Hi all,
I’ve been reading all the great stories and results on the forums for a couple of weks and have decided to share my story with you. I love the encouragement and support you give one another.

I’m a 60 year old Australin male, I started the BSD on 4/4/2016 and I’m amazed at my results so far.
I watched Michael Mosely on the Australian tv show (Insight) and then did my own research and decided to give it a go. I bought the book and my wife decided to join me as she wanted to lose some weight as well.
I was diagnosed Type 2 in Sept 2007 at age 52 and put on metformin (diabex xr) then diamicron and byetta as well as coversyl and vitorin. I never questioned why I needed these increasing number of meds because doctors kept telling me it was progressive and would inevitably lead to insulin. I have been having 2 byetta injections and 5 pills for many years now and always thought they were the only reason my hbA1c and cholesterol were always good (tested evey 6 months). I was considered “well controlled” but that was only because of all the meds I was taking.

I started the BSD with a fasting BGL of 13.2mmol/l, weight of 92.7 kg and waist of 120 cms.
As well as the diet I started walking 10K steps/day and doing the HIT Michael recommends in the book.
The next day my fasting BGL was 6.0 and it steadily dropped all last week with recordings as low as 4.7. My weight reduced by 3.9kg and my waist by 2cm. I know a lot of that loss will be fluid but I was very encouraged.

At the end of that first week I visited my doctor to review my latest test results which he said were again excellent and congratulated me on being “well controlled”. I showed him my results from the first week of BSD told him I wanted to continue the 800 calorie/day BSD and he was not too happy. He was scornful of the claim that diabetes could be reversed and said that it was impossible to return insulin production and action to normal levels in a person with type 2 because the beta cells in the pancreas had died. He said losing fat from the pancreas would have no effect but general weight loss may allow me to temporarily reduce the amount of medication I was taking. Eventually I would end up on insulin and that was irreversible and inevitable, all I could do was delay it.
I was a bit deflated but told him I wanted to try anyway. I wanted his advice about reducing my meds to avoid a hypo and he said if I really wanted to I could stop them as long as I monitored my BGLs at least 4 times per day.

On Monday 11/4/2016 I braced myslef and with some trepidation I stopped taking ALL of my medications. I figured the worst that could happen would be a hyper incident in which case I could take some medication to reduce my BGL and admitvthatvthe doctor was right after all.
I tested fasting BGLs and 2 hours after meals and I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
Apart from my post breakfast test all of my other results throughout the day and overnight have been in the non diabetic range with some as low as 5.0.
I’m having an Optifast shake for breakfast which has a lot of sugar so I think that may be the reason for a higher post breakfast result (8.0).

My weight has dropped to 87.7kg and I’m sure my waistline will reduce but for me it is more about switching my natural insulin performance back on.
I know it’s early days but I’m really encouraged that there may be a way out of what I saw as an inevitable cycle of more and stronger control drugs leading to insulin. I understand I will always be diabetic but I feel I may be able to think, act, eat and live like a non diabetic person without the need for any drugs or medication.

I hope this has not been too long-winded but I’m excited and encouraged by the other experiences I’ve read about on the forum and wanted to share my story so far. I’ll keep updating this with further results if you want me to.

Cheers

David

Hi David,
You will be a diabetic in remission very soon. Many of us have now proven that it is possible to eat your way to better blood sugar control without recourse to medication.
You have made a great start to the BSD and your weight loss and blood sugars are very good. Be aware that you may experience a temporary spike in your blood sugar levels once your liver really starts to shed that stored fat. There is a thread called rising fasting blood sugar levels on which a few of us posted about our experience with this. Hopefully the stories on there will help anyone else experiencing this to understand that you do pop out the other side with even better blood sugar results.
Stay in touch. Everyone loves to hear about each other’s progress. This is a very friendly and supportive forum. 🙂

Hi David6855
What a great story so far. Of course we want to hear more. It’s encouraging to us all. Well done & keep on keeping on
Eureka

Hello David
I’ve managed to drop all the meds now but I prefer to consider myself as a diet controlled diabetic rather than a none diabetic.
That could lead to slip ups in the future and I don’t ever want to have to take diabetic drugs again. Best of luck to you, I know you can do it because I did and there is nothing special about me.
As an experiment, why don’t you lose the shake for a week and replace with eggs or fruit and yoghurt, just to see how those post breakfast readings perform on real food.

Hi David6855

You’ve made a great start. Keep letting us know your progress.

Well done David – I look forward to seeing your progress and you confounding your doctor!

