Boreas
Poster Extraordinaire
The key to your success with DM2 will be your physician and healthcare team. Not all physicians are on board with reversing DM2, but just treating it. IMO, if your doctor insists on treating before a carb-restricted diet, get a second opinion.
My father's side of the family was rife with DM1 and DM2, so I was not surprised with a diagnosis of DM2. Because of my family history and my fear of complications, my physician and I agreed to treat and diet at the same time. Because the meds brought my numbers down, I didn't get very serious about my carb control. Over the next 5 years I went from glyburide, added metformin, dropped glyburide and added insulin shots at mealtime. Over the next 5 years, I went to shots at meals and Lantus daily, added more EXPENSIVE pills, switched to an insulin pump AND pills, added an EXPENSIVE weekly injection. With just about every added medicine (especially insulin!) there was corresponding weight GAIN! My A1C is now a very good 5.5, but I spend THOUSANDS over top of my healthcare payments every year. I hit catastrophic coverage in early Fall. My DM2 treatments would be over $30k without a good healthcare plan. This is just my story - every diabetic has a different story with a different outcome.
Unfortunately, THIS has been the "treatment plan" of much of the medical field over the years. Now, more enlightened physicians postpone ANY medication as long as you can keep your blood glucose levels out of the danger area. This is the time to master your carb intake, and not go on and develop a reliance "crutch" of medications. You are only at the "easy" stage ONCE. Once the crutch is employed, often there is no longer any emphasis on the diet. DM2 is essentially a diet-related problem. Some people are more prone to DM2 than others, and you are likely one of these people. But it doesn't have to be a foregone diagnosis nor take over your lifestyle. I believe you have the gumption to avoid it!
My father's side of the family was rife with DM1 and DM2, so I was not surprised with a diagnosis of DM2. Because of my family history and my fear of complications, my physician and I agreed to treat and diet at the same time. Because the meds brought my numbers down, I didn't get very serious about my carb control. Over the next 5 years I went from glyburide, added metformin, dropped glyburide and added insulin shots at mealtime. Over the next 5 years, I went to shots at meals and Lantus daily, added more EXPENSIVE pills, switched to an insulin pump AND pills, added an EXPENSIVE weekly injection. With just about every added medicine (especially insulin!) there was corresponding weight GAIN! My A1C is now a very good 5.5, but I spend THOUSANDS over top of my healthcare payments every year. I hit catastrophic coverage in early Fall. My DM2 treatments would be over $30k without a good healthcare plan. This is just my story - every diabetic has a different story with a different outcome.
Unfortunately, THIS has been the "treatment plan" of much of the medical field over the years. Now, more enlightened physicians postpone ANY medication as long as you can keep your blood glucose levels out of the danger area. This is the time to master your carb intake, and not go on and develop a reliance "crutch" of medications. You are only at the "easy" stage ONCE. Once the crutch is employed, often there is no longer any emphasis on the diet. DM2 is essentially a diet-related problem. Some people are more prone to DM2 than others, and you are likely one of these people. But it doesn't have to be a foregone diagnosis nor take over your lifestyle. I believe you have the gumption to avoid it!