I dropped my average
blood glucose (blood sugar) by 178 points
in 30 days without drugs.
I took control and felt better in two days.
I am beating the $#!* out of diabetes. Cured diabetes. And I feel better and stronger than I have in 10 years. You might be able to do it, too. Here is how I do it.
Dear George Carol David Jessie Richard Shirley,
You asked me to tell you how I’ve controlled (cured) my diabetes since May 2015. Rather than sit and talk for half an hour, and then following up with written instructions, I figured I’d put The Power of The Internet to work!
Here’s everything that I can think of that’s relevant. Nothing to sell you. Just the facts, ma’am.
Diabetes was in my future
During my regular annual physical checkup in 2011 my doctor told me that I was on my way to contracting diabetes type 2. My hemoglobin A1C number was 6.2 and I had a family history of the disease. My doctor told me I had “Pre-diabetes” and gave me a blood glucose monitor. I took a class at a local hospital. I tested a few times, saw numbers in the 101 to 118 range.
My test numbers were okay. I felt okay. I and cut back on the bread and potatoes I was eating. I read Reversing Diabetes, by Dr. Julian Whitaker, which reassured me that, should I someday actually get the real thing, I’d be able to reverse it. And then I mostly forgot about diabetes.
Symptoms I ignored
Comes summer 2014. I’m thirsty. A lot. I drank a lot of water, peed often. I’d look across a room or a vista and what’s at the other side was wobbly, like a movie mirage. But I figured this is standard middle-age kind of stuff. Or the hot weather. I never even considered it could be diabetes.
I continue to ignore symptoms. Besides the frequent thirst and blurry vision, my thinking is often unclear. My muscles are tender and I’m tired and achy in the afternoons and evenings. By spring 2015 I was peeing 8-10 times a day. I crave ice cold water. Sometimes my hands shook as I filled my cup. I felt like a junkie, but my temporary salvation was just water. I was a fool!
Good news? I lost 15 pounds – barely watching my eating. I’m an accidental hero, in my little world.
Family history – I ignored
Should have known better. My grandmother (father’s mother) had diabetes, which led to the amputation of one of her legs, from the calf down. I remember visiting her in the hospital and her showing me the stump below her knee. “Take care of your health! Watch your ‘clastrol’!”, she’d tell me. May she rest in peace.
I was fortunate to have been receiving regular massages, about once a month, for the past few years. But starting in February or March 2015 they became painful. My muscles couldn’t stand the pressure. I was dehydrated but didn’t know it, or why. My long-time, dedicated practitioner said she was done with me until I found out what the problem was.
Finally I went to my doctor for another annual checkup. My appointment was at about 11:00 am on Friday, May 15, 2015. I ate breakfast, went to work, and left my office to run over for my appointment. I described my symptoms to my doctor. He asked the last time I had checked my blood sugar. I told him that it was so long ago that I couldn’t remember … as he got out his meter.
A New Meter Reading
The next minute went by in slow motion. Before the number popped up on the screen, I put 2+2+2+2+2 together and understood that all the symptoms could add up to only one thing: diabetes. The only surprise was the number that popped up on the screen: 330. That’s about three times higher than the “target.” I felt so … stupid. How could I have been feeling bad for so long and not considered it was diabetes?
The test you can’t fake out
Three days later, Monday, May 18, I went to the lab and got my blood drawn for the Hemoglobin A1C test, fasting. The results were consistent with the snapshot test the previous Friday. My A1C was 13.2 – that’s the equivalent of an average blood glucose level of 332. For the past 90 days! I didn’t just have diabetes, I had super bad diabetes. Some charts don’t even convert above an A1C of 12.0.
I was ticked. How could my A1C, my average blood glucose level, more than double from the test just 18 months earlier. I was shocked at how high the number was. And I got angry. Diabetes is my enemy, I decided. And I prepared my deployment against it.
My MD is well-respected by his peers, loved by his patients. He impresses me as medically conservative but also open-minded. I had been his patient for about 15 years by that point and had never seen him shaken. But right then his mood changed. He said something like, “Okay, no kidding. This is serious. If I thought putting you into the hospital would help you, I would. Instead, I want you to start taking metformin, today. And eat like this poster suggests.” He has a vegetarian-ish vegetables-and-nuts pyramid on the door of his exam room. Still.
Refused to be a victim
I hated the idea of just giving up and taking the pharmacy medications. Having read about diabetes, I knew that people get it for a combination of reasons, both genetic and lifestyle-related. Partly your parents fault, partly junk food and sloth. I knew that pharmaceuticals come with side effects and are often a slippery slope to more illness and more drugs. My father started with pills, ended up carrying a little bag with syringes. I couldn’t stand the idea that I’d become dependent on something as inconvenient and painful as that.
Bought myself a month
I needed a shot at regaining control of my health. So I asked for a month. “Give me 30 days to change what I eat, take some supplements. I’ll prick my finger 10 times a day! Test my blood again in a month and see if I can turn this around,” I asked. Fortunately, he agreed (or I would have gone and found another doctor)!