Your story Is really helpful for others to read, David. You’ve done the hardest part…defying your doctor and taking control of your diabetes. I look forward to reading about your success in future. Keep up the good work. Much joy

Thanks Cherrianne
I expect to see some spikes but if the overall trend is towards the normal range for bgl I’ll be happy.
My after lunch bgl spiked to10.8 yesterday after having sourdough bread with soup but 2.5 hours latrer (4.5 hours after lunch) it was back to 5.6 so I know that bread is a real problem for me.
I guess the trick is to be very aware of what is happening to my body by testing more regularly and that is a new thing for me.
My wife and I tried the Slendier noodles you mentioned in another post in a veg stir fry but found them pretty tasteless. Have you found a way to jazz them up a bit?

Hello Bill,
I’ve been reading your posts and your story is really inspiring so I think there is someting special about you.
I’m fortunate that I have had no eye problems whatsoever. I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through.
We are planning to change to a different breakfast next week but decided to use Optifast as that was what was used in Professor Taylors study. We wanted to give ourselves the best chance at kickstarting rapid weight loss.
I’ll let everyone know how my results progress. Just want to stay free of medication.

Hello David,

I feel I could have written this myself except I am within my 6th week on the diet, also Australian. I am very tempted to go off all medications. I have sought doctor’s approval so far, not without issues but we agreed on dropping dimirel within the first 3 days. I have halved my Statins. I am seriously thinking of doing what you do and dropping Byetta and Diabex also. My testing results daily have been consistently great and after 6 weeks my HbA1c is excellent… Thanks for the tip and your bravery. I will do it.

Hello Zendo,

Glad to hear there is someone else out there like me. Sometimes we think we are the only ones with our particular set of issues. Hopefully you’re not also short, fat, bald and ugly like me.

My doctor said that they are taught to aim to keep patients BGLs below 6 mmol/l by any means possible and that is their absolute priority. I agree that should be the aim but I just figured that if the only pathway to that my doctor could offer to that result was continuing medication I would eventually, inevitably wind up on insulin.
I was disappointed that he completely dimissed the idea that reducing fat in the pancreas and liver could help to reverse my type 2 because he said that the beta cells could no longer produce insulin. That seems to be the opposite of what Professor Taylors research has found.

I went off all my meds as an experiment and to prove the point to myself.
I may be wrong but I figured that if my meds were meant to reduce my BGLs then the only risk off going of them in the short term would be a hyper event. If that happened I have a cupboard full of diabex, diamicron and byetta to rectify it. I couldn’t see any risk of going hypo with what I’m doing.
I don’t believe I’m being reckless as I test 4 times per day, have glucose tablets with me when I exercise and I’m seriously counting carbs and calories to stay under the 800 calorie/day limit.
My one concern is getting carbs down to around 50/day which seems to be recommended for blood sugar control. Yesterday I had 2 slices of bread with soup for lunch and when I tested my blood 2 hours later it was at 10.8. I went for a long walk and 2.5 hours after it was down to 5.6. This told me that my body had metabolised the carbs and sugar in the bread naturally without the need for any medication. I’m hopeful that my natural insulin production and activity is starting to resume. This is what the doctor told me was impossible so I’m really encouraged by it.
As I said it’s early days. I’m less than two weeks into this journey and don’t know what to expect.

What are your results after 6 weeks? Have you lost weight and normalised your BGLs?

Hello Bill,

I am inclined to agree with you about controlled rather than absent diabetes. I am certain that if we had a Glucose Tolerance Test it would indicate diabetes, but we (or myself) don’t have the test because we know that diabetes is controlled by managing the intake of carbohydrates… Keeping them low or keeping them low GI or GL. It becomes concerning when we are labelled as diabetic for travelling and for insurance purposes – that’s where it gets unfair. Actually as I think of it maybe the Glucose Tolerance Test needs to be looked at. Is it still a valid test?

I experienced that spike early in the diet but it has stabilised really well now (at 6 weeks in). I am close to considering stopping my remaining two medications and continuing to monitor my blood sugar 4 times a day. I think it will be ok because even measuring my bs 30 minutes after a low carb meal it is normal. I also forgot my Byetta once or twice with no elevation of levels.

