- Messages
- 4,025
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
OVER 6 YEARS IN REMISSION
Over 6 years in official remission from type 2 diabetes – no medication - and that feels very much like a success story to me and I am absolutely delighted.
I thought I would pop onto the forum where my healing journey began and give an update in the hope that it gives hope to others who have been diagnosed, and also to say a big thank you to those who helped me at that time and subsequently over the years. The forum is an invaluable resource as there are so many experts in diabetes (all types) on here who willingly share their knowledge and time to help.
WHERE AND WHEN MY JOURNEY IT STARTED
I went to the doctor in December 2017 with a couple of worrying symptoms that had gone on for too long, severe heartburn, a mad dash to get to the loo most days and a dry mouth. I had put a fair bit of weight on too. I thought it was ‘the change’ to be honest taking my age into consideration but no, a blood test (Hba1c) confirmed I had type 2 diabetes and probably had it for some time prior to the symptoms rearing their head. I realised that the yeast infections I was experiencing were probably linked as was the blurry vision in the morning.
My doctor arranged for bloods to be taken and a scan too.
RESULTS
Blood results confirmed I was indeed diabetic with a Hba1c of 62mmol/mol (below 42 is classed as normal).
My scan showed a fatty liver which can go hand in hand with diabetes.
I was absolutely devastated.
I declined the medication offered by my diabetic nurse, metformin, statins (which can raise blood sugars) and blood pressure medication (my blood pressure was very high) in the hope of finding a way to sort it with diet although I didn’t know what that was going to be as I felt I ate healthily. Obviously not otherwise I would not have landed in the type 2 boat which is mainly down to an unhealthy diet. The nurse gave me 2 months to see how I would get on but said I would probably need medication as type 2 diabetes is ‘a progressive disease’.
She also told me I was 4 stone over weight. I had struggled most of my adult life with my weight – it was a constant battle and I always lost. I was determined to lose weight now that my health was at stake.
BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORING
I asked her about having a blood glucose monitor to check my levels but she assured me that testing wasn’t necessary and medication could be adjusted accordingly as I go along depending on my blood test results! That made no sense. How ever would I know the impact food was having without testing? It would be like crossing the road blindfolded, not a very good idea at all. Apparently by following the NHS Eatwell Guide nutritional guidelines – in fact the nurse drew me the Eatwell plate as a guide which I still have to this day (I later learned eating this way would do the diabetic me more harm than good).
DIABETES.CO.UK FORUM
I felt so many negative emotions as I saw first-hand what diabetes did to my poor mum, but finding this forum after Googling ‘reversing diabetes’ gave me hope that I could regain my health and put this terrible health condition into reverse, and I could do it by making some small but significant changes to my diet.
The advice from the diabetics was simple, test blood sugars regularly to see what spikes levels or raises them for prolonged periods and eliminate the baddies or adjust portion size accordingly. We are all different – it isn’t one size fits all.
I bought a blood glucose monitor and some testing strips – the best investment I ever made.
AVOIDING SPIKES AND PROLONGED RAISED BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS IS MY GOAL AS THEY CAN RESULT IN TERRIBLE HEALTH ISSUES
What spiked me came as a surprise, it wasn’t just the sweet stuff as I had anticipated but savoury food too, for example bread (brown and white) and potatoes. And what kept my blood sugars high for hours at a time, pasta and rice (brown and white).
It was basically food high in carbohydrates that were not my friends.
I found alternatives for these, for example very low carb bread (I buy online).
Instead of pasta I use cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, courgette and aubergine.
Instead of rice I use cauliflower or broccoli rice and spice up with herbs.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOOD
We are surrounded with it these days. It’s loaded with sugar and undesirable ingredients and is cheap to manufacture, engineered to be hyper palatable and addictive. I avoid as much as possible and cook from scratch.
SAUSAGES
Good and bad choices I found out thanks to a member on here. I used to eat Richmond (high carb) but now choose Heck (97% meat and ultra low carb)
BREAKFAST IDEAS
For breakfast instead of sugary cereal or porridge oats I eat a variety of things like full fat Greek yoghurt, eggs any which way, kippers or peppered mackerel, a continental breakfast, chaffles with various toppings, a slice of low carb bread with homemade strawberry jam or cheese on low carb toast, and if I am not hungry I don’t bother, just a coffee does the trick, I like mine with cream.
