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A really useful book for newbie T2s

Chris Hobson said:
I am currently in the process of re-reading the book 'Reverse your diabetes' by Dr. David Cavan. The book has been covered in the Recommended books section on this forum:
But I think that the book really needs a mention on this section. I have noticed that many newcomers seem to be feeling very panicky and disorientated about being newly diagnosed. I wish that I had read this book when I was first diagnosed. The book is really for type twos. It starts by giving a detailed description of what type two diabetes actually is in practice. It does go into some rather unpleasant details about how diabetes can screw up your health if you don't get a grip on it but then goes on to tell you what you can do to avoid this happening to you. Diet and exercise are known ways of dealing with type two diabetes, Dr. Cavan explains in detail what this means in practice.
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Thank you so much @Chris Hobson ~ I’ve been diagnosed type2 for 2 years but I am worried sick because my eyes are getting damaged already and I thought the pins and needles were down to my sciatica,
even though they are in my hands and feet too
 
My own diabetes condition seems to be in remission and ALL of the diabetes symptoms that I had been suffering have been reversed. Whatever the terms used, I feel great and my health has improved a zillion fold.
 
Chris Hobson said:
I am currently in the process of re-reading the book 'Reverse your diabetes' by Dr. David Cavan. The book has been covered in the Recommended books section on this forum:
But I think that the book really needs a mention on this section. I have noticed that many newcomers seem to be feeling very panicky and disorientated about being newly diagnosed. I wish that I had read this book when I was first diagnosed. The book is really for type twos. It starts by giving a detailed description of what type two diabetes actually is in practice. It does go into some rather unpleasant details about how diabetes can screw up your health if you don't get a grip on it but then goes on to tell you what you can do to avoid this happening to you. Diet and exercise are known ways of dealing with type two diabetes, Dr. Cavan explains in detail what this means in practice.
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Burylancs said:
Quote - ']over time the disease process reasserts itself and continued destruction of the beta cells ensues." [/I]That just seems to be a rhetorical survival from when it was thought that T2D was indeed necessarily progressive.'

Or it could just be the TRUTH Eddy based on 4000 years knowledge and experience of what is currently called Type 2 Diabetes.
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It's a very hard knowing you have diabetes.my diabetes is from steroid use . I have been on them for 2 years. I am down to 7 mg. Might my diabetes go away when l am completely off steroids. The doctor once told me it would. I would like to know if this is true
 
Gwynn said.
"My own diabetes condition seems to be in remission and ALL of the diabetes symptoms that I had been suffering have been reversed."

That is pretty much where I am and have been since about nine months after diagnosis. I feel perfectly fine and wouldn't really know that I had the condition if it weren't for the regular blood tests. I do realise though that this situation is wholly dependent upon my maintaining my diet and exercise regime. If I were to revert back to my former rather slovenly habits I suspect that I would relapse pretty quickly.
 
Joshua said:
Might my diabetes go away when l am completely off steroids
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Hi Joshua, I've googled it and the answer is maybe :
"Is steroid-induced diabetes permanent?
Many people will find that their blood sugar levels return to a healthy range when they stop taking steroids. But for others, steroid-induced diabetes can continue even after you’ve stopped your treatment"
It's probably a question for your doctor next time you see them.
Sarah
 
Windy said:
Reversed is also the term that Roy Taylor uses in the title of one of his books, and on the cover of the other book. He doesn't use it in his scientific papers, which makes me think "reversed" is aimed at the general public, whilst "remission" is the term used within the scientific community.
But either way, the stuff I've read, and the experiences of other people on this forum makes me think it's real and worth a try for people with type 2. I'd rather travel hopefully, even if I don't get my diabetes reversed or in remission. I assume other type 2s are similar.
Sarah
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Indeed. It is a matter of how we look at things with these terms. Hope is VERY important. When I was diagnosed two years ago; I was on 4 shots of insulin a day. I started the Newcastle protocol, lost 35 lbs, and am medication free...but... I still stress and suffer and know that I am diabetic. So...While we can improve our own health this disease does not go away, right?
 
Mare said:
Indeed. It is a matter of how we look at things with these terms. Hope is VERY important. When I was diagnosed two years ago; I was on 4 shots of insulin a day. I started the Newcastle protocol, lost 35 lbs, and am medication free...but... I still stress and suffer and know that I am diabetic. So...While we can improve our own health this disease does not go away, right?
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You've done so well to lose the weight and become medication free. I take my hat off to you. Please don't stress and suffer - you've done everything you can to put the brakes on your diabetes.

