will diabetes type 2 worsen

[kokhongw]

To be honest, you people are very helpful! I knew nothing about diabetes and now I'm learning more and more every day. Also, coming to the diet, I've already made modifications to my diet and I've reduced the carbs because I suspect them to be the cause of my condition in the first place

Also, I'm reading more and more new studies about diabetes and I found about diabetes 3c. Although I don't have 3c I think that you people should also know about it. I'm making progress towards the learning about the condition and I want to help everyone on this forum like they are helping me with it!

There is a sub forum for this
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-3c-pancreatic-diabetes.73/

 

[DCB 2]

Hi Stephen,

It sounds like you have the right attitude. I remember when I was diagnosed I was terrified and to be honest mad as hell. I would agree that diet and exercise are important, but I would also add that you should be regular testing of your blood sugar. It takes time to understand how what you eat effects your blood sugar. By regularly testing it you can see trends and make corrections if needed. Finally I would find a good nutritionist to help reteach you on how foods effect your blood sugar. I track blood sugar daily with the spreadsheet which also calculates my a1c on monthly and 90 days so I can see trends. The point that I am trying make is vigilance important so you can see when things start going wrong you catch them and fix them. One other thing you are learning and you will make some mistakes. I was told that whole wheat pasta would be OK to eat and it drove my blood sugar to 250. Everyone one is different so that is reason for checking your blood sugar. Your head is the right place do what you are doing and check your blood sugars regularly to make sure they are OK.

Hi Stephen
I am glad what I wrote you was helpful. I see from a previous post that you trying to read up on things which is excellent, the only thing I would caution is that if you have any concerns about type 3c is that you bring them up with your doctor, this forum provides great information, but most of us are not doctors and even if we were no one can remotely diagnose someone. If your symptoms line up with type 3c diabetes, then I would insist that you have your doctor refer you to a specialist who is familar type 3c diabetes. Self diagnoses is never a good idea. The so much stuff on the web that can scare the #$#@# out of you, so it is always good idea talk about what you found here yes and again your doctor. It sound like you are already this, but you and your doctor are a team and if you have questions or concerns bring them up.

Personally I am type 2, but I have gotten my blood sugars to the point where I am off medication. What I did was closely monitor my blood sugars and recorded them three times day. I just made sure that I checked against previous days readings to see if my blood sugar was stable or not. If I thought they were starting to get out of control. Then I made changes to my diet or exercises to correct things. One thing I would say about monitoring blood sugar numbers there will be days when you will get spikes, especially in the beginning. You are going to make mistakes because you are learning, just learn from them. Someone told me a long time ago no body is perfect every time, it is better to try for perfection and miss by little than not not even try and miss alot. Translation: Try the best you can and treat the bumps in the road as learning opprtunities. When I got spikes I noticed that my blood sugars came back down reasonalbly quick. When I was off my meds I worked with my nutrinionist to help me to figure out what changes I needed to make to my diet. I exercise regularily and always take the stairs instead of the elevator. I have a glucose monitor at home, in my gym bag, and at work so I check blood sugar.

I can remember what it was like when I was diagnosed, did not have the faintist idea of what to do, but I did the best I could each day and made checking and understanding my blood sugars my highest priority. You are on the right track and if things dont seem right bring them up with your doctor or nutritionist. I really recommend that you should work with an nutritionist. Just let us know how you are doing.



I hope this helps

 

[DCB 2]

Hi Stephen
I am glad what I wrote you was helpful. I see from a previous post that you trying to read up on things which is excellent, the only thing I would caution is that if you have any concerns about type 3c is that you bring them up with your doctor, this forum provides great information, but most of us are not doctors and even if we were no one can remotely diagnose someone. If your symptoms line up with type 3c diabetes, then I would insist that you have your doctor refer you to a specialist who is familar type 3c diabetes. Self diagnoses is never a good idea. The so much stuff on the web that can scare the #$#@# out of you, so it is always good idea talk about what you found here yes and again your doctor. It sound like you are already this, but you and your doctor are a team and if you have questions or concerns bring them up.

