Posts
168
Joined
4/9/2008
Location
Illiana, IL, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 11:52pm
3 months ago, my 19 year old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (Juvenile Onset). He had gone away to school, and within 3 months lost 25 lbs without trying. He was always thin anyway. 6'2" 175. He didn't even know he was sick. He thought because he wasn't weight lifting like he was in high school, and not eating home cooked meals was the reason. Wife takes him to the doc because he has a small cyst on his forearm he wants removed. Wife tells the doc about his weight loss. Kid still insists he's ok. He wasn't. His fasting glucose was 283, and his hemoglobin A1C was 13.7.
We tend to be on the natural side of healing. Wife finds a natural doc. They look over his blood results, and send him to their nutritionist. Find out his is gluten intolerant. They put him on a gluten free diet. He also ingests no dairy products, and eats a low carb diet (no fruits either).
We also wanted to hear the conventional side of medicine. He goes to an endocrinologist and the guy insists he needs insulin asap. My wife explains how we wanted to try this gluten free diet. The guy freaks. Tells her that if the kid was 16, he'd file with protective services for withholding medical care. Tells her it would never be controlled with a diet. Says once the pancreas is damaged, there is no going back.
3 months later, we get the tests today. His glucose is 92 and his A1C is 6.2.
It worked. Or, it is working. My kid would have been sticking himself with insulin who knows how many times a day. Or popping pills. And being labeled diabetic his whole life.
He is now able to eat fruit, gluten free breads, pizza, crackers. No longer low carb.
Thank God I let my wife handle this. Just wanted to share.
We tend to be on the natural side of healing. Wife finds a natural doc. They look over his blood results, and send him to their nutritionist. Find out his is gluten intolerant. They put him on a gluten free diet. He also ingests no dairy products, and eats a low carb diet (no fruits either).
We also wanted to hear the conventional side of medicine. He goes to an endocrinologist and the guy insists he needs insulin asap. My wife explains how we wanted to try this gluten free diet. The guy freaks. Tells her that if the kid was 16, he'd file with protective services for withholding medical care. Tells her it would never be controlled with a diet. Says once the pancreas is damaged, there is no going back.
3 months later, we get the tests today. His glucose is 92 and his A1C is 6.2.
It worked. Or, it is working. My kid would have been sticking himself with insulin who knows how many times a day. Or popping pills. And being labeled diabetic his whole life.
He is now able to eat fruit, gluten free breads, pizza, crackers. No longer low carb.
Thank God I let my wife handle this. Just wanted to share.
Went into the hospital in '96 with congestive heart failure. He dropped 40#s of water weight in about a week. He was in bad shape. Needed a triple bypass according to the test, but they felt he was too weak and would die on the table.
Recommendation: go home. Enjoy the next 3-6 months and die.
He didn't accept that. He went on to lose most of the excessive body fat he had and regained significant health. In 2001, the damage to his heart caught up to him. He ended up back in the same hospital in Lubbock. I don't know, but I assume different doctors. He was too far gone to do anything for him, but, the doctors said they wish he had come back in while he was still in decent shape. His transformation was extreme and they would have been able to do the bypass during that period and probably have prolonged his life.
The rest of the story is the diet he followed. He went almost completely vegan--no meat. He did eat whole grains and lots of vegetables. He was retired and he spent a good portion of his day preparing his food. He got his diabetes under control and no longer required injections to manage it.
Point being, proper diet is critical for anyone with diabetes. I wouldn't say that everyone is a candidate for managing diabetes through diet, but I believe that everyone (especially diabetics) can benefit from proper diet.
Be vigilant to the symptoms of diabetes so he doesn't go into DKA and die because you refuse to believe he might have Type I diabetes.
He takes his glucose 4 x's a day.
He pisses on a ketone strip once a day.
And he is regulated by a MD.
Can't take it huh? What is your connection with the disease?
Natural works bud.
One of two situations exists. Either he doesn't have Type I diabetes. Or he does.