Hello David,

Thanks for your reply… I started at 89 kgs and stabilised at 72 a couple of weeks ago. I expect to be 70 at the end of 8 weeks then I go on the 5+2.. 70 will be a proper weight for me but 2 years ago I was fat, bald and 95 kgs. Now I am not fat, still bald by choice (trendy to her shave these days)… Ugly?? Who cares… Yes all normalised.. My last HbA1c was 7.1 now after 6 weeks on the diet 6.6 which is brilliant compared to my steadily increasing levels prior to the diet. Weight loss is great. Cholesterol perfect and halved my statins meds (I don’t want to take Any statins and have been on them over 10 years)… BP looking good also so I expect to be off them as well ( need to be a bit more careful here).. But the diabetic medication can go… I will drop them tonight… I have already stopped the Dimirel… The Byetta and Diabex can go now and I will experiment like you have… The doctor will have to listen to me of bug off… Eventually I will find a doctor or diabetic educator supporter… I am 71, reasonable fit after ten years regular gym… And know it can all happen… It’s a pity about the conservative opposition.. The SBS Mosley interview was terrific. As you probably also experience the diet is actually not difficult to stay on.. About once a week I have a salad roll… About my only break…

Thanks, stay in touch

Hi David and fellow Aussies missing bread. Have you tried the Herman Brot bread? It’s a dark moist seed bread made with sweet lupin flour. Only 2.3g carb per slice so easily fits in a low carb diet. It toasts and freezes well. Check their website for suppliers near you. Apparently no good for people with peanut allergies, as may trigger allergic response.
I consider myself in remission from diabetes because I know if I ever go back to high carb eating I’ll have high blood sugars again.
If you are considering coming off meds, bear in mind that some of them work by stopping the liver releasing stored sugar. So you may find your blood sugars increase simply because your liver is doing what you want it to, and getting rid of it’s fat stores. It may only be the fasting sugar that spikes and your post meal ones stay in a reasonable range.
David, I tried the Slendier noodles and preferred the spaghetti type ones in a sauce. They are fine in laksa or in a home made pasta sauce. Not much cop in a stir fry as you found. I use bean sprouts or spiralised zucchini instead.

Hi Cherrianne,
I’m interested to hear what you say about the meds stopping the liver releasing sugar. I didn’t know that. Would that mean that my post prandial BGLs would tend to be higher now that I have stopped all my meds?
I’ve been off them for 4 days now and fsting bloods have been below 5.5 (which is the opposite of what I experienced when taking my medications) but yesterday all my measurements 2 hours after meals were high.
Should I expect my post prandial BGLs to normalise after the fat is gone from my liver?

Thanks for your tips about the Slendier products. We’ll try your suggestions and see how we go.

David

Hi David,
You can expect to see some erratic results in your blood sugars for a couple of weeks.
I wasn’t on meds but it took about three weeks for my blood sugars to normalise. Now I’m always in the non diabetic range.
It was quite alarming when it first happened as I wasn’t expecting it, so I did a bit of research as it was also happening to other people.
I decided to celebrate the increased sugar levels, taking it as a sign that my liver was getting rid of stored fat. Once I realised that I was addressing the cause and not the symptoms ie; overcoming fatty liver and insulin resistance rather than just focusing on lowering blood sugar, it was just a matter of waiting for results.
To keep your post prandials within reasonable limits you may have to restrict your carb levels a fair bit while the process unfolds.
I kept mine to 50g a day total carbs. Once my blood sugars stabilised I was able to increase this. I aimed for 15g per meal fairly consistently, not 5g for two meals and a big blow out for the third. Then I had a spare 5g to use for snacks etc.
If one meal came to 10 and another to 20 I didn’t bother too much, but I was aiming for consistency. Our bodies do like stability, all our systems aim for it. I didn’t want to put my liver and pancreas under too much pressure while I was making efforts to shed the stored fat.
Unfortunately your two slices of bread will blow your carb budget!
This advice is purely based on my experience of what worked for me, and the research I did. Please keep posting though as your experience will add to the body of knowledge generated.
We are a much larger, more diverse group of people than the original research group, so have come up with some unexpected results. We can use our experience to help others, it’s all grist to the mill.
Best of luck with those post prandials 🙂

Woohoo! So excited!

Hi folks,
This is the end of my second week on the BSD and my first week of not taking any medications at all and I couldn’t be happier.
Results so far:
Weight loss – 6.9 kg, and waist reduced by 4 cms (still a long way to go there but a good start).
Fasting blood sugar average for the week was 4.9 mmol/l and average 2 hours after meals was 7.1. Diastolic BP is slightly elevated at 155 but systolic is normal at 80.
These results have been achieved solely from the BSD and increased exercise (10 K steps/day and Michael’s HIT on a stationary bike 3-5 times/week). No medications at all.
The only glitch is that I’m really struggling to keep my carbs down (averaging 85/day) especially with the higher protein intake.
Any tips on how to get these under the magic 50/day that I see advocated on these forums?

