• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Metformin v diet

G

GeorgieWhite

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi. I'm still very much a newbie around here. I was diagnosed around 10 weeks ago with HbA1c of 115. I was started on two Metformin tablets and gradually increased to 4 tablets a day. I've totally changed my whole diet and have been really strict with myself and have lost 18.5 pounds so far. I had bloods done last week and my HbA1c is now 63.

I don't know if it's possible to really know, but I'm curious to have a rough idea how much of the reduction might be attributable to dietary changes and how much to the Metformin. Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
GeorgieWhite said:
Hi. I'm still very much a newbie around here. I was diagnosed around 10 weeks ago with HbA1c of 115. I was started on two Metformin tablets and gradually increased to 4 tablets a day. I've totally changed my whole diet and have been really strict with myself and have lost 18.5 pounds so far. I had bloods done last week and my HbA1c is now 63.

I don't know if it's possible to really know, but I'm curious to have a rough idea how much of the reduction might be attributable to dietary changes and how much to the Metformin. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi, and welcome.
Very well done on the changes you have made and the improvements in HbA1c and weight loss.

If you have reduced carbohydrate in your diet that will most likely have had a greater effect than the Metformin, which decreasees the amount of glucose absorbed from your food, and released by your liver.

There is some info in my signature for new members. Have a read, and come back with any questions you may have. Members can help and advise from their own experiences. You appear to be doing fine already.
 
GeorgieWhite said:
Hi. I'm still very much a newbie around here. I was diagnosed around 10 weeks ago with HbA1c of 115. I was started on two Metformin tablets and gradually increased to 4 tablets a day. I've totally changed my whole diet and have been really strict with myself and have lost 18.5 pounds so far. I had bloods done last week and my HbA1c is now 63.

I don't know if it's possible to really know, but I'm curious to have a rough idea how much of the reduction might be attributable to dietary changes and how much to the Metformin. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome. Congratulations on the progress.

Metformin's main impact is on the glucose newly produced by your liver. It therefore slows down the liver's ability to regulate blood glucose levels - for which read "keep them high". Although this effect is very well known, the mechanism by which it works "isn't fully understood" (Bilous and Donnelly Handbook of Diabetes). B&D say it may also improve insulin sensitivity, but they don't cite any evidence for that.

My guess, based on numerous accounts on this forum of HbA1c reductions with and without medication, would be that the heavy lifting on your HbA1c reduction has been done by your dietary changes, although the metformin will have helped a little.
 
Back
Top