[mylady1993]

I've had type two diabetes for around tweleve years. It's been a roller coaster ride and I'll tell you why. I've been on different medicines before and right now I'm on 2000 mg of Metformin a day and 5 mg of Glispizide per day. When I started to take the Glipizide, I started gaining weight. On the Metformin I had lost 60 pounds all together. I was doing well. But my doctor thought I should go on this Glipizide and I've gained 40 of my 60 pounds back. At one time I had my A1C down to five, which is like if you don't have diabetes. So I asked my doctor if I could get off the medicine and start my diet. She discouraged me by saying I would fail and always have diabetes because it runs in my family. So from then it's been down hill, gaining weight, with my diabetes hardly under control. Now I'm wondering, after I've been a diabetic for twelve years, is it ever possible to control it by diet and exercising so I can get off of the medication? The doctor is wanting to increase my dosage of Glipizide, which will only make me gain more. When I gain more, I will need more. The merry go round continues. After tweleve years, like I have been, do you think there is any chance of controlling it by diet and exercising alone?

--Discouraged Diabetic, please reply

 

[Mar2a]

There are some people on this forum who have been able to reduce, and others eliminate, the amount of medication they take by reducing carbohydrates. Have you tried a low-carb diet before?

 

[marshagolightly]

I've had type two diabetes for around tweleve years. It's been a roller coaster ride and I'll tell you why. I've been on different medicines before and right now I'm on 2000 mg of Metformin a day and 5 mg of Glispizide per day. When I started to take the Glipizide, I started gaining weight. On the Metformin I had lost 60 pounds all together. I was doing well. But my doctor thought I should go on this Glipizide and I've gained 40 of my 60 pounds back. At one time I had my A1C down to five, which is like if you don't have diabetes. So I asked my doctor if I could get off the medicine and start my diet. She discouraged me by saying I would fail and always have diabetes because it runs in my family. So from then it's been down hill, gaining weight, with my diabetes hardly under control. Now I'm wondering, after I've been a diabetic for twelve years, is it ever possible to control it by diet and exercising so I can get off of the medication? The doctor is wanting to increase my dosage of Glipizide, which will only make me gain more. When I gain more, I will need more. The merry go round continues. After tweleve years, like I have been, do you think there is any chance of controlling it by diet and exercising alone?

--Discouraged Diabetic, please reply

Just because your Dr prescribes the Glip doesn't mean you have to take it We never filled my husbands script for Glip. Only the Metformin. I put my foot down about him taking Glipizide. Absolutely not!

Sent from my iPhone using Diabetes

 

[diabetes86]

You are in control of your body, The MD can guide you and provide information and prescriptions, its up to you to deside as to what you do or take.

If your A1C was so good why did the MD put you on Glispizid?

 

[mylady1993]

There are some people on this forum who have been able to reduce, and others eliminate, the amount of medication they take by reducing carbohydrates. Have you tried a low-carb diet before?

When my A1C was down to five, I was eating mostly veggies, so very few carbohydrates. However, that was eleven years ago. I am wondering... Do you think that I can still pull this off, with my current A1C at 7.4, even though I've been on this medication for so long?

 

[davidjp]

Many doctors are like that (at least mine and yours are!). They tend to favor meds over lifestyle changes. When I first suggested that I tried to control my blood sugar naturally via diet and exercise (I haven't heard of low carb diet yet), he discouraged it and said that from his experience most of his patients don't have the discipline to go through with it. But thanks to this forum, which opened my eyes to the danger of Glipizide, I started low-carbing and exercising. I ultimately took myself off Glipizide (without even asking my md first), and now he is fine with it because I have the A1c to back it up.

 

[mylady1993]

Just because your Dr prescribes the Glip doesn't mean you have to take it We never filled my husbands script for Glip. Only the Metformin. I put my foot down about him taking Glipizide. Absolutely not!

Sent from my iPhone using Diabetes

How high was his A1C when his doctor tried to put him on Glip? How is he doing now without it? Thank you for your response.

 

[GretchenRS]

~~ mylady1993 ~~ Hi and welcome to our community!!

You could not find a more caring and understanding community than we have right here.

