Doctor Now Say I Was Misdiagnosed

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

Hi Everyone,

Newbie here but reading for past 3 months.

I was diagnosed 3 months ago with HBAC1 13.8, fasting glucose 11.9, doctor wanted me to start on medication immediately, I said no, bought "Eat to Live" & "Death to Diabetes", finished reading same night, following day started "Eat to Live" diet immediately.

w ww.amazon.com/Eat-Live-Amazing-Nutrient-Rich-Sustained/dp/031612091X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329210530&sr=8-1

I am 5 ft 11 in, not obese, cycle 30 min alternate days all the while but after diagnosis cycle daily.

First 30 days readings after diagnosis: HBAC1 = 10.3, FG = 5.2

60 days after diagnosis: HBAC1 = 6, FG = 4.6, also did c-peptide this round, within normal range

90 days after diagnosis: HBAC1 = 5.2 FG = 5.1, also did c-peptite, fasting insulin/insulin tolerance and GTT 100gm.

GTT 1 hr = 10.3, 2 hr = 6.5, waiting for insuline & c-peptide results to be ready.

Based on these figures, Doctor now say I was misdiagnosed initially after insisting 90 days ago I must start medication immediately.

What do you guys think? I am continuing with the "Eat to Live" diet because I feel much better but I would want to 'cheat' once in a while or loosen it a bit... will feel better doing that knowing the doctor is wrong the first round rather than the second round...

daisy1 · Feb 14, 2012

Hi Faizal and welcome to the forum In addition to the books you mentioned, here is the basic information we have written for new members. I hope you find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you like as there is always someone to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

Reduce your carbohydrate intake

Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review

self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

borofergie · Feb 14, 2012

You results are brilliant and I think that he's choking on his words.

He obviously doesn't have a good understanding about contemporary treatments for diabetes and is trying to justify his prejudice that T2 can only be controlled with drugs (if at all).

I doubt very strongly that you were misdiagnosed. Your HbA1c and your fasting BG are enough to demonstrate that your BG was out of control. Lots of us have had similar experiences of suprising our Doctors, but yours seems especially stuck in his ways. I try and get rid of him if I were you.

Well done. Don't change a thing.

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

borofergie said:
Your HbA1c and your fasting BG are enough to demonstrate that your BG was out of control.

I have a client who own a medical test lab, which was why I was able to do all the tests, my doctor didn't even mention c-peptide & insulin tests to me, sacked him already

But my client did ask me about my diet before the diagnosis, I was on a natural liver detox program which consist of juicing 5 apples per day plus drinking other fruit juices and eating an asian diet of rice as staple, he said he has seen cases where an abrupt change of diet like that temporarily overwhelmed the pancreas and it revert back after a while... however I have not been doing regular blood test prior to that so I have no past record to compare with to see whether my BG & HBAC1 was normal prior to diagnosis & the diet...

... but as I said, no big deal, I chose the XXXX diet because I am already eating a lot more vegetables than meat & starch even before that, so it is not really much of a change to me

By end of this week will get c-peptide & insulin results, can then do the HOMA calculations as well, will update again.

AMBrennan · Feb 14, 2012

What do you guys think?

Look at the guy's website - if he really has a cure to this obesity/diabetes "epidemic" then why is he selling a vast range of related items to those most desperate for a cure but least able to judge the efficacy of the intervention rather than publishing in medical journals and convincing NICE policy makers? Honi soit qui mal y pense...

Interesting that the advertising link was removed but the advertising post was not.

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

AMBrennan said:
What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

Interesting that the advertising link was removed but the advertising post was not.

I am from Malaysia, it was my first post and the link to amazon got deleted. I have no idea it is considered 'advertising link', if I was pm'ed I would have removed it myself.

If you are not interested in helping me along, fine, no need for rudeness and, what you think of the author is none of my business!

I would be most grateful if you have some answers or opinions to my questions on whether misdiagnosed, whether my lab's opinion on abrupt diet is something you have come across before, rather than assuming the worst and make a post full of sarcasm and discouraging others from sharing their experiences with me. Thank you very much for that, what a welcome!

