J. F. Shumate

A Man to Man Conversation About Your Health

(Note: I am not a healthcare provider. If you are diabetic, I am not suggesting you abandon your current therapy. This article is about my fight with Type 2 Diabetes. I am writing for men as we are terrible at managing our health. If you know a man who has or might develop diabetes, I hope this helps them.)

Diabetes: The Silent Killer

No one beats Diabetes.  Stalemate is your sole victory in the diabetes war.

Diabetes is a silent killer. It slowly creeps into your body, one Krispy Kreme at a time. There is no cure, only a lifetime battle keeping it in check.

The hardest part of your diabetes diagnosis is recognizing it for what it is, a brutal killer. Recognize that left untreated, it will cause you to die a long, painful death.

A man may notice losing sensitivity in his most precious organ, his penis. Your penis is the canary in the mine. It’s a wake-up call from diabetes. Diabetes is one cause of erectile dysfunction.

As your nerve and blood vessel damage grows, your hearing and vision will worsen, leading to deafness and blindness. You may notice a tingling in your feet. That is neuropathy. Your nerves and blood vessels are breaking down in your extremities. 

Have you seen a person in a wheelchair missing a lower limb? It could well be from diabetes. Amputation is common in advanced diabetes.

Then there are the life-ending events such as stroke, heart attacks, and kidney disease. Think about it. Once you were totally in charge of your life, the master of your universe. Now, thanks to not managing your diabetes, you are half-blind, deaf, and barely able to speak when they put you on fucking dialysis. It’s what is called “End Stage Renal Failure.”  

Pretty depressing, especially the penis part, right?

I know this happens because I watched it debilitate and murder my father and now it’s closing in on my older brother. He didn’t have a primary care physician for 22 years. Despite having a family history of diabetes, he ignored taking care of his body.  Now he is in the grip of the killer.

But my cousin, my brother-in-law, and I are different.

We have Type 2 diabetes in check, not checkmate, but it is in check. All you want in this battle is a stalemate. Let me tell you how we did it.

Diabetes Background

I am going to assume you are reading this because you have Type 2 or know someone who does.  You know what fasting blood glucose means, A1c, CGM, and other diabetes terminology.

I suggest you find articles and videos by Jason Fung, MD. Fung is a nephrologist, not some YouTube quack. He explains the mechanism of diabetes, weight gain, and how to beat it back. This man changed my views on my treatments and having a diabetes-healthy lifestyle.

My Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis

I was diagnosed with Type 2 in 2012.  I am five feet nine and at the time weighed close to 185. My career-driven lifestyle had taken its toll. I had lost my athletic build, ate rich foods, drank too much, and was suffering from the new smoking — sitting.  With diabetes in my heritage, it was just a matter of time until the silent killer came out in the open.

My physician wanted to start me on Metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug for diabetes. I insisted I could get my blood sugar under control with diet and exercise. I lost 10 pounds and started walking every day. In 2 months, this dropped my A1c levels to 6.8 which is considered diabetic. Reluctantly, I started on Metformin.

However, I did not receive any lifestyle or dietary counseling.

Metformin, The Diabetic’s Crutch

Your blood sugar spikes after eating. Metformin is taken with a meal. It reduces the blood glucose spikes and helps your body return to a healthy level.

I drink wine with dinner. Wine adds useless calories but also interferes with your insulin response. It drops your blood sugar. Taking Metformin and drinking wine with dinner (or alone) is a certain way to end up in hypoglycemia, a potentially life-threatening condition. The combination put me to sleep within an hour, my response to hypoglycemia. Only ice cream helped to offset it.

You can easily see this isn’t the healthy way to go.

Metformin, especially on an empty stomach, induces Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) like symptoms. You are going to poop a lot and not always when it is convenient.

I stopped taking it with meals creating episodic IBS results. But for 12 years, I took Metformin because I thought it was going to fix diabetes. Metformin doesn’t fix diabetes. People, especially men, think a pill cures any disease.  “My doctor gave me a pill for my disease and that will fix it. Pass the mashed potatoes.” 

Nothing cures Diabetes and certainly not a pill or injection. It only treats the condition. Unless a person with Type 2 Diabetes changes the root cause of the disease, namely poor eating and lack of exercise, they are only delaying their death by diabetes.

Don’t use Metformin as your crutch.

My Cousin’s Story

At this point, my 77-year-old cousin Nancy confided in me about her battle with Type 2.  Unable to tolerate Metformin at all, she was prescribed a Constant Glucose Monitoring device or CGM. The CGM is a small patch on your arm that sends results to your smartphone. You can see how your body responds to food. It is a brilliant piece of technology.

Unlike the typical man, Nancy sought support and started changing her eating habits. Her sister-in-law is an RN Diabetic Health Coach. Using the new diet created for her, she lost over 20 pounds and has an A1C under 6.4 which is the threshold for pre-diabetes. She looks great and has twice as much energy as before.

