Have you reversed diabetic complications?

I had Type 1 diabetes from 1975 to 1997, I say had as I have had my Pancreas transplant for over 16 years now, no insulin requirements and no specific diet requirements. Unfortunately I have been diagnosed with grade 3 proliferative retinopathy again although my blood sugars have been 'normal' for all these 16 years, so normalising blood sugars in my case has not stopped or improved this complication. I have been told by my consultant Opthalmologist that this is possibly due to 'Diabetic Metabolic memory', caused by poor control of my diabetes in my earlier years of having diabetes. I developed Diabetic gastroparesis in my 20's and still suffer with it today, and also some cardiac neuropathy more recently. The only 'neuropathy' that has improved is peripheral, after having this for many many years I can feel hot/cold on my legs and feet and no more nerve pain, but this took years to improve, so perhaps one good outcome of normal blood sugars. Happy days!!

I was diagnosed 16 years ago and told I had background retinopathy at that point. since then eye check vary between saying I still have it or that my eyes are perfect - it seems to follow the course of my BM s pretty closely although not exactly.

Glen Barnett of Joplin, MO

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 years ago. I have been on Insulin, actos, janumet, 2 types of blood pressure
medicine etc. Six weeks ago I started the Newcastle diet for diabetics. After a couple weeks I was off of all the
above meds with blood sugar readings below what they were with the medications.

Instead of using the Optifast meal replacement drink I used glucerna, a meal replacement drink for diabetics. It
contains 200 calories and I used it for all three meals along with non-starchy vegetables for lunch and dinner for
fiber. I have lost twenty pounds and plan to stay on the diet for two more weeks.

My heart doctor is more excited about my sucess than my diabetic doctor. My problem now is finding help with the
diet I should go on after I go off of the Newcastle diet. I would like to hear from someone that has used the Newcastle
diet to reverse diabetes as to what type of diet used after the Newcastle.

Leading up to my being diagnosed with Type 2 in May 09, I had several scary symptoms that I now realise were complications. These included numbness on one shin and foot. After I was advised to omit all carbohydrates from my diet for the weekend before my FBG test, by Sunday evening all the symptoms had dissipated. I was both elated and angry, as I figured out why! I've stayed on low carbs since, maintaining non-diabetic levels since. My blog about this is at http://mindfullymanagingdiabetes.com.

Glen Barnett said:

Glen Barnett of Joplin, MO

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 years ago. I have been on Insulin, actos, janumet, 2 types of blood pressure
medicine etc. Six weeks ago I started the Newcastle diet for diabetics. After a couple weeks I was off of all the
above meds with blood sugar readings below what they were with the medications.

Instead of using the Optifast meal replacement drink I used glucerna, a meal replacement drink for diabetics. It
contains 200 calories and I used it for all three meals along with non-starchy vegetables for lunch and dinner for
fiber. I have lost twenty pounds and plan to stay on the diet for two more weeks.

My heart doctor is more excited about my sucess than my diabetic doctor. My problem now is finding help with the
diet I should go on after I go off of the Newcastle diet. I would like to hear from someone that has used the Newcastle
diet to reverse diabetes as to what type of diet used after the Newcastle.

Click to expand...

We used to have a poster who successfully completed the Newcastle Diet. She now follows a LCHF diet, similar to this site:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

The thread about her experiences on the Newcastle Diet is here:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=28731

Sounds like you're doing great so far :thumbup:

When I turned 50, I went to my GP to get a checkup and had to work hard to convince him that he should take a blood test.
The result was bg of 7.2 and repeated at 7.3 and blood chol = 5.5. I was shocked. GP said to lose half a stone. Retinopathy showed some damage.Immediately did google search and started eatling less quantity but more low GI food. Lost 9lbs before being invited to diabetes training session at GP surgery. The learnt that being thirsty and occaisionally grumpy were both symptons as were funny feelings in the feet in the mornings. Got very scared at potential health risks, started spreading out my eating and swimming more. Lost another 9lbs. Retested bg was 5.4 but blood chol was still 5.4. Nurse recommended I start on statins , after 3 months, blood chol decreased to 4.9. Feet also better. Waiting for repeat retinopathy. Feel great, all advice from nurse proved excellent. She was surprised I had followed everything she suggested which is a shame as she said most people do not. Please follow all advice from health care pros!!
It is difficult to stay focussed on eating less and throughout the day but feeling better makes it worth while.
My wife does not like me being thinner (she thinks I do not look as prosperous) but it is important to have healthy blood.

Good luck

Stuart

I've had Type 1 since age 8, in 1979. I've really no memory of how good or poor my control used to be - I just went to the appointments & was told things were fine. I have 2 letter from the late 1990's saying my HbA1c was 8.4% & 7.8%, it was 6.8% when I was getting lots of severe hypos, which meant I went onto a pump. Since then it's been 7.3-8.2% - the 8.2% was the highest for many years & was 6 months ago. 1 month ago I'd got it down to 7.1%, and am going for lower now with a lower carb diet.

I've had background retinopathy for a few years - at least since 2004 - which was stable, but has reversed on my last 2 checks Nov 11 & 12. This hasn't correlated with anything improving - my BP & cholesterol are steady & I'm not taking meds for them, and like I said, my control got quite a bit worse earlier this year due to my pump settings needing changing - not due to any dietary changes.

I'm aiming for tighter control now as I'm older & more aware of my own mortality, and am better educated partly through this website, so I hope the background retinopathy doesn't come back.

Vicki

Glen Barnett said:

Glen Barnett of Joplin, MO

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 years ago. I have been on Insulin, actos, janumet, 2 types of blood pressure
medicine etc. Six weeks ago I started the Newcastle diet for diabetics. After a couple weeks I was off of all the
above meds with blood sugar readings below what they were with the medications.

Instead of using the Optifast meal replacement drink I used glucerna, a meal replacement drink for diabetics. It
contains 200 calories and I used it for all three meals along with non-starchy vegetables for lunch and dinner for
fiber. I have lost twenty pounds and plan to stay on the diet for two more weeks.

My heart doctor is more excited about my sucess than my diabetic doctor. My problem now is finding help with the
diet I should go on after I go off of the Newcastle diet. I would like to hear from someone that has used the Newcastle
diet to reverse diabetes as to what type of diet used after the Newcastle.

Click to expand...

My experience with Glucerna has been a lot less positive.

In case anybody else has been thinking of trying "Glucerna SR" which Abbott Nutrition are marketing as "Carbsteady"(R), Low GI, sustained release, "helping people with Diabetes find balance", etc, etc.

I've been having an issue with rising fasting BG and decided to try the stuff - and fair enough, my fasting BG was better - I'd been having mid 6's and it went down under 6.

However, for the first time, I measured my BG an hour after ingesting a shake made up using 30g Glucerna (they recommend making it with 52g).

BG before drinking was 5.9
1 hour later it was 8.8 - a rise of 2.9

So much for low GI, sustained release :shock:

One can of Glucerna in the bin!