{"id":45,"date":"2026-03-11T15:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/?p=45"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T20:02:13","slug":"traversing-diabetes-what-i-never-understood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/traversing-diabetes-what-i-never-understood\/","title":{"rendered":"Traversing Diabetes: What I Never Understood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Part 3 of 4<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am not a medical professional, but I have found some new to me information through my own research. Please do not consider this medical advice.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Since Christmas 2025, I have been on a journey of diabetic discovery and understanding. I was diagnosed as a diabetic in 2002. I was most likely a diabetic before that, but I did not know it.<\/p>\n

I watch more Facebook Reels**<\/strong> than I should, but I learned information about diabetes that I either never knew or fully understood, and I wish a doctor had explained it to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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  • The amount of sugar my body actually needs.<\/strong> My body needs far less sugar than I was consuming. See the LCE Jan\/Feb 2026 issue \u201cHow Much Sugar is too Much\u201d for a more detailed explanation, or read the article at geraldthompson.com<\/li>\n
  • How much added sugar I was really eating and its sources.<\/strong> I was eating way too much sugar. Most of it came from packaged\/processed foods like cookies and other baked goods, especially brownies and anything with chocolate chips.<\/li>\n
  • How insulin resistance actually works.<\/strong> See the March LCE issue \u201cTraversing Diabetes: What is Insulin Resistance?\u201d for a more detailed explanation or read it at geraldthompson.com. Essentially, due to excessive sugar, my cells could not take it all in, so the extra glucose (sugar) was stored as fat or stayed in my blood, damaging my cells.<\/li>\n
  • How intermittent fasting\/eating lowers blood sugar and supports weight loss.<\/strong> Years ago, the \u201cexperts\u201d said that eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day is better than fewer, large meals. It was a license to snack as far as I was concerned. It turns out every time you eat, your pancreas releases insulin. If you snack frequently, sustained insulin release can contribute to the development of insulin resistance. Your pancreas is not designed to constantly produce and release insulin.\n

    Intermittent fasting gives your body a chance to naturally use the sugar in your bloodstream. When that sugar is depleted, it turns to your liver or fat for the stored sugar. This also gives your pancreas a chance to rest. Exercising before breakfast or a meal helps your body tap into stored fat while preserving muscle mass. Movement and exercise after a meal also helps you use the new fuel you consumed.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • Morning sugar spike.<\/strong> I ate breakfast as soon as I rose. For years, I noticed my biggest sugar spike of the day happened right after breakfast. My sugar would rocket up to 200-250 mg\/dL. Normal, non-fasting<\/strong> blood sugar is from 80-140 mg\/dL. Fasting<\/strong> blood sugar is 80-100 mg\/dL. Yet, I ate a healthy breakfast of high-protein, low-sugar yogurt, a banana for heart health, and usually something else like toast or granola. Of course, I did not appreciate how much sugar was in the banana toast and granola.\n

    When you get out of bed, your liver says, \u201cHe\u2019s moving! Time to convert a bunch of fat into glucose and pump it into his blood.\u201d This is the fuel your body has been designed to burn to start your day.<\/p>\n

    So not only did I have a natural sugar spike from the liver, but with breakfast, I added a second spike ON TOP OF IT, rocketing my sugar spike to 225mg\/dL or more. Since Christmas, I have delayed breakfast, and instead of seeing one tall spike, I see two much shorter and safer sugar spikes between 120-150 mg\/dl. According to my app, the green normal zone is below 180 mg\/dL of sugar.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • High Blood Pressure.<\/strong> When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I also had high blood pressure. I recently learned that each pound of your body weight contains about 5 miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries. As of this writing, over the last 20 years, I have lost about 88 pounds or 440 MILES of blood vessels. The excess sugar also causes your blood to thicken slightly. My heart had to work extra hard to pump blood to my body. My blood pressure is much better than it was, but there is still room for improvement.\n<\/li>\n
  • Neuropathy, tan blotches on calves, hair loss on legs, and discoloration around my neck<\/strong> are diabetic symptoms that are not always obvious.\n

    Neuropathy is a condition characterized by numbness and\/or poor circulation in your feet and hands. I have half-numb feet and, in the winter, very cold hands. I also have painful muscle cramps and random pain in my lower legs and feet. These are common neuropathy symptoms. What they don\u2019t tell you is how uncomfortable it is to have half-numb feet. I have to wear slippers\/shoes all the time.<\/p>\n

    I have tan blotches on my calves and brown discoloration on my neck. This surprised me the most. I thought they were tanned areas. I wear shorts, open collar\/t-shirts and hike a lot in the summer. I thought these areas were tan from the sun. Both are symptoms of diabetes. The blotches are areas where my capillaries ruptured, bled, and it is old blood trapped under the skin. Once I understood that, I watched those areas on my legs. Once in a while, I found a new pink area that slowly turned brown. I don\u2019t know how the neck gets discolored. My point is that no doctor thought to point that out to me. I had to ask about it before I was told.<\/p>\n

    Hair loss on the legs and arms can be caused by conditions other than diabetes, but it is commonly seen in people with diabetes. My legs look like I shave them daily.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    Now that I better understand these effects on my body, I have been working hard to manage my blood sugar and lose weight. I\u2019ve done this before and failed.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Why is this time different?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The difference from every other time I tried to lose weight is that I fully understand how I have been damaging my body. I am going to do everything in my power to manage or counteract the diabetes. I want to give my body a chance to heal and repair itself.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0For me, diabetes is a lifestyle disease. I just hope it is not too late. Decades of damage may take years of healing. This is not a temporary diet, but a new lifestyle. I am determined, and with God\u2019s help, I believe I will make those changes.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0My goal with these articles about my diabetic journey is to encourage you to consider your lifestyle. If you are prediabetic or diabetic, become your own advocate, get educated, and ask questions. Then ask some more. Don\u2019t assume a brown blotch is tanned skin. There is hope to heal. Do not blindly accept medications as I did as the only solution. Dig deeper into how to best help yourself.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Disclaimer: No medical treatment is being recommended. You should do your own research and consult your doctor to decide how to manage your health.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Facebook Reels<\/strong>**<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Facebook Reels are entertaining, and many, not all, contain false and\/or misleading information. Many reels are from well-meaning with sincere content creators. You have to be diligent to spot the fakes. They are designed to get you to watch. There is no magic cure for diabetes. There are no sticky bacteria or parasites that cause diabetes. There is no simple drink that will make it go away. What they are designed to do is get you to watch an hour-long video or purchase a potentially bogus product.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Why do they want you to watch that video? Because the longer you watch, the more money they make, and if you buy their product at the end, that is even better.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0I confirm information from sources outside of Facebook before accepting the Facebook Reels as fact.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Part 3 of 4<\/p>\n

    I am not a medical professional, but I have found some new to me information through my own research. Please do not consider this medical advice.<\/p>\n

    Since Christmas 2025, I have been on a journey of diabetic discovery and understanding. I was diagnosed as a diabetic in 2002. I was most likely a diabetic before that, but I did not know it.<\/p>\n

    I watch more Facebook Reels** than I should, but I learned information about diabetes that I either never knew or fully understood, and I wish a doctor had explained it to me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diabetes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/53"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldthompson.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}