Have you cured or reversed type 2

[donquinn]

I am very keen to talk to people who have actually reversed or 'cured' type 2 diabetes. I am doing a study of the possibility of the potential to use diet or any other methods.
I would be hugely grateful to anyone who will talk to me about their success or otherwise.
I am a former Senior Research Fellow and now I am diabetic myself.
Many thanks.
Don

 

[Homer]

I am sorry to hear that you have developed type 2 diabetes.
You cannot cure or reverse diabetes, you can (not always) attain good control but this is not the same thing. A hb1ac test in the normal (non diabetic range) does not mean that you don't have diabetes.
By drastically restricting the amount of carbohydrates and (if overweight) losing weight is the way to achieve good control but you will not be cured i.e. if you drank a bottle of lucozade your blood glucose would rise considerably quite unlike a non diabetic.

 

[lrw60]

Hi donquinn.
I had type 2 diabetes for several years up to July last year when my db nurse was able to confirm that thanks to my losing 5 stones I had lost the need for medication. I can't tell you what the names of all the tablets were, apart from metformin, as the past several years seemed to be taken up by getting worse and worse. I will be having a blood test next month and then seeing my db nurse sometime later. I will try to get all my past history if I can as since joining this forum I am amazed by how little I knew, and still don't know, about my illness. I have reversed my db, but I believe from the general opinions on this forum, it is not cured otherwise I would be stuffing my face with chocolate biscuits! Best of luck with your progress with your db and your replies, I hope you hear from a lot of people who were as lucky as me.
Lee.

 

[MCMLXXIII]

Take a look back at some of my posts as i'm having a good crack at it.:smile:

 

[Squire Fulwood]

I was interested to find out out how much was pills and how much was due to the food I ate. I spent some months experimenting with foods and a meter and then I did a six months stint on avoiding eating things that spiked me. I still drank wine, ate chocolate and sweets and so it was not a slimming diet. My Hba1c came down from 51 to 42. For another six months I experimented with food some more to see if I could eat some of the things considered bad for me (bread for example). My Hba1c went up to 46.

Throughout all this time I maintained my weight albeit by accident and not design. The results are in my signature. The pills were the same pills for the whole period and I am convinced that diet (not necessarily slimming diet) plays a very big role in this.

My nurse is never pleased and so I have now been instructed to exercise more and drink less. We shall see what that brings.

 

[sassywriter43]

I am sorry but I am going to have to disagree with not being able to reverse diabetes. My GP thinks I may have cracked it. In October I was diagnosed with type 2. I may have even been type 1.5. But I am having a blood test in May. I have lost 9 stone since then my BMI is now 24.2 I am now 10.5.

My dad managed to get rid of his diabetes in a short space of time, my husbands nan did after 40 years and this was by loosing weight.

So it can be done!

 

[viviennem]

I'm Type 2. I can maintain my blood glucose levels and my HbA1c at non-diabetic levels by following a basic very-low-carb diet based on Atkins Induction. This also assist me with weight loss and maintains my blood pressure and lipid profile at target levels.

I take 500mg of Metformin 3 times daily, which helps with the weight loss. I don't know whether it does much for the BG levels! I also take 2.5 mg (micrograms?) of Lisinopril for blood pressure, mainly to keep my doctor happy. I won't take statins.

Unlike Sassywriter43's family, I am very definitely not cured. If I add carbs back into my diet I gain weight and my BG levels rise.

I have at least 5 stone still to lose to reach my target weight. I'm sure this will be of the greatest help to my poor abused pancreas.

Viv 8)

 

[Andy12345]

im not cured but i will be, even if it kills me :think:

 

[Nik442]

Hi, I jokingly asked my GP last Monday if I was "cured" after receiving news that my latest hbac result (45) was very good. Although GP didn't answer my question I could see by the look on her face that the answer was no. I weigh 10st 5 and last night ate a small quiche which saw my BS levels in double figures 2 hours later.

The best i can hope for is to control it by low carb and metformin.

Nik

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Hi Don and welcome to the forum.

Despite what some people may say there is no cure for diabetes, it is however possible to control it at near non diabetic levels as I have done for the last 4 plus years.

So it is possible to reverse high blood glucose levels but it is not possible to reverse diabetes and if were to return to way I ate 5 years ago I would soon see my blood glucose (bg) levels shoot back up to double figures.

My current HbA1c is as you can see from my signature 5.1% or 32 mmol/mol in the new way of measuring the HbA1c, I have not been out of the 5%'s since diagnosis when my first HbA1c was 12.6% or 114 mmol/mol. And my bg level was recorded at the hospital at over 29 mmol/L.

