My Diabetes/Blood Pressure Medication
I was first diagnosed with Type II Diabetes several years ago… and since then have been on a cocktail of different medications (and more recently injections) to get my blood sugar under control.
Initially this was a single daily tablets, but over the years has expanded (as the Diabetes “took hold”) to include Insulin injections and also high blood pressure medication.
just a month ago, I was on 4 different tablets (taken at morning and night) and 7 daily injections of three different Insulin medications (3 in the morning and evening and 1 midday). I was also doing regular (3 or 4 times a day) Blood Prick tests to monitor my blood glucose levels. With all these medications I finally had my blood sugar “under control” but it was still too high… and was only going to get worse with time if I didn’t change something.
I thought I was already eating “pretty well”, but 9 weeks ago, I lost my sense of taste… and as a result… lost interest in food… and also appetite. As a consequence I significantly cut down on what I was eating, and “accidentally” lost 10Kg in 9 weeks.
My blood sugar levels plummeted, and I found I had to reduce my Diabetes meds and actually make myself eat more than I really felt like eating – just to get my blood sugar above 4 (I am not allowed to drive with a blood sugar less than 5). In the last week I have also started my pre-surgery OptiFAST VLCD Meal Replacement Diet, so my blood sugar continued down and now – 1 week BEFORE my weight loss surgery, I have reduced my Diabetes AND Blood Sugar medications to 2 tablets and 1 injection each evening… and my blood glucose readings haven’t been this good in years.
Following surgery I expect to very quickly stop all diabetes/blood pressure medication all together 🙂
I was actually quite shocked over how much difference a very well controlled diet (in my case encouraged by loss of taste) had on my weight and diabetes… I had to start wondering if weight loss surgery is actually necessary, but I am positive that even though I have had great, fast term results, I wouldn’t be able to maintain it, and once my taste returned (it seems to be improving now) I would very quickly slip back into bad habits and my weight/diabetes issues would return.
This is very much supported by research on the long term benefits of weight loss, major studies such as the Swedish Obesity Study and the US Veterans Study show very strong long term benefits of Bariatric Surgery when compared with “traditional” weight loss strategies (diet, exercise, counselling)