I wish we could say that our Doctors and Dietitians know what is best for us, but I think the sad truth is that the "standard of treatment" fails many patients who really try hard to follow the advice given, and then all too often the patient gets blamed.
What you will find in here are many diabetics who have successfully managed to control their diabetes, and you can, too

But if you have not already done so, please read Jenny Ruhl's web site -- Blood Sugar 101
She is also a T2 and has access to much of the current research, and summarizes it for us. Most of her advice is based on solid research. There is an entire book's worth of information there, and well worth your time to read as much as you can.
Another great site is Dr. Andreas Eenfelt, the Diet Doctor. I especially recommend his videos; they are very helpful and explain a lot. His site can be found here: LCHF for beginners | DietDoctor.com

I learned a great deal from these two sites. You will get a lot of the help you need from these two sites, as well as from our members here.

Good luck to you, please come back often and share your experiences, questions and concerns. We are here to help

 

[VeeJay]

After tweleve years, like I have been, do you think there is any chance of controlling it by diet and exercising alone?

--Discouraged Diabetic, please reply

It is very likely that you could gain good control of your blood sugars through diet and exercise. I am able to totally control diabetes with diet alone - since I am unable to exercise much. The key is keeping ones consumption of carbohydrates at or below one's ability to metabolize it. There are many here on this forum who do this. Some were initially out-of-control with high BGs, but after some weeks or months eating low carb/high fat (LCHF) they made a dramatic turnaround and now have near normal numbers.

I do not want to give the impression that everyone can achive control through diet alone. Everyone's body is different, so some can do this, and others need meds or insulin. The goal for this community of diabetics is to do what it takes to achieve control and thus avoid complications.

By the way, a LCHF diet will most likely melt off all that extra weight. It has done so for me and others.

 

[Abra]

I too control my diabetes totally through diet - I have no good excuse not to exercise, I'm just lazy! You do have to radically alter your diet, but as you'll see if you read around this forum, many of us have successfully done it.

 

[Spunky]

Metformin is a fairly safe drug, so even if you want to totally eliminate your meds, it might be best to stick with the Metformin for a while until you get your bg under control. At that time you can decide whether you want to keep on taking it or try giving it a go without any meds at all.

It is important to get your bg below 140 and keep it there because that is where the complications can start. To do that, test 1 and 2 hrs. after you take your first bite of food. If either of those readings is 140 or above, cut down the number of carbs you eat at the next meal. It won't be long until you know about how many carbs you can eat per meal and still keep your bg under control.

 

[MCS]

What answer do you want to hear, yes or no. The only way to find the answer is try. Drop the Insulin sucking Glib.

 

[marshagolightly]

How high was his A1C when his doctor tried to put him on Glip? How is he doing now without it? Thank you for your response.

A1c on diagnosis was 11.8 in September. Recent A1c this month is 5.7. He never took the Glip. Only Metformin and LCHF His A1c is better than mine in 3 months and I've been at this awhile!

Sent from my iPhone using Diabetes

 

[mylady1993]

Metformin is a fairly safe drug, so even if you want to totally eliminate your meds, it might be best to stick with the Metformin for a while until you get your bg under control. At that time you can decide whether you want to keep on taking it or try giving it a go without any meds at all.

It is important to get your bg below 140 and keep it there because that is where the complications can start. To do that, test 1 and 2 hrs. after you take your first bite of food. If either of those readings is 140 or above, cut down the number of carbs you eat at the next meal. It won't be long until you know about how many carbs you can eat per meal and still keep your bg under control.

So after 12years you think I can get off meds altogether if I eat right and exercise.You don't think it's to late or I've messed up my system to bad?

 

[silvertiger]

It's not too late. It makes sense that when you went on the Glip you gained weight because it squeezed more insulin out of your pancreas. If you eat a lower carb diet and stop the Glip, monitor your BG, and keep taking the Metformin, you have a very good chance of being able to lower your A1C a lot. The most important part is lowering the carbs. What's a typical day for you meal-wise?

 

[Mar2a]

When my A1C was down to five, I was eating mostly veggies, so very few carbohydrates. However, that was eleven years ago. I am wondering... Do you think that I can still pull this off, with my current A1C at 7.4, even though I've been on this medication for so long?

On this forum and another that I visit, there are definitely people who have controlled by diet for years, even decades, so it is possible for some.

One thing I found is that I had to increase my fat intake and lower my protein intake. (Protein metabolizes into glucose.) It took me a while to actually do that because of the fear of fat that's been drummed into everyone over the last ten years or so, but it helped a lot. If you didn't try that the last time, and you don't have any personal history (or direct family history) of heart disease, that might be something you could try.