Am I cured? Have I reversed my diabetes? NO but I do live a normal life and eat a normal diet albeit at a much lower portion level than I used to eat. And I dont eat white bread or pasta now and there are a few other things that I can only eat in very small portions but over all It doesnt encroach on my life at all and that my friend is the best that you can hope for.

Will my control last forever? I hope so but I dont have a crystal ball and I am a realist so I would never say never, but at this moment in time I am probably about as cured as a T2 diabetic can be

Oh and Ive lost over 5 stones in weight thats over 70lbs or about 32Kg for those of you who work in metric weights :lol:

 

[IanD]

Reverse - YES, Cure - NO

When I was diagnosed, Steve Redgrave was winning his Olympic Gold medals, so I wasn't unduly concerned - until my Dr explained ALL the possible complications, including the PROBABILITY of a heart attack. I left the surgery in a state of shock - I had the disease that would kill me. I was afraid NOT to follow the advice they gave me.

That was 12 years ago. Now, at 74 I am fit & well & play tennis & last year won "Olympic" Gold at the Ealing Hospital gym "Olympics."

My secret - DON'T follow the advice given by Drs, nurses & dietitians. I did for 7 1/2 years until I became crippled with neuropathy, & suffered chronic tireness & the beginning of kidney deterioration & retinopathy. TI then found this forum & learned about low carb high fat diet. At once I gave up all the obvious carbohydrates. In 3 months I was out of pain & playing tennis again. 5 years of low carb, high fat & I would not dare go back to the NHS/DUK high carb, low fat diet.

All the signs of diabetes progression were reversed by diet. I'm still diabetic, not cured. If I eat carbs my BG goes into double figures.

 

[lrw60]

When a friend of mine was diagnosed with testicular cancer he had an operation and some months later was told he was now free of cancer, of course, they said, it might come back one day. When I get a cold or flu I suffer for a while then I get cured, of course, it might come back. I had diabetes, I lost weight, I lost the diabetes. Of course, it might come back. The person I was when I was diagnosed was 5 stones heavier. That person would have diabetes, me, I am 5 stones lighter, my db nurse explained that my body can now produce what it needs to give someone my weight a diabetes free lifestyle. If that isn't cured, what is? I want a label to explain what my form of diabetes is. I'm British blast it! I want a label! (don't you dare!!)
Lee. British, ginger haired, arthitic, dodgy sense of balance, short sighted and vegitarian, blast it.

 

[Sunshine_Kisses]

Replying to this as interested to see what people's responses to this are - especially as I am aiming to reverse it through diet and exercise...

I am newly diagnosed, so it's not yet been three months for me to re-test my hba1c, but my fasting glucose has come down from an average of 14 to an average of 6 in the last two months, through diet and exercise changes. I think I'm maybe 'lucky' that it was caught early-ish, so perhaps not as progressed as some? Though I don't fully understand the technicalities, and even if I did, I think we're all so different it would only be a guide anyway... I do believe mindset plays a huge part; both our own and the people around us/we care about. I watched this recently and found it fascinating, so given your research, you may too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQfe__fNbs

Keen to read others thoughts on this

 

[sassywriter43]

Well please keep your fingers cross for me.

I was forced to take vitamin B12 tablets on Wednesday, I took one, as I have a needle phobia - and I am having that tested as well on May 14th.

I ended up in A and E for 48 hours. Everything I ate went through me. BS was not tested as I would not let anything sharp near me, my ME played right up. I went from 11 stone 1 to 10.5 since then I had suffered an allergic reaction. I am still suffering now and am totally off food again. :sick:

On my last consultation my GP did mention he wanted to write a book and stick me in it, my secret to my weight loss, easy - I am not telling as I would not recommend it to anybody. :|

 

[Geocacher]

I'd rather see someone trying to find a reason why so many people are becoming diabetic.

Diet and lifestyle may play a role, but that can't be the only answer or this wouldn't be just a plague of the 21st century. Sedentary lifestyles and overindulgence are not new to the human race, and isn't it interesting that our pets, which rarely had problems with weight unless someone was feeding them a completely inappropriate diet, are now obese or diabetic on the same type of food previous generations of pets ate without problems. Recent studies have shown that normal healthy people will put on weight if they are fed high calorie foods but return to their normal weight quickly when allowed to resume their normal diet. What is it that is different about some people that prevents their bodies from doing the same?