FRUIT
Fruit isn’t called nature’s candy for nothing and there are good and bad choices for me. Bananas I call sugar sticks and grapes sugar bombs, I tend to stick to berries.
DAWN PHENOMENON
I keep my breakfast as low carb as possible especially if my blood sugars are a little higher in the morning (this is down to something called dawn phenomenon). I find a carbier day than is usual for me can put my blood sugars up the following morning.
HEALTHY FATS
Examples - cheese, butter, eggs, beef, duck, pork, fish, nuts, avocado olives, extra virgin olive oil etc
I eat healthy fats which don’t raise my blood sugar levels at all, they keep me full for longer, I rarely feel hungry and the desire to snack just isn’t there, like a switch has been turned off. Before my diagnosis I was under the impression all fats were bad for me but that could not be further from the truth. Even though my diet is higher in fats than it used to be prior to diagnosis my annual cholesterol results are always optimal (I always ask for a full lipid panel to get the bigger picture and fast for at least 12 hours before hand).
REACHING MY GOALS
When I went back to my diabetic nurse after 2 months my blood hba1c was 47 (pre diabetic range is from 42 – 47). I had lost 14 lbs in weight. Medication wasn’t mentioned.
Then I went back 2 months later in April 2018 and my hba1c was 40 (normal) and I had lost 3 stone in weight (42lbs)
On 26 June 2018 I reached my goal weight after losing 50lbs in total and my hba1c was in the 30s where it has remained ever since, controlled only by diet and a little willpower! My blood pressure was perfect and still is.
CAKES AND CHOCOLATE
Love a bit of chocolate but nowadays it is 85%. Cakes – well fortunately my husband is a master baker and keeps our freezer well stocked up. I am lucky enough to have a keto shop more or less on my doorstep and often visit for some delicious low carb delights/biscuits.
EXERCISE
The most I do is a good walk, I love walking, beneficial for mental and physical health and I can watch my blood sugars go down on my Libre if I go for a walk after dinner – fascinating.
LIBRE SENSOR 24 HOUR BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITOR
Because I have moved from finger pricking to wearing a continuous glucose monitor (Libre sensor 2) which gives me 24/7 readings and has given me a much better idea of the impact of food at the time of eating and over subsequent hours, I have been able to be a little more flexible with what I eat but I still stay as low carb as possible.
EATING OUT
My husband and I eat out quite a lot and this has thrown some nasty surprises up thanks to my Libre sensor….. I try something new that I feel is low carb but my Libre tells me there is hidden sugar somewhere (believe it or not it could be in something as simple as a beef burger and I never have bread with my burgers when out so the spike isn’t from the bread). My choice comes back to bite me, bad choices have impacted my blood sugars on more than one occasion over the >6 years on low carb. But if I have a bad day I just dust myself off – tomorrow is another day, no point in beating yourself up, we are all only human.
WEIGHT MAINTENANCE
Weight maintenance – both myself and my husband, who has also lost a lot of weight, weigh ourselves most days. I certainly don’t want to ever take my eye off the ball and start the weight loss battle again if I can help it. We have had a few curb balls thrown at us over the past few years and it is challenging times like these that can have a negative impact with things like eating the wrong stuff and/or drinking too much. My willpower carried me through most days thankfully. Didn't have any prior to my diagnosis so nobody more surprised than me!
ALCOHOL
I do enjoy a glass of red, dry white wine or prosecco and find it has a positive effect on my wellbeing and doesn’t impact my blood sugars so win win.
HOPE
Diabetes does not have to be the progressive disease it is often made out to be – it can be put into reverse/remission. Medication may be required but not always. That said, I understand only too well that if I go back to my old way of eating I would end up back in the diabetic boat and that may well sink in the future. I look at it this way – I have grandads’ army inside battling the sugar and not the SAS like most people and I need to be as kind to them as possible.
Thank you for reading if you managed to get this far give yourself a pat on the back! Right now off to cook dinner (well the air fryer is cooking it), chicken breast stuffed with garlic and herb cheese, wrapped up in bacon with a side of broccoli and a large glass of red wine (no work tomorrow!).
