Type 2 Should I Classify Myself as ‘In Remission’?

[Boo1979]

Sorry, disagree. I don't think you can put stopping doing something damaging to your health in the same bracket as taking medications or having surgery. Many of us change our diet at various times in our lives (eg adopt or give up vegetarianism, learn to cook or live out of the local takeaway). Stopping doing something that is bad for you (and arguably for most people, diabetic or not) is simply a lifestyle choice.
Sally

To my mind anything we are doing and which would lead to a full blown return to a diabetic state if we stopped doing it is a therapeutic intervention and should be counted as such. I see far too many people equating reversal / remission (or whatever else we want to call it) with a return to being able to eat whatever they want
Edit
I would see the suggestion of the ability to get non diabetic responses to OGTT ( possibly repeated over a period of a few years ) as signifying meaningrul remission / reversal

 

[sally and james]

To my mind anything we are doing and which would lead to a full blown return to a diabetic state if we stopped doing it is a therapeutic intervention and should be counted as such. I see far too many people equating reversal / remission (or whatever else we want to call it) with a return to being able to eat whatever they want

In my view, it's all about what you consider to be normal. We consider our present eating habits to be normal. At the time, we regarded our eating habits of a few years ago to be normal. There is no sense of loss, being deprived or a wish to return to the past. Our thoughts and tastes have developed and changed and we feel great on it, it's not therapy, it's what we do, just as a vegetarian doesn't eat meat or some religions don't eat pig and others eat fish on a Friday.
What we choose to eat is our choice, something we do without the intervention of others or the need for specialist input. Medications and surgery are things done to you by others and are, thus, quite different.
Sally

 

[Resurgam]

One thing which is possibly not clear is that my diet at the moment, which is keeping my BG low, is the same diet which I used for decades for weight management. I put on weight very fast if I eat carbs at even the upper end of low carb - when younger and doing two lots of exercise a day, plus bike riding I could eat up to 80 gm of carbs a day, but without that I needed to cut back to 60gm or less - something my doctors would never accept. A closely monitored high carb diet when pregnant almost killed me, and only the lack of a bed in hospital saved me from being admitted on a Friday as I was obviously rather ill - on the Saturday morning I counted the movements I felt and it was far lower than I had ever had before. I stopped the diet and went back to low carb despite all the warnings - I was going to run away to my sister's house to avoid hospital. By the Monday the fluid retention was just about gone and the baby was kicking for England, so I went to the doctor and lied about what I was eating, and he decided that his intervention had saved me from pre-eclampsia.
I have never been able to eat whatever I wanted for all my adult life. I am eating my normal diet. It is not some special diet to deal with diabetes, it is what I eat to be healthy and stop weight gain, I have no other option.

 

[sally and james]

A bit confused here. In the quote above it refers to "no active hypoglcaemic therapy" etc. But in the references used to reach this definition it says "(anti-hyperglycemic medications, immunosuppressive medications) or surgical (ongoing procedures such as repeated replacements of endoluminal devices) therapy. So is the "active hypoglycaemic" a typo for "active hyperglycaemic"

It's all a bit of a mental tongue-twister, but I actually don't think there is a typo:
I read a hypoglycemic therapy as being one that reduces sugar, a therapy towards hypoglycemia and therefore the same thing as an anti-hyperglycemic medication being one that is acting against high sugar.
The researchers are listed as German and Mexican, possibly some confusion in translation???
Sally

 

[jayney27]

I have logged into my profile several times to change my diabetic classification, and hovered over the Type 2 (in remission) button. There is also a ‘Reversed’ option too. I don’t really like either term as I just consider myself very well controlled with my last three HbA1cs in the mid 30s. I feel I deserve one of the alternative classifications (sorry, blowing my own trumpet) and I think I prefer ‘In Remission’. Shall I change it or shan’t I? What do you all think?

Go on be brave and change it, I cant wait for the day I can change mine.... as others have said its encouraging for others and will be your reminder (not that you will need one) that you have come so far

 

[Sue192]

Whichever word/phrase - resolved, in remission, well controlled - you decide to use, @Rachox, I do hope you feel you can change your classification. There are other threads which have looked at the semantics of such classifications and whether they are right or wrong, whether they are correct or not, and so on. To me, they are a sign that the old, negative, 'it's a progressive disease' view that T2 cannot be controlled, means a worsening situation, and that the person with T2 has no control over their condition, is wrong. When I joined the Forum, to see In Remission under someone's username was such a positive surprise for me. Although I also think you should also add @bulkbiker's 'Diabetes Superstar'!

