Comments on: Two in the family

By: Neva Marjory

Neva Marjory — Sun, 23 May 2004 04:25:43 +0000

"There is good information out there that 50,000 IU a month (at a minimum)
will
help diabetics and help women with osteo issues which is a double reason to
take it. You might want to suggest D3 supplementation of at least 1200 IU
a
day to your mom and see if that helps her turn the corner."

Could you please point to web sources of this information.

XB
IC|XC

By: luigi_1600

luigi_1600 — Thu, 13 May 2004 14:22:49 +0000

Thanks for the e-mail and for the information about your Dr’s and their
decision to allow more people to be on Byetta. I am still in
McKinleyville and can’t fully reply. I have saved your other e-mail and
will say more when I am home. John

Hi John,

We are going to have problems with eating as time goes along because
almost all
of us have eaten too much as evidenced by our weight. We’re not going
to change
those habits over night and all the overweight members of the list are
also
dealing with insulin resistance and will have to deal with hunger.

I have friends who are losing weight with weight watchers and hoodia -
one of
them takes it 3 times a day as an under the tongue spray - and she’s
losing
without feeling famished or driven to eat all night. Good thing, too,
as I’d
hate to see her as a fellow diabetic. I’d like to spare anyone I can
of this
disorder.

It is just so cool that you are having fasting BG’s of 90-100! The
daily
pattern will go down over time as you lose more weight.

By: Neva Marjory

Neva Marjory — Wed, 12 May 2004 14:47:30 +0000

just got back from lunch with family including mom. she says she has no clue
what her numbers are other than her bg’s. i will forward this email onto her
though. btw, we went to ruby tuesday’s which i normally love due to the
salad bar. i had water and a bowl of the broc/chs soup (no salad bar). when
the server took our plates, he asked if something was wrong with my soup
cause i only ate like 3 spoonfuls. i told him it was fine that i wasn’t
hungry.

jodi

Hi Jodi,

Sounds as if your mother has suffered some loss of beta cell function. It
would be interesting to see what her c-peptide is becasue that will tell a
lot.

I’m convinced now, that John Dodson’s information is right on about the
vitamin D3 supplementation at some pretty high doses. We are negotating
with the local doc for 50,000 IU, but will probably supplement on our own as
well as he is not going to fell okay about what John takes.

There is good information out there that 50,000 IU a month (at a minimum)
will help diabetics and help women with osteo issues which is a double
reason to take it. You might want to suggest D3 supplementation of at least
1200 IU a day to your mom and see if that helps her turn the corner.

Cheers!
Marsha

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

By: Adeline Calhoun

Adeline Calhoun — Wed, 12 May 2004 06:07:11 +0000

Thanks Marsha (and everybody who responded) - I guess I’ve bought
into that "death sentence" (so to speak) of diabetes. It never
crossed my mind that if I lost enough weight and controlled my
eating that I might be able to get off the meds entirely. I’ve
already been able to cut my Metformin by half and lost 14 pounds
since Apr 1 so maybe I’m on my way. What a blessing that would be!
Elaine(TN)

By: Melvin Anh

Melvin Anh — Mon, 10 May 2004 15:58:34 +0000

Hi Jodi,

Sounds as if your mother has suffered some loss of beta cell function. It would
be interesting to see what her c-peptide is becasue that will tell a lot.

I’m convinced now, that John Dodson’s information is right on about the vitamin
D3 supplementation at some pretty high doses. We are negotating with the local
doc for 50,000 IU, but will probably supplement on our own as well as he is not
going to fell okay about what John takes.

There is good information out there that 50,000 IU a month (at a minimum) will
help diabetics and help women with osteo issues which is a double reason to take
it. You might want to suggest D3 supplementation of at least 1200 IU a day to
your mom and see if that helps her turn the corner.

Cheers!
Marsha

jodi

Jodi,

The next question is - what does your mother eat? For most people diet
means ADA diet - which has a phenomenal number of carbohydrates to it.
Being low weight alone is insufficient. Carb control is critical. Does she
eat 100+ carbs a day like the ADA recommends? If so, and she needs
medication, she is eating way more than her body can deal with.

Does she know her C-Peptide? Is it insulin resistance or is it beta cell
failure?

I know from past and present testing that I have enough insulin running
around in my body for any three normal, healthy people. Beta cell failure
is not an issue with me (yet), it is strictly insulin resistance. Diet and
exercise are the treatment for insulin resistance, but will not have the
same impact with someone experiencing beta cell death, although it can help
mobilize the use of insulin by the muscles.

Most diabetics are not strict low-carb folks for a variety of reasons,
probably mostly because people like to eat what they like to eat (comfort
foods) or because they got shanghaied by the low-fat movement; the same
low-fat movement that is largely responsible for the obesity
epidemic/diabetes epidemic today IMO. Hence, few people are going to give
up all their comfort foods and walk the straight and narrow like I do.

I was able to lower my BG about 100 points through diet and exercise alone
when I put my will to it. Assuming I lose the 130+ pounds I need to lose,
my insulin resistance will diminish to the nearly null point. Byetta will
protect the beta cells from burning out during the meantime and perhaps help
any damage. At a certain point my body should be able to start managing
things itself. If not, at that point I can probably use ALA and Rhemannia
16 to better effect and manage it that way. Certainly, I will always be
checking my BG the rest of my life.