Cheers

David

Hi David, congratulations! If you are losing at this rate, do you need to get your carbs down lower? I have been losing at around 60g per day and am in fat burning mode.
I suspect with your exercise, and the evidence of weight loss and BS results you are already fat-burning.
The only way to get the carbs down is to record everything you eat and stop all pasta, rice, bread, beer, cakes etc and eat more fat in place of the carbs. Full fat yogurts and milk help, as do cheese. Also, if you are buying shop made foods, look carefully at the labels, they hide carbs in the strangest places! Lynn has an example of a whole chicken for sale covered in a sugar glaze.
Happy to help identify some foods to avoid if you give me some idea of the foods you normally eat.

Wow David those results are pretty awesome. 🙂
I agree with orchid, if you are seeing those changes to your blood sugars and are losing weight I wouldn’t worry about lowering your carbs by too much.
Maybe check your portion sizes if your sugar levels start to rise over the next few weeks or so. Or lower your carbs by 5g per meal. A few of us experienced a blood sugar spike around week 4, that took a couple of weeks to settle down.
I had to stick to 50g purely because I seem to be very carb sensitive. I also didn’t need to lose any weight as I was already at the lower end of my weight range. So reducing carbs was the only thing I could change.
Your fasting and post meal levels are perfect, both in the non diabetic range already. Keep this up and you’ll be achieving bSD legend status by the end of the 8 weeks lol!!

Hi David, great results
I’m with the girls on this one, with those results you can just keep what you’re doing.
If the weight loss slows or the sugar readings rise, you have a 30g daily carb buffer that you can reduce.

Hi Orchid, Cherrianne & Bill,
Thanks for replying and for the encouraging words. One of the best things about these forums is being able to learn from the experience of people like yourselves.
I thought I needed to get below 50 carbs/day to trigger ketosis but on further reading and with your advice, maybe that’s not neccessary. I’ll keep on with what I’m doing for now and see how it goes.
Cherrianne, I looked for the Herman Brot bread you recommended but there are no stockists here in Tasmania. I found some Mediterranean Bakery low carb wraps at Woolies however and they are pretty good. 469 kj and 11 carbs per wrap.
Thanks again for your advice folks.
David

Hi David,
Will they post it to you? Other people are doing that, it arrives the following day. I know it keeps really well cos I usually only buy it when it’s reduced to half price.
From memory the barley wraps are even lower in carbs than 11g.
Keep up the good work 🙂

Hi fellow losers….. (of weight),

I’ve just finished week 4 of the BSD and have experienced a few ups and downs but still positive that I’m on the right track.
We’ve been moving house and I’ve done much less exercise than in the first two weeks and indulged in a few glasses of wine following hectic days moving furniture etc so my results have not been as good.
All BGL readings have been higher but I don’t know if this is due to my lack of exercise or the spikes and rising readings others have commented on in other threads.
My plan is to get solidly back on track now and try to turn these results around.
Total weight loss so far is 8.3kg and BP is normal (135/78 with resting HR of 60) so that’s good but higher fasting and post prandial bgls bother me because I stopped taking all my meds 3 weeks ago.

I’ll let you know how I go now that I’m more than half way.

David

Well…. David – you are a superstar…
well done you…. fantastic work…. Very envious of your results off your meds… congratulations. So much success..

In contrast – I think I have decided to start taking a full dose of my Metformin XR again. I had great success in ditching the diamicron, two weeks in and was able to maintain good FBSL – then another week and ditched half of my Metformin… since then have really really struggled (and failed) to get low enough FBSL or below the high sevens at all, pre and post prandial.

I am wondering.. should I take my metformin back to its full dose. It is true to say that I have had a couple of weekends of not 800 cals… but have mostly been able to stick to the med style of low carbs… it has been nearly three weeks and am finding it hard to stay motivated when BSL are persistantly high… what do you guys reckon??…

I have been type two for 16 years – maybe too long to push into remission??… maybe I am still too heavy to be making the difference, also Peri menopausal so more hormones to interact and muck about with readings… … Should I wait until I have shed more??… Just worried that prolonged higher BSL will do secondary damage that so far I have been able to avoid…. Keen to hear from you all on what your thoughts are??

