9 min

Unveiling Health Challenges: The Revamped Watts Involved Podcast

AutoimmunePurpose

In short

David Watts explains why Watts Involved is no longer a business and motivation show: after roughly 245 episodes, type 2 diabetes and worsening peripheral neuropathy have reshaped his life, cost him his long-running radio slot and left him often unable to work. He reframes the podcast as a shared journey, inviting listeners with similar experiences to swap ideas.

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Why is the Watts Involved podcast changing format?

Because David's own health has taken over his life. After around 245 episodes as a business, motivational and inspirational show, he decided it was time for Watts to get involved in his own life, sharing his diabetes and neuropathy journey rather than business content.

From 00:00:03 in the conversation.

How long has David had type 2 diabetes and how has it progressed?

He has had type 2 diabetes for roughly 12 to 14 years. It was manageable at first, but became progressively harder to control despite trying to do the right things, and he eventually had to go onto insulin as well.

From 00:00:58 in the conversation.

What were the first signs of peripheral neuropathy?

Tingling in his feet and toes. He was initially told to take more vitamin B, but symptoms worsened: pain spread into his lower legs, became constant and unbearable, and he lost feeling in his feet and legs.

From 00:01:32 in the conversation.

How does he monitor his blood sugar now?

With a continuous glucose monitor worn on his body, scanned with his phone. Each sensor lasts about two weeks and it is not cheap, but it has spared him ten to fifteen finger pricks a day.

From 00:02:27 in the conversation.

What did the podiatrist reveal about his balance?

That the feet are responsible for a lot of a person's balance — something David had no idea about. With his loss of sensation, he tends to fall over if he closes his eyes. The podiatrist referred him to a neurologist.

From 00:03:16 in the conversation.

Why was he frustrated with the medical answers he was given?

He kept being told it was simply his diabetes and to manage it properly. When he asked how neuropathy presents in a diabetic patient — whether it plateaus — he was told yes, yet his own pain was worsening and climbing up his legs.

From 00:03:16 in the conversation.

What happened to his radio show?

He gave it up because the pain and loss of focus meant he could no longer do it to his own standard. Expecting a farewell after around ten years, he was instead dropped immediately — a reminder that in radio you are only as good as your last show.

From 00:05:35 in the conversation.

What toll has the illness taken beyond the physical pain?

Stress, sleep deprivation and a sense of being useless and no longer contributing. Much of the time he cannot work and lies in bed feeling miserable. He also mentions mild dyslexia and ADD, which compound his difficulty concentrating.

From 00:07:20 in the conversation.

What does he want from listeners?

Shared experience and ideas. He hopes people on a similar journey will get in touch so they can help each other, via the website wattsinvolved.com, a voice note, a message or an email.

From 00:08:51 in the conversation.

In their words

Taken from the recording, word for word.

I thought this what needs to get involved with his own life, and I need to share my journey with you, explain to you what happened, why I'm changing, the entire way that the podcast works

— David Watts, 00:00:03

the first thing, that I learned, which I had no idea of, was that your feet are responsible for a lot of your balance. And if I close my eyes, I have a tendency to fall over

— David Watts, 00:03:16

I got dropped there like a hot potato and was wondering what now because this pain and everything has affected me to such a level that a lot of the time, I simply can't work

— David Watts, 00:06:27

The more I find out, the less I know. And it's just an absolute minefield.

— David Watts, 00:06:27

Give me a microphone. I'll talk to anybody and everybody. Put me on video, and I feel like an absolute Charlie.

— David Watts, 00:08:27

Key takeaways

  1. After around 245 episodes as a business and motivational show, Watts Involved is being relaunched around David's personal health journey.
  2. Type 2 diabetes of 12 to 14 years' standing became progressively harder to manage and eventually required insulin.
  3. Peripheral neuropathy that began as tingling in the toes advanced into constant pain and loss of sensation in the feet and lower legs.
  4. Repeatedly being told to simply manage his diabetes better left David without answers, and the more he researched the less he felt he knew.
  5. The health problems cost him his radio show of around ten years, with no farewell, and often leave him unable to work at all.
  6. David also lives with mild dyslexia and ADD, which he had kept private and which worsen his difficulty focusing.