Personally I am type 2, but I have gotten my blood sugars to the point where I am off medication. What I did was closely monitor my blood sugars and recorded them three times day. I just made sure that I checked against previous days readings to see if my blood sugar was stable or not. If I thought they were starting to get out of control. Then I made changes to my diet or exercises to correct things. One thing I would say about monitoring blood sugar numbers there will be days when you will get spikes, especially in the beginning. You are going to make mistakes because you are learning, just learn from them. Someone told me a long time ago no body is perfect every time, it is better to try for perfection and miss by little than not not even try and miss alot. Translation: Try the best you can and treat the bumps in the road as learning opprtunities. When I got spikes I noticed that my blood sugars came back down reasonalbly quick. When I was off my meds I worked with my nutrinionist to help me to figure out what changes I needed to make to my diet. I exercise regularily and always take the stairs instead of the elevator. I have a glucose monitor at home, in my gym bag, and at work so I check blood sugar.

I can remember what it was like when I was diagnosed, did not have the faintist idea of what to do, but I did the best I could each day and made checking and understanding my blood sugars my highest priority. You are on the right track and if things dont seem right bring them up with your doctor or nutritionist. I really recommend that you should work with an nutritionist. Just let us know how you are doing.



I hope this helps

I use the following formula to estimate my A1C:

A1C = (46.7 + average_blood_glucose) / 28.7

 

[tsouza]

Hi, I'm one of the newly diagnosed ones and this thread grabbed my attention because it mentions 'worsen'. Well, I'm a little scared right now as I don't really want to get my condition worse. I'm doing regular exercise and even started to eat a balanced diet. Is this enough?

And hope for the best!

 

[zuckerhonig]

I have just finished The complete guide to fasting and am going through the diabetic code by Jason Fung. I am finding the arguments for fasting compelling.

I could be wrong but a lower BG reading for T2 which has been treated with drugs is not necessarily treating the underlying condition. I have got a lot to learn so happy to be educated.

 

[stephenlopez]

Hi Stephen
I am glad what I wrote you was helpful. I see from a previous post that you trying to read up on things which is excellent, the only thing I would caution is that if you have any concerns about type 3c is that you bring them up with your doctor, this forum provides great information, but most of us are not doctors and even if we were no one can remotely diagnose someone. If your symptoms line up with type 3c diabetes, then I would insist that you have your doctor refer you to a specialist who is familar type 3c diabetes. Self diagnoses is never a good idea. The so much stuff on the web that can scare the #$#@# out of you, so it is always good idea talk about what you found here yes and again your doctor. It sound like you are already this, but you and your doctor are a team and if you have questions or concerns bring them up.

Personally I am type 2, but I have gotten my blood sugars to the point where I am off medication. What I did was closely monitor my blood sugars and recorded them three times day. I just made sure that I checked against previous days readings to see if my blood sugar was stable or not. If I thought they were starting to get out of control. Then I made changes to my diet or exercises to correct things. One thing I would say about monitoring blood sugar numbers there will be days when you will get spikes, especially in the beginning. You are going to make mistakes because you are learning, just learn from them. Someone told me a long time ago no body is perfect every time, it is better to try for perfection and miss by little than not not even try and miss alot. Translation: Try the best you can and treat the bumps in the road as learning opprtunities. When I got spikes I noticed that my blood sugars came back down reasonalbly quick. When I was off my meds I worked with my nutrinionist to help me to figure out what changes I needed to make to my diet. I exercise regularily and always take the stairs instead of the elevator. I have a glucose monitor at home, in my gym bag, and at work so I check blood sugar.

I can remember what it was like when I was diagnosed, did not have the faintist idea of what to do, but I did the best I could each day and made checking and understanding my blood sugars my highest priority. You are on the right track and if things dont seem right bring them up with your doctor or nutritionist. I really recommend that you should work with an nutritionist. Just let us know how you are doing.



I hope this helps

I hope I will learn about diabetes and keep up with the condition as much as you people do. I'm 27 now and I really want to live a long and healthy life. I'm ready to do anything to live a healthy life, whether it's dieting or exercise or whatever it is needed. This is the reason why I'm here, to know all the stories of you people, to know your struggle with the condition, to know how you people are living a healthy life.

Also, I want to contribute something to this community too Because even I want to make lives better. So, here is something I found on the web, I don't know if this accurate or not but I felt that it is good. Home Remedies for Diabetes

 

[Julia99]

