Surgiversary

Today is my three month surgiversary. So far I have lost around 60 lbs since surgery and am feeling wonderful. I am now working out three times a week and working to build more muscle mass as I am certain I have lost some. I know it is only three months but I feel that this is a great milestone for me. 

I saw my PCP for blood work and they were able to take my A1C and it was 5.2. I had diabetes type II a while ago and was pre diabetic before surgery and would definitely be back on Metformin if I did not make any life changes. Since leaving the hospital I have not been on any blood pressure meds and today my be was 116/75, Now waiting on my labs. 

Congratulations on a great 3 months!   It's so exciting to get off all that medication, isn't it?  

What I will tell you is that if you were Type II diabetic before surgery that you are STILL a Type II diabetic...you're just in remission.  Surgery doesn't "cure" diabetes.  But you can live the rest of your life in remission and continue to have normal A1c tests as long as you don't go back to eating the simple carbs. 

I can tell you from experience, your body does NOT react the same way to simple carbs as a non-diabetic.  Even now, without the meds and a normal A1c, if you eat a slice of cake your blood sugar is going to skyrocket and make you feel like crap.  That doesn't happen to non-diabetics.  

So enjoy your success and continue to be careful with your diet.  You want to do everything you can to preserve this blessed remission!  

Thanks for the reply. I never thought of being in remission, but that makes sense. I am definitely watching my diet and don't plan on introducing too many bad carbs. 

I have a question.  My dr recently diagnosed me with T2D and my A1c is only 6.2  I never have a blood sugar over 120 whether fasting or an hour after eating or any other times I have checked.  Also she did not put me on any meds and has otherwise given me no input other than I needed to watch myself as I was "borderline" and the only reason I know she has already diagnosed me is I downloaded my chart and read that she diagnosed me in June of 2014 after reading my blood work.  *my fasting bg was only 101 and A1c was 6.2 so that doesn't qualify as T2D to my knowledge.  But the only real knowledge I have of diabetes is my daughter but she is T1 although I can tell you I would LOVE for her numbers to look like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  can you provide any input about this?

Thanks :)

As you know, the A1c captures an average of your daily blood sugars for a 3-month period.  So you may not be capturing spikes of b/s that are going higher than 120.  

In clinical terms, an A1c over 6.0 and fasting b/s of 100 or more means you are insulin-resistant and most likely Type 2 diabetic.  Better to be told that now, take the meds or whatever they want you to do than wait and allow those higher insulin levels and b/s levels to do their nasty damage to your veins and artery walls.  

Doctors will say that a fasting blood sugar of under 100 means you're "normal" - but truly normal non-diabetics are able to produce fasting b/s of 70, 80 and 90.  If you're pushing 100 or over it, you're insulin resistant.  I think your doctor is being cautious and not letting it get further along.  

I'd love to know what your diagnosis A1c and normal bg were before surgery.  The before meformin thereapy is what I am looking for is possible.  I was "diagnosed" but am not on any therapy other than diet and exercise and I thought my numbers were descent  fasting bg at the most was 101 but is usually around 80 and my highest A1c has been 6.2

Thanks 

I'm going to preface all of this with "I am not a doctor, this is my opinion based on personal experience"!  Take what you like and leave the rest...and I'm guessing you won't like a lot of it :-(

My pre-metformin diagnosis A1c was in the low 6'es somewhere; can't remember exactly what it was now.  Both my doctor and I knew enough to not wait around for it to get any higher before putting me on meds.  The damage that even slightly elevated insulin and sugar levels do to your body is no joke.  How do I know this?  College classes specific to this disease and my brother actually is a doctor.  So I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous - lol! 

Since surgery my A1c has stayed between 5.1 and 5.3.  Once you start climbing above 5.6 they look at you as being insulin resistant.  Once you get to 6.0 or above, they consider you diabetic.  

If you can't get an A1c below 6.0 with diet and exercise you should be on medication in my opinion, at least that's what I'd tell my sister or daughter.  The slow, insidious damage occurring to your vein and artery walls isn't worth it.  

The good news is WLS causes a significant metabolic change in how your body processes and uses insulin so many people are able to see an eventual return to true "normal" A1c readings, which is aything below 5.7.  

Thanks so much for your input!  My knowledge of diabetes is very askew because I have a daughter with T1D and obviously what is great for her is not necessarily normal.  My dr hasn't even suggested metformin yet however I have been on a low carb diet (mostly) with my daughter since her diagnosis anyway but I always binged when she wasn't around.  Now that I have been told that my numbers were creeping up (again please know that my dr did not tell me she was diagnosing me I just happened upon the information after downloading my medical chart and reading the notes.  Her diagnosis is type 2 diabetes mellatus with no complications to be exact...) She did advise me that my last A1c was not good and that she prescribes meds at 6.4 so since telling me that I have gone completely over to the regimen my daughter follows with staying away from fast acting sugars and trying to monitor my carb intake more closely.  I just honestly was in denial about how fast my spiral had become until reading those notes.  It has blown my mind.....but honestly, I sure wish I had be told about the huge difference when I started the spiral in 2009...but now that I think about it, my daughter was so very sick and they had already put me on anti anxiety meds so she probably thought it best not to make me afraid I was dying lol.  

I'm Beth btw and thanks again for your response :) 

Beth - my A1c numbers weren't at the level where my doctor typically prescribed Metformin either but I insisted on it.  After getting educated on the disease (and you're right, it's very different than Type 1, I have a BIL and niece with it) I knew that I didn't want to wait another couple years for the inevitable.  And I wanted to prevent the damage that even slightly elevated insulin and sugar levels cause in the body.  

Best of luck to you!