Show notes

On this episode of Watts Involved, host David Watts opens up about a significant change in the podcast's focus. Formerly a business and motivational show, David now shares his personal journey with type 2 diabetes and its complications, including peripheral neuropathy. With candid honesty, he discusses the impact on his career, emotional well-being, and the challenges posed by additional health conditions. Join David as he invites listeners to be part of his journey, aiming to provide mutual support and understanding. Tune in to gain insights, share experiences, and connect with David by visiting the website or leaving a message. This is an episode that offers empathy, understanding, and a quest for collective growth.

Frequently asked questions

Who referred him to a neurologist?

His podiatrist, after working through everything with him. The neurologist's recommendation raised the possibility of a nerve decompression, and David scheduled an appointment hoping for answers or that procedure.

Does he mention other conditions?

Yes. He says he seems to be collecting autoimmune diseases at the moment and promises to say more about that in a later episode. He also mentions having heard, without verifying it, that diabetes is an autoimmune disease.

How does he feel about advice from other people?

He accepts it in good faith. He notes that when people hear you are ill they are very keen to recommend all sorts of things, not maliciously but out of genuine concern, and says he has tried some weird and wonderful remedies.

How does he feel about presenting on video?

Uncomfortable. He says this is one of the first times he has ever been on video: give him a microphone and he will talk to anybody, but on camera he feels like an absolute Charlie.

Transcript

The full conversation, 1,530 words.

David Watts 00:00:03 — Hi. I'm David Watts. Welcome to Watts Involved. Now you may or may not know that I'm going to be changing a few things. So what's involved initially, and I think I did about 245 odd episodes, That was originally done as a business show, motivational inspiration, and, as I said, 245 odd episodes, a bit of a labor of love. But now I've decided to change the focus. So instead of what's being involved in, the business and all of those kind of motivational things, I thought this what needs to get involved with his own life, and I need to share my journey with you, explain to you what happened, why I'm changing, the entire way that the podcast works. And the simple answer is going to take a while because it's it's not so simple.

David Watts 00:00:58 — So I have type 2 the type 2 diabetes, and I've had it for, I don't know, 12, 13, 14 years. And it all started out okay, and I understand if people go, yeah. You got it because you had too much sugar. Fair enough. Hands up. I'll I'll accept that one. But, then it progressively sort of got harder and harder to manage my, diabetes just in in terms of lifestyle, etcetera, etcetera. I was trying to do all the right things, but not happening.

David Watts 00:01:32 — Anyway, long story short, eventually, I had to go on insulin as well. So there we go. The other thing I heard the other day, which I I didn't know, and and maybe I'm wrong, I haven't Googled it, you see, because Google knows everything. But the other thing that, I heard is that, diabetes is also an autoimmune disease. Why do I say this? Well, there's there's more to come about this. Anyway, so it started off, as most diabetics do, when they get a peripheral neuropathy, that I started to get tingling in my my sort of feet and my toes, etcetera, etcetera. And, when I try to find out about that, initially, I was told to take more vitamin b, which I duly did, and it just kept on getting worse. My my my my feet kept on getting worse and worse and worse, more and more pain.

David Watts 00:02:27 — The pain was now in, my legs, into my lower legs, and I'd I'd kind of lost all feeling in in my feet and at my legs as well. And the more I try to find out what this was about, why was it doing this, the less it became you know, the less I knew. Because I kept getting told, oh, it's your diabetes. Manage your diabetes properly. So, we went to the extent of of getting a a sort of continuous glucose monitor, which I currently have on. It's it's also not cheap, but it's prevented me having 10, 15 fingerprints a day. So it's just over there, and each one lasts about 2 weeks. So then I just scan with my phone, and I know what I'm doing.