My Brother In Law’s Story

Living alone in a New York apartment, John developed a lifestyle that wasn’t always healthy. When his physician discovered his Type 2, he put John on a strict Pescatarian diet. No meat or poultry but protein from seafood, eggs, and dairy in a generally vegetarian meal plan.

According to John, he beat diabetes; it’s gone, done, finished. Of course, he would say that, he is a lifelong New Yorker. But it is true. He lost over 30 pounds and feels ten years younger than his 72 years. He has diabetes on the run without using medication.

My Quest Continues

For 12 years I charted my semi-annual A1C results which indicated I had controlled diabetes but it meant taking a drug, one that made sure I didn’t carry a load of poo for long.  

And my sugar levels were still elevated, which is not good for the long term. As a 75-year-old, I didn’t want to end my life on dialysis.  I decided to find out if I could control it without medication.

I started a workout program including light weights, aerobics, and on alternate days, yard work. Over a year, I trimmed down, got more muscle, lost another 8 pounds, and now weigh 155. 

Thanks to Dr. Fong, I learned to eat my vegetables and protein before starting on the starchy food. My diet has more protein and fiber, less carbohydrates, and no raw sugars.  He is a true expert.

For six months, I charted my fasting glucose daily. After three months, I bought a home testing kit for A1C at Walmart. My results were good, 6.4.  That’s when I stopped Metformin.

For the next three months, I continued charting my fasting glucose. After three months of not taking Metformin, my average fasting blood glucose results were identical at 133. And my A1C was 6.6.  My semi-annual primary care doctor visit was coming up.

When I met with my physician, I shared my results. She tested my A1c and it was 6.6. She decided my diabetes was being controlled by diet and exercise, so she took me off Metformin.  Woohoo!

We agreed to use a CGM to let me fine-tune my diet.  After 6 weeks of my CGM, I finally have a clear, scientific understanding of my body’s response to what I stuff in my pie hole. I also understand why my fasting glucose readings varied so much. I spend less time out of the healthy range. My recovery from glucose spikes is quicker by far.

Physician Protocols

Physicians are taught in medical school to follow diagnostic and proven treatment protocols. Sorry, but Dr. Gregory House is a fictitious character who, were he real, would likely need a full-time lawyer to defend his malpractice claims. Protocols typically include prescribing drugs but not teaching lifestyle changes. Therefore, Metformin is routinely prescribed for treating Type 2 Diabetes.

Your physician expects you to develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol along with your diabetes. These three conditions are from your lousy lifestyle of excessive junk food, lack of exercise, and a stressful existence. They are trying to keep you alive while you are doing your best to cheat them, and your family, by dying young.

My Suggestions for Managing Diabetes

If you are newly diagnosed with Type 2, I suggest getting a CGM and hiring a Registered Dietician coach.  Learn what is driving your blood sugar spikes. Learn what is driving your constant need for food.  Use the CGM to watch the changes as your diet evolves from sugar-based to whole foods.

Start exercising. Go easy at first as your poor flabby body may revolt on you. Dr Fong and other diabetic experts suggest a 10-minute walk immediately after a full meal. The short walk is like a shot of insulin, slowing your glucose spike.  If you can find time, try a walk after every meal. That is an easy way to build up to 30 minutes a day.

Now find a way to get some strength training. Maybe, it’s at a gym or, like me, in my house.  Again, start slowly with light weights. My first effort consisted of 7 minutes of non-stop leg work. I gradually built up my workout. 

As the NIKE slogan goes, “Just do it.”  Even if you do just 20 minutes a day of anything, it’s better than rotting away sitting on your ass all day.

Buy an A1C kit at Walmart. It costs about $35 for 2 home tests.  Test your A1C every 3 months.

After 3 months on your new diet plan, test yourself. Share your results with your Registered Dietician. Maybe there are some adjustments they can make to help you achieve the A1C of your dreams. 

Visit your physician every six months to discuss your progress. They may revisit Metformin.  Some people will need it longer than others. This is a slow, but steady process of improving your overall health.

Just take baby steps to get your diabetes under control.

Never give up.

Your New Lease On Life

Please understand that I am not a healthcare professional. I do not have a medical degree. All I have is 12 years of experience trying to defeat Type 2 diabetes. While I no longer hope for defeating it, we now have a stalemate. Its relentless destruction of my body has stopped or at least slowed considerably. I hope to live the rest of my years with my vision, hearing, and limbs intact.

I now believe I will not be a burden on my wife and children as I age. Hopefully, they won’t watch me decline prematurely from Type 2 Diabetes, the silent killer.  

We are all more valuable as we age. You don’t realize it now, but, when you retire, a new world will open up for you. Your family, community, and friends will all be better off having a healthy you in their worlds.

Please start on your journey today. Never, ever give up the fight. Your opponent is relentless, and it won’t give up. But you can put it back in its corner with a one-two punch of healthy diet and reasonable exercise.

Good luck!

For more information, please see the American Diabetes Association.