Getting off insulin
Hi everyone,
I posted a while back that I was slowly weaning myself off insulin, levemir and rapid.
I an now on three units of levemir am and pm and 1 or no bolus at meals. I'll be off completely by next week.
I am eatings carbs, mostly in the form of raw, and a little lightly steamed vegetables. I do have a fruit a day occasionally, as well as seeds, nuts, sprouts etc. No dairy, no meat, no gluten, extremely limited grain.
Eating a lot of meat and fat is not the only way to reduce insulin and maintain normal BG levels - although it works for many.
I was on 30 units of levemir at my highest, am and pm, for a total of 60 per day. Now I am on three and my BG levels are great.
It CAN be done. Right now, I imagine I have some beta cell function; I might need the meds again if that changes. Who knows?
I have lost 2o pounds or so since early December and walk at least 30 minutes a day. I could not walk without severe lower back pain until I lost more weight, but now I can walk the whole mile with no pain at all.
My BP has dropped so low that I will no doubt stop taking ramapril - it was 105 /70 last evening.
I continue to take metformin, but if I lose more weight, I may not need it.
I am going to read the articles someone posted on the nerve/digestive connection, because this is what got me started on this path: if it is the case - and it is, that gastric bypass patients can leave the hospital completely off all diabetic medication, there MUST be a way to mimic that through what we eat or don't eat.
Frankly, I just didn't like all that meat and fat; I am not saying it's unsafe - not at all, I just don't like it, so I had to find another way. When Vivid Lily posted a link for raw food, I followed it and the rest is history. I followed it because I had heard of the work Dr Gabriel Cousesn had done with long-term diabetics - they were off insulin in a week following a raw food vegan diet.
I am still relatively low in carbs since my food is mostly vegetables, nuts and seeds, and I can tolerate the fat in nutss, seeds, olives and avodacos much more easily.
I keep coming back to this forum because of the support, and the excellent information.
To Ralph: Don't despair - you may be able to get off insulin; there are a few different paths. I chose an extreme path (raw vegan) and I think the Atkins type diets are extreme as well, but if you read 'Death to Diabetes' by DeWayne McCulley, he did it by eating a combination of flesh and vegetables. The point is, they all work, if you stick to them and make them a way of life and not a 'diet' that will be over and then you can eat 'normally' again. For us, there is no going back to the standard American diet. Ever. Once you make peace with that fact, you have begun to turn your life around.
You have to find a way that works for you. I never thought I would take to exercise, I had hated it since 1990 when I began to put weight on from eating the same meals I always had -but now I can't wait to do it every day. It's great when there is no pain. It's so joyous to be able to walk in the sun again! I started by stepping up and down on the lowest stair on my way to the bathroom, and by hefting soup cans while watching tv and reading on the computer - I say 'hefting' because I had severe muscle wasting and that was even hard at first. I use 5 lb weights now.
Stay on this forum, with Jenny, Nancy, CajunBoy et al - you will get support and some excellent advice. I'll check in from time to time to see how you are doing. This CAN be done without lapband or gastric surgery.
April.
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