David Watts 00:03:16 — And eventually, believe it or not, it ended up me going to a podiatrist and her going through everything. And the first thing, that I learned, which I had no idea of, was that your feet are responsible for a lot of your balance. And if I close my eyes, I have a tendency to fall over. So that wasn't fun, but then, she was the one who recommended me to go and see a neurologist. And the neurologist, she said, in her recommendation, maybe do a nerve decompression. So I then went ahead and duly scheduled an appointment with the neurologist, thinking maybe there's going to be a nerve decompression or or maybe she's got some answers for me. Because to that point in time, I mean, the pain was unbearable. It was, like, 247, and I tried just about everything that I could think of, you know, and I wasn't happy with, your diabetes is in control.

David Watts 00:04:20 — I was like, well, how does neuropathy present in a diabetic patient? Does it does it sort of, you know, get to a point and then stay like that? And they were the people were like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I said, well, mine's getting worse. It's going up my legs. So that is essentially a bit of a a a background as to, why I have decided to to change the format of the show and share my story and and see. Maybe, maybe you are having a similar problem or have had a similar journey, and you'd like to check and we can share ideas. Maybe you have some ideas because that's the one thing I noticed.

David Watts 00:04:57 — When, when you have an illness or a disease, people are very, very keen and happy to recommend all sorts of things to you, and I don't think they do it maliciously. I think they do it because they're genuinely concerned. As I said, I've tried I've tried some weird and wonderfuls. So as I said, time for this to get involved in his own life. This is going to be my journey. I'm going to tell you about what's happened and and how I got to where I am today. And one thing, as I mentioned earlier, that 245 odd episodes, I was on radio. I've been in radio all my life.

David Watts 00:05:35 — Okay? And it's it's like my drug of choice, basically, because I absolutely love doing it. But then with these health issues, I got to the stage where I wasn't really able to focus and to do the show I was doing as well as I thought I should. So after much soul searching and everything, I said to the radio station, listen. I'm not going to be able to do the show in its current format anymore. And for some reason, I thought they were going to go, shame. That's that's not not good. Tell you what, thank you very much for letting us know, and and how about, you know, you've you've been with us for 10 odd years. How about us, you know, just doing a bit of a farewell or something? You know, I expected something, and I shouldn't have being in radio because, you know, you're only as good as your last show.

David Watts 00:06:27 — So I got dropped there like a hot potato and was wondering what now because this pain and everything has affected me to such a level that a lot of the time, I simply can't work. I'd I'd lie in bed and feel miserable. So that's where it's progressed to, and there's other bits and pieces. I seem to be, at the moment collecting these autoimmune diseases. I'll tell tell you more about that next time. But today, yeah, that's that's my journey. That's what I've been on, and I wanna share stuff with you because the more I've tried to find out about this stuff, it's like, you know, do do you wanna do you wanna take the red pill and go all the way down the rabbit hole? The more I find out, the less I know. And it's just an absolute minefield.

David Watts 00:07:20 — And I cannot neglect the emotional and and and intellectual, toll this has had on me in terms of stress and sleep deprivation and just genuine generally feeling like, you know, I'm now not contributing. I am useless. So maybe that's where where you are. Maybe you got an idea around that. A little bit more context, my dirty little secret that I had carried around for a very long time is that, I have a mild form of of dyslexia, and, also, I have ADD. So I have the attention span of a squirrel at the best of times. Now you add my other symptoms into that, and it's just I I just can't, and I need to figure out how. And I thought if you could join me in my journey and, you know, I could maybe help you, you could maybe help me, then that would be awesome, and I get to do what I love, except for the video part.

David Watts 00:08:27 — This is, like, one of the first times I've ever been on video. Give me a microphone. I'll talk to anybody and everybody. Put me on video, and I feel like an absolute Charlie. Anyway so, that's it for this edition of what's involved. Thank you so much whether you've been listening or watching. I really do appreciate it. Your feedback is appreciated, and you can you can get hold of me anytime.

David Watts 00:08:51 — Check out the website, which is what's involved, w a t t s, involved.com. Leave me a voice note. Drop me a message. Drop me a mail. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. So as I said, until next time, look after yourselves. Be kind, and thank you for listening.

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