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Type 2 How to tell if I'm no longer diabetic?

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BeanieRob

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I was diagnosed as type 2 a little while ago, and have been taking my BGL to keep an eye on what is happening.

Eating a low carb diet (almost carb-free) my BGL is between 5.7 and 7.4 almost all the time, averaging out at 6.3. Two hours after eating and my BGL is normally about 1.0 higher than before eating.

Does that mean I'm no longer type-2, or is it more complicated than that?

Does it meant that my H1BAC (or whatever it's called) is likely to be a lot lower when I next have it done, but then is it a true representation if I'm not eating any carbs?!?

How can I tell whether my readings are right or wrong? Is the important thing how my body reacts to carbohydrates?

Thanks for any help as I'm confused.

Robbie
 
Basically you are diabetic, you always will be, you're just controlling it by eating low-carb.
Diabetes doesn't disappear just because you're controlling it unfortunately :(
 
Hi Robbie,

On the plus side, your actions now could stop the HBa1c getting any more progressive from when you were diagnosed??
If nothing else..

What were your numbers on diagnosis?
 
BeanieRob said:
How can I tell whether my readings are right or wrong? Is the important thing how my body reacts to carbohydrates?
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The readings are the readings, they are just a measurement, not a judgement. The important thing is that you keep your BG as consistently low as you can because prolonged high levels are what cause the damage. All the HbA1c does is give you an average of how successfully you have achieved this over the last two or three months. You are diabetic and most probably will be for life, because your body cannot process carbs properly. You manage this but not feeding yourself carbs, much as someone with a nut allergy doesn’t eat peanuts.

If someone with a nut allergy doesn’t eat peanuts, are they cured of their allergy? I don’t think so. But by not eating nuts they don’t die of anaphylactic shock. They succeed by not suffering death by peanut, we succeed by not suffering loss of sight, neuropathy, amputation and an early demise from heart disease.
 
BeanieRob said:
Thanks folks, I feared as much. Either way though, this no-carb diet feels to be doing me a lot of good.

My HbA1c was 50 when I had it tested.
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Well, you are making great progress, and it does mean you're less liable to get complications and such... I know I felt a whole lot better when I got my blood sugars under control. So while T2 for life.... You decide how this thing goes. That's empowering. :)
 
BeanieRob said:
Thanks folks, I feared as much. Either way though, this no-carb diet feels to be doing me a lot of good.

My HbA1c was 50 when I had it tested.
Click to expand...

You had only just breached the threshold with 48 being the cutoff point fot diagnosis.
Have you made lifestyle changes since diagnosis ?
Weight loss & exercise really helps some of us.
 
Ronancastled said:
You had only just breached the threshold with 48 being the cutoff point fot diagnosis.
Have you made lifestyle changes since diagnosis ?
Weight loss & exercise really helps some of us.
Click to expand...
I've almost completely cut out carbohydrates. That's made a huge difference, and I've already lost 1st.
Exercise is tough as we've been in tier 3 for months, but I've definitely noticed that walking makes a huge difference. Might be time to get a bike (not an electric one!)
 
Great news, I'm guessing your next HbA1c will be well out of the diabetic zone..
Regarding the future it probably depends on your route to developing type 2 in the first place.
It was simply visceral fat & sedenatary behaviour you've started to eliminate them, keep it up & you should be in good shape.
If your insulin resistance was caused by genetic or other factors then it may be tougher but still manageable through low carb & lifestyle.
Another great benifit of low carb is lower levels of circulating insulin which helps keeping the weight off.

Good luck.
 
Ronancastled said:
Great news, I'm guessing your next HbA1c will be well out of the diabetic zone..
Regarding the future it probably depends on your route to developing type 2 in the first place.
It was simply visceral fat & sedenatary behaviour you've started to eliminate them, keep it up & you should be in good shape.
If your insulin resistance was caused by genetic or other factors then it may be tougher but still manageable through low carb & lifestyle.
Another great benifit of low carb is lower levels of circulating insulin which helps keeping the weight off.

Good luck.
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With respect, I think you hugely over simplify the experiences of many people living with Type 2 diabetes to say it was simply visceral fat and sedentary behaviour at the root cause. Whilst remaining or becoming trimmer does generally help with diabetes control, it is not the be all and end all, or the solution for many.
 
DCUKMod said:
With respect, I think you hugely over simplify the experiences of many people living with Type 2 diabetes to say it was simply visceral fat and sedentary behaviour at the root cause. Whilst remaining or becoming trimmer does generally help with diabetes control, it is not the be all and end all, or the solution for many.
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I think @Ronancastled may have missed an "if" at the beginning of the paragraph which changed the meaning.
 
I tried to mention the 2 most popular routes to insulin resistance but i agree I may have over stressed my own experience.
I'm an advocate of Prof Taylor & his findings but realise his arguement for visceral fat being the only cause is over simplistic.

