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Remission.

mymuk

Well-Known Member
Messages
106
Location
Glasgow
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Following on from https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/almost-in-remission-i-think.177857/#post-2328473

It's well over a year since I was last tested, so I chased the surgery and said I want an annual follow up. Bloods given last Thursday and I've an appointment at their Diabetes Clinic tomorrow morning. However, as I'm in Scotland I can see the results already.

HbA1c is down from 38 to 36.
Given I've relaxed my dietary control a little for the last 10 months (I no longer carb count or regularly do finger prick tests) I think I'm justified as regarding myself as in remission.

Cholesterol (non-fasting) :
Current result: 4.9 mmol/L on 12/11/2021
Previous result: 4.8 mmol/L on 05/11/2020

HDL 1.3 same as last year.
LDL 2.5 down from 2.8
Triglycerides 2.4 up from 1.5
 
I see in the post you linked that you've lost 25kg along your journey.

HbA1c is now 38, down from 81 at diagnosis in March then 70 in April (which is when I decided to start taking this seriously) and 48 in June
Click to expand...

I know for some of us that weight loss is the magic bullet

Given I've relaxed my dietary control a little for the last 10 months (I no longer carb count or regularly do finger prick tests) I think I'm justified as regarding myself as in remission.
Click to expand...

I won't get into the definition war but if you can eat moderate carbs & hold your A1c in the mid 30s some would say you're not just in remission, you are reversed.

Now don't do it again.
 
Just had that annual review with the doctor.

"Well I'm amazed. You're no longer a diabetic, in fact I would say you've not been one for the last year. I'm removing that active flag on your medical records and taking you off all the drugs".

So that's the Metformin and blood pressure drugs gone, I'd already got those reduced anyway. I'll still get an annual check to make sure no backsliding.

Then a discussion on "So how did you do this?" She has clearly got the message as she said "I actively tell people not to follow the NHS 'eat healthy carbs' guidance now".

Obviously I'm still going to act on the basis that I'm "allergic" to large amounts of carbohydrate/sugars, but it's nice to know I did it

Many thanks to the various supportive and informative people on here.
 
Wow. Fabulous news - well done. As a relative newbie still (or at least that's how I feel) it gives me real hope that I can beat my T2 into compliance when I read stories like this!
 
That's brilliant, and your Dr. is a superstar too!
 
Here's an update :

Have been slowly increasing the carbs. Not really as a plan but just by not being strict. Weight has stabilised at 105kg or so.

Thought I'd spring for a Libre to see what the blood sugar levels are up to nowadays. Interesting results. Take today :



First spike after 8am is breakfast (Greek yoghurt with a big tsp of black cherry jam plus a coffee with a bit of milk).

Second spike after 1pm was a single party biscuit (weak moment).

Third spike after 2pm was lunch. Two croissants filled with mayo and sliced roast pork.

Fourth (biggest) spike was me deliberately eating the remaining two (unfilled) croissants with a glass of water.

Everything (apart from the final spike) well within reasonable levels and even the final one (9.4) back down within the hour.

That looks, to me, like a slightly above average sensitivity to carbs but a broadly "normal" insulin response.

Any comments?
 
Party biscuit = oaty biscuit.

**** phone.
 
Oh, bit similar for me! My lunch was a fairly healthy prawn salad but I had two pieces of fudge afterwards and some chocolate. And then we went out for dinner at a Chinese tonight - wasn’t super careful other than avoiding obvious pitfalls like rice or sweet&sour. This is a fairly typical pattern for me these days - a high carb meal or treat does result in a big spike, but usually comes down very quick (and I find quite often I “overshoot” and end up a bit low - not scary low, just maybe like 3.2 or something like that). So I think that my insulin response (and maybe sensitivity) has improved since losing weight (I’ve gone from about 118kg to 88kg). Still overweight though.
 

Absolutely normal response to eating croissants without fat/protein to soften the spike.
Normal to a non-diabetic looks like this while eating 300-350gs of carbs per day.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...221/?msclkid=07ba8c9bc53611eca11b8cb44ebfc9f9
They spike above 7.8 too, normally for 30 mins a day.

My own personal feeling is to avoid obvious carbs if possible, it's nice to know you can put them away but I don't wish to poke the bear. So if birthday cake goes around the canteen I don't have to make an excuse, like a secret superpower.
 
In other news. I'm in Siena. Breakfast was a cappuccino, croissant with prosciutto and ham then a fruit tartlet.

Almost no effect! Well, a reasonable rise then fall.



 
Annual check up. As expected the HbA1c has crept up (to 40), so a good reminder to cut back the carbs a bit.

Cholesterol 5.9 (up 1)
HDL 1.4
LDL 3.7
Triglycerides 1.7
 
I noticed my blood pressure and occasional finger prick readings were up a bit (as is my weight) so asked for a review test.

HbA1c 41 (I really expected it to be higher)
Cholesterol 5.5 (down 0.4)
HDL 1.2
LDL 3.2
Triglycerides 2.5

Interesting chat about results with new GP (who is very interested in diabetes). When I told them I'd wanted to stay on Metformin - as I'm of the view it is a good thing to be on anyway - but previous GP at the practice had refused when pronouncing me in remission, they said they preferred to keep people in remission on Metformin - so were very happy to put me back on a low dose.

Good result. IMO. My HbA1c is pretty much stable despite being fairly lax with carb restrictions. Also got my Ramipril put back up to 2.5 ("that's virtually nothing compared to most people on it") which has sorted the blood pressure.
 
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