Mrs K. diabetes control journey with Platos Health

Kuburat Kolawole is a 45-year-old renowned businesswoman in Abuja with a 7-year history of type 2 diabetes.

In 2015, Kuburat Kolawole was experiencing frequent urination and hunger. Although she had a family history of type 2 diabetes in both parents, she had limited knowledge regarding diabetes self-care management. She scanned the internet for tips for diabetes management and was encouraged by her sister-in-law to use herbal remedies and weight-loss supplements to treat her symptoms.

She noticed that the herbal concoction only worsened her symptoms, so she finally visited a pharmacy where a blood glucose test was done. She was informed she had elevated blood sugar. She was given metformin 1000g as a prescription, but after 2 weeks of using it, there was no noticeable improvement in her symptoms. She adhered to her medication as often as possible, all to no avail.

For the next three years, Kuburat restricted her diet to meals consisting of beans, unripe plantain and wheat in an attempt to improve her diabetes control. After no noticeable improvement, she stopped her diet and medication, but her symptoms worsened. She experienced drastic weight loss in 7 months, and her FBS ranged between 250-320mg/dl with symptoms of blurry vision and burning sensation on both feet.

Metformin is not a bad medication. However, it might not be effective if it is used without a diabetes lifestyle intervention program.

Kuburat could not understand why she had diabetes since she never ate sugar. She had just launched another business and was very active in various volunteer organizations. She knew her health needed real and quick medical attention, but she was too busy to spend hours in the waiting room of a hospital, so she searched for a way to receive the utmost care despite her busy schedule.

While searching for such a platform, Kuburat found Platos Health. She downloaded the app and was assigned a care team comprising a dietician, nurse and doctor. At presentation, she had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and a complex set of comorbidities, all of which needed treatment. Her FBS was 245mg/dl, with symptoms such as excessive weight loss, blurry vision and neuropathy. Her diet was not ideal, and her level of physical activity was sporadic and weather-dependent.

Before joining Platos Health, Kuburat had never seen a dietitian or been educated on self-monitoring of blood glucose. After counselling and consultation sessions with the care team at Platos, she was given the following prescriptions:

Diet

Kuburat was placed on a low carbohydrate diet and was counselled to diversify her diet and control her portion intake. The dietician at Platos recommended 4-5 servings of vegetables daily and 2-3 servings of fruits per day. Kuburat recognized that her glucose control was affected by her diet and agreed to start improving dietary control by reducing her portion size.

She started diversifying her diet with adherence to the prescribed portion for each diet while enjoying all her local foods such as Eba, Amala, Semo, Rice, Yam, Potatoes and so on. Kuburat also incorporated non-starchy vegetables in her diet 3-4 times a day. She eats cucumbers, garden eggs, ugwu, okra and so on.

Medications

She was prescribed Tab Glucophage 1000mg bd, Tab Diamicron 60mg daily, and Tab Gabapentin 300mg nocte, which she adhered to.

She understood the positive effect physical activity could have on glucose control, so she moved from being sedentary to being physically active. Her sister-in-law suggested they could walk each morning after breakfast, so she does brisk walking and dancing for 45 mins daily between 9am and 10am with her sister-in-law.

As she made these lifestyle changes, she learned to use a glucometer, because she now understood the need for glucose readings to guide and evaluate her glycemic control. Kuburat and her sister-in-law were quite willing to learn and read materials that addressed the prevention of diabetes complications. They both believed that if she had received some education on diabetes at the time her parents struggled with it, she would have gotten intervention earlier.

Her care team at Platos reviewed blood sugar (glucose) goals with Kuburat and assisted in deciding on initial short-term goals for weight management, exercise, and medication. Glucose monitoring would serve as a guide and assist Kuburat in modifying her lifestyle.

After 1 week of her diet and drug regimen, results showed that she started having values such as 150, 130, and 132mg/dl. After a month, Kuburat's values range between 87 to 105mg/dl.

After 3 months, she had 70-100mg/dl, the burning sensation was gone, no more frequent hunger or urination, and she was happy with her readings.

As her symptoms reduce, the care team will facilitate the continuity of her care and keep vital pathways of communication open.

Many others like Kuburat exist in our community, confused about how to manage their diabetes. If you are living with diabetes, you can take the first step to live happier and healthier by downloading the Platos app. Platos gives you access to holistic care and allows you to take charge of your health as you manage diabetes in Nigeria.