Below are members’ descriptions of their diabetes experiences. If you would like to share your diabetes experiences, good or bad, please send them in an email to info@diabetesthanet.uk and we will publish them on this page. No personal identifiers will be shown unless requested. We have found that we can learn a lot from other peoples’ stories.
WAKE UP CALL – Are you Type 2 Diabetic?
My name is Brian Urwin, I am the CEO of Think Healthy Me CIC and Founder/Chairperson of Health and Business in Thanet (HABIT). I am also Founder/Chairman of the Thanet Diabetes Community Support Group and Ambassador for Public Health Collaboration.
My mission is: “to inspire people to live healthy lifestyles in order to achieve their desired life potential”.
If you have been diagnosed by your GP as diabetic (type 2) or pre-diabetic, I am writing this to let you know of the serious health issues awaiting you as you get older. Sadly, my GP did not take the time to do this in 1988 when, following a routine blood test, he looked me in the eye and said: “Mr Urwin, I’m afraid that you have Type 2 Diabetes”. I was 52. As I knew little about what this meant I asked him to explain this. He responded: “It means that you have this disease for life. You are likely to suffer serious health problems such as heart disease and eyesight problems.” I said “I do not understand. I have a good lifestyle; I eat healthily and compete in Marathons and Triathlons and today feel very healthy and fit. What do you suggest I do to address this?” My GP said: “Mr Urwin, it is a lifetime condition, and you cannot do anything to combat it. The good news is that I can help you with prescription drugs such as Metformin and Gliclazide”. I asked how these would help me and the GP responded “Your pancreas is not controlling your blood sugar levels. These tablets will help lower your blood sugar levels.”
If my GP had a crystal ball he might have said:
“In 12 years’ time, in the year 2000, you will suffer a sudden cardiac arrest in a foreign country, followed by a quadruple open heart bypass. Between the years 2000 and 2018 you will have to attend London St Barts hospital frequently to correct a medical oversight with my heart medication (Amiodarone) that will affect your thyroid and good health. The good news is that you will also attend Guy’s Hospital on numerous occasions under the watchful eye of Professor Aldo Rinaldi, who monitor you and keep you in good shape. The worst part will come in 2018. For three years, you will suffer very painful leg ulcers and gout in your left leg and foot. Your life will be full of hospital and GP visits, and this will dramatically affect you and your wife’s quality of life”.
My GP did not possess a crystal ball. Nevertheless, all of the above is true.
Had the GP said to me in 1988:
- “Diabetes can lead to sudden premature death”.
- “Diabetes complications increase as we age”.
- “Diabetes can lead to amputations and sight loss; and more”.
I believe that my inaction for 30 years, between 1988 and 2018, would have resulted in much earlier self-managed action, and subsequently a better quality of life.
Today in 2021, the NHS website states that Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong condition that can affect everyday life, with this condition costing the NHS £10 billion per year. Overall, GP’s simply follow the NHS guidelines upon diagnosis, with no acknowledgment of Type 2 diabetes being reversable. But the knowledge is changing. There are a growing number of healthcare professionals that are helping patients reverse this condition through diet alone; reducing medication usage in the process. This, in turn, not only saves the NHS money but more importantly, significantly reduces the occurrence of complications for the individual such as heart attacks, amputations and sight loss.
Summary
As a committed learner for life, I have viewed the last 31 years as a learning experience in health and wellbeing. I hold the medical profession both in the UK and in Luxembourg in very high regard, and I’m grateful to them for helping me to live a long, quality, life. My GP in 1988 and those in the following years cannot be blamed for thinking that Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong condition. After all, this is the statement that the NHS put out there for all GP’s and Diabetics to see. It remains at the time of writing in May 2021.
I took my own steps to reverse Type 2 diabetes with a strong focus on reducing sugar and carbohydrates. This focus, along with the prescribed medication, helped me to reach HBA1C levels of 41; a level classed as pre-diabetic. Despite a massive 17.5kg weight loss, as illustrated in the picture above, I feel so much better. To my surprise I sleep better, feel refreshed with improved memory, and my ability to concentrate on important business projects with mental clarity has increased. I spend time close to nature and have sufficient energy to walk daily and garden (when the weather is suitable). Practising Transcendental Meditation twice daily also keeps me grounded.
My goal is to maintain pre-diabetic status, but how is a different story. Details of how I achieved this desired goal are available, on request. They are included in the February 2021 Think Healthy Me Webinar ‘Changing Lifestyle and the Importance of Strengthening Immunity’. Thank you for reading.
Brian Urwin
You can beat Diabetes – I Have
By Brian Urwin
In 1988 at the age of 52 my GP looked me in the eye and said, “Mr Urwin I have to inform you that you have type 2 Diabetes.” I had no idea what this meant. I asked the question “Can you please explain what this means and what I can do to continue to live healthily with the disease?” His response was: “Your body is producing too much sugar and can lead to serious health threats such as a heart attack and damage/ loss of eyesight. I’m sorry to say that you will have to learn to live with the disease for life”
His answer shocked and stunned me. I asked again “Is there anything that I can do?” The GP replied: Sorry there is little you can do. I can help you to live with the disease by prescribing drugs. This was the very first I heard about Metformin. Consequently, I have been popping Metformin ever since.
