Hi. New here but diagnosed 5 years ago. Had T2 under control but last 18 months been creeping up to 55. Now on Metrormin and forxiga. Looking for support to bring hba1c down to under 42 as it was a few years ago with diet alone.
new here but diagnosed 5 years ago
- Thread starter Anthony6
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fredinbrum
Member
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- 7
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Hiya Anthony, sad to hear you're struggling. The only real answer I have found is to eliminate carbs in all their forms if you can. Of the three macronutrients, carbs-protein-fat, only carbs are non-essential. Your body makes any needed glucose from other sources. Check out Dr David Unwin, a GP practicing at the Norwood Medical Practice in the north of England. He has had amazing success treating obese and diabetic patients using lifestyle changes and de-prescribing medication. He saves his practice around £50,000 per annum due to medication no longer prescribed. Google him. I hope this helps.
I echo this advice. I was diagnosed Type 2 16 years ago & have never been on medication. My HbA1c has never been above 41 - normally in the 30s. This has been achieved by following the no carb., 800 cal. per day diet, & exercise regime. If you get medical approval, try it ; it really works !
low-carb is essential but also don't get rid of your Metformin (if it is a small dose like 500XR) in a hurry. It is your safety net especially with the dawn syndrome that creeps in as we get older. Your body needs to get used to some medication as T2DM is a chronic dysfunction and sadly it can only get worse. no carb is just a short time solution. Keto will do more harm than good (keto rush and the rest of the horrible side effects that no one is talking about) by all means loose some weight if you need to but pls don't starve yourself or trouble your mind too much on the long run. good luck!
as someone that is battling with T2DM and is not overweigh I can only stress the importance of being on a small dose of Metformin 500XR. You can not live your whole life with no carbs! As a few-weeks treatment yes (especially if you are overweight) but low-carb (up 100 but mostly 50/70 carbs per day most of them from fruits and limit bread and pasta) is a different story. you simply can not stop eating fruits. you need them. they are essential and some of them (you pick and choose) have very little carbs or their GL index is LOW so it takes the liver longer to process the carbs. Add some form of exercise to this and you will use them for energy before they do two rounds in the blood without any BG spikes. I am 53. Diagnosed with a horrible A1c of 9.8! (83.5) three years ago during the pandemic. I did Keto and intermittent fasting for few weeks and it helps. I am keeping my T2DM under control with an A1c of 5.6 (37.7) but I will never get rid of my small dose of Metformin. a 500XR is as good as any supplement out there plus it protects your heart and helps with the dawn syndrome. body builders in the US use it for their "cutting" phase.when you get very old (80+) and no form of "no carb - no food" will help you!
fredinbrum
Member
- Messages
- 7
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
In addition Anthony, I'd encourage you to use a CGM. (Constant Glucose Monitor) Freestyle Libre 2 is very good. It would show you as you go along which foods are having an impact, and to what degree. You can get a Freestyle Libre 2 CGM sensor for free. They last for 2 weeks monitoring your blood glucose 24/7. They're very enlightening. Check it out on the Abbott site. Or just search Libre 2 on the internet and look for the free CGM. The sensor can be read by a Smart Phone via their free app. You don't need the reader they also supply. I wish you well.
fredinbrum
Member
- Messages
- 7
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
P.S. Don't just cut carbs and go hungry. Replace with protein and fat. Eat until satiated. Example could be a meal I had the other day. 10oz fresh Rainbow Trout, just microwaved for 4 and 1/2 minutes. Then take the skin off and sprinkle the fish with a little cinnamon. I also had one Braeburn apple. My glucose at the time of eating the meal was 9.4 Over the next 3 and 1/2 hours it steadily went down, not up. It levelled out at 5.4
Can I just check please - are you a qualified doctor or medical professional within the diabetes field?
If not, it may be important for your own personal circumstances with diabetes management, but that doesn't mean it's important or necessarily suitable for everyone.
That's fine if you can afford to lose weight but some type2 are extremely underweight
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Hi. I disagree with a lot of what you say.
T2 does not "only get worse" - I have T2 and I have been in remission for a number of years now. There are many others on this forum who have been in remission for much longer.
I have been low carb/keto for very nearly four years, and it is definitely not a "short time solution". Keto has not done me "more harm than good" - can you provide any evidence to back up your assertion? Perhaps no one is talking about "keto rush" and the rest of the "horrible side effects" because no-one gets them? I have no idea what "keto rush" is and I haven't had any side effects.
Finally, I have never seen any indication that dawn syndrome is associated with getting older. I have no experience with diabetic medication so won't comment on something I know little about directly.
HSSS
Expert
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- 7,476
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Diet only
Never seen this claim before. Any evidence? From the thousands of comments here and on other sites it affects us at all ages.
Why?
that outdated assumption is based on an eatwell diet and medication approach and set well before remission was widely accepted as a realistic prospect.
Plenty of us have been low carb for years without ill effect. Low carb and even keto is not zero carb. No idea what keto rush is or what horrible side effects you are talking about. The vast majority of short term effects either pass quickly or can be avoided. It’s also not starvation. You can eat plenty of food,particularly proteins and healthy fats.
You can live an entire life without carbs should you desire. Nor do you have to lose weight on low carb/keto if you eat enough of the other foods. And on keto you’d probably not eat any bread or pasta and limited fruits. Fruit is not essential. Anything you get from fruit you can get from vegetables but without the fructose/glucose hit.
I’m curious where you are getting your nutritional information from as it sounds like blogs or click bait articles or sources with little other than a surface understanding of low carb and keto.
You can comfortably live all your life without eating ANY carbs, even Vitamin C can be obtained from meat. that being said most of us are happy with low carb. The old mantra that type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease, is only true if you follow outdated dietary advise. Even the Victorians knew this.
When i prick my finger, having set up the lancet properly, and used in the correct place. I don't know if it has worked, until a drop of blood appears, and i have VERY sensitive fingers.
Dawn syndrome is an evolutionary process, intended to get EVERYBODY going in the morning, it is only of concern to diabetics because our sugar regulation system is wonky. But through sustained low carbing it can be reduced so as not to be a problem.
There is so much guff written about low carb/Keto, which is what we as humans evolved to eat, that's why most of us feel so much better eating low carb, because it is the fuel we are designed for.
When i prick my finger, having set up the lancet properly, and used in the correct place. I don't know if it has worked, until a drop of blood appears, and i have VERY sensitive fingers.
Dawn syndrome is an evolutionary process, intended to get EVERYBODY going in the morning, it is only of concern to diabetics because our sugar regulation system is wonky. But through sustained low carbing it can be reduced so as not to be a problem.
There is so much guff written about low carb/Keto, which is what we as humans evolved to eat, that's why most of us feel so much better eating low carb, because it is the fuel we are designed for.
