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I was diagnosed in 1985. I don't know what my glucose tolerance test reading was at the time - A1c had not been invented yet. I have been eating a low-carb, high fat diet since 2004. I was able to get my A1c down to 6% which resulted in a weight of between 160-165 lbs. But no matter what I did, I could not quite achieve a normal A1c and my weight would go no lower. So I would get frustrated and eat poorly and both would go back up. This cycle has continued over the years. I have been able to stay on only Metformin for medicine over the years. In February of 2017, I was not doing well. My endocrinologist had decided to concentrate on thyroid a few years previously and I was the only diabetic he still treated. He recommended I go to some else who would be keeping up with the literature on diabetes as he really didn't, and made a suggestion for someone to see. After my visit with the new doctor, I realized I was feeling bad all the time (a lot of this was due to stress eating at work). The new doctor wanted to put me on another medicine. She agreed that diet was the best way to handle this (she does low carb herself), but thought that until I retired and could quit stress eating the new med would help. I was due to retire in January 2018 and decided I could not wait until then to take control again. I took the preliminary dose of the medicine for a week, but then quit. The prescribing information indicated that I could achieve better results, and quicker, doing what I had done in the past. This time I added intermittent fasting as described in Dr. Jason fund's book to my LCHF diet. I did it the easy way, by compressing my eating time to a period of 8 hrs. This is easiest done just by skipping breakfast, though my results are best if I skip dinner instead. As I got used to fasting. I would sometimes eat only 1 meal a day - never having a problem with hunger (you have to be eating a LCHF diet for this to be really effective). As of today, my A1c is 5.5%, my weight is 140 lbs. and I am not on any diabetes medicine.
 

Guzzler

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What a story! You got there in the end, very well done.
 

Bluetit1802

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Great results, well done. :) Better late than never! Thanks for telling us your story.
 

shelley262

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Congratulations @Cedartop even more impressive that you’ve managed to turn this around after so many years as a diabetic - just goes to show it really is never too late to make changes and take back control. It also demonstrates how effective mixing Intermittent Fasting with low carb eating food is a powerful tool for us diabetics. Well done give yourself a congratulatory pat on the back.
 

catapillar

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I was diagnosed in 1985. I don't know what my glucose tolerance test reading was at the time - A1c had not been invented yet.

Hba1c was discovered in 1968 and started being used to routinely monitor diabetic control in labs from 1977. It started being used more widely in the 80s but it wasn't until 1993 and the publication of the Diabetes Contol and Complications Trial that the importance of hba1c to monitor diabetic control was acknowledged by clinicians, and they may not have had access to routine hba1c testing until the mid 90s. So if had been invented, just might not have been available in 1985.

Well done on the improved control with your diet and intermittent fasting. It's interesting that your doctor does low carb too. Is she an endocrinologist? I just wonder what the take of a low carb endocrinologist might be on things like OGTT and bolusing for protein.
 

Mal37

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I was diagnosed in 1985. I don't know what my glucose tolerance test reading was at the time - A1c had not been invented yet. I have been eating a low-carb, high fat diet since 2004. I was able to get my A1c down to 6% which resulted in a weight of between 160-165 lbs. But no matter what I did, I could not quite achieve a normal A1c and my weight would go no lower. So I would get frustrated and eat poorly and both would go back up. This cycle has continued over the years. I have been able to stay on only Metformin for medicine over the years. In February of 2017, I was not doing well. My endocrinologist had decided to concentrate on thyroid a few years previously and I was the only diabetic he still treated. He recommended I go to some else who would be keeping up with the literature on diabetes as he really didn't, and made a suggestion for someone to see. After my visit with the new doctor, I realized I was feeling bad all the time (a lot of this was due to stress eating at work). The new doctor wanted to put me on another medicine. She agreed that diet was the best way to handle this (she does low carb herself), but thought that until I retired and could quit stress eating the new med would help. I was due to retire in January 2018 and decided I could not wait until then to take control again. I took the preliminary dose of the medicine for a week, but then quit. The prescribing information indicated that I could achieve better results, and quicker, doing what I had done in the past. This time I added intermittent fasting as described in Dr. Jason fund's book to my LCHF diet. I did it the easy way, by compressing my eating time to a period of 8 hrs. This is easiest done just by skipping breakfast, though my results are best if I skip dinner instead. As I got used to fasting. I would sometimes eat only 1 meal a day - never having a problem with hunger (you have to be eating a LCHF diet for this to be really effective). As of today, my A1c is 5.5%, my weight is 140 lbs. and I am not on any diabetes medicine.
I want to try this intermittent fasting but don't know how to initially approach it. Do I just suddenly miss a meal or do I have to prepare for it in advance, and what if I feel hungry or weak? Do I just stop and eat something?
 

