Lisa’s Story: Healing Her Relationship with Food After Finally Receiving the Correct Diagnosis

Now, she navigates her diagnosis with confidence and feels a sense of relief that she has finally figured it out. She shares her story in the hope that others can recognize and act on the symptoms she once overlooked as red flags.

A Loud Diagnosis in a Quiet Place

Lisa was sitting in a library with her husband when she received the call. They had just shared some books, coffee, and pastries. She had recently seen her gynecologist about menstrual cycle irregularities, but it seemed like there was more to the story..

Lisa had a series of blood tests that led to a single conclusion: she had type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Her blood glucose reading was over 400 mg/dL, and her A1c results indicated a level of 13. After sharing this information, which she obtained from her gynecologist, with her primary care physician (PCH), they advised her to come to their office urgently.

Lisa has a family history of T2D, so she wasn’t terribly surprised. Still, she had spent the past three years working seriously on weight loss. Lisa lost 110 pounds through Weight Watchers.

“I was disappointed, for sure,” Lisa said. “I thought part of losing all that weight meant I had dodged a bullet. But, I also remember my doctor telling me that if I keep up with my weight loss, that would help manage my symptoms and I could even go into remission.”

Remission in T2D occurs when your blood sugar levels return to a safe range, outside of the diabetes realm, without the use of glucose-lowering medications. Achieving remission lowers the risk of long-term complications associated with T2D. 

However, it is important to note that remission does not mean you are cured of T2D; it simply indicates that you are managing the condition so effectively that you no longer need glucose-lowering drugs.

She Didn’t Know Her Symptoms Were Warning Signs

Lisa’s menstrual cycle had been regular her whole life. Before she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, she said it felt like her cycle would never finish. On top of that, she was experiencing high levels of thirst and waking up often in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but she didn’t recognize these symptoms as warning signs. 

“I started with my gynecologist because my menstrual cycle was bothering me the most,” Lisa said.

When Lisa was diagnosed with T2D, she was immediately given Metformin and Glipizide to manage it.

“After a while, my blood sugar levels weren’t coming down enough,” Lisa said. “Then I was prescribed insulin. Just long-acting at first, then eventually small amounts of pre-meal.”

Common signs of type 1 diabetes include the following: 

• Frequent urination 
• Extreme thirst
• Increased appetite
• Abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Extreme fatigue

• Rapid weight loss
• Rapid muscle loss
• Itchiness around the genital area and yeast infections in women
• Regular bouts of thrush
• Blurred vision
• Dry skin
• Slow-healing cuts or bruises
• Labored breathing and fruity-smelling breath.

Many of these signs overlap with the symptoms of type 2. Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet may also be a sign of type 2 diabetes. 

A Coaching Program Made Her Second-Guess 

It wasn’t until Lisa’s insurance connected her with a coaching program, Virta Health, that she began to question her original diagnosis. Virta services were fully online, and Lisa worked with a personal coach and medical professional to address her T2D challenges. In her case, Lisa worked with a licensed nurse practitioner (NP).

Lisa was excited about the program after others reported losing weight quickly and even going into remission after successfully completing it. She wanted that for herself.

“It was basically a medically-supervised keto diet,” Lisa said. “It reminded me of Atkins, which I had some success with years back.”

Virta provided Lisa with tools to track her blood sugar, carbohydrate intake, movement, weight, and more. At one point in the program, Lisa was advised to stop taking Glipizide and pre-meal insulin, but they kept her on her long-acting insulin.

She was part of the T2D-focused program for about six months, during which she became frustrated that she wasn’t seeing the results others were.

“My weight stayed the same,” Lisa said. “My blood sugar almost never got below 200 mg/dL. Still, my coach confirmed I was doing all the right things.”

That’s when Lisa got a C-peptide test.

Lisa’s Test Results Painted a Different Picture

C-peptide tests measure the level of C-peptide, which is a substance produced by the pancreas when it makes insulin. This measures the body’s insulin-producing capacity.

“My test came back, and my levels were barely above zero,” Lisa said.

Lisa got on the phone with her NP at Virta after she got her results. Her NP explained that this indicated she was more likely suffering from type 1 diabetes (T1D) and would no longer be able to manage her diabetes without insulin, which was a goal of the Virta program. Her NP recommended a local endocrinologist.

Lisa felt overwhelmed. The COVID-19 pandemic had just begun, and her new medical team wanted to run another test to confirm her T1D diagnosis. 

“She told me I could keep working with Virta if I wanted to, but it would be mostly an accountability partner since we wouldn’t be able to achieve my desired outcome,” Lisa said. “I was experiencing insulin resistance as well. I was definitely not making enough on my own.”

Lisa Had to Reprogram Her Life

Lisa’s new diagnosis was discouraging—she didn’t want to take insulin shots for the rest of her life. She’d been working extremely hard to avoid that.

“It felt like all the work was for nothing,” Lisa said. “During my time with Weight Watchers, I had started to heal my relationship with food—no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods. Everything was okay to eat so long as you ate with awareness. The Virta plan eliminated entire food groups, and that good/bad label returned with a vengeance. I could tell I was falling back into the old mindset, undoing a lot of the work I’d done.”

Lisa feared what that may look like for her new diagnosis of T1D. She not only had to reprogram her relationship with food all over again, but also learn about a new way of life.

“It took some time to deprogram again, but the trade-off to the daily insulin injections was that I could return to a healthier mindset around food,” Lisa said. “I knew that I could only stick to very restrictive diets for a short amount of time. It negatively impacted some traveling for me at the time.”

But Lisa feels a lot freer now. “I don’t blame myself for past diet and exercise choices.”

Lisa used to think she gave herself diabetes—now she knows it’s a change in her body that she didn’t cause.“I just have to take care of myself in a different way now.”.

Lisa’s Advice? Put Self-Care First

Today, Lisa feels more aware of the systems in her body and how they work together. 

“I also realize that medical professionals only know so much,” Lisa said. “They don’t always ask the right questions, simply because they don’t exist in our bodies. I know my body best because I live with it every day. It’s up to me to pay attention to what it’s saying so that when I need to consult a medical professional, I can give them a more complete picture.”

Lisa’s message for others is to get a C-peptide test if her story resonates.

“That was the simplest, clearest indicator of what was happening in my body,” Lisa said. “You simply don’t know without that test. Nothing else will give you that information.”

Her second piece of advice? “No matter what type of diabetes you have, it’s not your fault.”

“Blaming yourself won’t make you better,” Lisa said. “Listen to your body and give it what it needs, whatever that looks like. You’re worth taking care of.”