- Messages
- 96
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
So, I'm seven weeks into the Newcastle Diet/VLCD experiment, after being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I went in for blood work today, and already got the results online . . . and here they are.
By way of background, the checkup that resulted in my diagnosis was on January 8, 2015. At that time, my cholesterol was at 276, my Non-HDL was at 250, and my random (non-fasting) BG test was at a whopping 346 mg/dL (over 19 mmol/L). On January 12, 2015, the doctor did another blood draw to find my A1C, which was 10.9%, but before he even got the results, he told my I had diabetes. At that time, I was 5'11" and weighed 244 pounds (BMI of 34.3). I was diagnosed 1000 mg/daily of Metformin, and 2 mg/daily of Glimepiride (Amaryl)
Fast forward to today - 67 days after all those results. I just got my blood results back:
Total Cholesterol: went from 276 --> 133
Weight: went from 244 -->198 (today's new weight!)
Non-HDL Cholesterol: went from 250 -->110
A1C: went from 10.9 --> 7.0
I am so happy right now! I know for a fact that my "true" A1C is a lot lower than 7.0 (meaning, my actual average BG level over the last two months) because I've undoubtedly got at least a month's worth of glycated hemoglobin still floating around in my blood; a couple months from now, I hope to see an A1C result sub 5.0. But I expected a lower A1C; my fasting glucose almost never gets above 100 mg/DL (5.5 mmo/L), my mid-day readings are always in the 80's (4.5) and my after meals never get above 130 (7.2) before dropping quickly back down to normal levels.
I love the fact that all of this happened without any sort of oral medication (I've been off drugs for seven weeks), but I REALLY love the fact that my cholesterol just plummeted into the healthy range. On top of that, it was nice to see that my liver and kidney functions are both still perfect, my electrolyte balance is solid, and I generally have a bill of good health. I'll be scheduling an appointment to discuss the results with my doctor next week, I'm super curious to see his reaction >
I still don't know if I will personally see "reversal" of my diabetes as a result of the Newcastle Diet; I've got reason to be hopeful, but that's based on my BG reaction to that one time last week where I had potato and sugar cake and a sugary salad dressing in one sitting (with fantastic BG readings about two hours after the meal). But even if I don't see an outright reversal, I'm happy enough just to know that the diet did not do anything bad to my organs, and did help with tangential concerns like total cholesterol. Exercise is much easier now, I've got more endurance, and **** my clothes fit better. But most importantly, I have a very strong feeling (which I will confirm with an oral glucose tolerance test sometime next month) that my liver and pancreas are very "defatted" at this point, and that my beta cell function is much, much better than it was at diagnosis.
Before diagnosis I was (at my highest weight) 268 pounds. So I lost about 25 pounds before I was formally diagnosed with T2 - due to the disease, not because I was doing anything healthy with myself. So today I am 70 pounds lighter than I was at my lifetime heaviest weight, 46 pounds lighter than I was at diagnosis. Things are certainly looking up!
By way of background, the checkup that resulted in my diagnosis was on January 8, 2015. At that time, my cholesterol was at 276, my Non-HDL was at 250, and my random (non-fasting) BG test was at a whopping 346 mg/dL (over 19 mmol/L). On January 12, 2015, the doctor did another blood draw to find my A1C, which was 10.9%, but before he even got the results, he told my I had diabetes. At that time, I was 5'11" and weighed 244 pounds (BMI of 34.3). I was diagnosed 1000 mg/daily of Metformin, and 2 mg/daily of Glimepiride (Amaryl)
Fast forward to today - 67 days after all those results. I just got my blood results back:
Total Cholesterol: went from 276 --> 133
Weight: went from 244 -->198 (today's new weight!)
Non-HDL Cholesterol: went from 250 -->110
A1C: went from 10.9 --> 7.0
I am so happy right now! I know for a fact that my "true" A1C is a lot lower than 7.0 (meaning, my actual average BG level over the last two months) because I've undoubtedly got at least a month's worth of glycated hemoglobin still floating around in my blood; a couple months from now, I hope to see an A1C result sub 5.0. But I expected a lower A1C; my fasting glucose almost never gets above 100 mg/DL (5.5 mmo/L), my mid-day readings are always in the 80's (4.5) and my after meals never get above 130 (7.2) before dropping quickly back down to normal levels.
I love the fact that all of this happened without any sort of oral medication (I've been off drugs for seven weeks), but I REALLY love the fact that my cholesterol just plummeted into the healthy range. On top of that, it was nice to see that my liver and kidney functions are both still perfect, my electrolyte balance is solid, and I generally have a bill of good health. I'll be scheduling an appointment to discuss the results with my doctor next week, I'm super curious to see his reaction >
I still don't know if I will personally see "reversal" of my diabetes as a result of the Newcastle Diet; I've got reason to be hopeful, but that's based on my BG reaction to that one time last week where I had potato and sugar cake and a sugary salad dressing in one sitting (with fantastic BG readings about two hours after the meal). But even if I don't see an outright reversal, I'm happy enough just to know that the diet did not do anything bad to my organs, and did help with tangential concerns like total cholesterol. Exercise is much easier now, I've got more endurance, and **** my clothes fit better. But most importantly, I have a very strong feeling (which I will confirm with an oral glucose tolerance test sometime next month) that my liver and pancreas are very "defatted" at this point, and that my beta cell function is much, much better than it was at diagnosis.
Before diagnosis I was (at my highest weight) 268 pounds. So I lost about 25 pounds before I was formally diagnosed with T2 - due to the disease, not because I was doing anything healthy with myself. So today I am 70 pounds lighter than I was at my lifetime heaviest weight, 46 pounds lighter than I was at diagnosis. Things are certainly looking up!
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