It is now 2020, 32 years later and I have succeeded in my self-imposed mission to manage my Diabetes. Nevertheless, the predictions of the GP in 1988 proved to be correct. I suffered a cardiac arrest in a foreign country in the year 2001 and experienced the worst two years of my life since 2018 with painful leg ulcers and gout, all due to Diabetes. Luckily, my eyesight remains excellent for my age for which I am grateful Throughout I was oblivious to the potential of losing my eyesight. and going blind until today when a friend sent me this YouTube clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZ4hdGzx2A Can I please request that whether you are not diabetic, pre-diabetic or diabetic you take just 20-minutes to watch the clip. I’m confident that it will raise your self-awareness. It maybe influences beneficial changes in your lifestyle so avoiding the traumas I have experienced.
I learnt about the difference between Artery and Venus Ulcers. Hardly a day went by without a hospital, GP Surgery and Podiatry Clinic for leg dressings. At each visit I could not help thinking of the potential of gangrene and amputations something my GP in 1988 had not mentioned. I had never thought about until my ulcers started to appear. Then in July 2019 following a visit to our GP I self-referred myself to A&E. Following around 7 hours of investigations I was retained in hospital with fluid on my lungs and had difficulty breathing. I was discharged 7 days later and designated a ‘NHS ‘Heart Failure’; not a term that I particularly like! Naturally my wife and I did not feel that our quality of life was good during the two recent years suffering the leg ulcers.
Despite all of this I acknowledge the expertise, skill and dedication of the medical profession both in Luxembourg and our NHS following our return to the UK in 2002 complete with a successful quadruple heart by-pass. The cardiology professionals in Luxembourg and Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital are excellent and kept me alive and active. They rapidly fixed me when things went wrong and always ensured that I had a good quality of life. Fortunately, I have been healthy and fit enough to be able to travel the world with my wife, between 2002 and 2019.
On 5th August 2020 my Diabetic Nurse telephoned me and said “I have good news for you. You have successfully reduced your HbA1C from 8.3 to 4.5 which means you are pre-diabetic, Well done and congratulations”. She does not realise how much this meant to me as my GP has never shown interest. My personal feelings and emotions on hearing the news were stronger than when I crossed the line of my first London Marathon.
I have a strong desire to ‘give back’ to share my self -managed learning of ‘how’ I achieved my goal of pre-diabetic, so improving my quality of life. I have a list of habits specifically acquired to reduce sugar and effectively reverse diabetes. I’m willing to share these important lifestyle behaviours with those wishing to reverse their Diabetes or tackle Obesity. Our ‘virtual’ Thanet Diabetes SML Community group is your opportunity to get involved in your own learning to improve your quality of life www.diabetesthanet.uk We aim to re-establish this group towards the end of September 2020 with a maximum of 10 dedicated Diabetics.
MY JOURNEY TO REVERSAL OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
“I Did It My Way”
My name is Brian Urwin. It is July 2019.
I’m feeling very happy because, following 31 years being diagnosed, I have reversed this serious diabetes disease. Since 1988 I had been led to believe by the medical profession that it was not possible to reverse this disease. It is responsible for many health problems throughout one’s life. I had experienced perhaps the most serious of these 19 years ago whilst in a foreign country. This was a cardiac arrest. Fortunately, I live to tell this tale by writing this brief case study aimed at helping others, who know of me, to learn from my personal achievement.
In April 2018 I developed a diabetes induced painful leg ulcer in my lower left leg. I have always exercised daily with an early morning power walk. The leg ulcer meant that I could not continue my routine.
WHAT DID I DO? As a life performance coach with a passion for Health and Well-Being I’m experienced at helping executives and others, including young people, to change their habits and behaviours. From information I had received from the NHS I was aware of how difficult it would be. Nevertheless I set myself the goal of reversing my Type 2 Diabetes by May 2019.
WHAT DID I LEARN? The following are only some of the things I learnt on my journey.
- That our ‘excellent’ NHS and my various GP’s had not in any way helped me to learn that it was possible, through a lifestyle change, to achieve ‘reversal’ and so ‘manage’ the disease as a pre diabetic.
- The importance of undertaking research into what to eat and what not to eat. (By far this has been the most difficult learning).
- Essential to avoid dehydration. Drink two litres of water daily
- The benefits of engaging a Naturopath. (Following extensive research, I found a Naturopath who suffered from Type 1 Diabetes and had self-treated. I found her most knowledgeable.
- The Naturopath, due to her own experience, had learnt the importance of using supplements to compliment the changed eating lifestyle. She looked at ones human body needs holistically appropriate supplements provided balance of the eating regime. This was most important.
WHAT DID I ACHIEVE? I have achieved one of the most significant goals of my whole life and have reduced my HbA1C from 83 in May 2018 to 41 in May 2019. This pleases me immensely. It means that I’m now classed as pre diabetes after 31 years. Had I had the benefit of this learning in 1988 my whole life health and well-being would have been so much different. Maybe I would have avoided the life-threatening cardiac arrest in the year 2001 which frightened and stressed my whole family.
