Type 2

delaware said:

i don't agree with you on the medication, i have diabetes II and i got rid of the medication only after 3 weeks when diagnosed...changing eating habits is the key and im not talking about being a little more healthy, you have to go all the way for a few weeks and exersize..if you keep taking pills then your body is adjusting more and more to the meds wich results in becoming dependent as the body is getting more and more incapable of processing sugars the right way...ditch the meds..eat way more healthier and exersize then youll reverse it..the majority of ppl can do it..it takes willpower..bloodsugar is controlable with foods only...meds will damage the liver and more organs

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I posted earlier that whilst your advice may have good intention, it's not totally correct. T2 diabetes will not be reversed in 90% of cases. It can certainly be controlled, but not totally reversed in such numbers as you claim. Lastly, please refrain from suggesting members stop taking their medication. Thanks.

delaware said:

i don't agree with you on the medication, i have diabetes II and i got rid of the medication only after 3 weeks when diagnosed...changing eating habits is the key and im not talking about being a little more healthy, you have to go all the way for a few weeks and exersize..if you keep taking pills then your body is adjusting more and more to the meds wich results in becoming dependent as the body is getting more and more incapable of processing sugars the right way...ditch the meds..eat way more healthier and exersize then youll reverse it..the majority of ppl can do it..it takes willpower..bloodsugar is controlable with foods only...meds will damage the liver and more organs

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I am reporting this post , it is dangerous to tell people what to do and put people at risk....i am very concerned about your post.

Kat100 said:

I am reporting this post , it is dangerous to tell people what to do and put people at risk....i am very concerned about your post.

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i was just saying that you can reverse diabetes II without any medication, its dangerous and harmful to the body to take chemical pills

delaware said:

i was just saying that you can reverse diabetes II without any medication, its dangerous and harmful to the body to take chemical pills

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I'm just saying this is not true. You may be able to control diabetes without medication and there have been reports of a few who claim to have reversed it. However, this is rare and certainly not the case for all. Also, for the last time, please eefrain from saying all medication is harmful to the body. There are those here that have no choice. I'm not trying to swing your opinion, I'm saying stop making blanket statements. Thanks.


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mo1905 said:

I'm just saying this is not true. You may be able to control diabetes without medication and there have been reports of a few who claim to have reversed it. However, this is rare and certainly not the case for all. Also, for the last time, please eefrain from saying all medication is harmful to the body. There are those here that have no choice. I'm not trying to swing your opinion, I'm saying stop making blanket statements. Thanks.


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you clearly have been brainwashed by the mainstream assumption, you have no idea what you're talking about, MEDICATION = RUBBISH if you think that pills will do your body good than youre just a dummy, oblivious, and plain stupid.

I think mo is type one so without them he will die!

I have reported Delaware again have just had some threatening and abusive post in my profile.....
Please take action this person should not be allowed on this site .....

delaware said:

don't worry , diabetes type 2 is reversable with the right foods and exersize, educate yourself in what to eat first, it will prevent you from having to take metformin or any other medication. In most cases the unnecessary fats will have to be removed out of the liver and other parts of the body and the simple and easy way to do that is to eat the right foods, eat less and exersize more.

so start with educating yourself about what foods are best and what foods to prevent, from there on things will get better

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Reversible?
That's news to me.
MY doctor implied the it was with me for the rest of my life.
I have never heard of any one being cured of diabetes.

this is too difficult said:

Reversible?
That's news to me.
MY doctor implied the it was with me for the rest of my life.
I have never heard of any one being cured of diabetes.

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Please ignore some of the posts on here. You can certainly manage your diabetes and with some effort can even maintain non-diabetic BG levels. The progress will be down to you and how much effort you put in. Increase your exercise, even if it's just walking. Reduce your carb/sugar intake to a level you can maintain. If you can get a meter to self test, get one. If you need any more specific advice, please ask. Daisy will hopefully post with some great advice for those newly diagnosed. Take care, Mo

this is too difficult said:

Reversible?
That's news to me.
MY doctor implied the it was with me for the rest of my life.
I have never heard of any one being cured of diabetes.

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There is some debate about this in the scientific community and on this forum (many threads regarding this subject). A good paper to read (scientific) is one from Professor Roy Taylor http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/4/1047.full andyou can watch his seminar to FEND http://www.fend-lectures.org/index.php?menu=view&id=94

I recently printed all this off and gave my DSN the information as she hadn't heard of it like your doctor.

I may have had some success regarding your question but only time will tell. I do seem to be able to handle eating **** again (have been testing more and more - don't tell anyone but had some cheap milk chocolate yesterday - you know the sort all sugar and fat and no chocolate). You can read my story in this thread http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/got-my-first-3-month-hba1c-results-this-morning.55719/

Have I reversed it, who knows, only time will tell. Do I just have good control and visibility so I know what to do after I eat stuff, may be. Will I progress further into the condition as I begin to relax my control, possibly. However, I remain positive in that I hope I am one of the lucky ones (and I do mean lucky) and that I can hold it at bay for many years to come.

mo1905 said:

Please ignore some of the posts on here. You can certainly manage your diabetes and with some effort can even maintain non-diabetic BG levels. The progress will be down to you and how much effort you put in. Increase your exercise, even if it's just walking. Reduce your carb/sugar intake to a level you can maintain. If you can get a meter to self test, get one. If you need any more specific advice, please ask. Daisy will hopefully post with some great advice for those newly diagnosed. Take care, Mo