My understanding is that if you're genetically predisposed to T2 diabetes (likely it runs in the family), and you got remission/reversal through weight loss, the diabetes will come if you put the weight on again. It's not gone forever, it's dependent on losing the weight and keeping it off. So focus on that, keep an eye on your weight and if it creeps up, go on a diet for a month and lose it again, so you can keep your foot on the brake.
 
Mare said:
Indeed. It is a matter of how we look at things with these terms. Hope is VERY important. When I was diagnosed two years ago; I was on 4 shots of insulin a day. I started the Newcastle protocol, lost 35 lbs, and am medication free...but... I still stress and suffer and know that I am diabetic. So...While we can improve our own health this disease does not go away, right?
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I ate my way into diabetes, I ate my way out again.
Like anything, it's always possible I could eat my way back again, but I'm in control of that.
So, I don't stress it'll come back on its own.
 
travellor said:
I ate my way into diabetes, I ate my way out again.
Like anything, it's always possible I could eat my way back again, but I'm in control of that.
So, I don't stress it'll come back on its own.
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Yep.
 
Rather than dieting I put far more emphasis on exercise. I enjoy exercising, I know that some other people really hate it and I get that, but for me it's a good way to deal with weight issues. I know that it doesn't work for everybody, there are people that I meet at the gym who are just as active as I am but don't lose weight in the same way. All this means that I only need to be basically sensible with regard to carb intake and don't need to have the kind of restricted diet that some on these forums have described.
 
Regarding this book by Dr Cavan, I read the one by Professor Roy Taylor and it gave me a lot of useful insight - has anyone read both and if so is there much additional in Dr Cavans book to warrant me buying and reading it?
 
Sorry, only read the Roy Taylor books and Fung (The diabetes code). Wasn't that impressed with Fung, didn't manage to finish the book. Taylor, on the other hand writes an excellent book.
I keep meaning to order Dr Cavan's book too. If I do, I'll let you know how I found it.
Sarah
 
Windy said:
Sorry, only read the Roy Taylor books and Fung (The diabetes code). Wasn't that impressed with Fung, didn't manage to finish the book. Taylor, on the other hand writes an excellent book.
I keep meaning to order Dr Cavan's book too. If I do, I'll let you know how I found it.
Sarah
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Thanks Sarah,
just noticed your weight loss story, really impressive. You’ve certainly hit the 15kg drop Roy Taylor speaks about!
 
I bought a second hand copy of Dr Cavan's book and it's well written and easy to read. It covers why T2D happens, complications of D, diet modification, medication available, obesity and reversing your diabetes, activity, BG monitoring and goal setting (amongst other topics) and has a low carb message.
Taylor's books cover most of these too, but focusses on putting your diabetes into remission/reverse by losing weight, and doesn't really touch on low carb eating.
So in terms of buying it in addition to Taylor's, I'd say you'd get a bit of extra information from it, but with the exception of the low carb eating, they're covering much the same ground. They're both well written.
I like that Prof Taylor has donated the proceeds of his books to Diabetes UK (his team's research was funded by DUK), but they're both good books and I would recommend either to new Type 2 diabetics.
 
Windy said:
I bought a second hand copy of Dr Cavan's book and it's well written and easy to read. It covers why T2D happens, complications of D, diet modification, medication available, obesity and reversing your diabetes, activity, BG monitoring and goal setting (amongst other topics) and has a low carb message.
Taylor's books cover most of these too, but focusses on putting your diabetes into remission/reverse by losing weight, and doesn't really touch on low carb eating.
So in terms of buying it in addition to Taylor's, I'd say you'd get a bit of extra information from it, but with the exception of the low carb eating, they're covering much the same ground. They're both well written.
I like that Prof Taylor has donated the proceeds of his books to Diabetes UK (his team's research was funded by DUK), but they're both good books and I would recommend either to new Type 2 diabetics.
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Thanks, that’s helpful, I’ll maybe buy it as well for the low carb eating element. I’ve got a lot out of Prof Taylors book, good to hear about the link with Diabetes UK.
 
