Living with Diabetes: Mapping Preetkaran’s Journey

Diabetes runs in my family’s genes. From childhood, I have seen my mother struggling with this problem of diabetes management.

I still have a clear memory of her taking insulin after every meal and the way she used to keep some chocolates handy for her hypoglycemic episodes. I always knew that diabetes is a genetic problem and there are chances that I may also get this disease. Understanding the risk, I used to take special care of myself by eating right and exercising daily. But who could escape the problem that is in the blood!

I was 27 when I got diagnosed with diabetes. Before I tell you my story, let me introduce myself.

My name is Preet Karan. I am 28 years old, male, living in a small town in Chhattisgarh province. I am an MBA graduate and am currently employed in a leading multinational bank.

I was working as a relationship manager hence travelling and meeting clients was my daily routine. Everything was working well until I realized that I was making frequent visits to the toilet. I didn’t pay any attention to it as it was the summer season and I thought maybe it was because of drinking too much water. But these were only the initial symptoms. My condition worsened in the following weeks. I was losing weight. I lost almost ten kgs in a week. My muscles softened to the extent that I could feel my hip bone while sitting in the office. My trips to the loo became more frequent.

I distinctly remember one incident when I was at an eatery located on the outskirts of the city. During our 1 hour stay in that restaurant, I may have gone to urinate at least 6-7 times.

My friends suspected something amiss, but I still blamed it on the hot summer.

However, the most challenging situation for me was to get dressed for the job. It was too exhausting to get out of bed and go all the way to meet clients.

On Being Diagnosed

This routine continued for a month until my grandmother observed ants in the toilet area. She asked me to test my urine and blood sugar, as the sugar in the urine may be attracting ants.

At that time, I also started feeling something wrong with my body, so I immediately complied. I went to the nearest medical laboratory and gave my blood sample. After work, I went to the laboratory to check my report.

And BOOM! My blood sugar reading was around 550 mg/dl. I immediately went to my family doctor, who asked me to do a retest in the morning. I still remember how painful that night was.

I couldn’t sleep the whole night; I was blaming myself for not taking enough care of my body.

The thought of injecting the needles scared the hell out of me. I had already seen my mother struggling with this problem and I certainly did not want to suffer the same. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride for me. I felt anger, anguish, anxiety and pity all at the same time through the night.

After the long night, I went to another laboratory. ”There was something wrong with the previous laboratory,” I thought. I gave my blood samples and waited eagerly for the report.

Each second that I waited felt like a lifetime. The report came, and to my horror, I was labelled a ‘diabetic.’

At that time, I felt like I had lost everything. The efforts that I had put in for my studies, for the job and everything else, seemed to be all wasted. I realized that it was more important to keep your body fit.

All types of thoughts were coming to my mind.

Could I still do my job?

Did I have other diabetic complications?

Would I need to take injections or medicines only?

With all these questions, I went to the endocrinologist. He comforted me and performed all kind of tests to see if I had any other diabetes-related health issues.

The reports came, and I found that I had been a diabetic for the past three months.

I was lucky as there was no organ damage.

The Honeymoon Phase

The doctor asked me to follow a regular balanced diet and take insulin twice a day. I was following his instructions, but something was wrong. I was not able to control my blood sugar levels. I was taking ten units of insulin twice, but the blood sugar levels were always haywire. Unable to understand what is happening I decided to research online.

I read lots of diabetic research papers and came to know about the carb counting mechanism. It’s a simple mechanism that states the number of carbohydrates in every meal. I found that diabetes is a problem of carbohydrate metabolism, the more carbohydrate you put into the body, the more insulin will be needed for metabolism.

After learning this strategy, I reduced my carbohydrate intake and relied on foods that are rich in good fats. This mechanism helped me to get off from insulin injections for a year.

I found that my body is still making some amount of insulin, which is sufficient if I eat foods that are low in carbohydrates.

But as I was Type 1 diabetic, I knew that a time would come when the leftover insulin-making cells will get destroyed, and then I will have to rely on an external source of insulin.

Back to Insulin Again

After one year, that time came. My blood sugar went above 200mg/dl even if I didn’t eat anything.

I got the signal that my insulin-producing cells were destroyed, and I had to now rely on an external source of insulin for the rest of my life. Currently, I am using short-acting insulin after every meal and a dose of long-acting at night before going to bed. I still follow a carb counting mechanism, which helps in managing my diabetes better. Being selective in your diet not only helps in better blood sugar control, but it also helps you to keep your body fit and healthy.

I have also created yogicult.com, a website that shares diabetes management tips.

Final Word

After a year of living with diabetes, I can now say that it is not the type of condition that is going to limit your abilities. If you are diagnosed, please don’t stop dreaming, there are politicians, actors and even sports personalities who have touched the pinnacle of success after diagnosed with diabetes

So focus on eating right, and I am sure you will do great.

About Me:

Preet Karan is the administrator of yogicult.com. The site publishes articles about effective diabetes and health management. The focus of the author is to understand the technical research and present to the readers in a simplified manner.

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