Lowering glucose without medication and insulin

[Shelley]

I did the MWL program in August of 2007. I do not smoke and do not drink with the exception of maybe half a beer--no joke--maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I have never drunk coffee and primarily drink tea, all kinds, and grain coffees. Since it can be chilly here in Holland in the winter, I occassionally drink black tea or grain coffee with a bit of no fat soy milk as I find that rice or nut milks sends my glucose to the skies. I drink maybe one cup a day, two at most and some days none. I otherwise drink plain water.
Since I am a musician, my days vary as do my eating times. I have been a vegan with very little variation (plane trips and VERY occasional meals out) for well over a year and ditto low or no fat. When I'm home, I prepare all my own meals and am currently very strict about low or no fat, ditto sugar. I was diagnosed as type 2 diabetic in the 90's but nothing has helped me.
I am pretty sedentary because of my profession but do walk from 15-30 minutes or more per day depending upon how I'm feeling. I also have shoulder impingement that I almost died from when a top surgeon performed an operation he shouldn't have and gave me MRSA in the process last year. It took 8 months for me to be able to sit upright, so I am not pushing myself. However, I am a lifelong weight lifter with good equipment at home and am currently rebuilding my strength and trying to improve my painful shoulder condition.
I have just had Avastin injected into my right eye for the retinopathy and will have a laser treatment in two days.
Since going off this last round of insulin (small doses in any case, only before meals because long-acting night dose wasn't needed because of the success of the vegan diet), I feel better, more like myself, the weight is coming off and other strange things--obviously due to the insulin--are no longer happening, such as peculiar partial foot swelling, my tan's not fading (now off insulin, it is) and just not feeling like myself, impossible for me to describe. My color is now good with healthy=looking red in my cheeks, and friends tell me how good I look now. Thanks again, Western medicine, what great help.
Shelley

[slugmom]

Hello,
My offer of discussion outside the board was meant for Kim, not Clary.
Shelley

For me?

I don't have much to offer, it sounds like you've already read Dr. Barnard's book, and you're in contact with Dr. McDougall -- it really sounds like you're doing things "right" ...

I guess my only suggestion would be to ask Dr. McDougall if he has any ideas/understanding of why your levels would be so high even when sticking carefully to the program. But I'm by no means an expert, and was only reading Dr. Barnard's book myself out of curiosity/preventative information after having a glucose screening come back a little high.

If it were me, I would want to know *why* my levels weren't responding the way they should, but if Dr. McDougall and/or Dr. Barnard were willing to discuss my specifics with me and assure me I was on the right track, I'd probably be okay with that. I assume you've cut your insulin with your Doc's and Dr. McDougall's input and monitoring. I know some people always need them, because their pancreas has been damaged?

I think the bottom line of what I am saying is I think you're in better hands with Dr. McDougall than with all of us on the board and our guesses and assumptions and misunderstandings

I hope in time your levels come down!

Kim

[Shelley]

Thanks for the well-wishes, Kim, but so far it seems that no one in two countries can help me. Therefore, I'm doing what I'm doing with the info I have at hand and am listening to my body. Just trying to go on with my life. Every diabetic is different.
Shelley

[storm20]

I was told by a Doc online that it can take 3 month for us Diabetic to find the change, do not give up, she was right I have found what she said was quite true

I must be the most unusual diabetic on the planet as absolutely nothing Western medicine or even some Eastern disciplines has helped me. I am currently on the MWL program after gaining 35 pounds on the most recent round of insulin (off it now), but am alarmed at the level of my glucose. I am a 61 year old female and regularly walk for exercise. I find that now I'm off the insulin, only a small amount before meals anyway, I find that I'm reacting peculiarly anyway meaning that my glucose level goes up after exercise and even after eating vegetables only. I'm frightened because I am being treated now for retinopathy that has occurred despite having been a "controled diabetic" on insulin for over a year. Does anyone have any ideas for me about how to lower my glucose without drugs? I am also clearly losing weight judging by how my clothes fit despite the fact that the scale hasn't moved a lot.

[Shelley]

Appreciate the encouragement, Storm. I am currently trying an antifungal diet. Did the first week, very stringent and non McDougall though I made it as McDougall as I could, and some things seemed to be changing. My glucose level went lower (no drugs or insulin) but had to abandon it when traveling. Will return to it in a few days when I am in a position to make and control my food. I'm ever hopeful that I will find an answer but my eyes are not going well (diabetic retinopathy).

[langerangersquared]

Shelly, You mention the "weight coming off." Unless i missed it, we don't know how much extra weight you're still carrying. I realize that intramyocellular fat, normal weight obesity, etc. can confound usual expectations, but for most cases, as I understand the literature and from my limited personal experience, weight loss is the lynchpin for reducing insulin resistance. "good eatin'," Don

[Shelley]

Hey Don, thanks for the reply.
I have had weight problems all my life but am 61, 5'6" and currently weigh 165. I have been on insulin twice with all kinds of disastrous results. The last round had me up to almost 200 pounds, but have lost most of that now. John says that if I can get to something like 120 to 125 (no one has ever suggested I be so low, especially since I am not of slight build, more sturdy) that I might lose the diabetes. I'm working on it though it is a slow process. I've never been a good loser, but now with the vegan and low fat plan, I am losing lots of size and eventually weight. Unfortunately, I have had some other health setbacks including unnecessary surgery and an MRSA infection from the hospital that almost killed me. Trying to maintain a positive attitude through it all.

[Shelley]

Hi again Don,
When I looked at your profile, it says something about a Mustang Motorcycle. As a former biker myself (I now have diabetic retinopathy so I can hardly drive a car anymore, nevermind a bike), what is that? I'm a confirmed rice burner except for my second bike which was an Ossa Mick Andrews replica for trials riding.