I had an appointment with my Endocrinologist today, my diabetes doctor. His name is Dr. Ho, and I always enjoy seeing him, because he is a very smart man, and he does not lecture me about my diabetes. Instead, he tends to coach me and work with me. He listens to my thoughts and ideas, which is very refreshing.
A year ago, I was taking a lot of insulin! I would take a total of 100 units of insulin each day. Starting about March of 2016, I started following a ketogenic diet. Under the ketogenic diet, you eat only a very limited amount of carbs. Carbs are the major thing that causes your blood sugar to elevate after eating. So, if you strictly follow the ketogenic diet, which means you eat mostly fat and protein, your blood sugar will not increase dramatically after meals.
Well, when I started following a ketogenic diet, I was able to reduce my insulin intake to about 60 units per day, then I went down more and more over the months. Until about mid-December 2016, I had gotten down to using 44 units of insulin each day. In December, my insulin went to a total of 36 units per day. However, during the time in early January, I had two episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), so I decided to take less insulin in the mornings, making my total daily intake just 32 units.
Today, when I laid this all out to Dr. Ho, we elected to take my insulin intake down to a total of 26 units per day. I will take 16 units in the morning, and 10 units in the evening.
Wow, can you imagine, I have reduced my insulin needs by 74%! That is amazing, and I am very happy about it.
One of the real downsides of using insulin is that it causes most people to gain weight. The less insulin that I use, the less prone I am to weight gain, and I am more likely to be able to lose weight! This is great news, and I hope that I continue to reduce my insulin needs.
I recently told my doctor that my goal this year is that by Christmas of 2017 I will no longer need to use any insulin at all, and also no medications for diabetes either. He thinks it will be very difficult to accomplish that, but I believe that I can succeed! I know for sure that I will at least give it my best effort!