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

Hi daisy1, thanks for your pm, but as a newly registered member, I received a notice I am not authorised to read private messages when I clicked on the link in my email notification

Thanks for the effort all the same, I really appreciate it. I have no one to ask save for my lab client back in malaysia and am looking forward to getting much more views on my test results and my doctor & my lab's differing opinions.

daisy1 · Feb 14, 2012

You will be able to use the PM facility when you have written 5 posts.

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

Thanks, and I noticed you restored my original post, thanks for that too and for believing I am not here to promote anyone's product, I am looking forward to learning a lot more here, you are right, it can be confusing, I worked hard and got my figures down so fast and am now looking at what is next, not knowing what to believe. The 90 day test was results was obtained less than 24 hours ago, I was elated but confused after talking to the two specialist.

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

These are the supplements I took along with diet & exercise:

- GTF Chromium 200mcg
- Gymnema Sylvestre 400mg
- ALA 600mg divided into 3 doses
- GLA 140 mg
- a multivite with minerals
- "misai kuching" or java tea (Orthosiphon Stamineus) after every meal, popular local tea for diabetics

Grazer · Feb 14, 2012

Faizal, think you should rein it in a bit. I didn't criticise your post, and Ambrennan will be the first to tell you I'm not an avid supporter of his, but he had an understandable concern about a brand new member appearing to claim a cure and appearing to advertise the source of his cure on his first post. If you're not a spammer, then fine, but as a new member a simple comment to that effect, explaining your position, rather than an aggressive reply to an established member would probably have been a better response.
Just an observation!

xyzzy · Feb 14, 2012

Fazial welcome to the forum.

If you make statements regarding "cures" for Diabetes you need to be aware that people like me will begin to really push you for real scientific evidence that the cure works and expect you to have a rational debate about it.

Most people who have previously advocated a "cure" have in reality just advocated a means of "controlling" your diabetes which is by no means the same. The "cure" is normally some variant of eat less carbohydrate wrapped up and marketed as a book or a web site or preached out at vulnerable people by pocket lining money grabbers.

Eat less carbohydrate (specifically less starchy carbohydrate) does undoubtedly work as a method of control and is what many of the more enlightened health services of various countries recommend and is also what the majority of people on this forum believe as well. But it is just that "eat less carbohydrate" there needs to be no marketing mumbo jumbo or mystical nonsense attached to it.

The bottom line is that if you advocate a cure then you should be able to PROVE to me and others that after the cure is complete you can go back to a normal level carbohydrate diet and get the same blood sugar responses as the average non diabetic person. Does your book make that claim?

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

Hi Folks,

Thanks for your participation in the discussion, in fact, it is my original question from the very first post, maybe I recap:

- The doctor said I was misdiagnosed when he saw my results, I never said I was cured, I am asking whether anyone here has similar experience of being told by their doctor they were misdiagnosed when their results were back in normal range after 3 months.

- I am not sure what he based that misdiagnosed statement on, whether it is the GTT or whether FG & HBAC1 is now in normal range.

- My lab who did the tests, they said they came across cases where an abrupt change in diet causes temporary fluctuation in blood glucose after which it 'normalize' and I did happen to change my diet abruptly by having lots of juices & white rice the weeks prior to my diagnosis.

So in both cases, I interpret what they are saying as it seemed like they believe I didn't have diabetes in the first place(??) even though initial diagnosis was sky high.

That is why I posted the questions that I did, on whether anyone else has heard similar cases like mine, especially from the lab.

The rest of the information I gave here is about what I did after I was diagnosed, the books I read, the supplements I ate and the results I get monthly, etc... I never claimed I was cured. I want to know whether it is possible what the doctor and the lab said and whether anyone here has come across such a case?

Maybe what I should be doing instead of asking here is to return to my 'normal' diet for 3 months and then run all the tests again.

