16th April 2005
I'll try to keep my response brief because the long version is too hard :)
I was dxd in January 2004 with fasting glucose over 200 and HA1C at 8.3. I have been hypothyroid since 1990 and always had a weight problem since then. Also in 2004 they discovered my cholesterol was dangerously high. My doctor put me on Amaryl for the diabetes and other meds for the cholesterol. I started metering my own glucose and started a typical "A.D.A. diet" as recommended by a Diabetes Educator. But then something went terribly wrong. After about 3 weeks on the medication I developed unexplainable symptoms that were unbearable to live with. I was dizzy, blurred vision, felt like I had menthol running through my veins, could not walk across the room, had extreme burning in my feet, and my blood pressure (which is usually low) was running about 218/100. :eek: The only thing that WAS working was that I had started to lose weight. I lived like this for 8 weeks, in and out of the ER at least 3X per week, always being told that I was having anxiety attacks because of my diagnosis, or because my body just needed to adjust to the meds I was on. I refused to believe this and refused to take anxiety meds that they tried to force on me.
I started doing research on my own (lots of it) because about all I could do was sit in front of my computer. I started to learn about how the body works and the causes and effects of T2 diabetes. I researched how the liver and kidneys play a role in one's health and recovery of the disease. I researched various diet strategies, not just for weight loss, but for health and balance. I also tried to figure out what was "killing me" (I really thought I was dying), and surprisingly, I did.
It turns out that Amaryl is distantly related to Sulpha drugs, which I have always been allergic to. Though I was only taking a small dose, it was enough to "poison" me. I made a decision then that I needed to clean my body and detoxify - stopped all medication and put forth and action plan to restore my health naturally, through diet and excercise. My doctor was opposed at first, but I asked him to please give me 6 months to do it my way, and he agreed. Believe it or not, the results were quite evident after only 4 months. It did take a month for the meds to flush out of my system, but I had already started my new lifestyle.
Meanwhile, throughout all the testing I went through to find out what was wrong they discovered that I have Nephrotic Syndrome - an early-stage kidney disease. They believe it is a result of the diabetes and obesity.
There are 7 very detailed rules to my plan - they are very specific so I will save them for another post. But I do believe that after all my research and my experience that my plan would work for about 70-80% of all T2 diabetics, if they put forth the effort. Many people are afraid to make dramatic changes to their lifestyle and they believe that they must take the pills given by their doctor. I would NEVER suggest stopping meds prescribed by a doctor, however I do believe that T2 diabetes can most often be controlled without the drugs. There will always be some number of people that will require meds/insulin for control.
The fundamentals of my plan are based around these things:
[INDENT]1. Restoring health by strengthening liver function. The liver has a tremendous impact on metabolism and glucose control. Medications (of any kind) actually weaken liver function.
2. Balancing meals in an effort to strengthen the metabolsim and protect and heal all major organs in the body (liver, kidneys, heart, etc).
3. Detoxification to improve liver and kidney kidney function, which makes your body function more efficiently.
4. Forget the word "diet". You can probably eat more food than you realize. This is a lifestyle change that is easy to live with if you have the desire. It includes excercise, hydration, food choices, and your desire to be healthy... its not just about carbs or calories.
6. Your desire to be healthy must be stronger than your desire to "cheat" - this is not so much about will power, as it is about "fear of death" (at least for me). I would NEVER consider eating something outside of my plan - I have ZERO temptation to eat bad things or stray from my plan.[/INDENT]
Here are my results:
[INDENT]- My fasting glucose is now 85-90 every morning.
- My HA1C has been 4.3 for the past 6 months.
- My Hypothyroid condition has started to reverse itself (unexplained!)
- Cholesterol is normal.
- Kidneys are improving dramatically (though still abnormal).
- Weight loss continues (I do still need to lose more but I am not in a rush).
- You can see that I have restored my health - my hair, skin, eyes, etc have never looked better - I am told that I look 10 years younger today than I did a year ago.
- I have increased the muscle mass in my body - so much so that although I lost 125 lbs, I am wearing a clothing size that indicates I have lost much more than that. I do not look like I weigh as much as I do. This is a compelling result that I never imagined. [/INDENT] I am happy to share the details of my plan - I have before, but it has been a while. I will start a new thread for that...