Hi Fatty,

When I first approached this with my (less than keen) doctor he said that as long as I monitor my bgls 4 times per day and don’t go above 8 mmol/l consitently for 2 weeks I should not do any long term irreversible damage to myself.
I don’t know how accurate that is but I’m clinging to it and hoping that my bgls stabilise as others have reported here. I really don’t want to go back on my meds but I know they are in the cupboard if I think I need them. I am convinced I never needed Coversyl for blood pressure as I’m testing that twice per week and my results show BP is normal. I now wonder why I pumped them into myself for so may years without asking if I really needed them.
I was really disappointed to see my bgls rising but I’m comforted by the fact that others here have reported that phenomenon prior to theur levels stabilising and dropping into the non diabetic range. I intend to persist and wait for my liver and pancreas to get clean and hopefully see my readings fall again.
I can’t advise you what to do with your meds and I know that probably isn’t helpful to you but I do believe it is possible to reverse type 2. It may take longer for some than others but I hope you won’t give up on what is probably the best chance we’ve had in years to reverse this terrible disease.

Cheers

David

Ps. I look forward to seeing your handle change from “Fatty” to “Skinny”.

Hi David
a few of us have seen temporary higher sugar readings in week 4 to 5. It was explained as being caused by excess glucose being flushed from the internal organs and takes, usually, 2 to 3 weeks to clear.
I’ll throw a real curved ball here, after weeks of having sugars in the normal range, and without eating anything I shouldn’t, I woke up yesterday to a FBS reading of 10.8, higher than when I started the BSD!
By dinner it was down to 4.2!
I’m not even going to try to understand that one 😉

Thanks David,

I know that Bill. Hashimoto and others have had that experience… I hear what you are saying though about unnecessary meds…. I am just a little frightened I guess… have taken full dose of metformin today and maybe will for a few more days – and then give a weening off another go…. Not the end of my world if I have to still take metformin – I have no negative side effects so am very fortunate. Good luck with your health – keep up the good work…..I intend to!!! must be about week seven for me – I have lost count!

Fatty

Hi Notsofatty,
I was wondering how you were doing. Hi from not so sunny SA! You are missing cold, rainy weather with winds nearly 60kmh past few days. Not really anything to be homesick about.
If your post prandials are still in the 7’s I wouldn’t be too concerned.
Blood sugar levels as per the NICE guidelines (& Diabetes UK) are as follows:
Non diabetic
Fasting 4 – 5.9
Post prandial under 7.8

Type 2 diabetes
Fasting 4 – 7
Post prandial under 8.5
The Aus Diabetes Assoc. has levels higher than this so I don’t go by them.
Hope this will reassure you somewhat. It doesn’t sound like you’re doing too badly with your readings so you might want to persevere a bit longer. It took me around 3 weeks or so to get good readings after they spiked.
All the best to you, and David6855, hope for better news next time you post 🙂

Thanks for the update on the latest info from OZ… numbers are really helpful to me. Have not weighed again since early april… so rely on BSL to see progress. Have started back on full dose of Metformin… will give myself a few more days and start weening again next week… maybe just 500 at a time rather than 1000 was getting too disheartened waiting it out… and we always travel on weekends and makes it harder to be under 800 but surprisingly easy to be no/low carb… under 20 most days now…. except for the veg load…

Still looking forward to coming home.. arrival date is now about June 29… and then I think I will go to the 5;2 again to try and maintain. Very sad to hear the latest about how our bodies really do lower their metabolic rate in order to maintain weight!!!!… POO… thanks Cherrianne… Hope you continue to be well and remain as inspirational as always…xx

Good news about full dose of Metformin for a while yet, Fatty! I keep in the mind how often Dr M and Prof Taylor repeated in the recent SBS TV Insight show here in Australia about long-term diabetes Type 2 people will probably take a lot longer than most to respond to the diet, e.g. compared to those who’ve been diagnosed very recently (3-4 years ago). Obviously most dramatic results (in the books and in these forums) are for those who’ve recently been diagnosed as D2; from what I can gather, not so much research has been on long-term D2 people but Dr M was adamant about them having a go. Agree totally with Cherrianne about not being too concerned about 7s. Go the whole hog and work towards Week 8, focussing on weight (and blood sugars will start take caring of themselves, but slowly); all power to you on the journey!

Hey RobB,

Thanks for the info regarding what was said on the SBS show… Unfortunately I did not get to see it as I was not in Oz at the time it was aired – must do a catch, up if I can, when we get home end of June… But the info is very encouraging to me… I figured there must be a difference in response for longer term Diabetics – but it is really good to know it ha been seen and recognised. Will consider buying some scales – weight is a tricky thing for me psychologically – but I might just have to get over that – and try to see it as a health goal not a vanity goal…. anyway – Thanks for you input and insight.

Cheers – actually, three cheers to you,

Fatty.