No longer have Type 2 diabetes - Official!

[sugartoohigh]

The research done by Taylor's team say an average of 15% weight loss is required to halt the decline so your 32% is highly likely enough. You also increased your chances by dieting so soon after diagnosis. The big unknown is how much of your beta cell mass is permanently damaged and how much was metabolically inhibited but started working after the islets were unblocked but, if your FPG and HBA1c are within normal range, there is no reason to suppose that it should get worse as long as you don't return to bad old ways. You can probably relax some aspects of your diet and eat quite normally if you avoid the obvious sweet stuff and some of the white carbs. My GP was the same, 'how have you done that?' As Roy Taylor states though, it requires, 'well motivated individuals'.

One of the main reasons for not going onto medication is that it gives you plenty of incentive to take things seriously. I think that too many people think the meds will sort everything out for them and that they don't need to do anything.

I agree with you there Sir.On lots of conditions I think we as a society have got into a trend of handing responsibility to treatments (silver bullets) or medication alone. When in fact we all have to take responsibility for our own health with the help of the NHS etc.

 

[Zigster]

I have just got home from my last diabetes clinic (for a while)

Blood tests indicate that I am no longer diabetic and the doctor has removed the diabetes code from my medical record.

Cured? Not quite. I have lost nearly 25% body weight and made significant lifestyle changes. Reverse those and it will come back. With age it may also return, but for now I'm free of the condition.

It can be done!

Me too. It’s a great feeling but a little misleading. We are still diabetic sufferers and if it came down to a coke swilling session with a normal person we’d soon end up in hot water again. I feel remission is a better term than “not diabetic”. The naive amongst us may misinterpret the message as a green light to indulge and end up where they began again. Lessons should have been learnt however. I was diagnosed at the end of January this year and I’m now no longer diabetic as they put it because my Hba1c is fine. I’ve never used meds despite the constant pushing and my technique of dieting and exercise has worked extremely well. I lost a lot of weight by mostly limiting carbs and avoiding sugary carbs. I won’t go back to those ways as it would be foolish especially as I get older but I do treat myself once in a while. It’s all about discipline. It always was. My over indulgence took me in the wrong direction. Returning to the topic though I believe that once you’re a diabetic you’re always a diabetic. It’s not quite as black and white as a sugar level over three months.

 

[Zigster]

The research done by Taylor's team say an average of 15% weight loss is required to halt the decline so your 32% is highly likely enough. You also increased your chances by dieting so soon after diagnosis. The big unknown is how much of your beta cell mass is permanently damaged and how much was metabolically inhibited but started working after the islets were unblocked but, if your FPG and HBA1c are within normal range, there is no reason to suppose that it should get worse as long as you don't return to bad old ways. You can probably relax some aspects of your diet and eat quite normally if you avoid the obvious sweet stuff and some of the white carbs. My GP was the same, 'how have you done that?' As Roy Taylor states though, it requires, 'well motivated individuals'.

One of the main reasons for not going onto medication is that it gives you plenty of incentive to take things seriously. I think that too many people think the meds will sort everything out for them and that they don't need to do anything.

They tried several times to push meds on me but I was like can’t we try diet and exercise first? They then insisted on smaller doses. I still refused. That was January this year, three months later they said I’m no longer diabetic based on my Hba1c results. Both my spec savers and hospital eye exam are 100%. No neuropathy- nothing. I lost a heap of weight through limiting carbs and essentially deleting sugars. I did all of that on my own with research and exercise. It’s definitely possible to treat this without meds if you are determined to but I appreciate that not everyone can do this. I was just amazed how quick they try to address every case in a standard way. The doctor went straight to prescription for metformin without trying exercise and diet first. That enraged me. I had a good idea it was diabetes before going to him. I just needed it confirmed and I’d also formulated an approach to correcting it with lifestyle changes which I’d hoped he would have suggested rather than lazy pills. It was like a standard approach with no understanding of one’s determination. I just said no and went back to my plan. Months later they congratulated me for turning it around without meds. I like to be given the benefit of the doubt. I’ll do the rest.

 

[Dudette1]

Given that (for we T2s) the albatross called 'Diabetes' hung around our necks is nothing more than a line drawn on a graph, no wonder so much confusion and uncertainty exists around the subject.

If you were afflicted by high blood pressure and you went on a diet and course of exercise and your blood pressure returned to normal, you would be said to no longer have a blood pressure problem. So what if it is controlled by diet and exercise; that's fine.

The same analogy can be extended to T2. If the medics are so keen to define you as diabetic based on a hba1c value then there is no reason whatsoever why you cannot be 'undefined' on the understanding that it can (probably) only be sustained through the changes that brought about the reduction in hba1c.

It's high time that 'we' started to lobby for the 'Diabetic' label to be removed from T2s when hba1cs drop into the 'normal' range.

EllisB - well done and ignore the 'Jonahs' who seem to wallow in their diabetes!

 

[mh234]

WOW it's good news. It's uplifting information. Nice to let us know of the good of your journey.