[TheForge] OT Arthritis/Diabetes et al

[xlch58 at swbell.net]

Jerry Frost wrote:
> Charles:
>
> I was diagnosed in 2,000 and now, knowing what the symptoms are, I 
> know I was suffering at least a year previously. Most people have type 
> 2 for 12 years before they are diagnosed, by then it's done permanent 
> damage. I was lucky, it hit me fast and hard enough I couldn't ignore 
> it. I'd had a complete blood workup just three years before and 
> everything was in range then.
>
I had my blood workup about five years ago and was fine, good 
cholesterol was a little lower than desired, but everything else was 
great.  I have a glucose meter and every once in a while I buy new 
strips for it and test myself.   Last time I tested my fasting blood 
sugar level it was under 70, so I guess I am doing alright.  Mom and my 
brother both have it, but I was adopted so no genetic material is 
shared, but it still makes me worry.  Your bad diet regime is pretty 
much the standard meal plan in consulting, though for the last ten years 
or so I have avoided eating heavy meal at night, though when stress is 
high I used to succumb to ice cream late at night.   In the last six 
months, I  have trimmed back down and have gone from obese on the BMI 
scales to just overweight and am on the way to normal, eating right and 
walking four miles a night.    The BMI scales are screwed up, but they 
are useful indicators.  The top end of the BMI "normal" scale for me is 
about where I was in college when my body fat was really low -- I know, 
I had it tested.   This last time I gained a lot of weight.  Initially 
my consumption didn't go up, just my exercise (due to work) went down, 
then I tore up my shoulder and it went down even more.  They say the 
difference between being fit and being overweight is one potato chip a 
day.  It is true.  I am in my forties now and it is a new world.  It  is 
harder to drop weight, Knees that I screwed up on bikes in my twenties 
have gone from being an occasional irritant to being real trouble and 
ruling out running, I got back aches for the first time in my life, I 
need reading glasses all of a sudden,  my traditionally excellent blood 
pressure started to climb (after years of 101/67 it started clocking 
127/78, now with diet, exercise and stress management it is down to 
115/70 and dropping).   Dr says health overall is good, welcome to 
middle age.  When I was in my twenties I didn't plan on living past 
thirty, in my thirties I started planning on living for ever, now in my 
forties I realize that is going to take more than planning, it is going 
to take a lot of effort.  

Charles