no longer diabetic?

[licklemoose]

went to drs couple days ago about joint pain
while there i mentioned that i had been having a few lows
showed him my readings on my phone, he checked my notes and said 'you shouldnt be on metformin or testing because you are not diabetic' he then stopped metformin and testing strips
i do have a new lot of metformin and strips (this is day 3 no metformin normal not slow release) and done a few naughty foods and sugars have not reached 8
is it possible to 'cure' type 2?
should i stick to what i was eating?
he wants a A1c test done in 3 months
when i seen my DN a few weeks ago she was pleased with results and said to continue with metformin and i could even drop a tablet a day if i wanted
another thing i cant figure is weight gain, no matter how good i am im seeing weekly gains
i do have a few bloods to be done....celiac, autoimmune and arthritis

 

[alexco]

Last month I had similar nightmares after the pills I took to treat diabetes. I mentioned it to my attending physician and he recommended that I visit a psychologist. I actually followed his advice and he helped me a lot.

 

[DCUKMod]

went to drs couple days ago about joint pain
while there i mentioned that i had been having a few lows
showed him my readings on my phone, he checked my notes and said 'you shouldnt be on metformin or testing because you are not diabetic' he then stopped metformin and testing strips
i do have a new lot of metformin and strips (this is day 3 no metformin normal not slow release) and done a few naughty foods and sugars have not reached 8
is it possible to 'cure' type 2?
should i stick to what i was eating?
he wants a A1c test done in 3 months
when i seen my DN a few weeks ago she was pleased with results and said to continue with metformin and i could even drop a tablet a day if i wanted
another thing i cant figure is weight gain, no matter how good i am im seeing weekly gains
i do have a few bloods to be done....celiac, autoimmune and arthritis

What you eat is up to you, but I've only ever had one diabetic range A1c, with the rest well below prediabetes. Because I don't find the reduced carb way of living a burden, I stick with it.

Within that lot of blood tests, are they looking at your thyroid too? A struggling thyroid can lead to weight gain, for many, so worth a quick look. It's a very cheap test indeed, as they're highly unlikely to test for antibodies in the first instance.

 

[licklemoose]

What you eat is up to you, but I've only ever had one diabetic range A1c, with the rest well below prediabetes. Because I don't find the reduced carb way of living a burden, I stick with it.

Within that lot of blood tests, are they looking at your thyroid too? A struggling thyroid can lead to weight gain, for many, so worth a quick look. It's a very cheap test indeed, as they're highly unlikely to test for antibodies in the first instance.

i have hashimotos so antibodies will come back high
self medicating too as dont do well on thyroxine
last TSH was just under 2
ive not been able to do much due to the aches and pains so could explain weight gain

 

[HSSS]

done a few naughty foods and sugars have not reached 8
is it possible to 'cure' type 2?
should i stick to what i was eating?
he wants a A1c test done in 3 months

I personally think you can manage it/control it etc but whatever went wrong to begin with could happen again. Maybe for some this constitutes a cure so long as whatever triggered t2 originally isn’t repeated. Semantics: that have been and will be debated much.

With your long-standing excellent results you may have returned to a reasonable level of insulin resistance with your diet hence the reasonable scores you are seeing with the naughty food. However I’d be very wary of continuing too many of them, as in my opinion the very real likelihood of the IR deteriorating again to the point of T2 diagnosable levels looms large.

The metformin only does a limited amount to help. Diet does more.

Keeping a close eye via repeat hb1ac sounds wise.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi icklemoose,
The following are just my opinions from my own studies of the T2 condition:
1. Unless your T2 was triggered by something other than Carb Intolerance, it is highly unlikely that you are 'cured', but you are certainly in long term remission.

2. Although Thyroid would be my first suspect, it is possible that your recent weight gain is connected to a recovering pancreas - better BG control after eating Sugars/refined carbs may be due to increased natural Insulin production. This would be consistent with weight gain as Insulin stores away the excess glucose as fat.

3. With your long term low HbA1C numbers, it is surprising that your Doctor or Nurse didn't suggest reducing/taking you off Metformin - since you obviously don't need it for controlling BG levels.

4. Where I disagree with your GP is on testing. I feel that although you have no need to test regularly it is still a good idea to test periodically. Since it is my belief that T2 can be held in remission, but if caused by Carb Intolerance it can never be cured.

 

[Resurgam]

At the moment I can eat more carbs than I need and not see high blood glucose - my after meal tests are usually about 6mmol/l, but I need to keep to low carb as other wise I gain weight very easily.
Perhaps you are in the same situation, with tests showing that you are in control of your glucose intolerance, but any slight extra is being stashed away for winter.

 

[DCUKMod]

i have hashimotos so antibodies will come back high
self medicating too as dont do well on thyroxine
last TSH was just under 2
ive not been able to do much due to the aches and pains so could explain weight gain

licklemoose - Have you read this article?

http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_the_thyroid/hashimotos.html

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

i had been having a few lows . . . . . . he checked my notes and said 'you shouldnt be on metformin or testing because you are not diabetic' he then stopped metformin and testing strips

In theory Metformin alone shouldn't cause lows. Test strips on prescription, how did you manage that? You might be the only type II in the UK with test strips on prescription.

is it possible to 'cure' type 2?

A good question, my answer would have to be "Can you eat 250 gms of carbohydrate in a day without affecting your BG". If you can, you're cured.

should i stick to what i was eating?