Cold turkey I stopped eating bread, potatoes, pasta and rice (for a few months). My office staff helped me – they took the evil M&Ms dispenser off of our reception counter and hid it where I couldn’t find it. I immediately began several additional changes that led to good results.
Want to skip to my Cure?
Immediate results
First thing. Blood glucose testing on my portable meter. Of course I pricked my finger several times each day at first to get immediate readouts on how I was doing. The cure happened very fast. I felt much better on Day 2. Leg pain gone. Eyes stable. No more constant thirst. (Less peeing!) In two days.
While I didn’t do all this stuff perfectly, I was generally consistent about my habits. I charted my glucose meter readings and the chart became a source of pride for me. I still have it on my office wall, here:
The Proof Came from A1C Testing
You can avoid certain foods at lunch and get a great blood glucose test result in two hours. But you can’t fake out the A1C test. (With certain exceptions that have to do with peculiarities of some people’s blood or personal health. Suffice to say that I don’t have such conditions, so I get pretty accurate feedback from the A1C test.) I got my A1C test again one month after I began my cure.
My test on June 23 was very encouraging: My A1C had dropped to 10.9, or a 90-day trailing average of 266. That number by itself is still terrible, but in context it’s excellent. Oversimplifying the test result, it means that the changes I made during that first month had dropped my average blood glucose from May 18 to June 22 to 154 ml/dl.
Here’s how I did the math:
April 322 calculated from May 18 blood draw
May 322 calculated from May 18 blood draw
June 154 Calculated … using algebra! That’s 178 points less than 322!
Total 798
Divide 798 by 3 to get the monthly average of 266 mg/dl. That equals an A1C of 10.9, my June 23 result.
This was consistent with the snapshots I was getting from my meter three or four times a day. More important, it meant I could predict that my next A1C test, in another 60 days, would likely be about 7.0 – if I kept up my new habits.
The results were predictable!
I kept on with my program. Sure enough, my next A1C test, August 17, was 7.2, or the equivalent of an average estimated blood glucose of 160. Less than half of what it was May 18. It took a couple more months to get the A1C numbers to where I wanted them. Clearly, I was on the path to recovery.
My Numbers
Depending on whom you listen to, your target A1C should be either below 7.0 or 6.5 or 6.4. Given that it’s my life, I’ll take the conservative number. And some researchers and physicians say that the number varies depending on your age, how long you’ve had uncontrolled diabetes and other factors.
Forgive me for bragging but, having dropped my A1C to 6.4, technically I have CURED my diabetes.
How did I do it?
The Cure
Just as the bus drivers run our school districts, the lawyers run our healthcare system. Accordingly, to protect both you and me, I offer this
Disclaimer of Responsibility
I am not a licensed physician in any state or nation.
Neither am I a nurse, massage therapist or nutritionist.*
What I publish here is my own story, based on my own research and results.
Don’t take any advice from me.
Do take advice from duly licensed practitioners.
Get your blood tested – especially the Hemoglobin A1C test. That is advice, I guess. Do it.
*If you really want to know, I am a marketing consultant, publisher, printer and product designer.
Despite my lack of credentials I cured my own diabetes (according to some definitions).
Here is what I’m doing, in short:
1) Educate myself
2) Choose what I eat
3) Test blood glucose and A1C
4) Nutritional supplements
5) Exercise
6) Proselytize
Read the my full program, here.
My program has changed little since I started, except for the ways in which I think about and do the nasty part, exercise. I like it a lot better now than when I started. I exercise four or five days instead of three days each week. At the start I supercharged my body with more than 1200 micrograms of Chromium each day. Since, I’ve cut back to 334 mcg.
I’m Not Special
The stuff that I do all makes sense to me. I don’t have to use incredible willpower or brain tricks to continue my life without (active) diabetes. (I think the Chromium was a big help.)
It took me a few weeks to re-learn how to order food in a restaurant, and what to buy at the grocery store. My wife has been very supportive, except on days she serves her homemade enchiladas.
Actually, it was hard, at first. I had to consciously choose to either stay away from the tortilla chips, or just limit myself to seven or eight of them. My target is to eat about 60 grams of carbohydrates at a meal. Too much detail to list here. Read THE CURE, on another page, for the details.
Best of luck to you as you regain control over your health. Stay away from the drugs. Sneer at the TV when it runs commercials for all that stuff they want you to get hooked on. I want you to become proud of yourself for defeating this insidious disease.
Danny Stusser
58. And 6.4, baby!
Tumwater, Washington
December 2016
P.S. If you’re facing diabetes, whether newly diagnosed or had it for years, I hope you’ll consider trying The Cure – the six-part program I lay out in The Cure. There’s nothing more important to me than my health and the health of my family and friends. The stuff that I’m doing – that you can probably do, too – is all tested and proven. But it doesn’t make any money for the Big Pharma companies that want to get us hooked. You’ll have less aches and pains as you take back control. Let me know how it’s going for you.