Wow! My pancreas is producing Insulin Again!

PeteN11 said:

I was diagnosed T1 just over 3 years ago. Usual symptoms and BS of 38. A week in intensive care with insulin being pumped in 3 ways including via my neck.

On recovery I was on 40 Units of Lantus and 30+ Units of Nova Rapid with each meal.

My NHS trust team trumpets the need for 225g of carbs a day and on a Bertie course would not even discus lowering the carb count to reduce the amount of Insulin I need to take.

I needed to loose weight as I had put back on the 3 stone I lost whilst ill and put on even more to almost 21 Stone but with that amount of insulin running through my body I was never going to burn an ounce of stored fat so thought I would give Keto "light" a go.

I am just not regimented enough to cut out carbs completely to induce Ketosis but have given up on Spuds, Pasta & Rice. I still eat bread and limit myself to at the most 100g of carbs but normally just the 2 slices of toast in the morning. Obviously my Insulin use reduced and I was able to slowly cut both amounts down to where 4 months ago I stopped the Lantus altogether. I was injecting for my morning toast but found that a few hours later I was feeling wobbly and having to eat wine gums to get in range again so even that is now stopped.

I now only inject NR for my evening meal, if at all, depending on what I eat. I started monitoring my Keytone levels regularly and get readings of around 1 on most day times that I did not use insulin. After evening injections that always reverted to "Lo".

I have lost a Stone and a half with no change in exercise routine.

My yearly Consultant review took place last month, face to face, and explaining all of the above he ordered another blood test and yesterday he told me that my Pancreas was indeed producing Insulin again! Although how much and why he does not yet know.

We talked about coming off Insulin and taking tablets instead but he advised against it till after the winter just in case things go wrong/change as "you really do not want to end up needing hospital care over the next few months." I had to agree.

I suppose it could all go pear shaped again and obviously the reduction in carbs could just be a coincidence but has anyone else had such an experience?

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PeteN11 said:

No reason you should get any flak as my consultant tends to agree with you that the knowledge is just not there.

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Jim Lahey said:

Misdiagnosis is alarmingly common but I have also read it may not actually be impossible for a T1 pancreas to restore some ability to produce insulin if the trigger that may have caused it is removable/removed. There is some anecdotal evidence out in the wild but obviously I can’t speak to the veracity of such claims. I’m aware I will take some flak for posting this but the reality is that no one knows.

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PeteN11 said:

I was diagnosed T1 just over 3 years ago.

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PeteN11 said:

Thanks for the encouragement. In a way loosing my job with diagnosis gave me the time to research and take the process slowly. I feast on veg and also some inappropriate fruit. But cannot give up meat.

On the Bertie course the insistence of 225g was infuriating not only to my circumstances but I also felt deeply for at least 4 others who had far busier lifestyles than mine and were unable to get below BS 20 even with increased injections.

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PeteN11 said:

During the consultation he was bordering on being apologetic as he knows I lost my career with the diagnosis. Although earlier tests show I was not producing any Insulin.

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PeteN11 said:

I was diagnosed T1 just over 3 years ago. Usual symptoms and BS of 38. A week in intensive care with insulin being pumped in 3 ways including via my neck.

On recovery I was on 40 Units of Lantus and 30+ Units of Nova Rapid with each meal.

My NHS trust team trumpets the need for 225g of carbs a day and on a Bertie course would not even discus lowering the carb count to reduce the amount of Insulin I need to take.

I needed to loose weight as I had put back on the 3 stone I lost whilst ill and put on even more to almost 21 Stone but with that amount of insulin running through my body I was never going to burn an ounce of stored fat so thought I would give Keto "light" a go.

I am just not regimented enough to cut out carbs completely to induce Ketosis but have given up on Spuds, Pasta & Rice. I still eat bread and limit myself to at the most 100g of carbs but normally just the 2 slices of toast in the morning. Obviously my Insulin use reduced and I was able to slowly cut both amounts down to where 4 months ago I stopped the Lantus altogether. I was injecting for my morning toast but found that a few hours later I was feeling wobbly and having to eat wine gums to get in range again so even that is now stopped.

I now only inject NR for my evening meal, if at all, depending on what I eat. I started monitoring my Keytone levels regularly and get readings of around 1 on most day times that I did not use insulin. After evening injections that always reverted to "Lo".

I have lost a Stone and a half with no change in exercise routine.

My yearly Consultant review took place last month, face to face, and explaining all of the above he ordered another blood test and yesterday he told me that my Pancreas was indeed producing Insulin again! Although how much and why he does not yet know.

We talked about coming off Insulin and taking tablets instead but he advised against it till after the winter just in case things go wrong/change as "you really do not want to end up needing hospital care over the next few months." I had to agree.

I suppose it could all go pear shaped again and obviously the reduction in carbs could just be a coincidence but has anyone else had such an experience?

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StewM said:

It was cited in another, now closed, thread that a gluten-free diet had seemingly reversed Type 1 Diabetes. It seems like the study had carried out vigorous tests to confirm the Type 1 Diagnosis and the remission, but any attempts at recreating (that are available to read about) have failed. What was clear from the study (and the subsequent ones that tried to recreate it), no one really knows why it succeeded the first time and failed the following times.

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