1st OFFICIAL DIAGNOSES OF TYPE 2 DIABETES.

Hi Mick, sorry to hear you've had such a tough time with your health. 

Your comments are super knowledgeable. I would like to add my experience caring for my mother, who was on the full regimen of diabetes meds.  When I read all the side effects of the diabetes meds, and considered the costs, I felt it was worth the major efforts to keep my mother on a strict diet to control her diabetes. This is doable for typeII.

I was told by doctors that it was unlikely that my mother would ever be off the insulin, and would always be diabetic. So I figured I had a snowball's chance in hell of even getting her onto the oral meds.

What was shocking was that it only took about 3 months of diet change to go from full insulin to no meds at all, with pre diabetic blood levels. We also used some herbs and acupuncture, because she was in really bad shape all around. In the end, the diabetes was the easiest of her health problems to turn around, though potentially the worst. 

Dear MtViewCatherine,

Thank you ma'am, for your comment.  I truly appreciate your sentiments.

I agree with your comments regarding type 2 diabetes ALMOST entirely, ma'am, and I believe that I've commented on how impressed I am with your care of your mother.  YOU have done an absolutely wonderful job with your mother, and there's no-one in their 'right mind' who would disagree with that.

Where my thoughts disagree slightly is when you say it's "doable for typeII".  In MANY cases that may be true, but dependent on how far the type 2 has progressed, how long the sufferer has had the condition, whether they're overweight/obese, whether they've gone on to develop any diabetes-related complications, the type(s) of activity that they undertake or work that they do, whether they also have any comorbid medical conditions, your approach MAY not work for them.  Please don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying that your approach is wrong.  Your approach is absolutely, 100% correct, and you've proved that.

I get the feeling that your mother's doctors underestimate your ability to learn and 'go forward' with your intentions to 'clear' your mother of this condition.  Many people who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are sometimes overwhelmed by all that they need to learn and do; some doubt that they have the ability to continue doing what they need to do to 'overcome' their condition; and some doubt that their input is as important as the doctor's when controlling the outcome of their disease.  To be frank with you ... assuming you don't mind me changing my name for a few seconds ... I'd be more than 'put out' if your mother's doctors hadn't stated to you that they, too, are impressed with what you've been able to accomplish.

With your mother's doctors stating that it was unlikely that your mother would "ever be off the insulin, and would always be diabetic", it shows your level of determination and commitment.

Your mother will always be diabetic, ma'am, but you've 'turned it around' to such an extent that your mother is now a well-controlled type 2 diabetic, who no longer requires medication(s).  (This is where my view differs from SOME doctors who talk about 'reversal' of type 2 diabetes.  I don't believe you do ever 'reverse' the diabetes as that would mean that your body is totally healed from it and you can go back to doing everything that you want to without fear of it returning.  That is NOT the case.  I have spent time with quite a number of type 2 diabetics who's doctor(s) had told them that they'd 'reversed' their diabetes, only to find out that several months or years down the line their diabetes had returned, due to them not taking as much care of themself as they did prior to the 'reversal'.  The risk factors are still there on 'reversal', it only needs the trigger to be pulled for it all to start over again.)

Anyway, the point I was trying to get over to Allykins71, is that going onto insulin does NOT always mean that they'd be on insulin for the rest of their life.  There is always the opportunity to withdraw insulin treatment if, or when, blood glucose levels come back down to near 'normal' levels.  There are types of oral medications, more specifically sulfonylureas, which stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin than it otherwise might do.  These work in a much different way to the Metformin that Allykins71 presently takes.  Plus, there are other types of medications which work totally different ways to both of these, too.

Hopefully, MtViewCatherine, Allykins71 will see what a success story yours has been with your mother and see that although she's is probably feeling lost and/or helpless right now, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for getting your point accross to Allykins71.  I am sure it will come as some relief to her.  Bless you, ma'am.

Lots of Love and Light.

 Mick

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Thanks Mick, I joked with my mom that I was the food Nazi, because I was extremely strict and regimented. The other thing is that I had a neighbor with type II who used to cook for me. He was always going on about carb counting and glycemic indexes... So when my mother did so well, I sent him a note thanking him for all the lessons. It was really wonderful to already klmow what to do in a crisis.

When I told him of my mother's  success, he went on a six month intensive diet and exercise regimen and dumped all his meds. He's doing great and looks 20 years younger! 

It it takes hard work and discipline, but the freedom and cost savings, and feelings of health are worth the discipline!

Bless you MtViewCatherine, for not 'falling out with me' even though we MAY have slightly different opinions on a few things.  Your intelligence, maturity, and willingness to listen to others' opinions continue to impress me, ma'am.  I see that all as an interpretation of you as a 'whole' person.

Not only did you thank your neighbor for 'teaching' you about carb counting and glycemic indexes ... and possibly glycemic load, too ... but it's more than evident, from what you've written here, that he has also learned from you, now that he has also managed to 'come off' all of his medication(s).  Long may you both continue.

