Am I being Reckless?

Mbaker

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4,339
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Available fast foods in Supermarkets
Thank you for taking the time to post - it is really helpful on a psychological level to hear from people who are/have gone through this. At the moment I think for me, taking the metformin is like acknowledging something I really don't want to acknowledge (more head in the sand time) but I am worried that I am doing myself potentially more damage by not taking it whilst I continue on the VLCD. Anyone with similar stats who tackled this via lifestyle change/diet without resorting to meds?
I only started meds through ignorance. My blood glucose was 20 mmol/L on diagnosis and within 1 week without Metformin got down to 16, not knowing what on earth I was doing. But still accepted the Metformin (an error for me in hindsight, as what I was doing was working).

Went of the Metformin and continued to get further into remission.
 

Lainie71

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Messages
1,890
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
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The term "big boned" lol repeatedly told this growing up!
Half asleep and had to read it twice to get it
Ebay until you get to your target weight!
Half asleep and had to read it twice to get it :happy: yes ebay
 
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Itchentofish

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15
First, ignore Calories and focus on the Carbs. Why? Calories are not a food group; merely a measure of energy. It can encourage you to reduce the wrong food group i.e. fats when it needs to be carbs for optimum results. Statins are not a diabetes drug and I would suggest should only be prescribed if a full lipids panel blood test shows your ratios need correcting. Perhaps you and your GP have checked that out but many GPs don't do that or go by Cholesterol total which is the wrong measure. If it was me I would take the Metformin as you no doubt have some insulin resistance. It's a very safe drug.
Thank you for your reply - I understand what you are saying and will move to Keto in 3 weeks when I have shifted my 20kg goal. When I meet with the GP in 3 weeks time I will raise the issue of lipids.
 

Itchentofish

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15
I took metformin for 3 weeks of absolute hell .. tied to the loo so gave it up... that was in early November when I was diagnosed.
From then on purely diet mainly keto with as few carbs as possible which led to the weight loss and drop in blood glucose. I was "fortunate" at the beginning to have a set of HbA1c tests due to a meeting with the area diabetes nurse who congratulated me on my lower blood sugars due to metformin who was most disappointed when I told her they had gone in the bin after only 3 weeks and that my progress was purely through diet. This was after she had pleasantly informed me that T2 was a chronic progressive disease and that I'd end up on insulin what ever I did.
5 years down the line I think I have proved her wrong... unfortunately she left the area not long after our meeting otherwise I'd be gleefully sending her my HbA1c results!
Your journey has been a very positive example. One thing that interests me is where do you take your guidance on portion quantities for your meals - eg how much fish/meat/dairy/eggs etc in a typical meal? Many thanks
 

mymuk

Well-Known Member
Messages
105
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I would take the Metformin, if you tolerate it well (I get no side issues whatever) I can see absolutely no downsides to it and several positives. The idea that being 'med-free' is a good in and of itself is a bit of romantic nonsense IMO.

Completely agree with all the LCHF advice. I've lost 25kg since last March whilst paying no attention to calories and fat intake whatever - so once you complete your virtuous VLC purgatory that's definitely what to shift to :)
 

Andydragon

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
3,324
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I would take the Metformin, if you tolerate it well (I get no side issues whatever) I can see absolutely no downsides to it and several positives. The idea that being 'med-free' is a good in and of itself is a bit of romantic nonsense IMO.

Completely agree with all the LCHF advice. I've lost 25kg since last March whilst paying no attention to calories and fat intake whatever - so once you complete your virtuous VLC purgatory that's definitely what to shift to :)
I get vitamin b issues with the 2000mg, now I’m halved it might be better, but I still supplement, I tolerate it fine otherwise and am kind of moving towards your view but zero meds has a certain appeal
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Your journey has been a very positive example. One thing that interests me is where do you take your guidance on portion quantities for your meals - eg how much fish/meat/dairy/eggs etc in a typical meal? Many thanks
Eat until full.
I record calories and macros for my own interest but don't design meals around them.
I like a nice thick steak or pork chop.. get the butcher to cut me "specials".
I tend to have about 500-800g of meat per main meal. Tonight it was 500g of rump steak for example.
That's now. when I first started out it was a ketogenic diet with as few carbs as possible.

Here's the very first day of my food diary in 2017 ...I'm guessing the cream and coconut oil were in keto coffees..
and some greedy ****** ate 2 bags of pork scratchings!
Those macros are oddly about where I am mostly these days too.
Screenshot 2021-02-16 at 22.54.41.png


For comparison.. here's today's

Screenshot 2021-02-16 at 22.56.55.png
 
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bulkbiker

BANNED
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19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
The idea that being 'med-free' is a good in and of itself is a bit of romantic nonsense IMO.
All medication have side effects.. some people are happy to tolerate them.. others just don't notice.. but over time even the most benign can have an impact.
 

mymuk

Well-Known Member
Messages
105
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
All medication have side effects.. some people are happy to tolerate them.. others just don't notice.. but over time even the most benign can have an impact.

