Type 2 Question
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She prob'ly had it ten years - she died of CHF before the diabetes could get her. She'd had heart disease for 35 years.
She worked like a crazy woman to stay off insulin. And this was back in the day before handy little BG meters - she had to use urine testing.
My CDE told me everyone ends up on Insulin right before she gave me a diet with 45-60 carbs per meal and 2, 30 meal snacks. Well if you eat the way dieticians tell diabetics to eat you probably will end up on insulin. Lots of us have found a different way to manage our diabetes. I can keep my bgs pretty close to normal ranges using a low carb/high fat diet. By manipulating what you eat at meals your reduce the amount of insulin production you need. The nice side effect is most of us have lost weight and are much healthier as a result of this. Now if you are insulin insufficient because your beta cells are burnt out then there is no choice but to go on insulin.
Are you using just Lantus, or are you on a fast acting as well? I did not have much success with Lantus a few years ago, and I did gain alot of weight on it. I take the Levemir for basal and Humulog for the bolus. I am seeing better results with the two. I of course still have the problem with the morning bg. I can see you do as well. What are your numbers like throughout the day?
PC76, not every diabetic will require insulin, regardless of what the doctors and dieticians/nutritionists tell you. Jwags is right; some diabetics can maintain their bg's with diet and exercise, or diet and oral meds. Not all have to use insulin. Sometimes the oral meds may not be enough (like for me) so insulin is required because my numbers just don't come down very well without it. Also, once you are on insulin, it does not mean that you will need to be on it the rest of your life. If you are able to bring numbers down to a very manageable place, you can start easing off the insulin and see how well your body responds to it. I know some people who were on insulin and came off it and have maintained their diabetes with diet/exercise and perhaps an oral med.
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I started off on insulin, and really don't expect to get off the stuff. Actually, I pretty much don't want to. Without insulin, I can't eat lettuce or drink water.
However, I do know that many Type 2s do manage to leave insulin behind ... and oral meds as well.
Even with insulin, I can't manage anywhere close to 100-120 carbs a day. I try to keep somewhere between 20-30 carbs a day, with glucose numbers between 75-130. My goal is to join The 5% Club (A1c 5.9 or under).
But we're all different. If your numbers are good (and I see from your sig that they're definitely going down), let them be your guide!
However, I do know that many Type 2s do manage to leave insulin behind ... and oral meds as well.
Even with insulin, I can't manage anywhere close to 100-120 carbs a day. I try to keep somewhere between 20-30 carbs a day, with glucose numbers between 75-130. My goal is to join The 5% Club (A1c 5.9 or under).
But we're all different. If your numbers are good (and I see from your sig that they're definitely going down), let them be your guide!
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According to my Diabetes educator if you live long enough you will end up on insulin. the trick is to make that a loooooooong time away.
That also fits in with diabetes being a progressive disease
That also fits in with diabetes being a progressive disease
That's just like saying every man will develop prostate cancer if he lives long enough. I think it's a foolish declaration in either case, especially coming from a medical professional.
My diabetes came on late in life, and with good management I could expect to wait it out until I die of old age. If I finally get fed up with DP, I may petition my doc for basal insulin & still maintain my lc/hf regimen for the rest. At any rate, I'll do whatever is necessary, and if insulin is in my future, so be it - doesn't bother me a bit. Just one more tool in the toolbox.
My diabetes came on late in life, and with good management I could expect to wait it out until I die of old age. If I finally get fed up with DP, I may petition my doc for basal insulin & still maintain my lc/hf regimen for the rest. At any rate, I'll do whatever is necessary, and if insulin is in my future, so be it - doesn't bother me a bit. Just one more tool in the toolbox.
Diabetes being an inevitably "progressive" disease is not proven. Currently it's probably a safe bet that an overwhelming majority of T2s are indeed "progressing". An even safer bet is that an overwhelming majority of them are themselves doing things which guarantee progression of the disease like continuing to send lots of glucose and fructose into their bloodstream but just managing to keep levels within the limits "du jour" of their favored organization (which in some cases means just staying below 180!) by some combination of lower glycemic index foods, "portion control", drugs or insulin and the like.
Even those with the most excellent control - like us on this list - might still be on a track to progression. Through much experimentation, most of us reduce our glucose/fructose to the MAXIMUM which we can do with our remaining insulin-producing capability and/or drugs and insulin we are using. I believe this pretty much guarantees progression - just hopefully at a much slower rate. It is not really any different from the 5 or 10 years prior to "diabetes" when the disease was developing: insulin metabolism had become impaired but blood sugars remained normal by means of overwork of the pancreas and abnormally high insulin levels for YEARS before the eventual diagnosis when the pancreas finally became overwhelmed.
There is an alternative. Or at least I hope there is. Kick glucose from dietary sources (except for the one made by the liver from protein) almost completely and likewise fructose. Your meter won't help you here. When you get incoming glucose/fructose down to the MAXIMUM capacity of your system (especially your pancreas) your meter readings will be good. But, you continue to stress your pancreas by making it use all its remaining capability to deal with that glucose, normal BG levels notwithstanding. And, your insulin remains abnormally high which has its own list of harmful effects. Your cells are still glucose-oriented and if they need energy, they send signals for MORE GLUCOSE which can trigger your liver to release stored glycogen which you still have a-plenty on this plan.
Beyond the Meter
Living in ketosis I believe is an actual solution. It is not being tested much or even tracked and it is unlikely it ever will due to terrible profit-making possibilities. Anecdotally, there are hundreds experiencing phenomenal success with this method at least in the short term. It will take time for proof of stopping progression to manifest but I am confident it will. The biology is just too logical and compelling.
This is a very different approach. You induce 95% of your cells to not even require (or scream for) glucose. Instead, they use free fatty acids and more importantly ketones to produce the exact same cellular energy (ATP) which they used to produce from glucose on the hummingbird diet.
It's benefits are many - for diabetics and non-diabetics alike - and stopping T2 in its tracks is I believe one of them. I hope some of those approximately one million people in Sweden eating this way are diabetics so they will provide the needed proof.
Unfortunately I believe that due to the lack of correct educational material to those who are diabetic, prediabetic, or family history of diabetes, we will see more and more people developing diabetes at younger and younger ages than adult onset. What they are putting out there in regards to "healthy" eating for a diabetic, as we all know, is incorrect and is exacerbating the epidemic. Until these "scholars" are educated properly and not force-fed the untruths they are being taught and going forth to spiel, then it will be a continued problem. Sad but true.
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