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Hi Dan and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. As has already been said, ask questions if you need to and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

What about swimming Dan? I know that in the past I have found it beneficial because it's very low impact and your body is supported in the water. Just a thought

Hi hope you gets lots of help from the forum like I did x

delaware said:

your doctor says its controlable but only if you keep taking your medication..im sure your doctor won't tell it's reversable, he's there to prescribe meds wich never cure the condition, only control and the longer you take meds the more damage will be done to the body...i was wise enough to stop Metformin after only a few weeks and never went back to the doc since and im doing better

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I am not on medication and my doctor hopes to keep me that way.

delaware said:

for most it's reversible, at least 90%, medication will block the body's natural metabolism to heal and damage the broken system even more, therefore ppl who choose to take meds won't cure and will stay on meds till the end. The best thing to do when you want to get rid of the "disease" is to stricly eat the best recommended foods not more than 1000 calories a day for a month and exersize like half an hour a day. ppl who choose to not go that path will stay on meds for the rest of their lives

Eating a bit more healthy, taking pills, and a little exersize won't change much, drastic changes have to be taken to reverse and that can be accomplished underr a month, wich has been documented and proven.

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Hi Delaware,
Great you have an optimistic attitude towards diabetes!
Much as it would be lovely to think that type 2 diabetes could be reversed for everyone however is unfortunately misleading. The origins of type 2 in most people comes from a genetic pre-disposition for the body to develop insulin resistance. This is usually linked to excess weight.

What I think you are possibly referring to is the fact that with excellent diet and exercise, resultant weight loss can indeed bring insulin resistance right back down - possibly even back to 'normal' levels.

The pancreas (that secretes the body's insulin) is unable to regenerate by itself however. Depending on how early your diabetes has been diagnosed, there may be only limited damage to the pancreas and consequently with the necessary weight loss type 2 diabetes may indeed be 'reversed'.
Unfortunately however by the time symptoms of diabetes have shown themselves there is a good chance that some of the beta cells of the pancreas have been irreparably damaged through overworking. Therefore it is not accurate to suggest that this can always be the case.
If the pancreas is still able to effectively secrete insulin however (even in a limited capacity), by reducing insulin resistance through weight loss and regular exercise, and reducing the demands on your pancreas to secrete insulin by reducing your sugar/carb intake, then it should be possible to regain healthy blood glucose levels and effectively manage (even if not reverse) your diabetes.

There is advice on the www.teambloodglucose.com website in the 'type 2 diabetes kit bag' that covers this topic, as well as talking about how to manage your Blood glucose with exercise and diet. The best real life experience of living with diabetes will come from all the great people on this forum.

jack412 said:

delaware, I'm reporting your post because it's dangerous to tell people to 'ditch their meds'
you sound like that born again raw veg guy a week or so ago.

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Hi there jack412,

Delaware May have a pretty extreme viewpoint on how to 'manage' his type 2. It is an extreme view, and to suggest stopping meds without consultation with a doctor is perhaps irresponsible.

However there are certain aspects of his argument that hold up. Recent findings from research done at Newcastle university have shown that a strict diet 'intervention' can indeed have a significant impact on a person's insulin resistance (and therefore their ability to manage blood glucose levels)
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm
Their evidence suggests that if you are relatively newly diagnosed type 2, you can actually have an enormous impact on your body's ability to manage blood glucose levels with a temporary severely calorie restricted diet. The phrase (dare I say it) type 2 reversal rears it's head.

Bebo321 said:

Hi there jack412,
Recent findings from research done at Newcastle university have shown that a strict diet 'intervention' can indeed have a significant impact on a person's insulin resistance (and therefore their ability to manage blood glucose levels)
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm.

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However, if I understand the Newcastle study correctly, all of those involved in the trial were significantly overweight. As someone who was not overweight at diagnosis, I could not afford to lose the sort of weight that the Newcastle study suggests is required. And again, as far as I understand it, there's been no reporting on whether those involved in the trial went back to eating their previous 'normal' diet and if so what happened to their blood glucose levels. There's a huge difference between reversal and control.

julifriend said:

However, if I understand the Newcastle study correctly, all of those involved in the trial were significantly overweight. As someone who was not overweight at diagnosis, I could not afford to lose the sort of weight that the Newcastle study suggests is required. And again, as far as I understand it, there's been no reporting on whether those involved in the trial went back to eating their previous 'normal' diet and if so what happened to their blood glucose levels. There's a huge difference between reversal and control.

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Good comment - the study also involved only a small number of people.
What it does do however is to posit the idea that type 2 may not in fact be a permanent condition for everyone, and that there may be circumstances in which type 2 could be reversed (whatever the duration).
I appreciate that this 'diet' couldn't possibly work for everyone (your situation demonstrates why it couldn't) however by proving that for some individuals there can be a demonstrable reversal to insulin resistance helps to alter the generally accepted perception of diabetes as being a degenerative condition. Anything that challenges that perception must be a good thing - wouldn't you agree?

It is statements such as t2 diabetes is reversible as long as you eat right and exercise that cause people with diabetes to be looked up as fat and lazy.
Everybody is different and NO ONE should be made to feel that diabetes is their fault. Some people will just get diabetes because sometimes life sucks.
Some of us are slim and exercise and eat exactly what we are told and some of us could do with improving our lifestyle. The biggest things that will help someone deal with their diabetes are education and support. Just because something works for 1 person with diabetes doesn't mean it will work for us all.