Yes. But you can say exactly the same about everything you put in your body.

What do you use for your food diary BTW?
 

bulkbiker

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Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
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Itchentofish

Member
Messages
15
I would take the Metformin, if you tolerate it well (I get no side issues whatever) I can see absolutely no downsides to it and several positives. The idea that being 'med-free' is a good in and of itself is a bit of romantic nonsense IMO.

Completely agree with all the LCHF advice. I've lost 25kg since last March whilst paying no attention to calories and fat intake whatever - so once you complete your virtuous VLC purgatory that's definitely what to shift to :)
Thank you for your reply and fantastic that you have managed to shift a bag of cement (25kg) from your body! I will discuss metformin with the doc once I have seen the impact of 8 weeks of VLCD, 4 weeks on HFLC and 20+kg weight loss on my HbA1C levels. Many thanks
 

Itchentofish

Member
Messages
15
Eat until full.
I record calories and macros for my own interest but don't design meals around them.
I like a nice thick steak or pork chop.. get the butcher to cut me "specials".
I tend to have about 500-800g of meat per main meal. Tonight it was 500g of rump steak for example.
That's now. when I first started out it was a ketogenic diet with as few carbs as possible.

Here's the very first day of my food diary in 2017 ...I'm guessing the cream and coconut oil were in keto coffees..
and some greedy ****** ate 2 bags of pork scratchings!
Those macros are oddly about where I am mostly these days too.
View attachment 47533

For comparison.. here's today's

View attachment 47534
Thank you so much for posting that. I am also data driven so that is right up my street and will combine my own version of your sheet with my existing s/sheets that track BP/BG/KG/BMI so that I can see which foods have the most positive impact on my health.
 
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Itchentofish

Member
Messages
15
I only started meds through ignorance. My blood glucose was 20 mmol/L on diagnosis and within 1 week without Metformin got down to 16, not knowing what on earth I was doing. But still accepted the Metformin (an error for me in hindsight, as what I was doing was working).

Went of the Metformin and continued to get further into remission.
Thank you for your post and inspiration (I'm not sure I will ever be a kickboxer like you!) but once I get my BG under control and some weight off my lardy ****, look forward to getting back onto my road bike. All the Best.
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
That's why I only put food in mine.

I keep everything in excel and my own food database compiled from supermarket data which ultimately comes from the McCance and Widdowson nutrition tables which may be found here.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid

Slight correction.. the second example is from a Libre Office spreadsheet which I started after deciding that Bill Gates was no longer deserving of my money.
Works pretty much the same as excel but is free.
 
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Donought

Active Member
Messages
41
I've found listening to Dr Ben Bikman on youtube etc really helpful. He's a researcher without any irons in the fire so seems to be completely open to data. His knowledge of insulin is second to none and once you understand it it makes ditching the carbs super easy. His mantra for eating is: what will this do to my insulin levels. Mikhala Peterson also has a great podcast with a health journo talking about fat and cholesterol - take home message is fat is good for us and people with high cholesterol actually live longer. Finally a CGM - libre freestyle - is a fab tool if you like data. Being able to continuously monitor your BG is so beneficial, at least I found it so. I can see that I spike with carbs (obvs :)) but stay high for 3 hrs plus but with a chocolate bar/ sugar (all done in the name of science!) I'm up and down quite quickly. The wealth of data is useful for future guidance as well as motivation. It has also helped me pair the sugar headaches with the feeling and differentiate them from the high blood pressure headaches I have. Sounds as though you are doing a great job with everything. Good luck with the Dr's, I've learnt more on here than in any GP surgery. PS I'm on metformin as well with no side effects, but it's low dose slow release.
 

Itchentofish

Member
Messages
15
I've found listening to Dr Ben Bikman on youtube etc really helpful. He's a researcher without any irons in the fire so seems to be completely open to data. His knowledge of insulin is second to none and once you understand it it makes ditching the carbs super easy. His mantra for eating is: what will this do to my insulin levels. Mikhala Peterson also has a great podcast with a health journo talking about fat and cholesterol - take home message is fat is good for us and people with high cholesterol actually live longer. Finally a CGM - libre freestyle - is a fab tool if you like data. Being able to continuously monitor your BG is so beneficial, at least I found it so. I can see that I spike with carbs (obvs :)) but stay high for 3 hrs plus but with a chocolate bar/ sugar (all done in the name of science!) I'm up and down quite quickly. The wealth of data is useful for future guidance as well as motivation. It has also helped me pair the sugar headaches with the feeling and differentiate them from the high blood pressure headaches I have. Sounds as though you are doing a great job with everything. Good luck with the Dr's, I've learnt more on here than in any GP surgery. PS I'm on metformin as well with no side effects, but it's low dose slow release.
Thank you for your post - it seems if you want to find out about diabetes then this is the place to come to. I will watch the youtube videos you recommend tonight. Now I googled the libre system (seems very slick) - I guess you buy the sensors every 2 weeks and the app on your phone enables a data download from your sensor? Does that sound right? So about £25 a week to continuously monitor your BG which if I only do it for a month or so will rapidly educate me on how I respond to food types.
 