If he did have a high HgbA1c, that is indicative of diabetes. Not a sine qua non. But highly indicative, especially with classic symptoms as he had. If he really has Type I diabetes, even if there is a temporary improvement, it will end up with insulin dependence after a time. There is no "natural" dietary treatment for lack of insulin production.
If he doesn't have Type I diabetes then he had hyperglycemia for a few months to get the A1c that high. It would be an oddity.
It would be interesting to hear the doctor's pathophysiologic explanation of pseudodiabetes due to gluten allergy.
On the other hand, Celiac disease (sprue, gluten enteropathy) is caused by gluten sensitivity, and in sporadic reports has been associated with autoimmune insulin deficiency that corrects with withdrawal of gluten from the diet. In this case, the patient doesn't have diabetes at all; he has celiac disease (gluten enteropathy) which is associated with an autoimmune abnormality that attacks the islet cells and reduces the ability to produce insulin. The weight loss then is primarily due to the celiac disease, which causes malabsorption in the intestine.
In that case, it isn't that diabetes was cured by gluten withdrawal. It's that celiac disease is treated by gluten wiothdrawal, and the side effect of hyperglycemia resolves as a result. The patient never actually had diabetes as the primary disease.
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Statistically, his doctor did the right thing but, further professional opinions should be obtained.
There is no way in hell that a gluten free diet would work in my or 99.99% other type1 diabetics diet.
Your son is extremely lucky. We are too as SteveS is trained to give pro advice and we're winners for his input. So listen up when he says "Either he doesn't have Type I diabetes. Or he does." and change your title to accommodate the fact that he doesn't...
May I suggest something like "High blood sugar levels lowered going gluten free".
Here are a few more details to ponder before you dismiss my claim as quackery.
His original C Peptide test result was .3. The new result in 3 months was 2.9.
Don't forget, we consulted a reputable Endo.
His original ketones were off the chart.
Here is the layman's version.
Type 1 is an autoimmune disease.
Find the reason the body is attacking itself, and reverse it.
Repair the problem.
You already know his diet. He also takes proteolytic enzymes, probiotics, Vit D spray and a diabetic support supplement.
All of the original blood work suggested type 1. Our family prac that caught it and the endo were fully prepared to start on insulin. The endo wouldn't even listen to possible oral meds. Said they wouldn't work.
Here's the thing that made us start looking alternatively. As the family line moves down to my son, each person that has an autoimmune disease that progressively gets worse down the line. Fibromyalgia in the grandmother, hashimotos in my wife, and now my son gets diabetes. Something was attacking our family's body and organs. Everyone was tested for a gluten allergy. Wife and grandmother come up with high levels. We aren't talking celiac here. Celiac is just another autoimmune disease of the gluten allergy. Son has positive allergy, but the levels weren't high.
We consulted with Dr. Thomas O'Bryan. He is a chiropractor that has advanced his studies towards natural healing. He doesn't see patients any longer. He travels around the world conducting seminars on the dangers of wheat and gluten. www.thedr.com
Yes I am defensive. I dealt with my mother in law, who is a pharmacist, the wife's best friend who is a MA, the kids gf who is studying in the nursing programs, and countless others who said this couldn't work. The kid was diagnosed Type 1. I didn't say he was cured. At this point we don't know much. But you have to admit that the A1C is shocking. We would never ignore doctor's diagnosis. We continually agree our son has type 1. I didn't say cured either. I said reversed.
I have been here for years and years. Obviously by my post count, I don't pipe in unless it is absolutely necessary or I have something of value to add. I was around for the Freshdirt days. I will give updates as they come in, positive or negative. All I wanted to share was that alternative MD's and a Chiro said it works.
Steve, if insulin injections were pure donated insulin, I wouldn't have fought this so hard. It is synthetic. It is manmade. Does it really work?
Wildbill, why don't you try a gluten free diet. It is not easy though. Stay on the insulin of course. It was easy for my kid as it was diagnosed and we had nothing to go back from. It usually takes at least 6 months to a year to start seeing results in an adult. It certainly isn't going to hurt anything.
