Type 2 with high levels

I'm 38 year old South Asian male from a family with diabetes and liver cirrhosis history.

I got diagnosed in July after a regular full body checkup. HBA1c was 11.9%. FBG was 290 mg/dl. Post prandial was 450. I also got diagnosed with Grade 1 fatty liver with all the usual macros we could expect as bonus (high TG, low HDL, high LDL). LFT numbers came pretty neat though. And blood pressure was normal. I was suffering from brain fog, excessive sweating, slurry speech and feet tingling for quite a while, so I came to know why.

GP broke the news to me in a most inhuman way though - "you're diabetic until you die and only thing that could save you is insulin and meds". That came struck me like a speed bullet.

I have been slightly overweight (25-26 BMI) all along my life with occassional sweet beverages, not much junk food and almost no alcohol consumption. But my diet is high carb, low fat diet with some allowances to sweet (not the HCFS ones). Could be the major trigger. Who knows.

I took the prescribed insulin shots for over a month and doctor said my levels were not getting any normal. So he increased the dose and ordered Vildus (Met + Vildagliptin). I was constantly gaining weight though I was exercising almost every day. I felt like I'm in a never ending cycle: eating all those carbs as usual, taking insulin shots to compensate and running like a guinea pig to lose weight. At some point I decided to stop taking insulin and upped my exercise. Sugar levels started dropping but still not within normal range. HBA1c went to 8.9 in 3 weeks. Doc said insulin shots start to work but shocked to hear I never took the shots in the last 2 weeks window.

I really wanted to keep insulin in my body to minimal. Stopped med and insulin. Got her approval to start intermittent fasting with low carb food on non-fasting days. Doc wasn't happy but still gave a go because of the drastic improvement I showed without meds. Started weight training too recently.

I could see the symptoms starting to go away. Regaining sense in my feet and my eye vision and sleeping patterns are better. I have a better mood all through the day too. I am certain this is not a placebo effect.

My fasting sugar is within 105-119 daily regardless of whether I'm fasting or not. Tried adding back lite carbs. Body is managing it decently. It once hiked to 202 a d came back to 140 in an hour. Improvement enough for me given how it was in July.

By the way, I have lost over 8kgs in 2 months. Excited to test my sugar levels and liver test in 2 months.

I hopefully bring it to normal levels and enjoy remission one day. I would also like to support this community with the info I have gathered so far.

chrisjohnh said:

This is a brilliant example of taking control for oneself and not becoming another of the millions of victims now locked into T2D through the hopeless advice they’ve had from their HCPs. Very well done, very pleased for you.

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Thanks Chris. I take inspiration from countless warriors in communities such as this.

Update: lost over 12 kg since diagnosis. Seeing good improvement in post prandial levels even with moderate carbs. Fasting levels settled down at 110s. Trying to bring to lower 90s.

After 2 months of hardship and strict regimens, feeling like I'm back to living. My body allows little leeway once or twice but I have to be careful and regularly check my levels.

Any tips to bring the fasting levels highly appreciated.

Ate lot of dirty foods yesterday. Breakfast: 2 servings of semolina Savory dish with clarified butter, 2 servings of bason flour based savoury, half coconut bun, lunch: 4 loaves of multi-grain bread+PB, 1 cup of rice, dinner: rice based Indian crepe with clarified butter, green peas curry. Ll, string hopper (rice noodles).

Lunch was the dirtiest of all. Pp was 109mg/dl, so was relieved. Looks like clarified butter is doing its thing.

Going on fast today just to give the system a break.

HSSS said:

Fasting levels will gradually continue to fall over time if you’ve got the rest of the day in hand well. They are often the last to come into line and may take months, perhaps up to a year. If you’re doing everything else right i wouldn’t stress over morning fasting ones too much, even though drs seem to like that one reading above all others. Personally I think post prandial tell us more.

Also if you haven’t already found it look up dawn phenomenon or foot on floor syndrome. Basically it’s the liver dumping stored glucose into the blood when it thinks you need a boost, in this case getting up in the mor but it could be exercise or just sensing lower levels than it’s used to experiencing even if they are better.

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Yes read about dawn phenomenon sometime back. It usually kicks in depending on if i work out in the evening, dinner carb quantity etc. It was higher earlier and came down to 110. Plateauing there for a month.

Does it have anything to do with body weight? I reduced cardio and weight has plateaued at 67kg for a month. If so, planning to increase cardio and longer IF to reach my target of 60kg.

PP levels are usually 120-140 depending on the food. Doesn't punish my occassional slippages.

Update: Got my new a1c readings today and I'm happy. Numbers are down from 11.9 in July to 8.9 in Aug to 5.5 in Nov. Fasting BG has pretty much plateaued at 110s.

Thanks to all the nicest members for your insights and alerts on pitfalls. Wouldnt have done this without you guys.

Please feel free to ask any questions. I will share my personal experience as much as I can.