My Diabetes Story by Trevor Morgan 27th May 2025

 

My Diabetes Story by Trevor Morgan 27th May 2025

This is the story about my diabetes journey. I am going to explain how I managed to reduce my reliance on medication and bring my HBA1C measurements down from 128 mmol to 38 mmol and latterly 43mmol or 6.1% and end diabetes medication by 21^st May 2025. It involved lots of hard work on the part me, my wife and some of the health service. I had to carry out several self-imposed actions which will continue all the time until I die. These activities are acceptance of the condition, planning, will power and determination, research, measurement and action.

Background

In May 2024 I was admitted to the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) with a severe abscess on my right-hand lung and a pleural effusion. The doctors also discovered that I had severe diabetes, and severe Ketoacidosis. I was very weak, and I thought that I might die, but luckily my lung problems were resolved. However, I am left with the permanent problem of T2DM (Type2 Diabetes Mellitus).

The whole medical incident was a nightmare, and one night I dreamt that diabetes was mocking me. “It’s all your own fault. You’re only 178cm tall but you allowed your weight grow to 79kg. Your BMI was too high. You didn’t run far enough or long enough. Alright you didn’t take sugar in your tea or eat many desserts, but you ate too many croissants and potatoes”. The mocking voice continued: “Lots of your cousins have already got T2DM and your mother had T1DM, you should have listened to your genes.” I felt shamed when I woke up. Ok, some of it was my responsibility, but was it really all my fault?

Achieving a stable and lower blood glucose level would enable me to minimise my medication or stop using it completely. It is my belief that medication should only be administered when absolutely necessary. The body should be left to heal itself where possible. Diabetes is incurable but it is possible to achieve remission and control the condition without medication. This was my personal mission.

 It was emotionally and intellectually difficult, but I found that the following considerations were helpful.

Acceptance

 It took me quite a long time to accept my condition and that my life would change a lot. I now had to follow a medication, diet and exercise routine almost rigidly. Injecting myself with Humulin was onerous. A lot of the spontaneity of life had disappeared. Everything needed planning. I haven’t fully accepted my predicament yet, but I decided to resolve some of my problems with unwavering single mindedness and determination. For some reason, many of my friends and family have not accepted my new physique and consider that I look like a bag of bones. Only, my wife and GP have accepted that I should not put on weight if I was to reduce my medication to a minimum. Hard lines: the weight stays off, had I kept the 61.5 kg weight of a 20- year- old I probably would have avoided T2DM. It would be problematic for me to put on 2 kg of visceral fat. My GP agrees that my weight is now ideal for my height, but everyone else in the NHS thinks that I am too thin - once again hard lines.

Sometimes I become mildly depressed. Luckily   my wife helps to cheer me up and encourages me to carry on.

Latterly, I have been socialising more, and it is difficult for my family and friends to accept that I have lost weight, and I intend to keep it that way to improve my health prospects.

It is difficult for me to sit down to have a meal with friends and family to see them tucking in to sweet desserts. It is too problematic for me to indulge myself. It is irksome to know that I must always restrain myself. However, I usually share just a spoonful of my wife’s dessert when the hosts have prepared that special course, then at least I can compliment them on their cookery.

Planning

If I was to reduce my need for medication to a minimum, then I had to plan my targets. My first target was to get myself off Humulin (or Insulin). To do this I had to carefully plan a weight reduction diet and an exercise routine. I finally stopped the insulin altogether in December 2024. At first controlling my blood glucose levels was difficult but my contingency plan was to exercise more and eat slightly less and adjust my dining and exercise timetable if my blood sugar was too high during the day.  By mid-December 2024 my HBA1c results showed that my average blood glucose level had fallen to 42 mmol, it was time to stop the Humulin. My plan went very well especially for my age of 73 years. I felt that I was doing well for myself. When I stopped the Humulin the doctors prescribed that my dose of Metformin should be doubled from 1 gm per day to 2 gm and that additionally I should take 100 mg of Sitagliptin. I felt that I was being over prescribed and just being given standard NHS policy without an individual assessment. I planned further reductions. By mid -January my HBA1c measured 38 mmol and with the agreement of my doctor I reduced the Sitagliptin to 50 mg per day. I was feeling fine, and I saw another doctor in early February, at my surgery, who agreed that I should come off the Sitagliptin altogether and reduce the Metformin to 1 gm per day or more if everything was going well. We also set the target of early May, and that if my HBA1c tests were favourable then I would come off the medication completely. On 6^th May my HBAIC measured 43MMOL or 6.1% which was slightly elevated from when I was on Insulin and Sitagliptin but well within the criteria to achieve remission and stop the medication completely. My plan and targets were being met.