The body is not designed to eat grain at all. None period! And the many forms presented to us through packaged foods is ridiculous. The person that shops at a regular chain grocery store is going to have a very hard time finding stuff to eat that does not contain grain in its many forms.
I work at not eating grain or any derivative of it. It is extremely hard in this day and age to not eat even traces of it.
For starters, nobody, and this includes everyone, should be eating bread, tortillas, pasta, rice, pastry, chips, crackers or any packaged food.
Eat as if it you were leaving 10,000 years ago and see how you feel.
Why aren't humans suitable for eating grains? Where does this come from?
Look at the lists of chemicals on the back of your soft drink can, bag of chips or any packaged food in your fridge or cabinet. Do you really think we are designed to consume any of that garbage let alone processed "natural" substances?
Nope
I dare you to stop eating grain and processed sweeteners if you have asthma or "stomach" related problems or can't control your weight after having tried everything.
On the other hand, farming grains started over 10,000 years ago (I believe).
Second, look at our teeth. The rear molars are made for chewing things like grains. Our taste buds have the kind of variety needed to handle a broad range of sustenance.
NOT trying to be an expert here. Just putting out some thoughts. I know that the Neanderthal diet is popular right now and personally makes some sense. I tend to believe that anything that's processed is not as good for us in general as more natural foods.
BUT, grains grow naturally and humans do get nutrients from plants. We get rickets without VIT C. Neanderthals certainly didn't have VIT C pills 10,000(+) years ago.
My issue is I'm questioning the "experts" that claim to have identified what people ate before this modern age. I think they may be overlooking some things or throwing out some things that are ok.
Actually, significant evidence of the widespread farming of grain is about 8,500 BC. So I'll extend it out to 15,000 years ago. Biologically +/- 5,000 years isn't significant enough.
You can get vitamin C from fruits and vegetables.
The molars are for grinding whatever is ingested not just grain.
People love defending the consumption of grain. The farming and consumption of grain are what allowed the great expansion of humans all over the planet. It introduced a storable long term food source and lessened the dependence on seasonal foods and also to the domestication of animals.
Put whatever you want into your body, but don't complain when you have to start taking pills to control your body.
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It probably isn't a good idea if trying to stay away from grain.
I appreciate people that like to look at alternative ways of maintaining their health.
Its called the 50/50 law.
Back in the 1950's, we genetically modified our wheat to have 50% more gluten. The addition of gluten makes bakery products more pliable, soft, and gooey, like we like our breads.
The rear molars are for shredding meat.
Beer is not ok. Sorry. There are gluten free beers. They have a bad after taste, and also skunky tasting.
Thanks for getting it dirthead.
As for the gluten thing...I'm not 100% sold. I can accept that we have modified our food supply and eat things we aren't meant to, but, just jumping on the notion we aren't intended to eat grains seems a bit narrow minded and requires more than just anecdotal comments about what neanderthals ate.
My health and quality of life is 100% better now after trying to be as grain free as I can. I'm not one of those hippy natural food weirdos either. Modern medicine wasn't working at all for me and wasn't explaining my symptoms. My results were immediate. I was instructed to shoot for 80% compliance, but went 99% with very few deviations (a guy has to eat a carne asada burrito once in a while) and I couldn't be happier.
I was starting my day with two pieces of "all natural" wheat toast for so many years.
thanks
All veggies, fresh, steamed, sauteed, grilled.
All meats, fish, poultry. Nothing breaded.
Water and decaf coffee are his drinks. We also drink tea. (unsweetened, black)
All fruits, fresh.
Good fats, such as organic raw nuts, olives, olive & coconut oils, organic butter.
Its a pretty easy way to live. After a couple of days, all cravings are gone.
In fact he has a business of offering Gluten Free products.
MXB I think you might consider more strongly Steve's thoughts of the Celiac disease just to make sure. I would love it for my daughter if Type 1 diabetes could be reversed but it's not going to be from a gluten free diet I'm afraid.
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