Thanks for all the replies

ps: I repeat, I am NOT promoting the book, I REMOVED the book names and edited out ALL references to it the moment I was suspected to be a spammer, but moderator daisy1 decided to put back the book titles and the link to amazon, not me, she explained some might find the books useful in her PM to me... so please... I appreciate if you folks can stop focusing on the books and start focusing on my questions? :?

borofergie · Feb 14, 2012

Ho hum.

Unless he edited it out, I didn't see the bit where the OP was suggesting was advocating a cure either. In the same position (on this board) I got shouted at for being an "extreme low-carber" with an agenda.

His HbA1c and fasting BG improvements are excellent, but no exactly unusual in the DUK community (I went to 10.3% to 5.2% in 3 months too). The only result that it is slightly unusual for a T2 with excellent control is the IGTT.

Although I must admit that (after AMBrennan mentioned it) I looked at some the reviews for the book on Amazon and they do seem a little fishy (albeit low-fat fishy).

faizal · Feb 14, 2012

Phew borofergie, thank you for not misreading my post! Nope the first post is in its original form, I was surprised too because I removed the book names after I realized I was misunderstood as a spammer but when I clicked refresh, the original post was back and I received a PM explaining why it was back.

Actually I am confused about the IGTT, my lab told me I don't need to bother looking at first hour results, only the second hour... but online, there is so much difference in opinion on what the first hour reading should be I am not sure whether I should be worried :crazy:

My lab also told me based on my HOMA calculation, I have no insulin resistance but if I have no insulin resistance then what do I have...?

Only thing I know for sure is the more books I read and by listening to my Doctor and the Lab manager, the more confused I get, not mentioning any more book names though. :mrgreen:

xyzzy · Feb 14, 2012

faizal apologies its been one of those days you are patently a fine fellow!

I'm actually rather interested in the list of supplements you take as I consider everything so long as there is some real science going on behind it. Where did you find the info on them and why do you think they may work? This is not a trick question honest

faizal · Feb 15, 2012

Hi xyzzy,

The supplements I took I just read up on the internet and look for common ones mentioned most frequently. The "Misai Kuching" herbal tea is a local thing which is very popular here and very cheap to grow at home so I decided to take it... honestly, I have no idea what worked or didn't, I just figured there's no harm trying, for example, I found a lot of materials online saying ALA at 600mg helped, so I took it, a lot of sites also mention GTF Chromium...

My diet for example, I saw some common themes in almost every book I read on the subject about removing starch, processed carb(flour products), rice & sugar, so I did that.

Not really scientific and of course I hope I was misdiagnosed earlier and none of the stuff I took has got anything to do with the rapid improvement(in which case the above is moot) hence the questions here... well... I spoke to my wife last night, we decided to ease off the diet & supplements for a month and check the results again... really seem like no choice but to take charge if I really want to find out .

faizal · Feb 17, 2012

My full results this month, please help for those who's done their insulin test before:

Fasting: FG 5.1, C-peptide 1.50 (ref 1.06-3.53, peak 4-10), Insulin 5.23 ulU/ml (4-16 fasting)

1 Hr: G 10.3 (ref 6 - 9.4), Insulin 15 ulU/ml (4=16 fasting)

2 Hr: G 6.5 (ref 4 - 7.4), Insulin 9.28 ulU/ml (4-16 fasting)

Both doctor & lab maintained misdiagnosed & 'non diabetic' after reviewing total results including C-peptide & Insulin which was not completed earlier.

I pointed out the 1 Hr glucose is out of range, max should be 9.4, they said that is okay, they also said Insulin has no reference range they only want to test whether I am insulin resistant.

??? :crazy: really hope some experienced forumers who's done insulin tests can share their thoughts...

catherinecherub · Feb 17, 2012

Cannot help you with the readings but to understand the tests more try this site. You will see that on the RHS there is a list of tests and when you click on you will get an explanation about them
http://www.labtestsonline.org.uk/

faizal · Feb 17, 2012

Thanks, am reading thru now...

Doctor Now Say I Was Misdiagnosed

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