Cheers everyone and GOOD HEALTH.
Over 6 years in official remission from type 2 diabetes – no medication - and that feels very much like a success story to me and I am absolutely delighted.
I thought I would pop onto the forum where my healing journey began and give an update in the hope that it gives hope to others who have been diagnosed, and also to say a big thank you to those who helped me at that time and subsequently over the years. The forum is an invaluable resource as there are so many experts in diabetes (all types) on here who willingly share their knowledge and time to help.
WHERE AND WHEN MY JOURNEY IT STARTED
I went to the doctor in December 2017 with a couple of worrying symptoms that had gone on for too long, severe heartburn, a mad dash to get to the loo most days and a dry mouth. I had put a fair bit of weight on too. I thought it was ‘the change’ to be honest taking my age into consideration but no, a blood test (Hba1c) confirmed I had type 2 diabetes and probably had it for some time prior to the symptoms rearing their head. I realised that the yeast infections I was experiencing were probably linked as was the blurry vision in the morning.
My doctor arranged for bloods to be taken and a scan too.
RESULTS
Blood results confirmed I was indeed diabetic with a Hba1c of 62mmol/mol (below 42 is classed as normal).
My scan showed a fatty liver which can go hand in hand with diabetes.
I was absolutely devastated.
I declined the medication offered by my diabetic nurse, metformin, statins (which can raise blood sugars) and blood pressure medication (my blood pressure was very high) in the hope of finding a way to sort it with diet although I didn’t know what that was going to be as I felt I ate healthily. Obviously not otherwise I would not have landed in the type 2 boat which is mainly down to an unhealthy diet. The nurse gave me 2 months to see how I would get on but said I would probably need medication as type 2 diabetes is ‘a progressive disease’.
She also told me I was 4 stone over weight. I had struggled most of my adult life with my weight – it was a constant battle and I always lost. I was determined to lose weight now that my health was at stake.
BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORING
I asked her about having a blood glucose monitor to check my levels but she assured me that testing wasn’t necessary and medication could be adjusted accordingly as I go along depending on my blood test results! That made no sense. How ever would I know the impact food was having without testing? It would be like crossing the road blindfolded, not a very good idea at all. Apparently by following the NHS Eatwell Guide nutritional guidelines – in fact the nurse drew me the Eatwell plate as a guide which I still have to this day (I later learned eating this way would do the diabetic me more harm than good).
DIABETES.CO.UK FORUM
I felt so many negative emotions as I saw first-hand what diabetes did to my poor mum, but finding this forum after Googling ‘reversing diabetes’ gave me hope that I could regain my health and put this terrible health condition into reverse, and I could do it by making some small but significant changes to my diet.
The advice from the diabetics was simple, test blood sugars regularly to see what spikes levels or raises them for prolonged periods and eliminate the baddies or adjust portion size accordingly. We are all different – it isn’t one size fits all.
I bought a blood glucose monitor and some testing strips – the best investment I ever made.
AVOIDING SPIKES AND PROLONGED RAISED BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS IS MY GOAL AS THEY CAN RESULT IN TERRIBLE HEALTH ISSUES
What spiked me came as a surprise, it wasn’t just the sweet stuff as I had anticipated but savoury food too, for example bread (brown and white) and potatoes. And what kept my blood sugars high for hours at a time, pasta and rice (brown and white).
It was basically food high in carbohydrates that were not my friends.
I found alternatives for these, for example very low carb bread (I buy online).
Instead of pasta I use cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, courgette and aubergine.
Instead of rice I use cauliflower or broccoli rice and spice up with herbs.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOOD
We are surrounded with it these days. It’s loaded with sugar and undesirable ingredients and is cheap to manufacture, engineered to be hyper palatable and addictive. I avoid as much as possible and cook from scratch.
SAUSAGES
Good and bad choices I found out thanks to a member on here. I used to eat Richmond (high carb) but now choose Heck (97% meat and ultra low carb)
BREAKFAST IDEAS
For breakfast instead of sugary cereal or porridge oats I eat a variety of things like full fat Greek yoghurt, eggs any which way, kippers or peppered mackerel, a continental breakfast, chaffles with various toppings, a slice of low carb bread with homemade strawberry jam or cheese on low carb toast, and if I am not hungry I don’t bother, just a coffee does the trick, I like mine with cream.