 

[Rachox]

Thank you for all your comments! I have as you can see taken the plunge and changed my avatar to ‘Type 2 (in Remission!)’, after reading what you all say with interest. I am fully aware that I am very well controlled (the description I prefer over all others but not an option here!), however any slippage in my carb control (or maybe stopping my Metformin) will almost certainly put me back in pre-diabetic or diabetic numbers. I know there’s no absolute cure at the moment and feel there possibly won’t be in my lifetime. However my aim is to live as long a life as I can feeling healthy and energetic, something that was slipping away from me before my diagnosis, though I hadn’t realised it til I felt better!

We all (members of this forum and official sources) see it from slightly different angles but I think we all aim for the same thing which is prevention of complications.

I’m changing it to give myself a pat on the back but also to inspire others who are newer than me to all this. I will take it down again if my numbers slip into anything other than non diabetic and will be seeking help here first if that should happen.

The Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘Remission’ is: A temporary diminution of the severity of disease or pain, whilst for ‘Reversed’ it says: Turned the other way round or up or inside out. In my mind I feel ‘Remission’ is therefore the better option.

@bulkbiker ‘Diabetes Superstar’ would be lovely, many others including your good self deserve this moniker

 

[Boo1979]

In my view, it's all about what you consider to be normal. We consider our present eating habits to be normal. At the time, we regarded our eating habits of a few years ago to be normal. There is no sense of loss, being deprived or a wish to return to the past. Our thoughts and tastes have developed and changed and we feel great on it, it's not therapy, it's what we do, just as a vegetarian doesn't eat meat or some religions don't eat pig and others eat fish on a Friday.
What we choose to eat is our choice, something we do without the intervention of others or the need for specialist input. Medications and surgery are things done to you by others and are, thus, quite different.
Sally

I also eat low carb and feel good on it but it still isnt a cure, its a management strategy
I count “ normal” as being a non disease state without the need for a therapeutic intervention be that diet, surgery or meds

 

[Bluetit1802]

It's all a bit of a mental tongue-twister, but I actually don't think there is a typo:
I read a hypoglycemic therapy as being one that reduces sugar, a therapy towards hypoglycemia and therefore the same thing as an anti-hyperglycemic medication being one that is acting against high sugar.
The researchers are listed as German and Mexican, possibly some confusion in translation???
Sally

Thank you. Yes, you are right. It is the "anti" that caught me out. So basically it is all "active" diabetes drugs, which could rule out Metformin if you chose to take it as a medication that may protect other things rather than lower BS. (which several members here do) I suppose the only way to confirm if it is active or not is to try without it for 3 months, have another HbA1c, and see what happens.

 

[ickihun]

Well done @Rachox.

 

[Wraakian]

I agree that your condition is yours to change as long as you don't reverse it back again thinking you can eat like someone without diabetes. A lot of people who have reversed their status may have only been a diabetic type 2 for a short time and those with 30 years as a type 2 although encouraged to go and stay on a low carb diet may be discouraged and really downhearted after trying really hard on a low carb diet without the same reversal. Hope yours is reversed for good and well done!

 

[lengward]

I believe doctors typically use an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) as a method which can help to diagnose instances of diabetes or insulin resistance.

In this test you take a fixed dose of glucose of about 70 grams (after fasting for 12 hours); then;

People without diabetes

Fasting value (before test): under 6 mmol/L

At 2 hours: under 7.8 mmol/L

People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)

Fasting value (before test): 6.0 to 7.0 mmol/L

At 2 hours: 7.9 to 11.0 mmol/L

Diabetic levels

Fasting value (before test): over 7.0 mmol/L

At 2 hours: over 11.0 mmol/L

I would say anyone achieving the non diabetic range after this test has reversed the diabetes whatever their adopted diet plan.