In order to improve my own understanding of how to tackle the journey of ‘reversing’ I set up a local Type 2 Diabetes self-managed learning ‘community group’ in June 2018. This group has grown in numbers and has attracted the attention of Diabetes UK. I feel this to be an unexpected achievement as community groups, such as this will help raise awareness amongst diabetics as to what is possible.
22ndJuly 2019 HEALTH & WELL-BEING LEARNING LOG
WHAT DID I DO AND WHY?
Today signifies the culmination of 14 months dedication of my actions dedication and commitment to improve my health and well-being. Quite an indulgence! In May 2018 I set myself a goal. This was to attempt to reverse my Type 2 Diabetes which I have lived with for 31 years. (I was diagnosed diabetic in 1988 when I was 52years of age). The medical profession (NHS & GP’s) had informed me that I had to accept this diagnosis and that I would have the disease for life. At that time the only known solution to our medical profession was prescription medication (Metformin etc). On reflection I accepted the advice as I had no choice. I did not see any point in researching the potential consequences of this serious disease as this would simply create worry that I could not do anything about. In retrospect I’m pleased that I took this course of action. I’m far wiser now and fully informed of the consequences having suffered a cardiac arrest in a foreign country and being treated and cared for as a heart failure patient. My personal goal is to help younger people in our communities learn and benefit from my experience.
Between May 2018 and May 2019, I followed a strict self – managed healthy eating regime. It basically meant; NO SUGAR, NO CARBS & NO DIARY. My wife and I struggled through learning about what to eat and drink. Also, not what to eat and drink. It was new learning about nutrition and very difficult. However, I had set a goal and I was determined that I would achieve it no matter how long it took. We learnt that the key to learning about progress was ‘monitoring’ and taking a daily record of statistics. blood sugar, blood pressure, body weight. Part way through I added a record of what food I ate. This helped immensely as we were able to identify both the blood sugar and blood pressure spikes. Naturally I had learnt about food and drink. Nevertheless, I was totally unaware of the effect of ANXIETY andSTRESS on these figures. Brand new learning for me. (It reminded me of the importance practicing mindfulness and transidental medication).
I was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital on Tuesday 2nd July 2019 with fluid on my lungs which resulted in difficulty in breathing. Following various procedure, I was discharged a week later on Monday 8th July 2019 feeling much better and around 10kgs (22lbs) lighter due to the fluid. Following just over a week’s recuperation with good sleep I travelled to Guys Hospital on 17th July 2019 with Brenda and an excellent driver (Peter Cole) for a thorough health check up with a Guys cardiologist.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
I Learnt:
- How important that positive thinking and peer support is related to health and well-being.
- For others I cannot emphasise enough the importance of monitoring one’s health daily. (I have a weekly chart completed daily. It includes blood sugar, blood pressure, body weight and the food I eat and what I drink.)
- I have never been an obese person. However I have learnt that that a key requirement in reversing diabetes is to lose a significant amount of weight. 20kgs in my case.
- The importance of drinking around 2 litres of water each day.
- Combined with a healthy diet it is essential to keep the body moving. (I measure my daily exercise)
HOW WILL I USE THIS LEARNING?
- I will use this valuable learning to help raise awareness of how people, diagnosed as diabetic, can do to improve their own health and well-being.
- I will work with colleagues in our Type 2 Diabetes community group to help the awareness raising that is so necessary.
- I will contribute to our diabetesthanet.uk webpage to help raise awareness of local people.
- I will liaise with Fran Donovan Westwood Cross to see if we can acquire a central Thanet venue with good transport links.
- Above all I will remain self-disciplined to ensure that I maintain low blood sugars.
WHAT DID I ACHIEVE?
- For the very first time a most relaxing 7-hour productive day trip to Guys Hospital London, with excellent company.
John Hall – I have always been a bit overweight but in my 60s my weight rose to around 112 Kg. I visited a friend in Ireland and found he had lost a lot of weight. He told me he had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year before and was advised to go on the Blood Sugar diet by Michael Mosley. He lost around 20 Kg in a year and was then diagnosed as non diabetic. When I got back to the UK I asked my doctor to test me for diabetes and it came back positive. I was also advised to go on a diet and referred to a DERIK event in Birchington. The diet worked and I lost 18 Kg in 6 months and moved back to pre-diabetic and now in remission. Needless to say remission does not mean cure and I have to watch what I eat, and exercise is essential. I try to use my treadmill for 40 minutes five times a week, and walk to do the shopping and so on. Swimming during the summer is also good exercise.
A word of warning! Before I went on the Blood Sugar diet I tried the 5/2 diet where you eat very little on two days of the week, restricting yourself to 600 calories. I went too far with this and didn’t drink enough water and ended up freezing and passing out in the kitchen. Luckily I had my mobile and rang my wife who was upstairs and she came down and rang 999 who came very quickly and blue lighted me to the QEQM hospital A&E who revived me.