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Hi. Thirteen years ago, I was visiting my sister (a Type 2 diabetic) who checked my blood sugar on her meter. It was 22 mmol/l (396 mg/dl) just after lunch. I remember feeling fantastic that day, very healthy. A few days later, I had the lab test. The result was exactly the same after fasting for 12 hours! So I had probably been diabetic for some years, at that point. I weighed 200 pounds, down from an all time high of 220.
My doctor put me on glyburide and metformin and I started walking daily and being careful with my diet. I have always had problems with food cravings and can go on any diet for a few weeks or months but, sooner or later, I put the weight back on. What it feels like is that I am too strict for too long and my brain decides I am starving myself to death. Anyway, something snaps and I don't even think about my diet until the weight is back on and more. I've tried to interrupt this process many times and nothing has ever worked except moderation.
The diet the nurse educator gave me was very high in carb (up to 225 g a day!) which was far more than I would eat normally. It was low in fat, too, because I also have a fairly rare lipid disorder caused by recessive genes from both parents (I think it is called Type 4 Hyperchylomicronemia) for which I was taking gemfibrozil (60 mg x 2 daily).
Fast forward five years. I had developed my own diet, one I could live with, and now weighed 160 lbs. I exercised 1/2 hour daily, 5 x a week. The downside was my bgs were high with daily extreme swings between 3 (54) and 15 (270) . I also felt sick -- like I was dying of some dreadful disease.
My doctor was concerned about the highs and insisted that I quickly lose another 10 lbs, exercise 1 hour a day, and she upped my metformin. I tried to tell her that deprivation diets don't work for me but she wouldn't listen so I finally agreed.
It was very hot out and (being menopausal at the time) I had terrible hot flashes when I tried to walk in the heat (now I know I shouldn't have tried - lol) so I started walking in flip flops. Within 2 weeks, here's what happened: I had plantar fasciitis in both feet (could barely walk for two years after this), sick as a dog (it was the metformin, turned out) and my head went snap (don't know how else to describe it) and I put back all the weight I'd lost within a matter of months. Very, very depressing.
At this point, I dumped my old doctor. I told my new doctor "I can't take metformin", stopped taking most of my meds (they were for complications of the metformin, by and large), and started insulin instead.
For the following five years, I felt much better, gradually losing some of the weight and got my diet under control (still thinking I needed high carb/low fat). But controlling my blood sugars continued to be impossible. I had hypoglycemia (bad attacks) at least once a day and daily highs from 15 and up (270 to over 300). At one point I was taking 200 units of insulin daily. This shocked a nurse educator I went to see, so I managed to get this down to 120 units.
By this time, I was feeling very sick again and began searching for answers online. My doctor was useless and so were the diabetic educators. What they insisted on was not working for me, simple as that. They thought I was non-compliant because I wouldn't (couldn't) stuff myself with every pill they suggested.
Then, I came across the Mercola site and lurked there for nearly a year until I decided to give the Mercola Advanced Diet a try. I stopped taking insulin altogether (yes, I did!) The first month was tough (low carb veggies, small amounts of protein, nuts, flax seed, no fruit, no grains) but I gradually found a balance of foods I could live with and even enjoy. I have NEVER felt so good, in my life, and was exercising strenuously for 45 minutes daily. This was great until my lower back went out so I had to cut back on exercising to get the pain under control.
By this time, I had been on a strict low carb diet for 3 months. I wasn't eating much and kept expecting my brain to snap me into a binge but it didn't. There was just one problem: my bg levels were very high (I tested a lot, day and night), never below 12 (216) and sometimes over 20 (360) if I ate a bit of carb. The average was around 16 (288) range when I was being very, very strict.
Basically, Dr. Mercola says that "almost" 100% of people can normalize their bgs on his diet.I tried to contact him but (except for making an appointment at his clinic in Illinois) there doesn't seem to be a way. I tried posting questions on his site, asking "Why is this not working for me? I need some advice." My posts were deleted.
Still searching for answers, I emailed Dr. Rosedale, author of The Rosedale Diet (it's fairly similar to the Mercola Advanced Diet) and he kindly responded and told me to get back on insulin, stat! So, I did.
My doctor sent me to a (new) nurse educator who switched me to 24 units Lantus daily with a bit of NovoRapid as needed. I now take about 30 units of insulin daily and my bgs are around 6 (108) and 7 (124), on average. This is not ideal, I guess, but it took quite awhile for my body to get used to not being at 16 (288).
I now weigh 170 lbs (down from 200 a few months ago) and am confident I can lose another 20 or 30 lbs eating low carb, organic (mostly) foods and exercising. I guess I will always have to take some insulin but, with Lantus, this seems doable. So I am feeling very positive at the moment.
I still have questions and maybe someone here can help. It is possible my situation is complicated by my rare lipid disorder (I think it gives me false HbA1c readings, for example). Unfortunately, my doctors know nothing about this and are not interested in finding out.
Many years ago, the top lipid specialist in our area put a letter in my file saying I was non-compliant with his low-fat diet which is not true. I was very strict on it for 3 months but my lipids didn't go down. He flat out told me I was lying. That was 20 years ago. I expect there must be people with my disease who are also diabetic so perhaps I should try contacting him again. He'll hate the high (good) fat Mercola/Rosedale diets, though.
