A diagnosis out of nowhere: Insulin resistance – a precursor of type 2 diabetes. More and more young people are now affected by it. Alicja Kurzius was 23 – and that was the beginning of an odyssey for her.
I always wanted to become a mother at an early age, preferably when I was in my early twenties. I tried it for two years, without success, then went to a fertility clinic for a check-up. The diagnosis: The fallopian tubes and ovaries were okay, but the metabolism was disturbed – polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS, plus insulin resistance.
I did not understand anything. Insulin? Polycystic? And what did that mean for me? My gynecologist just said, “Don’t worry, just lose a few pounds.”
Decrease? Not easy
I did. I weighed 70 kilos – at 1.67 meters actually not a bad overweight. Still, I tried everything from cabbage soup and low-carb diets to fasting and weight loss shakes. Nothing helped, on the contrary: I lost weight, but every time I gained weight again. The result: frustration and feelings of guilt. Because whenever I held the negative pregnancy test in my hand, I had the feeling that I had not done enough.
At some point I weighed 94 kilos – clearly too much. My heart was racing, I was constantly dizzy. My family doctor sent me to see a psychologist. Now I’m crazy too, I thought. But even he found nothing. It was the horror.
It went on like this for six years. Until my girlfriend was diagnosed with insulin resistance. Wait a minute, I thought: I have that too! And finally understood through my friend, who was better informed, that it is absolutely not a harmless diagnosis, but an alarm signal: Because my body cells no longer react correctly to the hormone insulin, which is formed in the pancreas after eating carbohydrates and for it ensures that the sugar in the blood is absorbed by the cells. If the cells become numb to the hormone, as in my case, too much insulin and, as a result, too much sugar remain in the blood. The possible consequences: Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease – and, in connection with PCOS, an increased risk of infertility.
Diabetes is not far away
Insulin resistance is the precursor to diabetes, six million Germans already suffer from the type 2 variant, due to an unhealthy lifestyle and hereditary predisposition – and the trend is rising. And those affected are getting younger and younger. It was a widespread disease and I was just at the door to the club. The realization was a shock.
What I would have liked to have known six years earlier: That I could have done a lot myself to get my health back on track – with exercise and a carbohydrate-adjusted diet, lots of sleep and sufficient relaxation. Especially sugar in cakes, lemonades, white bread or rice and chocolate causes blood sugar to rise and fall quickly. The organism reacts with racing heart, cold sweat, dizziness, tiredness, concentration problems, fear. I had all of that for years. But no doctor had ever told me why and what would help.
I fell into a deep hole emotionally. It felt like I wasted my prime. With this grueling fight against my too fat body instead of making it my ally.
Turn your life upside down
That I could finally do something was like a relief to me. I changed my life overnight. Make sure you get enough sleep and practice relaxation methods. I learned that some foods can make you sick and what a healthy diet means: lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fiber. And how to keep blood sugar levels stable with the right food. I said goodbye to sugar and white bread, ready-made meals, chocolate and chips, even started taking part in fitness programs on YouTube, cycling and dancing, although sport was always a horror for me when I was at school. Whenever I did stand in front of the fridge with a Jieper on chocolate pudding, the thought of the baby that I wanted so much and that I had been waiting for so long held me back.
But the effort was worth it. After a few weeks my symptoms subsided, within a year I lost 34 kilos and was able to improve my values so that one no longer speaks of insulin resistance. Wow! That made me proud.
The icing on the cake: finally becoming a mother
But I was even more proud when I finally got pregnant at the age of 30. Today I have a healthy daughter. But I still have to watch my diet, regular exercise and relaxation every day. Sometimes it feels like a fight that I often lose: When I get weak again because my girlfriend’s cheesecake smells so delicious, or I prefer to lie on the couch in the evening instead of getting on my bike. It doesn’t always go well, but I say to myself: the main thing is not to give up! After all, I have to hold out for a lifetime, diabetes still lurks behind every candy bar.
It scares me that I might die early, especially because of the child. That’s why I stay tuned and check my insulin and blood sugar levels at the endocrinologist at least once a year. I have set up a website for other people affected: insulinresistenz.club – so that they know how to change their lives and not wander around as perplexed as I do and waste valuable years. ”
It took six years Alicja Kurzius, 35, learned what’s really wrong with her – and what she can do. Today she helps other sufferers at insulinresistenz.club.
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