Through use of a libre monitor and finger prick testing, I’ve learnt I do not tolerate wheat at all. I can (although rarely do, it was part of testing to see what spiked my bg), ice cream, cake, chocolate with little effect, although I only had small amounts. Anything wheat based sees me spike to 8-9, although the spike is short lived. Rice, bread all have this effect. Potatoes in small quantities are ok.
Without the libre I wouldn’t have known this as2 hours after, generally they are back down to the middle 5s. I’ve had to self fund this as I’m diet controlled. I had my diabetic review this week and we chatted about funded testing, but as DN said, there is no money in the NHS. She was quite happy for me not to eat carbs. I’m one of her model patients apparently as although my fasting bg is around 6.5-6.9 (working on reducing this) by hba1c is 39-41.
Interestingly they don’t do fbg anymore to monitor you at my practice. She said now that once you have had 2 fbgs over 7, you are classed as diabetic so they do 6 monthly hba1c tests. I didn’t bother to ask if she read the report from the endocrinologist in which he said I was pre diabetic and this is why my hba1c was normal (this was before I started the low carb). He explained that it is the insulin resistance which causes my high fbg and it’s all linked to my pcos which I’ve had for 30 years.
To be fair I’m happy to be in the system as I get the 6 monthly bloods to see how it’s going and I get an annual retinal eye screen. She also does annual liver function tests, thyroid and god knows what and the last lot gave all come back within the normal range. Apart from cholesterol which is 6.8, although she knows I won’t take statins and it’s been that for some time. When we discussed it and I said it was probably because of the higher amount of fats I was eating, her reply was better higher cholesterol than high blood sugars!
My trigs are down to 0.8 though so I believe that’s good

 

[Pinkorchid]

I wonder about that, too.

It seems that for most practical purposes, if people make big changes, especially to diet, then to all intents and purposes, it doesn't need to measurably worsen and often measurably improves.

But I also wonder why T2 becomes more likely as we age. That could suggest that certain aspects of our metabolism do indeed worsen over time. Not exactly shocking, we are of course all hard-wired to wither up and die eventually. If things like our pancreas didn't get less functional as we age, it would be surprising, because everything else does.

Studies certainly show that visceral fat increases with age, and T2 is strongly correlated with visceral fat. So it probably gets harder and harder to keep on top of T2 as we age, but then it gets harder and harder to do everything.

I definitely think that age has something to do with developing diabetes because as you say our bodies becomes less functional as we age We are more likely to develop medical problems and therefore take more medication some of which are known to raise BG so making some people more predisposed to diabetes. My husband had T2 diagnosed when he was 83 and his doctor thinks it was caused by the steriods he takes for Polymyalgia

 

[Bazer2000]

I was "diagnosed" with Type 2 in 1999 (I was 49) so I have been with it for a while now. I found control very difficult over the years even on a low carb diet, even when I got put on insulin it made no difference. I think my situation was a combination of genetics (slim fat free thighs and a bit of a tummy) and botched low back surgery when I was 34 which means I have not been able to low intensity exercise for quite some time. However, able to gym (cross trainer) Pilates and lift weights but for me low intensity has the best impact on lowering BG.

Then came a long Dapagliflozin and I must say night and day HAB1C around 5.8 down three belt holes (15Kg) and into normal BMI. I continue with the insulin and metformin but don't seem to get too low, once in a blue moon. I recently had a months free trial of the Freestyle Libre and learnt more about my control and what type 2 really meant to me than in my previous 18 years of sporadic monitoring. I think just having them for a month (two sensors) would save the NHS long-term on drugs and medication. If only........

 

[Zilsniggy]

Hi, I'm one of the newly diagnosed ones and this thread grabbed my attention because it mentions 'worsen'. Well, I'm a little scared right now as I don't really want to get my condition worse. I'm doing regular exercise and even started to eat a balanced diet. Is this enough?

Probably not. If you don't learn what foods contribute to spiking your blood glucose, then you will not be able to control the condition and prevent complications.

This is a condition which demands that we do our own research, since the effects of the condition are not the same for each person, so you really have to find out what is best for yourself.

If you continue to eat the recognised so-called healthy 'balanced' diet it may not help to control the condition, since it is generally too carb heavy to maintain control for most people.

We are diabetics, we have a condition which means that we do not tolerate carbohydrate well, it leads to spikes in our blood glucose, and insulin levels, then leads to insulin resistance. If we continue to eat carbs, that insulin resistance worsens and we require more and more medication to keep our sugars in control.

To me, it seems a no-brainer to limit carbohydrate intake to keep glucose control without harmful medications.

I've lowered my A1C to 42 in six through eating this way, and wouldn't go back to a normal carb laden diet now if you paid me, I feel so much better eating this way.

But each to his own.

 

[Oldvatr]

I use the following formula to estimate my A1C:

A1C = (46.7 + average_blood_glucose) / 28.7

Here is a general purpose tool I use
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html

 

[Zilsniggy]

Your standard is very high. That will require 10 carb per meal.