Burylancs said:
You've been misled. A secure diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes, in the present state of knowledge, is a life sentence that cannot be 'reversed'. God knows what's happened to Diabetes UK, It's irresponsible of them to propagate Fake News like this to newbies.
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Resurrecting an old thread because, like Peppa Pig, I love jumping in muddy puddles 😉

It is certainly true that a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes is thought by the medical community at large to be a 'life sentence' that cannot be reversed. Recent research by Roy Taylor, who apparently didn't care much what the medical community had to say on the subject, demonstrated some beta cell functional recovery in the years following a sustained remission, at least in some people. This, to my mind at least, opens the door to the possibility that the medical community at large might be wrong.

Luckily, in the UK at least, there might be a way to check. The good people of the United Kingdom seem to have a thing called a Diabetes Register. I know this because I've read posts stating that people who are diagnosed as diabetics but go on to drop their HbA1c below a certain level and keep it there without medication are removed from this register? This stuck in my mind as it strikes me as a bit of cost-saving lunacy. A useful bit of lunacy perhaps. This is probably a stupid question, but has anyone actually checked how many people are removed from the diabetic register permanently? How many people go on to live the rest of their lives without being re-added to the register?

I'm sure someone will point me to the relevant register-based research that proves Type 2 Diabetes is permanent, that everyone taken off the register either goes back on it eventually or dies soon after, before they get the opportunity to be officially diabetic again. If not, how does a person go about poking a bored diabetes researcher with a stick? 😉
 
PerSpinasAdAstra said:
Resurrecting an old thread because, like Peppa Pig, I love jumping in muddy puddles 😉

It is certainly true that a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes is thought by the medical community at large to be a 'life sentence' that cannot be reversed. Recent research by Roy Taylor, who apparently didn't care much what the medical community had to say on the subject, demonstrated some beta cell functional recovery in the years following a sustained remission, at least in some people. This, to my mind at least, opens the door to the possibility that the medical community at large might be wrong.

Luckily, in the UK at least, there might be a way to check. The good people of the United Kingdom seem to have a thing called a Diabetes Register. I know this because I've read posts stating that people who are diagnosed as diabetics but go on to drop their HbA1c below a certain level and keep it there without medication are removed from this register? This stuck in my mind as it strikes me as a bit of cost-saving lunacy. A useful bit of lunacy perhaps. This is probably a stupid question, but has anyone actually checked how many people are removed from the diabetic register permanently? How many people go on to live the rest of their lives without being re-added to the register?

I'm sure someone will point me to the relevant register-based research that proves Type 2 Diabetes is permanent, that everyone taken off the register either goes back on it eventually or dies soon after, before they get the opportunity to be officially diabetic again. If not, how does a person go about poking a bored diabetes researcher with a stick? 😉
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There is no such thing as a Diabetic Register. It was a fantasy invented by people in denial about the reality of their diagnosis.
So no, the search for Sooty's Magic Wand continues and newbies are collateral damage, desperate to be told what they want to hear about Type 2 Diabetes, they are prey to fake news.
 
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@PerSpinasAdAstra I'm afraid that you might have got the wrong idea about a register - once diagnosed a patient will have 'diabetes' in their file, and after that be flagged for the usual annual revue of their blood tests, eye feet and so on, even if the actual category becomes 'in remission'.
There is another possibility which can occur if the diabetes was brought on by a medication or some condition which is only transient, and then 'resolved' is added to the category. In that case the checks are no longer done and the patient is effectively left to their own devices.
There might be some software which can count up the patients in the various categories to give total numbers, or perhaps some poor clerical worker has to send off a count of the various categories for each GP practice when prompted by a higher authority
For me, though, my diagnosis of diabetes came about because, after being intolerant of carbs all my adult life and despite my best efforts to convey that fact to GPs and nurses, I spent decade after decade being pushed to eat 'healthy' carbs and being insulted and derided when my weight increased and I felt quite unwell following the diet sheet which should by all accounts have kept me in top form.
If any bits were failing it was under the weight of all those 'healthy' options I was consuming - and the low fat choices. When I stopped the carbs I did stagger a bit - but I think that was because my various hormones - insulin included, were suddenly freed from the burden of more carbs than I could cope with.
Rather like a sponge recovers from being compressed, my metabolism sorted itself out.
The thyroid replacement tablets have been reduced during the time since diagnosis, down to less than half the amount I needed for decades - thyroids are not supposed to recover, but it could be that I simply was not converting the raw materials into the active hormone at the proper rate. I suspect that was the case, and something similar was also happening to my insulin.
After enduring half a century of crushing by carbohydrate I might never be able to fully recover - but things are certainly a lot better now I eat no more than 40gm of carbs a day.
 
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