 

[moosha]

Hi MyLady!

I'm sorry to hear what you are going through. I'm kind of there myself. From what you've written, it sounds like your doc immediately put you on meds first when you were diagnosed and didn't encourage plain diet and exercise - is that correct? That could be the problem.

I know that when I was diagnosed nearly two years ago, my doctor didn't give me meds right away and just told me to eat right and exercise for the first couple of months and we'll take it from there. I knew absolutely nothing about diabetes at the time, but thankfully I found this website and from the first night of diagnosis, I found out what I was supposed to eat and how exercise would affect my BS. So I went into action - for the first three months, I ate very low carb, about 30 carbs a day (Dr. Richard Bernstein's diet) - and took long walks in the park for about two hours. When I went back to my doctor, she was amazed. My AIC had dropped from 11.3 down to a near 6 and I had lost 30 pounds. She literally called me her "star patient" and said she had never seen this happen before. I told her fear is a great cure-all. So, YES, it CAN be done with just diet and exercise - as long as you have that fear.

Somewhere along the way, I lost the fear. Things went downhill. I had some personal and financial setbacks, which stressed me out so much I went back to my "normal" way of stress eating, which included Ben & Jerry's for breakfast. I found myself suddenly near homelessness and had to eat high-carb stuff from food banks (pasta, rice and such) and my health and BS spun out of control.

I went to an endo, who put me on meds like Metformin, Januvia, and others that did absolutely nothing for me. I am now on Lantus insulin, which in the beginning gave me great morning numbers (70's and 80'). Then, I fell off the wagon again with these damn holidays and all the food around. For the past two months, I've been waking up in the low 100's (110-130), which isn't as bad as your numbers, but scaring me because I'd been in the "normal" range.

So, basically, I am where you are - I have gained back all the weight I lost - plus more - and my diet is a roller-coaster. HOWEVER, I must say this: I gave myself permission to pig out on Christmas leftovers and today I am paying the price for it. I ate so much junk yesterday that my side is cramping and I feel nauseus. It just IS NOT worth it. I figured I would get it all out of my system and then start new on January 1, back on the Bernstein diet. But I have to learn to set limits - I am a major stress eater with major stress going on, so I have to become more disciplined. I am realizing that I'll give myself permission to eat tasty stuff on Thanksgiving & Christmas, but only for one day and get rid of all the leftovers.

So, New Years Day I do plan to take back my life and my diet and my control over Diabetes instead of letting it control me. You CAN do it with just diet and exercise but it will be a little more difficult if you are on a medication that promotes weight gain. Maybe talk to your endo about just doing Metformin along with diet and exercise. Hopefully, you will see some great results!

 

[Shanny]

((((Moosha)))) Thanks for full disclosure - I've had problems myself, especially since Thanksgiving when some family problems reared their ugly heads. Stress eating is a real predicament, and the only defense I have is keeping only low-carb food around. But that doesn't help a whole lot since we're also eating out quite a bit during this stressful time. Let's stay in touch & make this new year a true turnaround, okay?

 

[moosha]

((((Moosha)))) Thanks for full disclosure - I've had problems myself, especially since Thanksgiving when some family problems reared their ugly heads. Stress eating is a real predicament, and the only defense I have is keeping only low-carb food around. But that doesn't help a whole lot since we're also eating out quite a bit during this stressful time. Let's stay in touch & make this new year a true turnaround, okay?

Hi Shanny!

It is SOOOO hard to stay on track. I am really hoping to do better in 2013. Things are looking up personally and financially for me, so I would hate to blow it with complications creeping up on me. I'll definitely be around more often to support and be supported!

Moosha

 

[moosha]

On this forum and another that I visit, there are definitely people who have controlled by diet for years, even decades, so it is possible for some.

One thing I found is that I had to increase my fat intake and lower my protein intake. (Protein metabolizes into glucose.) It took me a while to actually do that because of the fear of fat that's been drummed into everyone over the last ten years or so, but it helped a lot. If you didn't try that the last time, and you don't have any personal history (or direct family history) of heart disease, that might be something you could try.

Hi Mar2a,

I was curious about your comment on protein intake - can you give an example of how much protein you limit yourself to on a daily basis? I was always told that more protein would be better because it would be more filling and prevent over-carbing.

Thanks!