Trying without medication

[Kirsty2116]

I was recently diagnosed with type 2 with my hgA1c coming in at 98 was very reluctant to start any medication and have to thank my gp and the diabetic nurse who I see at the gp clinic for both being extremely supportive. I have just had my first review and bloods having stuck to a low carb diet only since diagnosis and my currant blood levels are sitting at 50. I'm really encouraged that if I continue in this way that I will get them down even further. I have also dropped 20kgs which is an extra bonus without even trying to loose weight. I know this might not be the treatment route for all but hopefully I will continue to reduce my blood levels with diet and exercise only.

 

[AndBreathe]

Very, very well done. I also found I lost weight without trying, once I trimmed the carbs.

Onwards, and downwards?

 

[Kristin251]

Outstanding! Great to see you taking the reigns with your own health. Your results show you should be able to do very well without meds. Keep up the good work.

 

[DominicLaiYew]

Very, very well done. I also found I lost weight without trying, once I trimmed the carbs.

Onwards, and downwards?

hi there,
very impressed with your success & wanted to ask how did you do it without medication?
My wrap sheet below:

• Diagnosed in Jan 2016 as T2 with constant BG levels at 15-18 mmol/L
• on Mets 500 mg 2 times daily
• Now on a moderate low Carb diet, still experimenting as it involves " a determination to climb Everest"
• On a high intensity exercise program running 8-10 km 5 days a week, push ups 30, squats 30 twice
• Now after 100 days my BG sort of stabilized at 7-9 mmol/L
• Fasting is still stubbornly high at 6-8 most mornings
• Read all, done many experiments on natural foods & supplements, but now hitting a threshold bottom where the best i achieved was 5mmol/L after a long run
• Just got my HaB1C at 8.0 ( arrh!)
• went on a 4 days " break" with no meds & eating , now BG is up again at 11.0 !!!!!!!!

So my question? Are we suppose to live a discipline live for the rest of our living years?
Would be great if you could share your success story...

Domi

 

[Kristin251]

I'm not Kristy but in short, yes. This is for the rest of our lives. Hour or hour meal to meal. Diabetes takes no breaks and has no problem rearing its ugly head when we just want a little break. Sorry as it is.

Moderate low carb might not be low enough to achieve the levels you wish and high intensity can actually pop you up

You've still made great progress. Keep testing experimenting and refining

Sorry I know it's not what you wanted to hear

 

[Kirsty2116]

hi there,
very impressed with your success & wanted to ask how did you do it without medication?
My wrap sheet below:

• Diagnosed in Jan 2016 as T2 with constant BG levels at 15-18 mmol/L
• on Mets 500 mg 2 times daily
• Now on a moderate low Carb diet, still experimenting as it involves " a determination to climb Everest"
• On a high intensity exercise program running 8-10 km 5 days a week, push ups 30, squats 30 twice
• Now after 100 days my BG sort of stabilized at 7-9 mmol/L
• Fasting is still stubbornly high at 6-8 most mornings
• Read all, done many experiments on natural foods & supplements, but now hitting a threshold bottom where the best i achieved was 5mmol/L after a long run
• Just got my HaB1C at 8.0 ( arrh!)
• went on a 4 days " break" with no meds & eating , now BG is up again at 11.0 !!!!!!!!

So my question? Are we suppose to live a discipline live for the rest of our living years?
Would be great if you could share your success story...

Domi

Hi Domi. I have followed the low carb 10 week programme. I have accepted I can no longer eat high carbs from now on. I have found it very easy. No breads pasta rices pastry goods sugary produce no cakes puddings etc no snacks sweets the obvious culprits Lots of salad really easy to vary what's in them from lettuce to raw baby spinach flavour with rocket or coriander leaves whatever you fancy love avocado part of the high fats allowed. Lots of soups Make my own vinaigrette simply with oil and vinegar. Breakfast eggs bacon or my only real carb one wheetabix and a bit of albran. At night meat and veg. I use the divided plate ratio and dessert fruit and Greek yogurt. Have cut back to about 2 portions of fruit a day I used to eat punnets of fruit love it The programme is really helpful. Not done much exercise hoping to increase over the summer. Not had much alcohol but spirits with sugar free mixers very little wine no beers etc. Always check carb content of foods and pick lower options. I'm a averaging less than 130mg carbs a day but not counting all the time. The pocket carb calorie checker is my bible. Don't check blood sugars only had my initial diagnostic bloods then just over 3 months later had my check bloods last week. Due again in September. Good luck hope you find your solution

 

[AndBreathe]

hi there,
very impressed with your success & wanted to ask how did you do it without medication?
My wrap sheet below:

• Diagnosed in Jan 2016 as T2 with constant BG levels at 15-18 mmol/L
• on Mets 500 mg 2 times daily
• Now on a moderate low Carb diet, still experimenting as it involves " a determination to climb Everest"
• On a high intensity exercise program running 8-10 km 5 days a week, push ups 30, squats 30 twice
• Now after 100 days my BG sort of stabilized at 7-9 mmol/L
• Fasting is still stubbornly high at 6-8 most mornings
• Read all, done many experiments on natural foods & supplements, but now hitting a threshold bottom where the best i achieved was 5mmol/L after a long run
• Just got my HaB1C at 8.0 ( arrh!)
• went on a 4 days " break" with no meds & eating , now BG is up again at 11.0 !!!!!!!!