 

[lengward]

I agree with rmz80 on this. Only let your doctor reclassify you as non-diabtetic or in remission if he can proove it with the results of an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. While you are managing your diabetics on a low carb way of eating an HbA1C does not tell you whether you are Type 2 diabetic or not - it just tells you how well you are managing your condition.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I agree with rmz80 on this. Only let your doctor reclassify you as non-diabtetic or in remission if he can proove it with the results of an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. While you are managing your diabetics on a low carb way of eating an HbA1C does not tell you whether you are Type 2 diabetic or not - it just tells you how well you are managing your condition.

We can do an OGTT at home without bothering the doctor. The glucose drink used is available to buy on line, with full instructions on how to prepare beforehand. All we need is a morning with a minimum of 2 hours without having to move about, the drink, a meter, something to record levels on, and a large number of testing strips. This should be sufficient to prove to our self what our diabetes status is.

 

[bulkbiker]

I see far too many people equating reversal / remission (or whatever else we want to call it) with a return to being able to eat whatever they want

Yes but those people are usually the naysayers who claim that if you can't eat what made you ill in the first place then you haven't achieved reversal/remission/cure whatever anyone wants to call it.
For me and I'm guessing many others who have put effort into changing their ways of eating their old diets are precisely what they are trying to avoid.

 

[ecorbett2]

I agree that your condition is yours to change as long as you don't reverse it back again thinking you can eat like someone without diabetes. A lot of people who have reversed their status may have only been a diabetic type 2 for a short time and those with 30 years as a type 2 although encouraged to go and stay on a low carb diet may be discouraged and really downhearted after trying really hard on a low carb diet without the same reversal. Hope yours is reversed for good and well done!

It's very interesting that we all have different experiences.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in October last year, not long at all by the experiences of many here I know. My blood sugar was sky high when I was admitted to hospital, and I was put on twice-daily insulin injections plus metformin. But then this year it became difficult to keep my blood sugar up, so I started to reduce and then stopped taking my insulin and metformin. Since then my blood sugar levels have been perfectly normal. My point is that if the diabetes is controlled by drugs or by diet - I made no concessions at all to a reduced carbohydrate diet - then the underlying condition is still there, so on that basis I think that remission would be the correct word

 

[Boo1979]

Yes but those people are usually the naysayers who claim that if you can't eat what made you ill in the first place then you haven't achieved reversal/remission/cure whatever anyone wants to call it.
For me and I'm guessing many others who have put effort into changing their ways of eating their old diets are precisely what they are trying to avoid.

As I have, but I still don't agree that achieving non diabetic hda1c etc through good control (by whatever combination of interventions that entails) is the same as remission reversal or cure - its simply excellent control and that is worth celebrating in its own right.
Im very happy with my control ( see signature) but only see that as control, nothing more, nothing less

 

[bulkbiker]

As I have, but I still dontagree that achieving non diabetic hda1c etc through good control is the same as remission reversal or cure - its simply excellent control and that is worth celebrating in its own right

So what is your definition? Or is it not possible in your view?

 

[Christine McMillan]

I have logged into my profile several times to change my diabetic classification, and hovered over the Type 2 (in remission) button. There is also a ‘Reversed’ option too. I don’t really like either term as I just consider myself very well controlled with my last three HbA1cs in the mid 30s. I feel I deserve one of the alternative classifications (sorry, blowing my own trumpet) and I think I prefer ‘In Remission’. Shall I change it or shan’t I? What do you all think?

I am a diet only control diabetic since disgnosis in 2006, I was told at my last review that I could be rrturned to a once a year rview, except my kidney function. As my maternal mum and at least one brother and her fsther died of kudney failure well pre dialysis - but devades tounger rhan I am now, I am rather paranoid about kidneys so have said I wish to stay twice yearly checked. Husband is also T2, on netformin (slow release ), should his annual review in 2018 remain as 2017 hcwill come off his metformin. He was dropped 50% in 2017. I will always say T2 diet controlled, I didn’t even know as I had no symptoms, it was a Well Woman exam that picked it up when I was mid 50s. (Now 66)

 

[TimLaws]

Hi,
I too got my numbers down in to the 33 36 mark, then "fell off the wagon" you know bread & beer. My fault etc and climbed back to 43.Re instated the LCHF food plan numbers now down to 36. I consider myself to T2D controlled by diet & Metformin at 500mgs per day. I would be wary to allow my GP to mark me ever as Resolved as I believe (I might be wrong) this stops the 6 months/yearly checks etc. But be proud of your acheivments as it encourages me - others!