FRUIT
Fruit isn’t called nature’s candy for nothing and there are good and bad choices for me. Bananas I call sugar sticks and grapes sugar bombs, I tend to stick to berries.
DAWN PHENOMENON
I keep my breakfast as low carb as possible especially if my blood sugars are a little higher in the morning (this is down to something called dawn phenomenon). I find a carbier day than is usual for me can put my blood sugars up the following morning.
HEALTHY FATS
Examples - cheese, butter, eggs, beef, duck, pork, fish, nuts, avocado olives, extra virgin olive oil etc
I eat healthy fats which don’t raise my blood sugar levels at all, they keep me full for longer, I rarely feel hungry and the desire to snack just isn’t there, like a switch has been turned off. Before my diagnosis I was under the impression all fats were bad for me but that could not be further from the truth. Even though my diet is higher in fats than it used to be prior to diagnosis my annual cholesterol results are always optimal (I always ask for a full lipid panel to get the bigger picture and fast for at least 12 hours before hand).
REACHING MY GOALS
When I went back to my diabetic nurse after 2 months my blood hba1c was 47 (pre diabetic range is from 42 – 47). I had lost 14 lbs in weight. Medication wasn’t mentioned.
Then I went back 2 months later in April 2018 and my hba1c was 40 (normal) and I had lost 3 stone in weight (42lbs)
On 26 June 2018 I reached my goal weight after losing 50lbs in total and my hba1c was in the 30s where it has remained ever since, controlled only by diet and a little willpower! My blood pressure was perfect and still is.
CAKES AND CHOCOLATE
Love a bit of chocolate but nowadays it is 85%. Cakes – well fortunately my husband is a master baker and keeps our freezer well stocked up. I am lucky enough to have a keto shop more or less on my doorstep and often visit for some delicious low carb delights/biscuits.
EXERCISE
The most I do is a good walk, I love walking, beneficial for mental and physical health and I can watch my blood sugars go down on my Libre if I go for a walk after dinner – fascinating.
LIBRE SENSOR 24 HOUR BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITOR
Because I have moved from finger pricking to wearing a continuous glucose monitor (Libre sensor 2) which gives me 24/7 readings and has given me a much better idea of the impact of food at the time of eating and over subsequent hours, I have been able to be a little more flexible with what I eat but I still stay as low carb as possible.
EATING OUT
My husband and I eat out quite a lot and this has thrown some nasty surprises up thanks to my Libre sensor….. I try something new that I feel is low carb but my Libre tells me there is hidden sugar somewhere (believe it or not it could be in something as simple as a beef burger and I never have bread with my burgers when out so the spike isn’t from the bread). My choice comes back to bite me, bad choices have impacted my blood sugars on more than one occasion over the >6 years on low carb. But if I have a bad day I just dust myself off – tomorrow is another day, no point in beating yourself up, we are all only human.
WEIGHT MAINTENANCE
Weight maintenance – both myself and my husband, who has also lost a lot of weight, weigh ourselves most days. I certainly don’t want to ever take my eye off the ball and start the weight loss battle again if I can help it. We have had a few curb balls thrown at us over the past few years and it is challenging times like these that can have a negative impact with things like eating the wrong stuff and/or drinking too much. My willpower carried me through most days thankfully. Didn't have any prior to my diagnosis so nobody more surprised than me!
ALCOHOL
I do enjoy a glass of red, dry white wine or prosecco and find it has a positive effect on my wellbeing and doesn’t impact my blood sugars so win win.
HOPE
Diabetes does not have to be the progressive disease it is often made out to be – it can be put into reverse/remission. Medication may be required but not always. That said, I understand only too well that if I go back to my old way of eating I would end up back in the diabetic boat and that may well sink in the future. I look at it this way – I have grandads’ army inside battling the sugar and not the SAS like most people and I need to be as kind to them as possible.
Thank you for reading if you managed to get this far give yourself a pat on the back! Right now off to cook dinner (well the air fryer is cooking it), chicken breast stuffed with garlic and herb cheese, wrapped up in bacon with a side of broccoli and a large glass of red wine (no work tomorrow!).
Cheers everyone and GOOD HEALTH.
