Question:
I know that most people are cured of their diabetes after having RNY but can it come
back at some point in life? — demolady1956 (posted on February 27, 2009)
February 27, 2009
hi there- you aren't "cured" of the disease, but with the diet
and exercise, ( just like the doc prob told you to do already, especially
if you have type II ) it will go away, however to maintain its
"vacation", you have to be ever vigilant in your eating protocol
to make sure it stays away. Its just like wt gain several yrs post- if we
become complacent, we gain, same with diabetes. WLS is not the cure-all,
but its a darned good start to iradicating it from your life. Hope that
helped. Cindi M.D, retired -230# and maintaining the loss almost5 yrs
— DollyDoodles
February 27, 2009
My surgeon told me that though they don't quite understand how it works,
when they divide the stomach the part of it where diabetes happens is the
portion that never sees food again, so you remove the risk of ever getting
it.
— snickersblk
February 27, 2009
As Doodles said before wls IS NOT a CURE ALL you have to continue to work
on your diet. It takes a vacation if you take care of you. I hope this
helps.
— sse032568
February 28, 2009
Anything is possible...but because of the bypass itself and with proper
diet and exercise and weight loss maintenance, it seems unlikely to return.
Some people though become hypogylcemic which is the extreme opposite of
diabetes and that can be quite severe and debilitating because of the
drastic effects of low blood sugar. ("Surgery is just a tool-clearly,
but this tool has the potential to dramatically improve the treatment of
Type 2 diabetes," said Sayeed Ikramuddin, M.D., F.A.C.S.)Quote from
attached link.
More scientists are teaming together for studies on RNY patients who had
T2DM to try to develop a medicine that mimics what happens to the RNY
patient as a cure diabetes in NON-MO people! So that alone speaks for
itself in my opinion! They know it works...They just don't know
"EXACTLY" how! Do your own research...Read medical papers and
studies! There are so many docs/scientists that believe they are close to a
cure for all because of RNY surgery. The scientific studies on rats are
amazing...but Humans are not rats...so the studies on RNYers continue!
http://www.surg.umn.edu/surgery/in_the_news/press_12_02_08.html
— .Anita R.
February 28, 2009
The loss of diabetes is due to the loss of FAT. If you gain the FAT back,
you will likely regain the DIABETES. It is also possible that you could
have a problem with diabetes later in life simply due to old age. There
are TWO factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes. One of them is the
body's inability to USE insulin. This is in SOME way caused by the fat
cells in the body. Researchers still do not understand the MECHANISM that
causes this, but they have NOTICED the effect. For some reason, excess fat
acts like a LOCK that keeps insulin from entering the body's cells, and
allowing the SUGAR in the blood to be USED by the body as energy. There is
a SECOND factor that comes with type 2 diabetes. This is where the body
does not produce ENOUGH insulin for the body. Many diabetics have a
COMBINATION of these two problems. Their pancreas cannot produce enough
insulin for their oversized body, and the fat cells are interfering with
the insulin that IS being produced, and the sugar in the blood is not
getting into the cells to be USED by the body. When the FAT cells are
GONE, this interference is gone, and the oversized BODY is no longer an
issue either. The body is able to produce ENOUGH insulin to efficiently
get the sugar into the cells of the body, and the insulin CAN get the sugar
into the cells WITHOUT the interference from the fat cells. As a person
AGES, sometimes the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin on it's
own, so he or she becomes a type 2 diabetic, but that is NOT due to the
interference of the FAT cells. These people are actually more like the
type ONE diabetics, who were BORN with the disease, and simply cannot
PRODUCE insulin on their own. They just developed this late in life, and
not early. I was a diabetic before I had the VSG. I did NOT have the RNY,
so it is NOT the division of the stomach that causes the disease to go
away. I was BARELY controlled with blood sugars that were at about 180 to
200 points WITH insulin and Glucovance. I was taking 80 units of 70/30
daily with about 5 to 10 units of REGULAR insulin as a "BOOSTER"
when needed. I was taking FOUR pills of Glucovance a DAY and could NOT get
my blood sugars to reach "Normal" levels. I could only keep them
UNDER 200 points. After losing about 50 pounds with the VSG, I was off of
ALL of my Diabetes Meds! I had to stop EVERYTHING on Thanksgiving day
because my blood sugar dropped to about 56 POINTS with just ONE pill of
Glucovance! I had not taken ANY insulin that day! I have been without
medication SINCE, and my A1-C has been under 7 since then. My LAST test
was FIVE! My physician no longer considers me to be a DIABETIC! I hope
this helps. Hugh
— hubarlow
February 28, 2009
My Doctor told me once you have diabetes, you always have it.. It is just
under control.. I still check my sugars, now I only do it twice a month
instead of twice a day..But, every doctor is different.. Mine has been
under 97 for the past 4 1/2 years.. And that is with gaining some weight..
