Pre-op, want feedback from "super" diabetics

Hey folks - my main reason for seeking RNY is my type 2 diabetes. I think I am a bit of an outlier given my history with PCOS, the young age I was diagnosed with diabetes and started on insulin, and how little improvement I've seen despite following a strict ketogenic diet for over a year. My PCP has told me I might still need insulin after surgery, which is fine, but disappointing, but he thinks I will have a much easier time keeping a good a1C. My biggest fear is that I will also be an outlier among people who have had the surgery and will be right where I am after going through all of that. Did anyone else with really resistant diabetes see improvements? Thanks.

Yes. I was diagnosed at 28 with Type 2. A1C topped out at 11%. I had rny at 58, so 30 years. I had to start taking insulin when I got pregnant at 37 so almost 20 yeara on some kind of insulin. Plus metformin orally. I also had high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and took a ton of meds to control.

I went home from hospital September 2016 after WLS with no insulin. Have not taken it since. I got off metformin about six months later, but a1C climbed back to 8.2% so I have bene taking that again for about six months and a1C is respectable at 6.4%.

So long story short, WLS worked for me. I have been told that the longer you are on insulin the more likely it is that you will have to take it again. Your pancreas can only make so much, and when it quits you have to supplement. That is a great reason to change course sooner rather than later. I wishI had not waited until I was nearly 60.

Hello... I am seeking the surgery for the same reasons. My a1c is currently 8.6 and I am on four medications for diabetes. I will admit that I am not compliant in that I do not follow the right diet but I have had a heart attack and despite all the medications, my blood sugar is still too high. I have not yet had the surgery but I am leaning towards doing it. Just wanted to let you know that there are others out there with the same motivations

Hello! I was diagnosed with T2 at 25, and also have PCOS. I was on metformin as well as two types of insulin. I was 32 when I had my surgery last year. I stopped meds 24 hours prior to surgery and while I did remain on metformin for a few months afterward, I never had another insulin shot, and have been off all meds for the last 10 months.

Everyone will be different of course, and I keep in mind that if I indulge too mu*****arbs and sugars, I may end up back on meds.

The truth is that to have the best chance of putting diabetes into lifetime remission, you need to have gastric bypass surgery within the first seven years after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. All of the oral medications make the pancreas work harder and wears it out.

At this point, you will find it much easier to control your diabetes, due to weight loss, more energy to exercise, less hunger, and less ability to eat larger amounts of food.

But the chances of total remission are less with every year that you had type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is not going to get better on its own, so surgery is your own chance of any improvement. Every day that you put it off you are letting diabetes do more damage to your body.

^That?s a bit discouraging. And, maybe, needlessly.

I had RNY at age 40. I had been T2 since the age of 18. My surgeon told me that because I?d been T2 for so long, I?d see improvement, but would likely need oral medication after the operation. Prior to the operation I was on Gliclazide injections, and long acting insulin.

Almost unbelievably, my diabetes disappeared (went into remission, I suppose) immediately following the operation.

Everybody, my NHS team, my GP, even the private hospital and the surgeon that did the operation couldn?t believe how well it went.

If you can afford it, do it. It wasn?t an easy ride, but I?ve bought extra years of life, and have (hopefully) halted the damage of 20+ years of T2D.

It is a crap shot. Some people are like you and go into remission that lasts a lifetime. Nobody can say for sure what will happen, but no taking the chance seems crazy.