what is CBT ?

mo1905 wrote:Sorry, what is CBT ?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It's supposed to be good for people with disordered eating, so I'm told. Had the first session today...

It's great that your employer seems so supportive too !

Loobles wrote:

mo1905 wrote:Sorry, what is CBT ?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It's supposed to be good for people with disordered eating, so I'm told. Had the first session today...

Hi loobles! How did it go?

Didn't really get much done in the first session as she spent most of the time explaining how CBT works. Hoping to make some progress at this week's session. Fingers crossed...

Thanks for asking

Well when I told work I was diabetic they asked me what I ate. As soon as I said LCHF some of the senior leadership were unsupportive and told me I was heading for a stroke, particularly as I then went hypo. I ignored them, carried on and now tell them every time I have a weight loss whether they want to know or not! The office staff call me the ever decreasing mrs scandi. The kids are fab and nobody asks why I'm eating if I need to in a lesson but if I'm ok! I love telling the one who told me off for refusing rice with my chilli on inset day and had a go (apparently she plans all her diabetic dad's meals - poor man!) and always tell her if I see her in passing what my latest hba1c is!

Scandichic wrote:Well when I told work I was diabetic they asked me what I ate. As soon as I said LCHF some of the senior leadership were unsupportive and told me I was heading for a stroke, particularly as I then went hypo. I ignored them, carried on and now tell them every time I have a weight loss whether they want to know or not! The office staff call me the ever decreasing mrs scandi. The kids are fab and nobody asks why I'm eating if I need to in a lesson but if I'm ok! I love telling the one who told me off for refusing rice with my chilli on inset day and had a go (apparently she plans all her diabetic dad's meals - poor man!) and always tell her if I see her in passing what my latest hba1c is!

*like*   

I rarely talk about being diabetic.  Maybe that's because I am embarrassed, I'm not sure!

But as I was never hugely overweight, don't overeat, and am quite a disciplined eater (except when passing a drive-thru Starbucks!) I don't think there has ever been any connection with me and the condition.

I do now talk to my family about it more, expecially my pregnant daughter, as I am the first and only member of a very large family to have been diagnosed diabetic.

I certainly don't talk about it when socialising or eating out.  I just leave certain food at the side of my plate with a passing comment that I'm too full to finish it.  I really don't want to become a bore, or start being left out of invitations because I'm too difficult to cater for.

I now have a lovely collection of low carb recipes suitable for supper parties which I plan to serve to my guests, without any reference to my condition, and I shall wait for a suitable reaction.

I'm quite similar Diana.Not so much because I'm embarrassed but I just don't think others are interested really. If I were with company and someone started telling me about a condition they had, I'd probably make my excuses quickly !

mo1905 wrote:I'm quite similar Diana.Not so much because I'm embarrassed but I just don't think others are interested really. If I were with company and someone started telling me about a condition they had, I'd probably make my excuses quickly !

Phew! Glad to know I'm not the oddball   

Totally agree about having to listen to other medical conditions too. I'm of the opinion that when folk are so preoccupied with discussing their ailments it usually suggests they haven't got control or acceptance of them. I'd like to think that those of us here are on our way to both. Therefore why would we need to bang on about being diabetic in company, except to ensure we aren't inadvertently fed something which would have an adverse affect on our health.

It never even occurred to me to be embarrassed. I've never hidden it from anyone. Why would I? It's nothing to be ashamed of.

If I'm honest yes. There is so much blame attached to being a T2 especially in the media that it is sometimes hard to look beyond the fatty who deserved this label. The rational part of me says that there's more to it that weight as the majority of fat people are not T2 ( yet?) and thin folk get it too, but sometimes I feel the blame game very much. I don't tell people unless comments are made about my weight loss or what I am eating as I don't want to start a conversation about ill health as my health anxiety is bad enough as it is. I know that my weight gain was probably as much a symptom of the metabolic issues that have led to my diagnosis and that the fact that my GPs never pursued my fertility consultant's diagnosis of PCOS will undoubtedly have played a part( should have been on Metformin years ago but only so many times you can ask about being hirsute and fat) and yet still I blame the portion chips or the bag of crisps I felt compelled to eat , and yes at times it felt like a compulsion.

I am not embarrassed at all. In fact the only time I get annoyed about the stereotyping that goes on is when it comes from another diabetic.

I agree Thommo but I still don't feel it's something I want to really talk about with friends etc as I know if it were me, I wouldn't ! If someone sees me test or inject or something and asks a question, I'll answer but that's pretty much it. I do discuss it more in work with colleagues but that's more a safety thing.