So, I have been reading many posts in the forums, and discovered that the older you are and the longer you have had T2, the less chance there is - no matter what you do - or going into remission. I have had T2 for around 12 years and have been truly negligent. I am only now taking serious steps (Blood Sugar Diet) to address it, but is it too late? I am 60 with a BMI of 32, and all my weight is around my abdomen. Of course it is far better for all sorts of health reasons to be slim, but have I scuppered my chances of coming off insulin ever?
Nannoo, whilst much of the research shows the greatest improvements (I'm not using any of the big, emotive words, deliberately) when things are taken in hand soon after diagnosis, I don't believe there have been extensive programmes monitoring significant numbers of those diagnosed much longer.
Aside from that, there could be many, many reasons for thee findings, including sometimes people getting "settled into" their diagnosis, and "feeling fine" as they are, without making the changes we now know could best be applied. Change is difficult, and sustained change can be even more difficult. The longer habits are established, the harder it is to make sustained change.
Clearly those are generalisations, but I hope you can see what I'm trying to express.
Whilst I am very clear about what I want for my future and what I am currently willing to do to achieve it (who can say what the future can bring), others may have less clarity, or too many other issues in their lives to invest what is required to get the best out of their current situation.
I think all of us using this forum, and making changes to our lives have had to invest in ourselves, in one way or another; whether it is self-funding testing equipment, learning to cook differently, or exploring our new ways of eating - or indeed multiple items on that off-the-cuff list, we need to make head space to think things through and commit to ourselves how it's going to be. Then of course, there are the challenges of fitting it all into family or couple-dom living, where we have to sometimes persuade others of the validity of doing as we are, and I think it's possible to understand how things can go a bit adrift.
None of that is meant to insult anyone, whether a newly diagnosed or long-standing diabetic. It's just how it is for some people.
Moving on from the potential for non-compliance, of course we have those who have other health issues in their lives requiring certain medications which make it tricky to make big changes, and those whose pancreases or other organs are a bit too tired to fully recover their full functionality.
So, in all of that, I think I'm saying it's a very, very complex issue, and I think anyone who wants to achieve their best outcome (whatever we want to call it) should be encouraged to do so, but always in the knowledge it isn't guaranteed. Unfortunately, over time, we have seen a few folks who were certain they could make a complete turnaround in their condition by doing x, y or z, only to find that isn't quite how it transpired. Further unfortunately, we sometimes next encounter those people when a few things have gone backwards and they need to get back on the wagon.
Few things in life are guaranteed, and diabetes management/progression/maintained is certainly in the non-guaranteed bracket. The lack of guarantee cuts both ways - for success or less successful. Only you can set your risk dials and decide how deeply you will invest for now.
Good luck with it all.