I was dxd in January 2004 with fasting glucose over 200 and HA1C at 8.3. I have been hypothyroid since 1990 and always had a weight problem since then. Also in 2004 they discovered my cholesterol was dangerously high. My doctor put me on Amaryl for the diabetes and other meds for the cholesterol. I started metering my own glucose and started a typical "A.D.A. diet" as recommended by a Diabetes Educator. But then something went terribly wrong. After about 3 weeks on the medication I developed unexplainable symptoms that were unbearable to live with. I was dizzy, blurred vision, felt like I had menthol running through my veins, could not walk across the room, had extreme burning in my feet, and my blood pressure (which is usually low) was running about 218/100. :eek: The only thing that WAS working was that I had started to lose weight. I lived like this for 8 weeks, in and out of the ER at least 3X per week, always being told that I was having anxiety attacks because of my diagnosis, or because my body just needed to adjust to the meds I was on. I refused to believe this and refused to take anxiety meds that they tried to force on me.
I started doing research on my own (lots of it) because about all I could do was sit in front of my computer. I started to learn about how the body works and the causes and effects of T2 diabetes. I researched how the liver and kidneys play a role in one's health and recovery of the disease. I researched various diet strategies, not just for weight loss, but for health and balance. I also tried to figure out what was "killing me" (I really thought I was dying), and surprisingly, I did.
It turns out that Amaryl is distantly related to Sulpha drugs, which I have always been allergic to. Though I was only taking a small dose, it was enough to "poison" me. I made a decision then that I needed to clean my body and detoxify - stopped all medication and put forth and action plan to restore my health naturally, through diet and excercise. My doctor was opposed at first, but I asked him to please give me 6 months to do it my way, and he agreed. Believe it or not, the results were quite evident after only 4 months. It did take a month for the meds to flush out of my system, but I had already started my new lifestyle.
Meanwhile, throughout all the testing I went through to find out what was wrong they discovered that I have Nephrotic Syndrome - an early-stage kidney disease. They believe it is a result of the diabetes and obesity.
There are 7 very detailed rules to my plan - they are very specific so I will save them for another post. But I do believe that after all my research and my experience that my plan would work for about 70-80% of all T2 diabetics, if they put forth the effort. Many people are afraid to make dramatic changes to their lifestyle and they believe that they must take the pills given by their doctor. I would NEVER suggest stopping meds prescribed by a doctor, however I do believe that T2 diabetes can most often be controlled without the drugs. There will always be some number of people that will require meds/insulin for control.
The fundamentals of my plan are based around these things:
[INDENT]1. Restoring health by strengthening liver function. The liver has a tremendous impact on metabolism and glucose control. Medications (of any kind) actually weaken liver function.
2. Balancing meals in an effort to strengthen the metabolsim and protect and heal all major organs in the body (liver, kidneys, heart, etc).
3. Detoxification to improve liver and kidney kidney function, which makes your body function more efficiently.
4. Forget the word "diet". You can probably eat more food than you realize. This is a lifestyle change that is easy to live with if you have the desire. It includes excercise, hydration, food choices, and your desire to be healthy... its not just about carbs or calories.
6. Your desire to be healthy must be stronger than your desire to "cheat" - this is not so much about will power, as it is about "fear of death" (at least for me). I would NEVER consider eating something outside of my plan - I have ZERO temptation to eat bad things or stray from my plan.[/INDENT]
Here are my results:
[INDENT]- My fasting glucose is now 85-90 every morning.
- My HA1C has been 4.3 for the past 6 months.
- My Hypothyroid condition has started to reverse itself (unexplained!)
- Cholesterol is normal.
- Kidneys are improving dramatically (though still abnormal).
- Weight loss continues (I do still need to lose more but I am not in a rush).
- You can see that I have restored my health - my hair, skin, eyes, etc have never looked better - I am told that I look 10 years younger today than I did a year ago.
- I have increased the muscle mass in my body - so much so that although I lost 125 lbs, I am wearing a clothing size that indicates I have lost much more than that. I do not look like I weigh as much as I do. This is a compelling result that I never imagined. [/INDENT] I am happy to share the details of my plan - I have before, but it has been a while. I will start a new thread for that...