COVID-19 and risk for people with Diabetes & Diabetic Neuropathy

I have studied and worked on my type 2 diabetes for 13 years after watching my husband die from his many diseases. Before that, I suffered from low blood sugar and received no help from my doctor except to eat often and carry cheese. I learned from a friend of a friend how to eat and work on my stress level and even studied at the college level to finally get back to safe blood sugar levels. One textbook claimed I was mentally unbalanced, which I was when my blood sugar levels dropped too low. So I was surprised to be diagnosed with high blood sugar, although I was aware that I was not getting enough exercise for the calories I was eating. What I have never read is how did my body change so that I became diabetic and why can'/t I change it back so I do not have the disease anymore. Did eating cause the problem? Did my pancreas quit working? Is my insulin system dying? Why am I supposed to live with the problem the rest of my life? I understand symptoms but not cause. It is not like chicken pox. It is not in the air, I do not believe. A pill doesn't fix it. Dorisena

Hi @dorisena, I recently started on an intermittent fasting routine after watching a video by Dr. Jason Fung - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nJgHBbEgsE. It has helped in my weight journey so far and I'm hoping it will lower some of my labs as I've always been in the pre-diabetic category. I also saw some interesting information to support what he said in the video.

Intermittent fasting: Surprising update: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156

Pssst...and there are no pills involved!

Hey John, sorry to butt in but, I'm actually reading about the positive benefit intermittent fasting has on the brain in renewing neurons as well. Amazing. Good luck. I love that you're trying it!

Hi @rwinney, Could you please be more specific about fasting. Maybe a link to your sources.
Thanks

@jamesinsonoma and @rwinney there is also a free app you can download on your phone called Zero which will track the different types of intermittent fasting schedules for you. @LeeAase has a health journey blog that was really helpful getting me started with intermittent fasting...has different links/references in the blog entries.

I found the Dr. Jason Fung video link in this blog entry - Our 10 Weeks of Alternate Daily Fasting: https://social-media-university-global.org/2020/02/our-10-week-alternate-daily-fasting-experience/. You can find all of the blog entries here:

My Health Journey by @LeeAase -- https://social-media-university-global.org/my-health-journey/

@jamesinsonoma Sure thing. I am mainly researching neuroplasticity and came across intermittent fasting as a benefit. I find it fascinating. Here is the link...a bit to read but well worth the enlightenment on neuroplasticity and how you can rewire and strengthen your brain.

Sorry, confusing link...from Home page go to Body and Brain then down quite far to What is Neuroplasticity and 14 excercises.

@johnbishop Thank you John.

Whoa Nelly...I'm not sure I'm on board for alternate daily fasting though. A skinny girls got to eat! 😁 Haha

My friend is a vegan, he's been doing intermittent fasting for about 3 years now, he has lost over 35 lbs. He now eats between 9 to 4, and lately he had also had a 3 days fast. While he has lost alot of weight, (he is not overweight to start off with) he dies not look healthy to me. He's always tired, doesn't sleep well at all, but he's sticking to it because he wants to live to be 100. Btw, in his last physical, his fasting glucose is over 100, and his doctor wants to get his blood tested again. His cholesterol should have been ideal but it's not! I tried once just nit having breakfast and I was so weak I almost fainted. Many people have success in this fasting but I know it's probably not for me.

John, I did the Optifast program at the university in the 1990's and got along fine with the liquid diet, but I drank by the clock and ate Jello with no fat cream cheese as a snack. After a 30 pound loss, I went on a limited food reentry and had stomach pain all the time between meals. I couldn't maintain the limited diet, so I gave it up in short time, as they had no maintenance program at the time. The stress in my marriage helped me gain back the weight and more. Since eating a diabetic diet and giving up sugar I have done quite well except that I don't go over four hours without eating and I don't eat snacks that have many calories. I will not tolerate stomach pain which I have had off and on throughout my marriage, but no longer have to deal with that. So I know not to try fasting because I am sure the stomach pain would happen and I would worry about low blood sugar again. It is more frightening than high blood sugar, In my opinion. I would walk in front of moving vehicles and threw a couple of mental tantrums because people didn't understand what was happening to me.
I was so sick after a blood sugar test that my mother had to dress me after a shower. I could not function. I drove a car home on the freeway with a blood sugar of only 35 and don't know how I managed to get home. Every four hours there will be nutritious food in my stomach regardless of my weight. Maybe I will lose a pound now and then. But my body is not equipped for fasting, I think. Dorisena