[Casandra]

Apologies for the long post!!

(a little background; I'm 21, female, type 1 diabetic since April 2004)

So, I was doing really well with my weight for awhile, not so much my type 1 Diabetes, but I decided to get this sorted two months or so ago.

I've been seeing my Diabetes Nurse every week or fortnight now for the last couple months and my blood sugars are slowly coming back down from the high 20's, low 30's. I even had my first low in almost a year this week during the night! I've found the help being given to me in these weekly sessions has made a huge impact on how I view my diabetes and the amount of care I am motivated to put into myself. Having these sessions every week or so has helped me to go from thinking about my condition as a "forever" type of thing and I'm not taking small steps every week to help get this under control.

The problem I'm having is in the past two months I've gained all of the weight back and some. I'm now at 14st10lbs (206lbs), gaining around 15lbs in less than 1.5 months.

I've also had other symptoms such as extremely noticeable hair thinning, huge moody moments, and a very weak immune system. I've had just about every blood test done under the sun and the results came back normal (except my a1c which did go down half a % in 3 months! and my Cholesterol which had gone down almost 3 points in 3 months since I was put on statins, but they want me to go down one more point before they'll be happy).

I'm just so confused, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, I haven't changed my diet in a bad way. I did cut my caloric intake down to 1750, been watching my carbs and avoiding the fatty foods. I did start driving again recently, but I will leave my car at home for things such as a quick trip up to my GP (half mile walk uphill) etc. I feel as thought this might cause me to turn towards thoughts of previous bouts with eating disorders and depression.

I am waiting for a knee surgery and surgery on my feet too, so I'm restricted from doing a lot of walking and running. I also am waiting for a referral to a program that offers free or reduced cost swimming.

Is there any advice that could be offered? I just want to make sure that I find a way to maintain my bsl's coming down as a positive thing, but I'm having issues with associating this positive with the extreme negative (in my mind) of the weight gain.

[Justwant2Bhealthy]

CASSANDRA ~ We have all been where you are at least once, dear. I have lost & gained weight so many times; and I wondered why just like you. When I took a closer look, I started to notice things that I could improve on -- like walking in shorter amounts every day all day (5-10 minutes at a time) as I also have a bad knee and sore feet (nothing that resting won't help).

Try to refocus on healthy; and if necessary take the weight thingy off your signature and replace it with a GOAL Ticker instead, like say 10 lbs or 1 stone (14 lbs?). That will help you focus on the positive instead of what that marker used to say. I don't go by my weight; I let the doctor weigh me and I go by my clothes sizes becuz that just works better for me.

I also do toning exercises on my legs and tummy; stretchie band work; hand weights; chair aerobics, and walking like I mentioned. I do try to do extra walking 3-4 times a week somewhere like outdoors or at department or large grocery stores and rest when I need to. I find the carts help me walk better too; and in the winter I use poles to help my knee and balance (I have Spina Bifida and that is a big issue for me). I use a cane the rest of the time.

As for food; maybe you don't need to cut the amount you are eating -- maybe you could journal or write down what you are eating each day so you can see where you can improve the quality of the food; focusing on nutrient-rich volume foods. I find now if I don't keep track, I slip back into MINDLESS MUNCHING and believe me, that adds up.

Just take small steps and one day at a time; and before you know it, you will be sailin' again ... or swimming ... or whatever you want to do. BTW, good for you for coming back; I find coming here helps me to stay on track better and it is worth the time and effort it takes each day.

[Casandra]

I am actually going to do one of the diet delivery programs, low GI. I think. I'm just not clued up on portion sizes or types of food, cooking etc.

I'm only going to try it for 2 months to start with, if I can budget for it, though I think it would take me 6 months of just the diet plan to lose the weight I want to get rid of.

I'm just at a loss to the hair loss thing and mood swings. I have normal thiamine/vitamin b etc levels...I'm not sure! lol

Thanks for the suggestions!

[msbettyboop]

Try taking biotin for your hair loss, I had thinning hair for 15 years and it was looking very bad bald spots, etc. I been taking 3 500 mg of biotin for the past 4 months and my hair is growing longer and getting thicker, it has even helped my nails grow longer and thicker. Just a thought Sharon

[Casandra]

I had my appointment with my Diabetes consultant on Friday, and he's prescribed me iron tablets. He's said that in 95% of the cases he's seen of diabetics with hair thinning, its a lack of iron.

I can't wait to see if it starts coming back in now!!