Actually many diabetics eat around 7g carbs per meal, and yes, we need high standards to avoid nasty complications!

 

[millenium]

Actually many diabetics eat around 7g carbs per meal, and yes, we need high standards to avoid nasty complications!

U r correct.

I just came across some research data. Out of four type 2 patients that rely on only diet control, after five years 2 out of 4 need to add in medicine control. After ten years only 1 out of the 4 can properly control their condition with just diet alone.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I think it is more accurate to say that your pancreatic function is likely to get worse over time.

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise to those of us who have had their eyesight worsen through their life, their knees and feet protest a bit more if given too much work to do, muscles get a bit stiffer, hair get a bit thinner, teeth slowly wear out.

This doesn't mean that life becomes unworkable and we can't chew and can't walk. We just have to work a bit harder at treating ourselves kindly.

The same applies to the pancreas; over the years we may have to be more mindful of the load we are putting on it and the work we are asking it to do. In the same way that we may no longer feel quite safe running down a steep hill, or sensibly decide that perhaps a half marathon might not be good for the lower limbs, we should not expect the pancreas to be as lively as it was when we were 20. Don't ask too much of it with regards to handling carbohydrates. Don't ask it to sprint through a sugar hit. Don't do reckless things which might result in long term damage. Then, as with the rest of our body, we should be able to live a normal life without any major medication.

This doesn't apply to everyone. Some people will be running ultra-marathons in their 80s and eating a massive amount of carbohydrates because their bodies can cope. However if we have has warnings (stiff and painful knees, for instance) or a diabetes diagnosis, then we have to take a bit more care.

On the subject of drugs I would suggest a get out clause for Metformin, because up to now it is reported to have potential major health benefits far beyond treating diabetes, with no known major downside. This is keeping me from trying to go drug free at the moment because the potential benefits seem to outweigh the potential harms.

Edit: using running as an analogy has reminded me that I know a number of runners and dedicated long distance walkers who have worn their knees out by the age of 60. Fortunately they have the option of knee replacements with artificial knees. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have an artificial pancreas replacement in the same way?

 

[Oldvatr]

U r correct.

I just came across some research data. Out of four type 2 patients that rely on only diet control, after five years 2 out of 4 need to add in medicine control. After ten years only 1 out of the 4 can properly control their condition with just diet alone.

I would add a corollary here. Old Age too is a progressive condition that cannot be reversed. There is a very high risk of developing Old Age, and the condition is always terminal. Recent studies have shown that those of us that have birthdays stand an increasing risk of suffering from its side effects, and so far there is no known cure for it, Old Age can lead to debilitating anf disabling comorbidities, and we are now seeing that diet can have severe impact on quality of life, Medication will become necessary for most of us, and the increasing social cost of O.A. is crippling the NHS and the government budgets. OA is responsible for creating the largest employer in the UK.

I gave up seeking the Holy Grail that seems to be behind this thread, It is just smoke and mirrors creating illusions that we can be cured, Maybe one day it will happen, but till that time I will continue to try to control my condition as best as I can, and lead my life as I see fit. It was never going to be perfect, but then OA is always lurking anyway, so like taxes the eventual outcome is guaranteed.

Sorry, but sometimes we need to accept that some objects are immovable. Some mirages give us hope, but then - pouf- and its gone. Enjoy Life while you can and grab the beast by the horns. Take Control.

 

[bulkbiker]

U r correct.

I just came across some research data. Out of four type 2 patients that rely on only diet control, after five years 2 out of 4 need to add in medicine control. After ten years only 1 out of the 4 can properly control their condition with just diet alone.

Could you please provide a link to the data?

 

[millenium]

I just want to add the way i interpret what i post above.

I believe most diabetes type 2 patients are not monitoring and controlling their blood glucose level enough. Hence the one out of two and one out of four results in the study. The way many members here control their blood glucose level to the highest standard really convinced me that it could be done. And ever since i came into this forum till today, in a span of one month, i have successfully kept my diabetes type 2 father's blood glucos

 

[millenium]

Glucose level within the level recommended in this informative site.

 

[millenium]

Could you please provide a link to the data?

Yes. It is from a dietitian uni textbook on my shelf. Tomorrow i will upload photo of the page and reference. It is a 1990 peer reviewed study.

 

[bulkbiker]

Yes. It is from a dietitian uni textbook on my shelf. Tomorrow i will upload photo of the page and reference. It is a 1990 peer reviewed study.

Oh ok not to worry.. sounds a bit "old" if you get my drift be interesting to know what "diet" they were following though.