I was diagnosed about 3 and a half years ago, with a fasting bg level of 19mmol and it took me about six months for my levels to really start coming down. metformin on its own didn't work for me, but when i started a low carb diet, that did the trick, and coming off metformin then hardly made any difference. you're a lot younger than me, so you probably have a faster metabolism, but i think it sounds like you're doing really well in terms of time. and i would definitely agree about it being a marathon, not a sprint.