Looks like you've done well, doing what you've been doing. So probably best to stick at it.

when i seen my DN a few weeks ago she was pleased with results and said to continue with metformin and i could even drop a tablet a day if i wanted

I can't explain that, Metformin is usually the first thing prescribed to type IIs and it's worth baring in mind that it doesn't work the same way as something like Gliclazide which helps the pancreas produce more insulin.

another thing i cant figure is weight gain, no matter how good i am im seeing weekly gains

Something else I can't explain, it's a problem I have even though I know I eat much less than my BMR (1200 calories whereas my BMR is 2300 calories) as calculated using the Harris Benedict formula.

 

[licklemoose]

licklemoose - Have you read this article?

http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_the_thyroid/hashimotos.html

thank you will have a read later but yes im hashimotos, when i had scan i was told thyroid very small due to antibodies
dr then went to say 'end stage thyroiditis' i thought i was dying

 

[DCUKMod]

thank you will have a read later but yes im hashimotos, when i had scan i was told thyroid very small due to antibodies
dr then went to say 'end stage thyroiditis' i thought i was dying

To be honest, I hadn't read the aspects of joint pain with Hashimoto's.

I don't have Hashi's myself, so my reading around that particular aspect hasn't been as deep as for other issues.

It's just something to consider.

If you want to do a "deep dive" into matters thyroid, the Health Unlocked, thyroid are really is excellent. I learned a massive amount there, when beginning my own ongoing thyroid "adventure". https://healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk

 

[licklemoose]

another low today 4.1
no meds
should i be mentioning this to dr?
scared im going to have a low during the night
had porridge for brekkie 6.9 before, 7.2 2 hours after
3 hours later 4.1, had 6 jelly babies, went shopping and grabbed a sandwich just tested about 30 mins ago at 5.8
edit to add 17.55pm 7.8

 

[HSSS]

If you’re on no meds 4.1 isn’t a problem. In fact it’s quite normal. It might be low for you but isn’t classed as a hypo.

With the exception of some less common circumstances like reactive hypoglycaemia your body will dump some glucose (as it’s designed to) if it gets a bit too low. Non diabetics can hit the 3’s without any ill effect.

 

[licklemoose]

If you’re on no meds 4.1 isn’t a problem. In fact it’s quite normal. It might be low for you but isn’t classed as a hypo.

With the exception of some less common circumstances like reactive hypoglycaemia your body will dump some glucose (as it’s designed to) if it gets a bit too low. Non diabetics can hit the 3’s without any ill effect.

i stopped meds when i seen the dr

 

[Resurgam]

As you are a type two I am puzzled that you are eating grains - such high carb foods would cause me to over produce insulin these days and I'd go wobbly - ah - that could well be what is happening. I am sticking to low carb foods as although I am in remission my response to high carb foods is to put on weight, the glucose is stashed away very fast and I go rather low - but I do not respond by eating carbs as I find that just leads to a pingpong effect. I find that a mug of coffee with cream seems to calm things down.

 

[licklemoose]

As you are a type two I am puzzled that you are eating grains - such high carb foods would cause me to over produce insulin these days and I'd go wobbly - ah - that could well be what is happening. I am sticking to low carb foods as although I am in remission my response to high carb foods is to put on weight, the glucose is stashed away very fast and I go rather low - but I do not respond by eating carbs as I find that just leads to a pingpong effect. I find that a mug of coffee with cream seems to calm things down.

sounds like carbs are giving me lows then
really strange because they would nornally cause highs
this is so confusing
ill stick to the low carb high fat and see how that goes
shocked last night at slimming world as lost 1 1/2 lbs and with what i ate i was expecting maybe a 5lb gain

 

[DCUKMod]

sounds like carbs are giving me lows then
really strange because they would nornally cause highs
this is so confusing
ill stick to the low carb high fat and see how that goes
shocked last night at slimming world as lost 1 1/2 lbs and with what i ate i was expecting maybe a 5lb gain

Licklemoose sometimes an unexpected low follows a high. I think of it a bit like someone throwing a tennis ball up towards the ceiling, where it hits, then rebounds down, usually quite quickly, making it tricky to catch.

It's interesting wearing something like a Libre to see if things like that are happening.

Bearing in mind you aren't on any meds, it's likely your body will react to any low it feels is getting a bit too low, and release some glucose from your liver, bouncing the number back up again.

It could be your insulin resistance has improved quite a lot, helping you handle the carbs a bit better.

Just keep an eye on it. I'd say, whatever you do, keep testing. Some find when their insulin resistance improves, it stays improved, provided they don't gain weight. Others find they can cope with extra carbs for a while, then their body begins to become less able to cope again.

Just keep an eye on it. Please don't get complacent. I really hope you are in the former group, but it's important to remember the latter can happen.

 

[Resurgam]

There are different stages of diabetes, depending on how it is being dealt with.
I have definitely emptied out deep wells of reserves developed due to too many carbs for far too long - now when I don't eat I get lightheaded as my metabolism is so used to having overflowing reserves on the carb side. A warm drink usually sorts it. I have coffee with cream so as to push for ketosis to start up rather than eating anything with carbs to encourage glucosis.
At three years from diagnosis I still feel it is a work in progress, despite the normal numbers there is a deep seated imbalance dating back to the first high carb diet I was encouraged to go on because of my weight - despite having a 24 inch waist I was overweight. The fact that I could deadlift a drunken guitarist from the floor after years of being a roadie didn't seem to count - I had muscles back then, and they are dense so naturally show up on the scales.