@BeanieRob While I or others like me may offer advice we are normally only quoting from our own experiences.
Posters like @DCUKMod are far more knowledgeable in the nuances of this disease.
You're in good hands here.
 
Unfortunately, @Ronancastled , it appears tot me that Type 2 diabetes is the catch-all diagnosis for anyone not T1, or LADA, although it is slowly getting better, but the reliance on the eyeball factor diagnosis: "carrying extra poundage = T2" or "over 30 = T2", or even simply, "No ketones = T2".

I daresay, and I sincerely hope, things will get better over time.
 
You may avoid the symptoms of diabetes for the rest of your life.

For instance, if you had enough fat and insulin resistance (IR) to overwhelm your pancreas.
If you lose weight and that fat and reduce your IR you may be able to eat relatively normally and have your BG stay in the non-diabetic range for much or all of the rest of your life.

However it is highly likely that if you return to the weight and diet that you had immediately pre-diagnosis that the symptoms will return.
You have, obviously, demonstrated that you can get your body into a state where your pancreas cannot effectively control your BG (for whatever reason).

So it is a bit of a grey area, cured or in remission.
Either way, if you work out what you need to do to reverse your symptoms you will be doing well.

One definition of "cured" could be to pass an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
This would show that at the time of your test your pancreas could effectively control your BG.
Noting that (as above) you may not be cured forever.

There are those of us with reasonable BG control but absolutely no chance of passing an OGTT who are certainly not cured.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
You may avoid the symptoms of diabetes for the rest of your life.

For instance, if you had enough fat and insulin resistance (IR) to overwhelm your pancreas.
If you lose weight and that fat and reduce your IR you may be able to eat relatively normally and have your BG stay in the non-diabetic range for much or all of the rest of your life.

However it is highly likely that if you return to the weight and diet that you had immediately pre-diagnosis that the symptoms will return.
You have, obviously, demonstrated that you can get your body into a state where your pancreas cannot effectively control your BG (for whatever reason).

So it is a bit of a grey area, cured or in remission.
Either way, if you work out what you need to do to reverse your symptoms you will be doing well.

One definition of "cured" could be to pass an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
This would show that at the time of your test your pancreas could effectively control your BG.
Noting that (as above) you may not be cured forever.

There are those of us with reasonable BG control but absolutely no chance of passing an OGTT who are certainly not cured.
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@LittleGreyCat, very well said once a diabetic always a diabetic. I have normal blood sugar numbers but I always think first before eat anything. It does dinot bother me that I have to be careful, it is something I have to do. I remember the sugar cravings when I was first diagnosed and do want to go through that again. I enjoy puzzles so treat my diet as one, it works for me.

I prefer the term of remission over cure, because in remission you need to still stay on top of things
 
I have always needed to eat low carb to feel well - I was eating a low carb diet at home without really realizing it, but started deliberately avoiding high carb foods in the early 1970s.
Your Hba1c reflects your blood glucose levels over the last few weeks - which is what it is, nothing artificial about it.
I find that now, some years after getting back to a normal Hba1c that if I eat something high carb my BG levesl seem about normal - but then next morning I stand on the scales and I can se exactly where the glucose and associated water went - and it takes time to lose it again, which is absolutely normal for me, always has been.
No matter how much I am nattered at to agree to try a high carb 'normal' diet, I can't comply because the body I got just doesn't work that way. I am just glad that I found out how to make it work properly and could go straight back to it on diagnosis with a rather smug 'I told you so' to myself in the mirror in the mornings.
 
I'm sorry to say DCUK that Arnie got it right, in my case at least... I've spent far too long sat on my backside eating junk!
I'm not particularly proud to be perpetuating that image of someone diabetic, but I'm afraid that in my case it's true.

I believe that term 'in remission' is a good way to look at it, and I don't want to go back to the headaches, dulled perception etc that comes with the carbohydrate-high junk that I used to consider to be food! Considering it to be 'in remission' will also stop me just slipping back to The Old Ways.

Ultimately, I guess that this diagnosis has been the kick up the bum that I needed to sort myself out.

Thanks for the help folks.
 
BeanieRob said:
I'm sorry to say DCUK that Arnie got it right, in my case at least... I've spent far too long sat on my backside eating junk!
I'm not particularly proud to be perpetuating that image of someone diabetic, but I'm afraid that in my case it's true.

I believe that term 'in remission' is a good way to look at it, and I don't want to go back to the headaches, dulled perception etc that comes with the carbohydrate-high junk that I used to consider to be food! Considering it to be 'in remission' will also stop me just slipping back to The Old Ways.

Ultimately, I guess that this diagnosis has been the kick up the bum that I needed to sort myself out.

Thanks for the help folks.
Click to expand...
@BeanieBob that has been my opinion on the subject for years ...
 
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