It sucks being "rare" - lol. It also sucks having a mind of your own and not being willing to continue doing things that make you feel so sick you'd rather be dead.
Anyway, I'm glad to be here and have already learned a lot.
My doctor put me on glyburide and metformin and I started walking daily and being careful with my diet. I have always had problems with food cravings and can go on any diet for a few weeks or months but, sooner or later, I put the weight back on. What it feels like is that I am too strict for too long and my brain decides I am starving myself to death. Anyway, something snaps and I don't even think about my diet until the weight is back on and more. I've tried to interrupt this process many times and nothing has ever worked except moderation.
The diet the nurse educator gave me was very high in carb (up to 225 g a day!) which was far more than I would eat normally. It was low in fat, too, because I also have a fairly rare lipid disorder caused by recessive genes from both parents (I think it is called Type 4 Hyperchylomicronemia) for which I was taking gemfibrozil (60 mg x 2 daily).
Fast forward five years. I had developed my own diet, one I could live with, and now weighed 160 lbs. I exercised 1/2 hour daily, 5 x a week. The downside was my bgs were high with daily extreme swings between 3 (54) and 15 (270) . I also felt sick -- like I was dying of some dreadful disease.
My doctor was concerned about the highs and insisted that I quickly lose another 10 lbs, exercise 1 hour a day, and she upped my metformin. I tried to tell her that deprivation diets don't work for me but she wouldn't listen so I finally agreed.
It was very hot out and (being menopausal at the time) I had terrible hot flashes when I tried to walk in the heat (now I know I shouldn't have tried - lol) so I started walking in flip flops. Within 2 weeks, here's what happened: I had plantar fasciitis in both feet (could barely walk for two years after this), sick as a dog (it was the metformin, turned out) and my head went snap (don't know how else to describe it) and I put back all the weight I'd lost within a matter of months. Very, very depressing.
At this point, I dumped my old doctor. I told my new doctor "I can't take metformin", stopped taking most of my meds (they were for complications of the metformin, by and large), and started insulin instead.
For the following five years, I felt much better, gradually losing some of the weight and got my diet under control (still thinking I needed high carb/low fat). But controlling my blood sugars continued to be impossible. I had hypoglycemia (bad attacks) at least once a day and daily highs from 15 and up (270 to over 300). At one point I was taking 200 units of insulin daily. This shocked a nurse educator I went to see, so I managed to get this down to 120 units.
By this time, I was feeling very sick again and began searching for answers online. My doctor was useless and so were the diabetic educators. What they insisted on was not working for me, simple as that. They thought I was non-compliant because I wouldn't (couldn't) stuff myself with every pill they suggested.
Then, I came across the Mercola site and lurked there for nearly a year until I decided to give the Mercola Advanced Diet a try. I stopped taking insulin altogether (yes, I did!) The first month was tough (low carb veggies, small amounts of protein, nuts, flax seed, no fruit, no grains) but I gradually found a balance of foods I could live with and even enjoy. I have NEVER felt so good, in my life, and was exercising strenuously for 45 minutes daily. This was great until my lower back went out so I had to cut back on exercising to get the pain under control.
By this time, I had been on a strict low carb diet for 3 months. I wasn't eating much and kept expecting my brain to snap me into a binge but it didn't. There was just one problem: my bg levels were very high (I tested a lot, day and night), never below 12 (216) and sometimes over 20 (360) if I ate a bit of carb. The average was around 16 (288) range when I was being very, very strict.
Basically, Dr. Mercola says that "almost" 100% of people can normalize their bgs on his diet.I tried to contact him but (except for making an appointment at his clinic in Illinois) there doesn't seem to be a way. I tried posting questions on his site, asking "Why is this not working for me? I need some advice." My posts were deleted.
Still searching for answers, I emailed Dr. Rosedale, author of The Rosedale Diet (it's fairly similar to the Mercola Advanced Diet) and he kindly responded and told me to get back on insulin, stat! So, I did.
My doctor sent me to a (new) nurse educator who switched me to 24 units Lantus daily with a bit of NovoRapid as needed. I now take about 30 units of insulin daily and my bgs are around 6 (108) and 7 (124), on average. This is not ideal, I guess, but it took quite awhile for my body to get used to not being at 16 (288).
I now weigh 170 lbs (down from 200 a few months ago) and am confident I can lose another 20 or 30 lbs eating low carb, organic (mostly) foods and exercising. I guess I will always have to take some insulin but, with Lantus, this seems doable. So I am feeling very positive at the moment.
I still have questions and maybe someone here can help. It is possible my situation is complicated by my rare lipid disorder (I think it gives me false HbA1c readings, for example). Unfortunately, my doctors know nothing about this and are not interested in finding out.
Many years ago, the top lipid specialist in our area put a letter in my file saying I was non-compliant with his low-fat diet which is not true. I was very strict on it for 3 months but my lipids didn't go down. He flat out told me I was lying. That was 20 years ago. I expect there must be people with my disease who are also diabetic so perhaps I should try contacting him again. He'll hate the high (good) fat Mercola/Rosedale diets, though.
It sucks being "rare" - lol. It also sucks having a mind of your own and not being willing to continue doing things that make you feel so sick you'd rather be dead.
Anyway, I'm glad to be here and have already learned a lot.