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AnxietyAttacks Asked September 2022

For those who've been diagnosed with diabetes type 2 and hypertension, can you please share your experience?

Can you please share your experience and at what age you were diagnosed and how long you've been living with it? Also, would you say garlic does help lowering your blood preassure?


Thanks!

AlvaDeer Sep 2022
Biggest help for type II will be weight loss if there is overweight. It can, in fact eliminate BOTH problems. I sure wish you good luck.

LoopyLoo Sep 2022
All I can say is to take it seriously. My MIL had high BP and Type 2 diabetes. She would still eat sugary desserts, saying “oh, I know I shouldn’t be eating this, but…” She saw her doctor regularly but still pretty much ate whatever. Was like this for years. Until one night when my husband went to check on her when he couldn’t get ahold of her. Found her on the floor, dead from a stroke.

Hypertension and Diabetes are serious conditions and will sneak up on you.

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freqflyer Sep 2022
I have hypertension that I inherited from both of my parents. My cardiologist put me on blood pressure pills which has it under control. Now I don't even think about it.

JudyBlueEyes Sep 2022
Check in to the DASH diet. This is a common sense, medically approved diet that doesn't have you count calories or doing magic in order to stay on it. My dad had type 2 diabetes and hypertension that has been under good control following this plan. I'm not diabetic but do have secondary hypertension and can keep the unpredictable blood pressure spikes under much better control with this diet. It's highly modifiable so you can throw as much fresh garlic in there as you like! Good luck!

Geaton777 Sep 2022
Regarding the garlic thing... my Mother's parents were both Italian immigrants. They maintained a true Mediterranean diet all the years they lived in the US, as did their 8 children. All their children had high cholesterol but normal/very good BP and lived well into their 90s. My 93-yr old mother has 240 cholesterol but great BP and nothing else wrong with her except arthritis, which runs in the family. I'm currently in FL caring for my mom's 2 sisters: ages 100 and 103.

Does garlic help keep their BP low? Maybe, but then so did all the rest of their healthy diet. None of them were ever overweight. And they NEVER used anything except FRESH garlic. And high-quality olive oil. They never (and I mean never) ate fast food, and hardly ate out even at "good" restaurants (because they are all food snobs and good cooks themselves), drank moderately and only had dessert on holidays. I grew up with no cookies or ice cream in the house. Not even "snack" food. Abuse! ;-)

Eat healthier every single day, get regular cardio exercise and make sure you get good quality sleep. I got diagnosed with sleep apnea a few years ago and even though I don't "love" using a CPAP, I love that I now get an excellent night's sleep almost every single night and wake up feeling refreshed.

Work hard to improve your health now -- it's not too late and will be well worth it!
AnxietyAttacks Sep 2022
Thanks for sharing your story, will look at Mediterranean diet plans.
lealonnie1 Sep 2022
I think if garlic truly lowered blood pressure, doctors would have everyone on garlic pills and nobody would be suffering from high blood pressure issues anymore.

There's no quick fix or miracle cures out there for high bp and type 2 diabetes which is normally brought on by poor lifestyle choices, being overweight and lack of exercise. Eating a low fat, low sugar diet, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy BMI is the key to having normal blood pressure and A1C for diabetes control.

Garlic is not the answer, a lifestyle change is, which most people do not want to hear.

My sister in law was diagnosed with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes at the age of 35 about 30 years ago. She went on medications but refused to change her lifestyle, thinking the meds would do their job FOR her and she could keep eating McDonald's and cake, as always. She lost her foot in 2018. She was constantly in the hospital for varices in her throat and needed surgical procedures to remedy that situation. She was getting sores on her other foot while she was in rehab for losing the first foot, when they told her she wasn't a candidate for a prosthetic for that reason. Her kidneys were shutting down and she had cirrhosis of the liver due to fatty liver disease that she'd ignored. She was facing dialysis on top of everything else when she caught Covid in Nov of 2021. She was put on a ventilator and died when the doctor took her off of it 10 days later. Which was a blessing because her liver and kidney disease due to diabetes would have taken her life in a much more painful way otherwise, probably within a few short months. She had just turned 65 years old. She spent 30 years of her life sick and in the hospital due to her poor lifestyle choices she could have changed but chose not to. We miss her every single day. The sad part was her sister and BFF celebrated her life by going to McDonald's for a Big Mac and large fries with a Coke. I was blown away by that decision, I really was. That sister just had gastric bypass surgery and the BFF is 350 lbs.

You wanted to hear an experience, there's my family's experience with high bp and diabetes. I hope your mother has a wake up call before her story turns out like my family's story, God forbid.
Cover999 Sep 2022
For some people they can get late stage Diabetes that runs in the family and can be hereditary.

It seems the bulk of fast food is bad.

I'm sorry about your sister.
AnxietyAttacks Sep 2022
I'm writing on behalf of my mother she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 5 years ago at age 45 now shes 50 and recently diagnosed with hypertension, I know taking the meds it's the key of staying healthy. But I would like to know the stories of others basically how long you been living with the diseases.

Also I been reading Garlic does reduces High blood pressure but those sources isnt backed up by any U.S organization rather by foreign sources.
Tothill Sep 2022
My former MIL has had HBP her entire adult life and Diabetes for the last 30 years. She watched her diet and took her medication regularly, but has developed Diabetic Neuropathy and is in constant pain. The last 5 years she has been insulin dependent. She is 87, last 5 years in diapers in a nursing home.

My Step Mum has had diabetes for about 40 years and more recently her blood pressure is very high and not responding well to medication. She has been insulin dependent for at least 30 years. She is mindful of her diet. 92, lives in her own home with care aids 2-3 times a day.

My Dad has had high blood pressure his entire life, always eaten lots of garlic, takes garlic pills every day. Had a massive stroke 7 years ago. He was lucky to have an almost complete recovery. But now takes blood thinners, has a heart condition and is at high risk for another stroke. 93 lives in my brother's house semi independent.

Don't mess around with high blood pressure. Sure Mum should be eating a healthy diet and the Mediterranean one is supposed to be heart healthy, but the kidneys have a huge role in regulating blood pressure.
MACinCT Sep 2022
Diabetes can begin in childhood. You now need to try diet modification and follow to the letter whatever medication are given. If you fail to comply, then you will need insulin. And just like the news says, it can be an out of pocket headache.
Blood pressure... OTC products may work slightly. But if levels are barely brought down, then you need to go on medications. Keeping blood pressure in control lowers risk of stroke, heart issues, and oh yes...diabetes which you already have. Please work with your doctors.

By the way you posted the same question in 2021. If you keep a healthy lifestyle you can live a normal life. Ignore lowering sugars, you can lose limbs

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