— Carol S.
February 28, 2009
I watched a program on TLC about RNY & DM. The docs said if someone
had been diabetic 5 yrs or less, their DM would probably go into remission
after WLS. If someone has had it longer, their DM will get better &
maybe go into remission. I had DMII for 23 yrs & had lapRNY 11-4-08. My
DM is better but still on reduced doses of insulin, no pills now. I'm
still hoping I can get off insulin after more weight loss but am feeling so
much better. I lost 50 lbs before surg & 44 since. I feel the surg was
worth it. Also had chronic renal disease which has also improved
drastically & other diseases. I may not get off insulin completely but
reduced doses are so much better. Hope this helps.
— bren321
February 28, 2009
Thanks to all of your help on helping me to understand this better.
— demolady1956
March 3, 2009
I know why everyone keeps saying it is the exercise and diet that make it
go away, because before surgery that is how doctors try to help you get rid
of it, but I was severe diabetic the day before surgery and have not taken
a medication since surgery. My endocrinologist (who recommended I have the
surgery because it "cures" 75% of patients with Type II) said
that when doing the surgery they bypass a section of the stomach and
intestines that is very high in hormone production and since that area
never gets food again they believe that is why the cure rate is so high
even right after surgery. I have not had a blood sugar above 110 since
surgery 11 weeks ago and my A1C done last week was 5.8, so I think that is
pretty much a cure. If you read the studies in the New England Journal of
Medicine especially the one based on the Swedish Study you will see that at
the 10 year mark only about 20% of diabetics were still considered diabetic
and those patients usually were the ones that continued to have diabetes
after surgery. It is not a guaranteed cure, but it seems pretty close to
me. I hope this helps. - Cathy
— brindledanes
March 6, 2009
Karen -- I'd say it comes down to how you "got" diabetes in the
first place. Case in point -- I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic in
1999; after I had my surgery (VBG - vertical banded gastroplasty) in 2000,
it "went away" as I lost weight. In 2006, having lost well over
100 pounds and maintained it for six years, I was "re-diagnosed"
as a Type II diabetic and have been under treatment for it. What I've come
to realize is that you can fight the weight, but you can't fight the
genetics -- my paternal grandmother and father were both Type II diabetics;
I had severe gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy; gave birth to
2 babies weighing slightly more (1-1/2 oz) and slightly less (2-1/2 oz)
than 10 pounds -- so my PCP said it would have been a miracle of the modern
age if I didn't redevelop it. Since the diagnosis I've probably dropped
another 20 pounds or so (from the meds) and I still have it, so it had
nothing to do with my weight. On the other hand, if someone is
experiencing insulin resistance and PCOS as a result of being overweight
and there's nothing genetic involved, the chances are quite good that their
condition(s) will go into remission. If you don't have a significant
family history of diabetes, I would suggest that your chances of remission
would be fairly good -- but my ticket in that particular genetic lottery
wasn't a very good one. Blessings
— Cheryl Denomy
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