So my question? Are we suppose to live a discipline live for the rest of our living years?
Would be great if you could share your success story...

Domi

Dominic, at diagnosis, I tried to keep it simple. I agreed a period to try to make improvements without medication, and clearly they worked for me.

Saving you some of the detail, in essence, the pivotal moment for me was beginning to test, a few days post-diagnosis. I could then see, with my own eyes (not some lab test, they could have got wrong - you know how we think sometimes?).

Based on what I was seeing, it was clear some things had to change as my blood numbers were clearly being driven by what was going into my mouth. I started off cutting out the obvious, sweet things, but I was never a big sweet fan. In fact, according to the NHS my diet was good - varied, low fat, jacket potatoes, wholemeal bread and so on - plus a few crisps (Salsa and Mesquite Kettle Chips anyone?).

Although my numbers trimmed back immediately, my internet search informed me I had to look a bit wider than I was and trim back carbohydrates - irrespective of the NHS view. Boy, did my numbers start to shift downwards.

I quickly gave up most bread, all pasta (pizza was no issue as it rarely featured in our lives anyway), rice quantities reduced substantially (I loved rice), and the numbers came into line very quickly. I wasn't overly padded at diagnosis, but my luuuurve handles melted away without trying. Result!

I only had one aim. Get my bloods down, and once I could see on a meal by meal basis what was going on, I actually found it quite simple. (Don't shoot me!!)

As for whether we have to be good forever, we're all annoyingly different.

Having got myself very trim indeed and got my numbers down, my body appears to have recovered quite a lot of its ability to process carbohydrates, so I can eat carbier things these days without my numbers going off-piste. Just to reiterate though, I have never had a sweet tooth, so cakes, chocolates or sweeties have never figured prominently for me, and even less so now.

Since I cut the carbs and avoided simple sugar things taste much sweeter anyway. I can taste the sugar in meat rubs and so on, I'd never have tasted before, and I have become even more adventurous with flavours.

Thus far in my journey, I can honestly say I din't feel at all deprived, living as I do. I'm extremely well, have loads of energy, my joints are great, my mind is sharp, so I just want to stay on this good state for as long as I can. If at some point, I had to take medication for something, I'd have to reconcile myself with it, but I drew a lucky straw with my version of T2.

Good luck with it all.

 

[Lamont D]

hi there,
very impressed with your success & wanted to ask how did you do it without medication?
My wrap sheet below:

• Diagnosed in Jan 2016 as T2 with constant BG levels at 15-18 mmol/L
• on Mets 500 mg 2 times daily
• Now on a moderate low Carb diet, still experimenting as it involves " a determination to climb Everest"
• On a high intensity exercise program running 8-10 km 5 days a week, push ups 30, squats 30 twice
• Now after 100 days my BG sort of stabilized at 7-9 mmol/L
• Fasting is still stubbornly high at 6-8 most mornings
• Read all, done many experiments on natural foods & supplements, but now hitting a threshold bottom where the best i achieved was 5mmol/L after a long run
• Just got my HaB1C at 8.0 ( arrh!)
• went on a 4 days " break" with no meds & eating , now BG is up again at 11.0 !!!!!!!!

So my question? Are we suppose to live a discipline live for the rest of our living years?
Would be great if you could share your success story...

Domi

Hi Dominic,
The thing about being diabetic is controlled how your body reacts to what foods you eat. How sensitive it is to carbs etc. Being recently diagnosed you are probably in the phase to lower your insulin resistance.
Once the control is good and you get your Hba1c levels down to near normal then you may be able to have a few more carbs.
It's about getting to a level that your body can cope with what.
For some it is an never ending battle to keep blood glucose levels down, for some, it's relatively not that bad. Some just can't do it a d have to use meds.
So far, you seem to doing ok.
Reduce your carbs a little more. Don't go mad with exercise, continuous heavy sessions will raise your bloods because your liver will keep giving you extra to supplement the glucose you use in exercise. Keep fit by all means and lose the weight if you need to.

Some of us like myself, have no choice, but to eat very low carb, for life, because of the consequences of the reaction.

If you want to read my story, the link is the middle one below in my signature box.