Which one do you prefer? Alternative medicines or hospital medicines?

If you have diabetes and you try alternative medicine and eschew medical therapy you will die years sooner. It’s your choice.

You are gambling with your life when it comes to a chronic disease like diabetes. Blindness, amputations, dialysis, and even early death can occur if it is not treated properly. A lot of the management is up to you, but I’d say you had to be way off your rocker to treat it outside of a normative protocol.

Save the huggy-feely shit for bunions and backaches.

Rarebear : can you elaborate pls?

What about treatment using herbs?

Unless you know of an insulin-producing herb, I’d say you are out of luck there. Get serious.

Elaborate? If you have diabetes you should use medications that have been proven to work. Survival is directly related to how well your blood sugar is controlled. Your blood sugar isn’t controlled, you die sooner. Period. I think that @dpworkin put it really well.

Thanks guys. Funny thing is my doctor ask me to explore herbal-based medicines (??) so yeah you can see why I’m a little confuse here. I was told to try cinnamon powder and stuff

@dpworkin Even an insulin producing herb won’t work since insulin, like any protein is broken down in the stomach. It’d have to be an injectable herb.

Now, @Tringveryhard If your blood sugar is only slightly elevated, and you’re overweight, losing weight can normalize your blood sugar. Also, a proper diet can help normalize blood sugar. But taking cinnamon powder? Useless.

@Tringveryhard Bro, you need to put a little more faith in critical thinking and less faith in faith. This is an area where you must rely on science. Don’t you think if alternative medicine worked, it would be in a hospital, prescribed by doctors? We aren’t using the same practices that work for no reason…....no one says: “well I’m bleeding profusely, I know direct pressure is proven to work, but I think I’ll slap these herbs on my wound instead”. So yes…..get real.

Must resist, must resist….

@shilolo Do it. You know you want to.

Blackberry : I think bleeding and diabetes are 2 very different things but yeah thanks for your thoughts :) I’m a lady by the way

Shilolo : Yes just do it. I need answers

@shilolo I just love you, Doc.

Is there a doctor in the house?

No problem, good luck Miss : )

You’re talking to two of them. @shiloh and me.

Good so can any one you tell me why my doctor asked me to look into herb-based medicines? He even say that type 2 diabetes is reversible.

Now be nice to me ;)

Sorry @Rarebear I had no idea you were a physician..

How about healing with love and raw veggies?
That should cure cancer right?
Seriously, doctors do know some things.

@dpworkin No need to apologize! It’s not a fact I let public until recently. You’re answer was spot on.

@Tringveryhard I have no idea why your physician recommended herbs. Type II diabetes is reversible, sometimes, sort of, with weight loss and exercise. If you’re fat, and lose weight, sometimes blood sugars will normalize. Sometimes. But you have to be under very careful monitoring, and if you’re not getting your HgbA1C under control relatively soon you’ll need medication.

don’t hate me, @shilolo

It looks like there is some evidence that it is not impossible that some herbs may be helpful in controlling blood glucose in diabetes:

CONCLUSIONS—There is still insufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of individual herbs and supplements for diabetes; however, they appear to be generally safe. The available data suggest that several supplements may warrant further study. The best evidence for efficacy from adequately designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is available for Coccinia indica and American ginseng. Chromium has been the most widely studied supplement. Other supplements with positive preliminary results include Gymnema sylvestre, Aloe vera, vanadium, Momordica charantia, and nopal.
Yeh et al., Systematic Review of Herbs and Dietary Supplements for Glycemic Control in Diabetes.

That said, there are mountains of evidence showing that the standard, empirically-derived treatments for diabetes are the most effective treatment we currently have. If I were you, I’d keep using them.

First, I don’t know what alternative medicine (homeopathy, herbs, acupuncture, reiki?) you’re talking about that could even be an option. I’ve never heard of any type of method other than the modern/Western type of care with synthetic insulin and sugar-regulating medication treating diabetes before. I’m open to an education on the subject of a solid treatment for anything in the alternative field. To reiterate for the record, I’m not a big proponent of big pharma. If there’s been a proven method of treatment that doesn’t involve drugs, I’ll do that first (like honey and lemon for sore throat or aloe for a sunburn). However, with a life threatening illness, you bet your sweet bippy I’m getting my ass to the doctor. Unless there is solid as a rock evidence that something works, I’m not messing around with it.

Just so we’re clear, she’s here for help, so berating her isn’t going to do any good. She came here for answers to an honest question. Let’s be a little understanding and give her all that we know rather than jumping down her throat.

“Thanks guys. Funny thing is my doctor ask me to explore herbal-based medicines (??) so yeah you can see why I’m a little confuse here. I was told to try cinnamon powder and stuff ”

What did your doctor suggest before?

Captain Fantasy : I hope not. I hate raw veggies.

Nikipedia : I’ve read some news on that too. Hence the question.

Steve A : Medication metformin 500mg 3 times a day. He has patients that used herbs and managed to control their sugar level and eventually off meds. I think that was why he asked me to explore herb-based medicines.

ubersiren : Thanks hugs yeah I’m here for options/answers. I know love does not cure cancer but dang it sure helps a lot

Question for @shilolo and Rarebear : What is the most important thing for a diabetic patient like me need to do (besides taking my meds religiously?)

@nikipedia I have no problem with alternative medicine that works. (That’s called “medicine” by the way)

I’m quite experienced in reading medical literature, and I’m always wary of systematic reviews as they often try to compare widely disparate studies. But let me take some examples from the paper for the trials that they said were randomly controlled trials:

Coccinia indica
“The one RCT of this herb (n = 32), ” (Insert buzzer sound here). Sorry, but a 32 person trial doesn’t have enough power.

Ginseng species
“Two longer-term trials administered American ginseng for 8 weeks (n = 36 and n = 24)”. Same criticism.

Allium species: sativum and cepa
“The highest quality RCT of Allium sativum in humans was actually designed to examine thrombocyte aggregation in nondiabetic individuals (n = 60). However, the investigators found significant decreases in fasting serum glucose ” This one is a little better. I’d need to know what they meant by “significant’. There is a difference between statistically significant and clinically significant.

“The only clinical trial available for Allium cepa is a small RCT of allyl propyl disulphide extract capsules from onion in nondiabetic volunteers (n = 6); ” Sorry (buzzer again)

And so on. You can’t just take the conclusions of a paper and generalize them. You have to look at the meat.

I’m not saying (and I know Shiloh would say the same thing) that there’s no role for alternative medicines, herbs and the like. But they have to be shown to work in a large, well designed, randomized controlled trial. Otherwise you’re a) throwing away your money and b) ignoring medical care that actually work.

@Tringveryhard Don’t smoke. Lose weight if you’re overweight. Get regular exercise. Eat a good diabetic diet. Examine your feet daily. Don’t walk around with bare feet.

Here is some information that will keep you busy for the next month or two
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetes.html

Your doctor needs to answer your specific questions. Do not let him off the hook with a mere generalization. There appears to be good news here that some aspects of your situation can be managed and controlled by you. Seize the opportunity but do it with your doctor with clear and effective communication, understanding and appropriate monitoring. See ya….Gary/wtf

Thanks everyone! :)

Also, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. Another doctor may be able to guide you in a more informed way.

I prefer a mixture of both. Since traditional medicines have done very very little to help me, I’m leaning toward alternative medicines now.

Alternative medicine becomes part of mainstream medical practice if it can be proven scientifically to be effective and with limited negative side effects.