Question:
has anyone that has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes still have there surgery?

Hi everyone. I think that I may have type 2 diabetes. Still going thru some testing. However I just wanted to know if my surgery will be put off because of it. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. This site is great!!    — marian (posted on March 8, 2003)

March 8, 2003
Diabetes shouldn't put your surgery off. It is considered a comorbidity and surgery can help if not eliminate it. However, your blood sugar needs to be under control. Once you are officialy diagnosed with it, your doctor should help you get your sugar under control and then it will be onto your new life.
   — dimpkd

March 8, 2003
Hi! Well you can take this information from a person who has Diabetes Mellitus Type 2. Before I had surgery, I had Diabetes and my doctor put me on 1500 mgs of Glucophage, 4 mgs of Avandia, 4 mgs of Amaryl and my blood sugars were always over 200, close to 300. I started packing on the lbs with the passing of each day. I went from 203lbs to 249 in one year. I complained to my cardiologist and he told me to have my endocrinologist (diabetes doctor) to change my meds. My doctor said okay, then I have to put you on insulin. When I heard that I pushed harder for the surgery. So with that said I went into surgery with Diabetes, High Triglycerides, High Cholestrol, Heart Arrythmias. Today, March 8th I take 4mgs of Avandia and 2 mgs of Amaryl and my blood sugars have stayed in the 105 range which is normal. As I lose more weight my Diabetes should be resolved (GONE). I have lost 29lbs in 4 weeks and feel incredibly healthy. I work out 5 days a week and trust me, having the surgery saved my life. If you have Diabetes or a trace of it, that is more of a reason to have the surgery. Good Luck!!! If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
   — Robyn W.

March 8, 2003
I had surgery on 1/13/03 and was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes about 1 1/2 years ago. At the time of my surgery I was taking 3 different oral medications to control my blood sugar and my readings were always higher than they should be. When I got out of surgery, my blood sugar readings came down and stayed down without ANY Diabetes medications at all, and that has been almost 8 weeks ago! Today my blood sugar reading was 103... can't get more normal than that and still no meds!! Good luck to you!!
   — thumpiez

March 8, 2003
Another poster is right about diabetes being a co-morbidity. You do want to have your sugars in the best possible control pre-op so that you will heal well. I also want to add a note about this surgery and Type 2. This surgery is NOT a cure as there is no cure for diabetes. You will be controlling your diabetes with diet and exercise. I do get to sounding like a broken record on this subject, but here's why. Even though you will very likely be able to get off all diabetes meds, you still have diabetes and it can start showing up again down the road somewhere. It is still a good idea to check your own blood sugars occasionally and to have an A1C test done once or twice a year just to make sure that your sugars aren't starting to rise again. The bottom line on diabetes is that high blood sugars cause complications. It doesn't matter whether the high sugars come from Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
   — garw

March 8, 2003
I was diagnosed with type II diabetes a couple of months before my surgery. I had also had four gestational diabetic pregnancies where I was insulin dependent. It was actually one of the deciding factors for me to have the surgery. It won't put off your surgery but it will make insurance approval easier. It is now proven in several studies that gastric bypass eliminates diabetes in 82% of patients. Most of the cases where the diabetes was not eliminated were people that had been diabetic for more than 10 years. My glucose levels have been perfect since the surgery.
   — Linda A.

March 8, 2003
I was diagnosed <b>one week</b> prior to surgery! what a scare and I couldn't eat all the things I wanted to just before surgery -- oh well. I didn't put any sugar or carbs in my mouth that whole week and I took amaryl.. these things lowered my blood sugar by 100 points so my surgery was fine. <br> If your sugar is too high, they might wait... they also might give you a shot of insulin.. depends on your surgeon. Do everything you can right now to lower that blood sugar -- its not good for you. Don't eat any sugar or simple carbs... get to your doctor and start taking one of the pills for it. Good luck.
   — Lisa C.