 

 

Will power and determination

Just like my mother I have plenty of will power. I am lucky, as will power gets me through the bad times to ensure that I stick to my weight, diet and exercise regime. To improve my diabetic health, I needed to be single minded and not allow my attention to be diverted. This meant that considerable time and effort had to be be made to manage my condition. Other activities had to go on the back burner to prioritise my condition. I did not allow anyone to divert my attention to detail, even my wife, as this was the best way to proceed for me. Despite all the determination I still had bad days and wondered why I bothered but I was sure it would be worthwhile in the end. If my will power was failing me then I was prepared to go to psychotherapy to improve matters; luckily this option wasn’t necessary.

Research

The support of the NHS diabetic clinic has been minimal, so I did a lot of research from books and the internet. I double checked anything that I read on the web and checked if the advice was sensible and reasonable.  I had to do this to plan and manage my condition. The Diabetes Society was a great help as a research facility.

The best book that I read was Professor Roy Taylor’s “Life without Diabetes”. This book explains the endocrinology and physiology of diabetes and how improve your prospects to achieve remission or reduce your medication to a minimum and keep it that way. I highly recommend it.

Recently, I have discovered the X-pert health organisation; their Handbook on Diabetes Prevention and Management Version 15.1 is excellent, and I recommend this book highly too.

From my research, I chose a low carbohydrate Mediterranean diet, well Mediterranean most of the time as I did have the odd lapse. I selected the Mediterranean diet on the recommendation in Dr Michael Mosely’s books. The NHS diabetic clinic just rubber stamped my decision.

Measurement

“When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it” - Lord Kelvin. If you want to control your blood sugar levels to improve your health and eventually reduce the medication to a minimum or even achieve remission, then you must take measurements. Until I stopped taking Humulin I measured my blood at least 4 times a day and more if I had changed my diet or exercise regime. I also measured how many grams of carbohydrate I was eating with each meal. I aimed for around 90 grams of carbohydrate a day. I also weighed myself at least twice a week as I could not afford to either put on too much weight or lose too much for that matter. I aimed for around 61.5 kg. You must  be careful not to make measurement too much of an obsession. But you cannot control anything without measurements. From the HBA1c tests and my daily measurements, I am not certain that my natural insulin production and insulin resistance will allow me to go into remission. However, I shall give it a good try. I have been experimenting a little bit with different diet and exercise regimes to improve my blood glucose response. I could not do this without measuring my blood glucose levels.

Action

I walked at least 8km per day and did strength training including 10 minutes stair climbing or steps twice a day. I burnt up more than 800 calories daily. My weight is stabilising around 61 kgs and my glucose control is improving most of the time, but I do have lapses. Before I became diabetic, I used to run 6kms 3 times a week and walk 4 or 5 kms 4 times a week, this did not help me ward off diabetes, so my” low-carb diet needed to be strict. Latterly, I have started to run again as I feel in good shape for my age of 74. Losing weight has made me feel younger, and now that I am reducing the medication I feel that I have got more energy.

My action plan is to follow the current path and to be single minded about controlling my condition. I am going to remain optimistic that my general health will improve enough for me to go into remission for a long time. It will be difficult for me to remain in in a position where medication is not needed anymore, and that is why I must continue the same vein. I shall give it my best try.

 I feel a hundred times more fit than when I went into hospital. For me it is axiomatic that life is a terminal condition however, I intend to do my best to live my life without the complications of T2DM ruining it. On May21st 2025 my GP approved my decision to stop taking diabetes medication completely. I am now leading a drug free life, please wish me luck that it will continue. Be assured that if I can do it so can you.