Type 2 Does the Pancreas recover in Type 2?

[popsy]

I ask because I have recently tried porridge again. I loved porridge pre-diabetes but found that it spiked me terribly sometimes up to 13 on my meter.

My FBG isn't usually very low, around 7 which isn't too bad in which case I might allow myself one slice of Burgen Soy and Linseed with my eggs but usually it's just protein for my breakfast or berries and yoghurt with LSA on the top. Those breakfasts don't spike me at all but my BG doesn't generally come down from it's fasting level for a couple of hours then it's stable all day at around 4/5.

Yesterday however I decided to re-try porridge. My FBG was 6.7 (sometimes it's lower but not often) I had 25g of rolled oats with water and yoghurt on the top. Two hours later it was 7 which is a huge improvement on when I first started to test.

So I was wondering what is everyone else's experience? Have you tried things that did you no good previously and if so, what was the result?

I know that beta cell recovery is mooted in T2's and that the thinking that cells are destroyed is being explored and that perhaps it's more a case that the function of beta cells is severely impaired rather than being destroyed totally. So maybe it's possible that the pancreas does recover some of it's function. I am not saying that it could recover to the extent that it becomes perfect again though.

I am sorry I can't provide a link, I read this amongst all the reams of stuff I have read lately and can't remember where I read it.

Thanks

 

[mrman]

Not so much "cure" but can be well controlled. In those with internal visceral fat as the problem (normal weight or overweight) what will help is to remove/lessen any insulin resistance by reducing visceral fat and prevent exhaustion of insulin producing cells. once insulin resistance has been lessened/removed in some will then have full insulin production with no loss of insulin producing cells, whilst some people have impaired insulin production due to damage caused by exhausting them. Monitoring bg levels whilst continuing to eat a healthy diet may well keep the insulin resistance at bay, as long as the original problem does not re occur.
Then theres the genetic side of insulin resistance which no matter will continue to have resistance though how much can.vary greatly in them.
Both are helped by regular activity.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Daibell]

Yes, with an overweight T2, insulin resistance is normally the problem with the pancreas still producing insulin but too much. Long term there may be some permanent islet cell damage but once the insulin resistance has gone then the diabetes will recede, but there will be a residual condition. With anti-body, virus or pancreatitis damage etc then there will be little or no recovery from islet cell damage

 

[Yorksman]

Porridge used to spike me but gradually I could eat it. Metabolism does change with weight loss and exercise, they way you digest food and your sensitivity to insulin improves. The changes to blood chemistry are qyuite remarkable. Also, if you lose enough weight, some of your beta cell islets become unblocked and start working again, but by no means all. All these things can make a difference.

Just stay away from porridge made with cream and sweetened with runny syrup.

 

[Frodo27]

Once it is worn out you are a type 1. On the way out you will be type 1.5. It doesn't recover, all you can do is decrease the amount it needs to produce.
Fasting reading of 7 is too high and eating a breakfast with 66% carbs is only ok if you have half a cup maximum, cooked. That's about 15g of carbs.

 

[popsy]

Well my fbg isn't always 7 and I have brought my HbA1c down from 78 to 39 so I am not doing too much wrong. Was just interested in ongoing pancreatic function.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[mrman]

Once it is worn out you are a type 1. On the way out you will be type 1.5. It doesn't recover, all you can do is decrease the amount it needs to produce.
Fasting reading of 7 is too high and eating a breakfast with 66% carbs is only ok if you have half a cup maximum, cooked. That's about 15g of carbs.

Once its worn out still classed as type 2 because of any remaining insulin resistance, usually named insulin dependant.
What you are saying about type 1.5, graduating to type 1, is the honeymoon period some type 1s have on the way to full blown type 1, though just with antibodies but no insulin resistance.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[phoenix]

I know that beta cell recovery is mooted in T2's and that the thinking that cells are destroyed is being explored and that perhaps it's more a case that the function of beta cells is severely impaired rather than being destroyed totally. So maybe it's possible that the pancreas does recover some of it's function. I am not saying that it could recover to the extent that it becomes perfect again though

I think that's right, they used to think that there was considerable damage to beta cells before glucose levels rose to the level that T2 diagnosed. This was considered to be permanent because once past a certain age beta cells will tend to die off quicker than they regenerate (very slow process but it's part of aging) . I think the jury is now out about how much is actual beta cell loss and how much impairment.

Once it is worn out you are a type 1. On the way out you will be type 1.5. It doesn't recover, all you can do is decrease the amount it needs to produce.

That isn't the case, the beta cells in T1 are destroyed by an autoimmune attack . Sometimes this happens very quickly, sometimes over a longer period .(that's sometimes called LADA or 1.5) It's a different process to T2 , A person with T2 doesn't become T1 if they use insulin.

 

[popsy]

That isn't the case, the beta cells in T1 are destroyed by an autoimmune attack . Sometimes this happens very quickly, sometimes over a longer period .(that's sometimes called LADA or 1.5) It's a different process to T2 , A person with T2 doesn't become T1 if they use insulin.

Thanks Phoenix, that's what I thought was the case. That's why I stated clearly that I was interested in T2 and wondered about the ongoing process with the pancreas. I know that we won't ever be 'cured' and that T2 is an ongoing disease but it's interesting to see that, to some extent, we can control how we cope day to day.