Shami.
You're right, about the pill story being the real success story, if you're an obesity induced Type 2 diabetic as I am.
When I started LC'ing over 5 years ago, on Atkins at my doctor's suggestion, it was to lose weight. I should have been concerned that my FBG's were +/- 155 and I was maxed out on 2 oral diabetes meds and starting on a third, but that was not my primary motivation. I was, and for 16 years basically had been, in denial about my diabetes and was doing nothing about it except popping pills. In retrospect, I didn't realize how close I was to injecting insulin for the rest of my life. I was progressing in the traditional course of the disease, which the entire medical establishement including the physicians, the ADA, the certified diabetes educators, etc. all follow, which is that Type 2 is a progressive disease. They are wrong!
I was surprised when I found out, by going to weigh myself on a commercial scale at the Fulton Fish market when it was in downtown Manhattan (because my doctor's scale only went to 350), that I weighed 375, I was motivated, finally.
But, the surprising benefit was that as soon as I started LC'ing, that is before I even lost much weight, that my BS's were dropping precipitously. I dropped the Avandia that I was just starting, soon thereafter cut the Micronase and Glucophage in half (to 10mg and 1,000mg/day, respectively), and then cut them in half again. I lost 60 lbs. on Atkins in a year, and kept it off for 3 years. Then, in the summer and early fall of 2006 I gained back 12 lbs. so I read The Diabetes Diet, by Richard K. Bernstein, MD, a type 1 himself, and started on it religiously. It is remarkably like Atkins, allows 30 carbs a day (6-12-12), and, to lose weight, limits protein as well.
Over 50 weeks on this diet I lost 96 lbs, getting me down from 327 to 231 (from 375 originally). On 9/24/07 we then went on a 3 week vacation and I ate and drank a lot, so now I am 10 lbs heavier and working to lose that now. My next goal is 225 by the end of the year. That's 2 lbs a week and will mark 150 lbs since I started LC'ing.
But, back to your theme, with which I agree. The real news is that my FBG is now now almost normal. When I was at 231 and sticking to diet, my FBG's were in the low 90's. Now, while I am slipping sometimes, trying to get back in the groove, my FBG's average a little over 100, but that is still much better than where I started (at 155) and failing on orals, and on my way to insuling, or these day's Byetta. There benefits of LC'ing only show up in lab tests, or in the absence of neuropathy or other symptoms of this disease that, once started, will have compromised my health and made me more likely to develop other outcomes of the metabolic syndrome, like putting me at much higher risk of stroke and heart attack.
Congratulations on seeing how LC'ing is working for you in this most important way.
Last edited by danbrown : Mon, Nov-05-07 at 08:20.
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2 less pills per day
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