It would be nice to at least know what it is in the modern diet, or whatever genetic, or more likely epigentic, change it is that makes so many of us diabetic. After hearing 30 years ago about a virus that makes chickens gain weight at an abnormal rate, I wonder if it isn't modern methods of raising animals that is too blame. Reports at the time indicated that antibodies to the virus were also found in humans. I find it no great surprise that those reports correlate with the start of the obesity epidemic.

if you think that eating an abnormally restricted diet is somehow a 'cure' for diabetes simply because it bring blood sugar levels down to a 'normal' level you're wrong. Give any supposedly cured diabetic the diet that a non-diabetic would consume and you will find that person is still diabetic. Living a restricted lifestyle is necessary for us, I don't think any of us would choose it if it weren't for diabetes.

 

[Sunshine_Kisses]

Geocacher I have never eaten any form of meat in my life so I'm afraid that would rule me out of your chicken virus theory. I do very much believe its a lifestyle disease - we would never have eaten the carbs and sugars we do now, in any other century. And the 'abnormal' diet most of us choose to eat now is far more in line with what our ancestors, who didn't have diabetes as prevalently, ate.

For me I know the reason I have diabetes is because I ate too many sugars and carbs, for too long. Now is my time to do something about it - and whilst I do and will miss certain foods, I would never want to go back to being completely trapped in a cycle of sugar highs and lows caused by my addiction to carbs and sugars as I was before.

Yes, genetics or something else might have 'helped' me get diabetes, but the absolute bottom line was still that I ate too many sugars and carbs... and yes, a happy medium now would be preferable - but it seems I didn't have the motivation to keep a happy medium previously.... For me, I have been given an opportunity to be kinder to my body before it *really* struggles, and I am embracing that with both hands. Of course I have days when I feel miserable, and 'why me' - but ultimately I've realised that whatever the reason 'why', the only power I have now is to attempt to do something about it... That's my Saturday night two cents worth anyways


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!

 

[Geocacher]

Sunshine Kisses --

It would be unlikely to contract a virus from cooked poultry, you would get it from being in contact with an infected chicken or human. Vegetarians get flu, just like all the rest of us. So do chickens and pigs and that is the reason the virus is able to change so quickly, it can change easily in another species and then re-infect humans who had it before it changed. There are many zoonotic viruses that can infect humans as well as other species, even vegetarians.

Diabetes is common in my family and with a diabetic in the house from the time I was a teenager, the one thing I didn't do was overindulge in sugar or carbs. I was never allowed soda before and certainly not after my Father was diagnosed as T2. We didn't keep sweets or sugar in the house and limited carbs, I've carried those sensible habits into my adult life but I've still become diabetic. Explain that.

I grew up in a farming community, as did my parents, grandparents, and every other T2 in the family. Most kept chickens and pigs and I often visited farms and even plucked and cleaned freshly killed chickens when we bought spent laying hens for eating. All of us had very active lifestyles and ate healthy foods, including a lot of wild game, vegetables grown in our own gardens, and farm animals reared locally. And guess what, still ended up being diabetic. Not to mention that humans have been growing and eating grains as a staple of their diet for far longer than history records so why should it suddenly have become a problem in the last few generations? Something has to have changed, deny it if you wish but it's fact.

Maybe you did cause yourself to become diabetic by choosing to overindulge in sugar, but that isn't how it happened for me and my family. Even active people who eat sensibly can become diabetic. The problem is that we get tarred with the same brush as those who lived overindulgent lifestyles and probably did become diabetic for that reason.

 

[Sunshine_Kisses]

I'm in a healthy bmi range of 23, always have been, and I'm not the one in denial - it's a disease of our modern lifestyle - simples


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!

 

[chris lowe]

I've been type 2 for about 2 1/2 years and I've managed to lose 2 stone by low carbing and upping my excercise. I would't like to say I'm cured, but my BMI is down, my fat to muscle ratio is down, I've lost over 2 inches round my waist and when I test in the morning I'm normally between 5.5 & 6.5 for my blood sugars. If I go back to the way I was I know that I will be back to square one, so not cured, maybe reversed but only if I keep everything in check.

 

[Geocacher]

Sunshine Kisses -- Not for those of us who have never lived your so-called 'modern lifestyle'. Some of us prefer to eat food that isn't processed, deep fried, or full of sugar.

There are far too many people who have a healthy diet and lifestyle who become diabetic,and far too many morbidly obese people with no signs of diabetes, to support the theory that lifestyle alone causes diabetes. Even if the NHS is trying to convince us we are all killing ourselves.

There is a wealth of credible research and information on epigenetics available from trusted sources, and guess what, little of it points to a conclusion of 'you did it to yourself'.

You are, of course, free to believe what you will.

I, however, prefer scientific facts to opinions.