Does Gastric Sleeve Surgery "cure" diabetes?

[LaLaFlowers 0]

I am so excited to hear that it does get better "the diabetes". I have not had my surgery yet, waiting on a date. Thanks for the encouraging words.

[Don 5]

I am a type 2 , been diagnosed for 15 years and it has gotten massively worse. That is my reason for the VSG surgery. I had lost 50 pounds over the years on my own and kept it off, however I will still on 2000 mg. of Glucophage a day, 90 units of long-acting insulin a day, and 3 pre-meal time injections of short-acting insulin.

So I had my surgery on 4-4-11. I no longer take glucophage and I only take 5-7 units of fast acting insulin a day!!!!!

So I figure my usage is down over 90%. Very dramatic for 2 weeks I would say!!!!!

[MINI-Me 196]

I am a type 2 , been diagnosed for 15 years and it has gotten massively worse. That is my reason for the VSG surgery. I had lost 50 pounds over the years on my own and kept it off, however I will still on 2000 mg. of Glucophage a day, 90 units of long-acting insulin a day, and 3 pre-meal time injections of short-acting insulin.

So I had my surgery on 4-4-11. I no longer take glucophage and I only take 5-7 units of fast acting insulin a day!!!!!

So I figure my usage is down over 90%. Very dramatic for 2 weeks I would say!!!!!

That is AWESOME Don!

[fredpayne 1]

It has been 8 months since my sleeve surgery, my A1C has gone from 6.2 to 7.4 and I have developed high cholesterol (which I have never had before) Plus I now have Protein in my urine. My Doctor here in Texas says the surgery is only 80% successful, even though he did not mention that in our initial meeting. So, here I am $12,000.00 lighter and my type 2 Diabetes is the worse it has ever been. I went to see the Doctor today, his first suggestion was for me to quit taking my meds and lose 10 pounds, then after re-thinking, he thinks I need to continue the meds, lose 10 pounds and come back and see him in 10 weeks. He says he thinks I am one of the 20% that the surgery doesn't help, even though as I said earlier, I don't remember having that conversation. Anybody know about this 80/20 rule? BTW, I was not overweight, I did not have this surgery to lose weight, My one and only goal was to get rid of my Diabetes. I must admit I am tempted to put my Doctor's name on this post, but I will wait a while on that.

[Griselda 7]

I am sure I will be corrected if wrong, but from my reading, I thought that the surgery people had to control diabetes (who are not overweight), is to have some sort of rerouting of the intestines, like a Duodenal Switch (DS), except without the sleeve and a longer common channel to prevent malabsorption or something like that. I have also read the 80/20 rule and from what I understood, there is a 20% who do not resolve their diabetes, but it improves. (Sometimes that 20% is a group who was much more overweight and who have managed to lose a lot, but to still be overweight or even obese, (just no longer mordibly obese). I also remember reading that the longer you have had the type 2 diabetes, the less likely you are to completely get rid of it. This is because the longer you have it, the more damage is already done and I believe your pancreas has by then suffered to the point that it is no longer producing the adequate amount of insulin). You don't say how long you had it. So did your doctor just suggest that you have this surgery purely for the diabetic benefit? I am guessing that this doctor is the surgeon? Or is this doctor not the same person who did the surgery? I think whoever he/she is, they were remiss in not giving you the complete data or alerting you to the fact that with any WLS, there is always a percentage of people who are unsuccessful.

I wish you a lot of success, Do a search for surgery to cure diabetes and see what you come up with. Did you maybe have some weight in the stomach area? Maybe your doctor felt that by shifting this weight, (even if you weren't actually obese), you would reap some of the benefits since the fat in the stomach area is a bigger risk for health problems?

quote name='fredpayne' timestamp='1303424491' post='140575']

It has been 8 months since my sleeve surgery, my A1C has gone from 6.2 to 7.4 and I have developed high cholesterol (which I have never had before) Plus I now have Protein in my urine. My Doctor here in Texas says the surgery is only 80% successful, even though he did not mention that in our initial meeting. So, here I am $12,000.00 lighter and my type 2 Diabetes is the worse it has ever been. I went to see the Doctor today, his first suggestion was for me to quit taking my meds and lose 10 pounds, then after re-thinking, he thinks I need to continue the meds, lose 10 pounds and come back and see him in 10 weeks. He says he thinks I am one of the 20% that the surgery doesn't help, even though as I said earlier, I don't remember having that conversation. Anybody know about this 80/20 rule? BTW, I was not overweight, I did not have this surgery to lose weight, My one and only goal was to get rid of my Diabetes. I must admit I am tempted to put my Doctor's name on this post, but I will wait a while on that.

[Raine 170]

I believe it is the drastic change in our diets that changes how are diabeties are affected. I don't eat nearly what I was and my white carbs are non existant now which is a major contributor to T2 Diabeties.