Sadly, the term 'food Nazi' is often bandied about by SOME people who fail to realise [realize] that believes that diet plays such an important role in the control of such conditions as type 2 diabetes, but often, the people who use the term have a rather 'blinkered view', believing that people's genuine interest in 'aiding' in some small way, by offering what they consider to be 'good advice'.  Unfortunately, many of these 'aiders' who offer their guidance AND the people receiving the 'advice' don't have such a comprehensive understanding of carb counting, glycemic index and glycemic load, which leads to a 'misunderstanding' of the true nature of what's going on.

I won't go into everything as it would involve writing a book, but I have a friend that visits me fairly frequently, whose blood glucose level I tested at home ... at his request, I hasten to add.  I advised him to see his GP (doctor) as I believed him to be diabetic.  I told him to inform his doctor what result my blood glucose meter had indicated level to be.

He visited a few days later and informed me that his doctor had stated that he was not diabetic.  I requested my friend to allow me to retest his blood glucose level.  I tested my own, in front of him, to show him what my blood glucose level was, and I've been a confirmed type 1 diabetic for more than 36 years now, though at the time it was about 34 years.  I then tested his blood glucose level and showed him a comparison of what my blood glucose level was and what his blood glucose level was.  (His was more than twice as high as mine.)  I advised him to go back to his doctor's surgery and to ask to see another doctor in the same practice.  He did this two days later, where luckily the second doctor had also taken a sample and sent it off to our nearby hospital, which has a Pathology department, in order for them to carry out a HbA1c test.  This confirmed my 'unofficial diagnosis' that he is, in fact, diabetic, so they made an appointment for him to see a Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN)/Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) at the same clinic that I attend.  Again, it was confirmed that my 'unofficial diagnosis' was correct.

I've been trying, since his official diagnosis, to guide him on following a proper diet and things he needs to do to try and prevent the development of diabetes-related complications.  Sadly, he has NOT been a good student.  As his medication (Metformin) was giving him too many gastrointestinal side-effects, he decided to stop it all together.  He still takes sugar in his coffee, he's eating a high carb diet, takes little, if any, exercise, refuses to take his statin medication (due, apparently, to him experiencing muscle aches), and all without checking with his doctor.  Sadly, he suffered a minor stroke, whilst he was visiting my house.  To me, as an outside witness, it was apparent what was happening, but he stated that he sometimes feels like this.  A few more days later, whilst at home, he suffered another minor stroke and was admitted to hospital when his daughter found him.  (It was she that telephoned me to let me know that he'd been admitted to hospital.  I've known her since she was a very young child, so she knows that I'm concerned for her dad.)

When he was discharged from hospital he was advised that he should consider giving up driving for a short while to see how things 'pan out'.  Unfortunately, he didn't.  (This MAY have been compounded by his daughter who, though trying to talk him into giving up driving temporarily, was dependent on dad picking her up to transfer her to and from work, and his wanting to be there to provide and/or 'do' for his daughter.)  Luckily, he seems to have made a 'full recovery'(?) and has not had a road traffic accident (RTA).  It still concerns me that he is still not taking his prescribed medications and that he doesn't 'look right'.  Then again, he's 10 years older than me, so being 69 he's still in 'pretty good shape', and I am aware of how difficult it can be for someone that's older to be reluctant to take advice from someone that's younger ... maybe having less life experience.  (In fact, I've had more than a good life of experience, probably in different ways to him, but I do know, after having worked with people, especially those in a 'care' setting, how difficult it can be for many people to accept change(s) to their own life views.)

Anyway, I'm waffling again.  I'd better shut up now before I do end up writing a book.

Be well, ma'am.

Long may both yourself and your mother live a happy, healthy, and prosperous life.

Lots of Love and Light.

 Mick

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Mick, OMG. This is why they call diabetes the silent killer.

Do you know anything about how strokes are related to diabetes?

Also, the whole refusal to change/ addict behavior is the road to a myriad of health problems. 

Helping my my mother was easier. She was walking around, but had to basically relearn all her basic functions, including walking. So she's never gotten back to making her own meals. This made it a lot easier to avoid cheating. The really crazy thing is that, while she couldn't ever handle a binge of junk, she can eat as much fruit as she wants, and enjoyed ice cream without difficulty.

When the whole diabetic ketoacidosis thing happened, she was living in assisting living, and they had tons of sweets on the menu and no gluten free options, so she'd been eating a bunch of junk regularly. Plus, she was on a bunch of meds that are known to cause weight gain, diabetes and kidney problems. 

When end staying with her, I realized those care facilities medicate for many standard things to make less work for caring. As people get older or symptoms of health problems such as "incontinance", the care facilities automatically prescribe medications to prevent "urgency to pee". These medications mask symptoms and cause kidney a liver problems.  So you get a system designed for business profitability, that is legalized euthanasia. The reason insurance companies and medicar have a six month long term care policy, is that most people don't last that long once they're in a care facility.