March 8, 2003
Don't worry. Beleive it or not, about half of the people who have this surgery have type II. They will make sure that your sugar levels are under control, but it will not stop them from allowing you to have the surgery. As a matter of fact, this is one of the co-morbs that gets the surgery approved. I was on meds for this for years prior to my operation. Since two days after, my sugar levels have been normal with no meds.
   — Julie S.

March 8, 2003
I doubt your surgery would be cancelled because of type 2 diabetes. In fact, the sooner, the better. Most likely the elevated blood sugars will normalize once you have surgery and start losing weight. I know person who was insulin dependent - 100 units of insulin in the AM, who had surgery, and by the time he was down 60 lbs, was off the insulin altogether. Good luck!
   — koogy

March 9, 2003
People with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) - or Type I diabetes - must take insulin for the rest of their lives as their bodies do not produce the insulin (the beta cells of the pancreas have been destroyed). This diabetes usually starts in children. <p> People with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) - or Type II diabetes - may also be on insulin, but they are not dependent on it to live. Insulin to a type II diabetic is just another drug of choice, like Glucophage, Glucotrol, Avandia, Actos, etc. Type II diabetes either have a problem with not enough insulin being produced by the pancreas or insulin resistance (the cells don't react to the insulin as they should). Type II diabetes is also known as adult-onset diabetes.
   — John Rushton

March 9, 2003
John I find your views (or at least how you word it) on type 2 diabetes unsettling. I've been diabetic for over 2 years now. I DO consider myself dependent on insulin and don't consider it a choice. I doubt anyone who is on insulin considers it a choice either. Some people are unable to take the oral meds - the only other option to insulin when diet & exercise don't do it. And some of us like me have to combine an oral med with our insulin just to achieve somewhat controlled blood sugar levels. When diet control isn't enough there is no choice. Either you have dangerously high sugar levels which puts your life in serious risk and puts you at risk for numerous complications or you take a med or insulin that controls it. Anyone who has seen people in dialysis, with amputated limbs, blind, or have had a diabetic friend die in a coma know that taking care of diabetes once you have it isn't optional. And not everyone is no longer diabetic once they have surgery or lose weight. I'm certainly not to any goal but I've lost 60 pounds and still have trouble controling my sugars. And with taking 4 shots a day and 2 large doses of metformin just to try and keep my sugars under 200 fasting, I don't think I have a choice. Just in the 2 years I've been diabetic I've already had a lot of secondary problems directly linked to it. Like yeast problems that don't go away thanks to a high sugar environment and a small hemorhage in one eye. I'm not trying to bash you and understand that you're trying to make a distinction between adult onset and type I, but I definitely think your wording could use some revamping.
   — Shelly S.

March 9, 2003
Shelly - I've been a Type II diabetic since 1998. When I meant choice, I meant the physician's choice to combat the blood sugars, not the patient's choice. Type II diabetics are <b>not</b> insulin-dependent - despite what you consider yourself. In fact, as I had posted in my original note, Type II diabetes is also known as Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus or NIDDM (as I have the box checked on all of my PCP visits). <p> My wife also has NIDDM but is on insulin (Lantus) along with Glucophage and Actos. She's hoping that her RNY surgery this coming May will allow to get off most of not all of this. <p> I never meant to imply that people choose to have insulin, just that they are not <b>dependent</b> on it as the Type I diabetics are to live. Yes, some Type II people don't respond well to the oral meds and need the insulin to bring the sugars down. <b> I also never said that people are no longer diabetic once they lose weight. My diabetes has been under control via the diet and exercise since my surgery. My last HgA1C was 5.2 and my blood glucose (non-fasting) on my quarterly blood tests have been between 75 and 80. I once fainted due to a combination of low blood sugar and low blood pressure... <p> I'm sorry that you haven't had the success that many others have had with getting their diabetes under control post-op. I'll keep you in my prayers that things are better for you in the future...JR
   — John Rushton

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