Bluetit1802

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I want to try this intermittent fasting but don't know how to initially approach it. Do I just suddenly miss a meal or do I have to prepare for it in advance, and what if I feel hungry or weak? Do I just stop and eat something?

It is easy and requires no preparation. The easiest way is to skip breakfast, which extends your overnight fast until lunch time. This is what I have done for a long time now. I have a decaff coffee with double cream as soon as I get up and then nothing but water until lunch time, which for me is just after 1pm. My last food is my evening meal, which starts at about 7pm. So I am fasting for around 17 to 18 hours and eating 2 meals in the remaining 6 or 7 hours hours. No snacking. I do allow myself a cup of tea mid morning most mornings, but defo no food. The coffee with cream fills me up and I haven't felt hungry once.

Some people prefer to skip lunch, and others prefer to skip evening meal, but I find skipping breakfast is the easiest. It needs to be consistent to be of any use - in other words, every day.
 

Mal37

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It is easy and requires no preparation. The easiest way is to skip breakfast, which extends your overnight fast until lunch time. This is what I have done for a long time now. I have a decaff coffee with double cream as soon as I get up and then nothing but water until lunch time, which for me is just after 1pm. My last food is my evening meal, which starts at about 7pm. So I am fasting for around 17 to 18 hours and eating 2 meals in the remaining 6 or 7 hours hours. No snacking. I do allow myself a cup of tea mid morning most mornings, but defo no food. The coffee with cream fills me up and I haven't felt hungry once.

Some people prefer to skip lunch, and others prefer to skip evening meal, but I find skipping breakfast is the easiest. It needs to be consistent to be of any use - in other words, every day.
EVERY DAY! Oh my goodness I didn't realise that Bluetit. I had thought that intermittent had meant occasionally ... say a couple of times per week!
 

Bluetit1802

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EVERY DAY! Oh my goodness I didn't realise that Bluetit. I had thought that intermittent had meant occasionally ... say a couple of times per week!

A couple of times a week is fine if that is what you prefer, but it will give you and your pancreas a lot more benefit to do it every day, or almost every day. You could start off a couple of times a week, see how you go, then increase it if you wish. There are no rules!
 
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Mal37

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A couple of times a week is fine if that is what you prefer, but it will give you and your pancreas a lot more benefit to do it every day, or almost every day. You could start off a couple of times a week, see how you go, then increase it if you wish. There are no rules!
Yes I will do that! And can my 'lunchtime' meal be breakfast? I should hate a day without my raspberry porridge (lol)
 

Bluetit1802

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Yes I will do that! And can my 'lunchtime' meal be breakfast? I should hate a day without my raspberry porridge (lol)

If it doesn't spike you, you can eat what you like for lunch! For my lunch today I have had a low carb full English breakfast. As I said, there are no rules as long as you test, test, test.
 

Mal37

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If it doesn't spike you, you can eat what you like for lunch! For my lunch today I have had a low carb full English breakfast. As I said, there are no rules as long as you test, test, test.
If I remember then I will try this tomorrow :)
 
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You should read the book by Dr. Jason Fung (I think its called The Complete Guide to Fasting). The one thing you need to do before starting is be sure you are used to eating a low-carb, high-fat diet. This makes the transition to fasting much easier and much more effective. There are a lot of ways to do this. He also just released a very good book called The Diabetes Code. I've been at this so long, I thought I knew everything and that the book would just have everything organized in one place, but there was a lot of information that was new to me.
 
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Well done on the improved control with your diet and intermittent fasting. It's interesting that your doctor does low carb too. Is she an endocrinologist? I just wonder what the take of a low carb endocrinologist might be on things like OGTT and bolusing for protein.

She is an endocrinologist. I don't know her vies on either. She did not give me an OGTT and since I have never been on insulin, bolus for protein also did not come up.
 

Mal37

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You should read the book by Dr. Jason Fung (I think its called The Complete Guide to Fasting). The one thing you need to do before starting is be sure you are used to eating a low-carb, high-fat diet. This makes the transition to fasting much easier and much more effective. There are a lot of ways to do this. He also just released a very good book called The Diabetes Code. I've been at this so long, I thought I knew everything and that the book would just have everything organized in one place, but there was a lot of information that was new to me.
Yes I have just purchased The Diabetes Code and hope to learn more about my conition. I don't know of the Fasting one but will try to source that book also thank you :)
 
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Just an update - my A1c is now 5.0% and I am still on no diabetes medication.