I hope that your Mom is able to overcome this and perhaps you can give her
some eating pointers if she is using the ADA diet.

Cheers!
Marsha

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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By: Neva Marjory

Neva Marjory — Sat, 08 May 2004 20:30:51 +0000

she went on atkins and lost all the weight. she still eats low carb
strictly. my brother who is 50 and still lives at home has been diabetic for
almost as long as i have. he’s lost both of his feet due to diabetes. she’s
had him on low carb too. don’t know if she knows her c-pep though. she’s
very healthy otherwise and a very young 67. active, energetic etc. i always
wished i was more like her.

jodi

Jodi,

The next question is - what does your mother eat? For most people diet
means ADA diet - which has a phenomenal number of carbohydrates to it.
Being low weight alone is insufficient. Carb control is critical. Does she
eat 100+ carbs a day like the ADA recommends? If so, and she needs

medication, she is eating way more than her body can deal with.

Does she know her C-Peptide? Is it insulin resistance or is it beta cell
failure?

I hope that your Mom is able to overcome this and perhaps you can give her
some eating pointers if she is using the ADA diet.

Cheers!
Marsha

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

By: Irwin Mayme

Irwin Mayme — Sat, 08 May 2004 08:45:44 +0000

Marsha, I believe I had a metabolic problem way before I was diagnosed
with diabetes, probably all of my life. Thirty years ago, my dh and I
went backpacking in the middle of summer. Granted it was at 8000 ft, but
not cold enough to have me go into hypothermia in the middle of the
night! Which I did! I weighed 140 lbs at that time, and that was not
normal. With byetta, I feel so much better and respond more normally to
food, that I’m hesitant to go off it, even when I get down back down to

By: Melvin Anh

Melvin Anh — Fri, 07 May 2004 01:59:51 +0000

Jodi,

The next question is - what does your mother eat? For most people diet means
ADA diet - which has a phenomenal number of carbohydrates to it. Being low
weight alone is insufficient. Carb control is critical. Does she eat 100+
carbs a day like the ADA recommends? If so, and she needs medication, she is
eating way more than her body can deal with.

Does she know her C-Peptide? Is it insulin resistance or is it beta cell
failure?

I know from past and present testing that I have enough insulin running around
in my body for any three normal, healthy people. Beta cell failure is not an
issue with me (yet), it is strictly insulin resistance. Diet and exercise are
the treatment for insulin resistance, but will not have the same impact with

someone experiencing beta cell death, although it can help mobilize the use of
insulin by the muscles.

Most diabetics are not strict low-carb folks for a variety of reasons, probably
mostly because people like to eat what they like to eat (comfort foods) or
because they got shanghaied by the low-fat movement; the same low-fat movement
that is largely responsible for the obesity epidemic/diabetes epidemic today
IMO. Hence, few people are going to give up all their comfort foods and walk
the straight and narrow like I do.

I was able to lower my BG about 100 points through diet and exercise alone when
I put my will to it. Assuming I lose the 130+ pounds I need to lose, my insulin
resistance will diminish to the nearly null point. Byetta will protect the beta
cells from burning out during the meantime and perhaps help any damage. At a
certain point my body should be able to start managing things itself. If not,
at that point I can probably use ALA and Rhemannia 16 to better effect and
manage it that way. Certainly, I will always be checking my BG the rest of my
life.

I hope that your Mom is able to overcome this and perhaps you can give her some
eating pointers if she is using the ADA diet.

Cheers!
Marsha

By: Melvin Anh

Melvin Anh — Thu, 06 May 2004 08:48:07 +0000

Hi John,

We are going to have problems with eating as time goes along because almost all
of us have eaten too much as evidenced by our weight. We’re not going to change
those habits over night and all the overweight members of the list are also
dealing with insulin resistance and will have to deal with hunger.

I have friends who are losing weight with weight watchers and hoodia - one of
them takes it 3 times a day as an under the tongue spray - and she’s losing
without feeling famished or driven to eat all night. Good thing, too, as I’d
hate to see her as a fellow diabetic. I’d like to spare anyone I can of this
disorder.

It is just so cool that you are having fasting BG’s of 90-100! The daily
pattern will go down over time as you lose more weight.

Thanks for sharing your gentle wisdom.

Cheers!
Marsha

By: Neva Marjory

Neva Marjory — Thu, 06 May 2004 04:01:49 +0000

my mom was dx’d just before thanksgiving last year. don’t know what she
weighed but at 5′6" she wore a size 18 or 20. dr tried diet and exercise
first for her and she wound up on glucophage. she has been down to a size 8
since february and still needs the glucophage. my diabetes came from dad’s
side or so we thought!

jodi

We have not had spit on the market long enough to see what happens. If
people in Boston are losing enough weight through GIB surgery to lose enough
weight to not need any medication, I see no reason why people cannot get off
other medictions entirely once they lose enough weight with or without spit.
I’ve never heard any specialist say that a type II is doomed to live on
medication forever as long as they get within 20% of normal weight and stay
there.

It does not mean they are cured. They can’t eat crap and they can’t
mainline sugar, but they can live on a restricted carb diet with exercise.
If they don’t want to live on a low-carb diet and exercise then they will
need meds.

Marsha

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]