I was able to reverse diabetes and I like to call myself an ex-diabetic. My name is Oscar, I live in Toronto Canada and I am a recovering carboholic and diabetic.
In April 2017 I was able to get my HbA1c levels down to 5.7 and have been able to keep them hovering at that level. But first let me tell you where I started.
Up to the age of 40 I never had any medical concerns or issues. Overweight and feeling a little sluggish but blamed it on the extra weight. Hovering around 250 pounds and decided it was time for me to finally obtain a family doctor and go for a check up. The Doctor did the usual tests and to my surprise my blood work came back showing I was pre-diabetic. Unfortunately, back then I was not aware of the possibilities of reversing my diabetes and I ended up on a Metformin prescription.
At this time I was aware of eating a low carb diet, I did Atkins back in 2002 and lost 45 pounds, however once I went back to eating carbs, I gained all the weight back. Once again I started eating a low carb diet and was able to keep my blood sugars down and my HbA1c around 6.4 mmol/L. After visiting the endocrinologist several times, he was really impressed with my ability to keep my blood sugars low and therefore told me he was confident I was able to manage my diabetes with diet and metformin and didn’t need to go back to see him any longer. Woohoo! I had my free ticket and didn’t have to go back? Well, although very proud of myself I felt that maybe I can just stop taking metformin and take care of my blood sugars on my own…… Big mistake!
Reverse Diabetes – 2 Years Later
No meds, eating whatever I wanted, I decided to go back to the doctors (new doctor) and get a check up. To no surprise, my blood work came back and my HbA1c was 11.4 mmol/L. My doctor was quite alarmed and put me back on Metformin, but it was now a double dose (1000 mg/day).
One Year Later
I was visiting my parents during Christmas in my home city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. My mother suffers from several medical conditions, one of them being diabetes. During my visit she was rushed to the hospital due to having water in her lungs, the issue was addressed and she was back home the same day. This seemed to be an ongoing problem for my mother, however with the right medication, it has since been resolved. During this hospital visit, watching my mother grasping for air with her face turning blue, gave me a huge wake up call. I decided on that day that if I want to live a long healthy life I need to take better care of myself.
So after the new year in January 2017 I decided to start a low carb diet. While researching low carb diets, I came across the ketogenic diet and made the switch. Although I was only doing keto for about a month I decided to have a doctors visit and get my blood work done. Sadly, my HbA1c came back at 9.2 mmol/L and my doctor decided to put me on a prescription for Glimperide which seemed to be an even bigger wake up call for me. Disappointed that I had to take another prescription and when I did my research on this new drug, I decided there was no way in hell that I was going to take it and made a vow to prove to my doctor that I didn’t need it.
Reverse Diabetes – 3 Months Later
A visit to my doctors, had my blood work done. I told my doctor that I didn’t take the Glimperide and that I have been following a ketogenic diet and doing the occasional 1 or 2 day fast. Thinking he was going to be upset but once he had a look at the results from my blood work he was in shock to see that I was able to reverse diabetes and get my HbA1c down to 5.7 mmol/L. Woohoo, my blood sugar dropped big time and we decided to cut my Metformin dose in half to 500 mg/day. Hearing the doctor tell me I was no longer considered diabetic made me feel amazing and confident that this keto way of eating while doing some fasting was the answer to reversing my diabetes.
Today
Since I was able to reverse diabetes, my HbA1c is still the same and my doctor indicated that if I can keep it the same for a while, I can stop taking metformin. Current dose is 125 mg/day.
***Update – no longer on any meds and am able to keep my blood sugars at 5.7 without any medications.
Observations since going keto is that I not only have way more energy, I am also more focused (less foggy), I don’t want to snack all the time and only eat when I am hungry. When I am extra busy I can skip a meal without any hunger pangs or that hangry feeling I used to get when I ate carbs. I no longer have high and low blood sugar and spend more time on more important things rather than thinking about food all day.
Stay tuned for updates……
Don’t forget to check out some other sections on this website for more resources and information and my favourite shop to get a lot of diabetic friendly foods Switch Grocery.