A bit confused

[992947x]

I'm probably going to get flack for this, as I'm a T2, and all I know of T3c, which you are, comes from our late cat. (Yeah. I know. He lived to be a ripe old age though, and it was cancer that did him in eventually. But I know when someone brings their pet into it they basically lose all credibility. All the same... Here it is.). Night had pancreatitis, and the way the vet explained it made sense. You know how scar tissue forms after pneumonia for instance? I had it when I was a kid, and you can still see white areas on my x-rays. The same happens after pancreatitis. The islets of Langerhans that make insulin, in Night's case and likely yours too, had mainly turned to scar tissue. And as scar tissue doesn't so anything besides just be... Rather than make insulin, it did nothing, and Night required Lantus to stay alive. There just wasn't much of anything there any more to make insulin. The pancreas was present, but the islets were almost entirely destroyed. So it's not so much a question of what your body is telling you. It's more a matter of something being damaged that cannot be fixed, so you have to add a little insulin in from the outside. No failure there, okay? That said, since you already were a T2 before all this happened and it is very likely you were insensitive to the insulin you did make, you're doing the right thing by changing your diet around. If you fix your sensitivity, you won't need insane amounts of units to get your blood sugars down.

Also, you mention your blood pressure... If you change the way you eat rather drastically, it'll also mean you ingest less salt, so it could well be that your blood pressure'll drop a tad more than you're used to. If the room gets dark or you see stars when you get up too fast, it's time to re-evaluate your blood pressure meds, as you might need to reduce those.

Good luck!
Jo

Thanks.

Sorry to hear about your cat!

I am not sure how much my pancreas is damaged, but I take on board what you say. Someone very close to me has similar scarring issues on her heart, and it plays havoc on our lives, hence I live daily with how scar tissue can effect organs - I just never linked them together in my mind. I have taken on board other stuff you have said as well, re less insulin required. With diet I can control my blood sugars extremely tightly with less than 20 units a day of Lantus, and don't need nova rapid at all. I am beginning to think this is the best way forward.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thanks.

Sorry to hear about your cat!

I am not sure how much my pancreas is damaged, but I take on board what you say. Someone very close to me has similar scarring issues on her heart, and it plays havoc on our lives, hence I live daily with how scar tissue can effect organs - I just never linked them together in my mind. I have taken on board other stuff you have said as well, re less insulin required. With diet I can control my blood sugars extremely tightly with less than 20 units a day of Lantus, and don't need nova rapid at all. I am beginning to think this is the best way forward.

You're doing pretty good, so yeah... You just sounded like you were second-guessing yourself, and the use of Lantus. Some things can't entirely be avoided, but they can be improved upon, as you're finding out for yourself. You're a winner in my book.

 

[LincolnLizzie]

I am a type 2 diabetic. Have been for 12ish years. My HBA1C for the last 10 years have been > 100. Very last one was 95, so moving in the right direction but a long way from where I want to be.

I have had 2 episodes of pancreatitis, one 9 years ago, one 6 years ago. 6 years ago I nearly died, but didn't.

Excluding this year, my blood sugars have ranged from 4 to 34+ (off the scale). Probably averaging around 20 during the day. I have been prescribed Lantus, Metformin, Nova Rapid. I had a c-peptide test a few months back, and my pancreas is producing insulin but not a lot. At some points I was taking over 100 units a day of insulin (mixture of both). I could never control my diabetes... until now.

I have damaged eyes and feet, I need three lots of laser eye surgery next month, and have been given gabepentin for my feet pain, although I don't take these because of the potential side effects.

I am desperate to come off my meds, and let my body regulate my functions, lose weight, and control my diabetes with diet alone. I ultimately believe I am insulin resistant, and insulin insufficient, both at the same time.

I am under the control of my local hospital, and they want me to up my carbs, (it is better to have more fibre in diet through wholegrains apparently, and need to drink milk etc) which will lead to more injections, but that is ok in their eyes. I therefore am reluctant to discuss my plans with them as their advice is wrong in lots of respects, I feel.

So at the end of March 2021, I turned a corner - I walk 5k every morning, around 6am, I am strict low carb, less than 20g per day, have cut out my vice: Pepsi Max, and am working really hard to get my sugars down. Whilst I exersize I listen to youtube, with people such as Dr Robert Lustig, Dr Zoe Harcombe, Dr Ken Berry, Dr Brett Scher and many more. I gleam more and more information, however mostly they talk about Type 2, not type 2 plus a damaged pancreas.

Taking around 20 units of lantus per day, I have got my blood sugars down to between 5 and 7, which is excellent for me and I wouldn't really ask for much better, however I am worried that the insullin will cause long term harm, and for the last week I have stopped taking all my meds. I believe that type 2 isnt high blood sugar, but high insullin, and I won't get my insillin down by injecting it!

Without medication over the last week my blood sugars are between 7mmol and 10mmol. I wake at about 8.5mmol and they vary throiugh the day. I am happy with these levels at the minute (compared to the last 10 years!!), but also know that I want them to be better too (but without the medication). I reckon that if I get some weight off (I am currently 15st, I used to be 19st before my first episode of pancreatitis), then my pancreas might produce the right amount of insulin, I might become less insullin resistant and having better metabolic health over the next few months might get my blood sugar down, and have better overall health.

I think if I continue to take medication, then I will be on it for life, and I really don't want that. My plan is to try and continue on low carb (keto < 20g), and work up my exersize, and eat real food, cut out processed etc for the next couple of months, and see where I am then. I think it is OK to have my bloody sugars slightly higher for a few months whilst I work on this, and hopefully I will see them coming down. I am testing my blood sugars 5 or 6 times a day, and my blood ketones a couple of times a week (usually between 2 and 4).

Does anyone else have any tips or thoughts they can add? Does anyone have any similar experiences of experimenting? Thanks for reading.

Interesting. I’m fairly similar to you I think. Pancreatitis twice etc. I am a type 2 on insulin and I weighed in at 14.3. I stay around 25 carbs daily. Since September I have been losing weight slowly and am now just over 11 stone. Moderately active, I would say. I eat up to 1400 calories a day. The result of this is a reduction in my insulin by a third. I don’t eat processed food either. I doubt I will ever get back to not having any insulin, but I am trying to do without bolus insulin, as suggested by my doctor, and although it may take me a couple of days to get back to my more normal 5 range, after the initial surge when I have more carbs, my bg doesn’t seem to go over the dreaded 7.8 (which is where neuropathy/kidney damage etc can occur). I generally only test my blood first thing and then before dinner. I take 12 units of Lantus around 6pm. Hope this is useful - but really our bodies all react differently so it is best to tread your own path.