[Don 5]

But how do you explain that the day after my sleeve, I quit taking Glucophage (200o mg. a day before surgery and from 120 units of insulin a day to less than 10.

I could understand if I cut my Glucophage in half and went from 120 to 110 to 100....but to immediately drop the Glucophage and a drastic drop in insulin. I guess from the previous letter that this is a "Your mileage may vary" issue.

I believe it is the drastic change in our diets that changes how are diabeties are affected. I don't eat nearly what I was and my white carbs are non existant now which is a major contributor to T2 Diabeties.

[razrbakcrzy 9]

The real issue is if you are a genetic type II diabetic versus an obese type II diabetic... With genetic type II diabetes your pancrease puts out less insulin than your body needs to deal with the sugars of every day life. Hence the 28 year old that suddenly needs to take a sugar pill but is clearly not overweight in any way. With obese Type II diabetes you have by the shear reason of being overweight made yourself into a diabetic. You either take in excess sugars far outpacing your pancrease's ability to deal with them or your body holds so much fat that the pancrese stops functioning appropriatley....

Obese type II diabetes can be cured with WLS, genetic type II diabetes may be brought under control with WLS but not cured....

[razrbakcrzy 9]

I was a type II diabetic taking 500mg of Metformin(morning) and 18mg shot of victoza(evening) a day I di not take any meds to the hospital on june 29th for my surgery... I also have not taken any since the surgery.... off all blood pressure and high colesterol meds....

[nagaraj 2]

Absolutely cured of diabetes since my VSG 2 years ago. No medication at all. I check my sugar levels every week and I am at times low ! Three cheers to VSG.

Now, I know there is no cure, per se, but I am interested in hearing from those of you who were diabetic pre-surgery. Have you noticed improvement? Are you seeing the need for medication eliminated or reduced? What about those who are dependent on insulin?

I am not diabetic, but I am meeting with a friend next week who is considering VSG. Besides being overweight, her main concern is managing her diabetes (pills, no insulin pump at this time). Please vote on the poll. And, any feedback would be appreciated.

[CarrieNita 1]

I will admit I am crying as I write this post. This group has given me HOPE for the first time in years. I am a long term Type 2 diabetic with poor control. My body still produces insulin, but the cells no longer use it. That means even with taking oral meds and insulin my blood sugar does not come down.

I am so thankful for having found this site and particularly this group. I look forward to the day I wake up from my surgery and begin my brand new life.

God Bless all of you!

[Pookeyism 1,143]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/publicASMBS/GuidelinesStatements/PositionStatement/ASMBS-SLEEVE-STATEMENT-2011_10_28.pdf

There are so many replies to this thread, there is not enought time to go through them all. I wish there was. So while I am sure I risk the chance of a repeat thread, I do so knowing it is hard to go through all the posts, and easy to miss any given post. So if I repeat a thread(s), sorry!

This paper goes into the most recent studies on comorbidity improvements, including diabeties.

With that said, this is the formal statement from ASMBS on October 28, 2011, regarding their update on their position statement regarding the sleeve gasterectomy as a bariatric procedure. It is detailed, and interesting.

If you do not follow the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, I encourage you to do so. The Vertical Sleeve Talk is an social network that is focused to the patient, but the medical institutions such as ASMBS make statements and positions that will affect the Metabolic and Bariatric studies (and therefore procedures, and related issues as whether or not they should be funded by insurance, etc.). If you speak to a doctor and they cannot refer to recent findings or position statements of these orgenizatons, it is a red flag to the quality of care you will recieve. It affects advocacy, understanding, implementation of new procedures, etc.

[disneyteach 68]

Now' date=' I know there is no cure, per se, but I am interested in hearing from those of you who were diabetic pre-surgery. Have you noticed improvement? Are you seeing the need for medication eliminated or reduced? What about those who are dependent on insulin?

I am not diabetic, but I am meeting with a friend next week who is considering VSG. Besides being overweight, her main concern is managing her diabetes (pills, no insulin pump at this time). Please vote on the poll. And, any feedback would be appreciated.[/quote']

I walked in to the hospital Monday taking diabetic pills and I walked out on Wednesday being asked to discontinue those pills, because my blood sugar has not peaked above 124 and is staying in the low 100s. At the same time, I lost 26 pounds pre-op, but my sugars were still in the 140-160s. My Primary doctor thought this would happen right after surgery and he is a diabetic specialist. I hope this helps you.

[ilikenu 18]

I was sleeved on April 17, and had my last insulin and victoza there at the hospital. I don't take any pills now, either. I was insulin dependent for over 10 years. I take my blood sugar daily, and report them to my endocrinologist weekly, and so far, SO GOOD.

[TheNewSusie 471]

I am a type one diabetic so I feel like I'm stuck with insulin shots for life. No matter what size I am, I have to take insulin because my body does not produce much. It would be great to get off of it!