Donought

Active Member
Messages
41
Thank you for your post - it seems if you want to find out about diabetes then this is the place to come to. I will watch the youtube videos you recommend tonight. Now I googled the libre system (seems very slick) - I guess you buy the sensors every 2 weeks and the app on your phone enables a data download from your sensor? Does that sound right? So about £25 a week to continuously monitor your BG which if I only do it for a month or so will rapidly educate me on how I respond to food types.
Yup, spot on. I bought 2 to start with and fortunately it coincided with Christmas so I ate whatever I normally would, in the interest of science of course ;-) I then tried to transition to a more low carb diet for the next 2 weeks and used the 2nd sensor afterwards by which time I was pretty much fully low carb. Data was really interesting. I am currently wearing one as my endo has moved my metformin to a night time dose to stop my overnight hypos and wanted me to see what happened. It's so interesting...overnight hypos gone, good morning high FBG and afternoon hypos :)

So long as you can use NFC on your phone I think you can use the app to read the CGM. Then if you go to libreview.com you get the most wonderful amount of data, including a full excel doc of every reading. Only thing to remember is you must scan at least once every 8 hrs as it has an 8hr memory.

Good luck with it all. Btw I was watching Ben Bikman last night and his takeaway message is so interesting - insulin resistance goes hand in hand with hyperinsulinemia and it is the super high insulin that causes all the issues. Therefore we should be trying to reduce insulin NOT blood sugar and the way to reduce that is to lower blood sugar as it happens.
 

Itchentofish

Member
Messages
15
Yup, spot on. I bought 2 to start with and fortunately it coincided with Christmas so I ate whatever I normally would, in the interest of science of course ;-) I then tried to transition to a more low carb diet for the next 2 weeks and used the 2nd sensor afterwards by which time I was pretty much fully low carb. Data was really interesting. I am currently wearing one as my endo has moved my metformin to a night time dose to stop my overnight hypos and wanted me to see what happened. It's so interesting...overnight hypos gone, good morning high FBG and afternoon hypos :)

So long as you can use NFC on your phone I think you can use the app to read the CGM. Then if you go to libreview.com you get the most wonderful amount of data, including a full excel doc of every reading. Only thing to remember is you must scan at least once every 8 hrs as it has an 8hr memory.

Good luck with it all. Btw I was watching Ben Bikman last night and his takeaway message is so interesting - insulin resistance goes hand in hand with hyperinsulinemia and it is the super high insulin that causes all the issues. Therefore we should be trying to reduce insulin NOT blood sugar and the way to reduce that is to lower blood sugar as it happens.
Thanks for the insight and guidance. Co-incidentally I also watched Ben Bikman last night on Bio-hackers and found it fascinating, particularly the idea that high glucose is the secondary marker for high insulin and that if we tested routinely for high insulin levels instead of HbA1c we could head off the issue before it manifested itself as T2. Something I found even more interesting was Robert Lustig's lecture on the link between sugar levels and cancer - highly recommend. In the meantime still getting to grips with my BG monitoring so my question is - in an ideal world what should my BG range be first thing in the morning and 1-2 hours after eating? Many thanks
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
in an ideal world what should my BG range be first thing in the morning and 1-2 hours after eating? Many thanks
Its all quite individual but I like my mornings to be 4.5-5.5 mmol/l and aim to keep those levels post meals too.
 

Donought

Active Member
Messages
41
Thanks for the insight and guidance. Co-incidentally I also watched Ben Bikman last night on Bio-hackers and found it fascinating, particularly the idea that high glucose is the secondary marker for high insulin and that if we tested routinely for high insulin levels instead of HbA1c we could head off the issue before it manifested itself as T2. Something I found even more interesting was Robert Lustig's lecture on the link between sugar levels and cancer - highly recommend. In the meantime still getting to grips with my BG monitoring so my question is - in an ideal world what should my BG range be first thing in the morning and 1-2 hours after eating? Many thanks

That's great to hear. I'll check out the Lustig lecture too - thanks for the info.

As @bulkbiker says, it's all individual re BG range but I feel best at 4.2-4.8 as a fasting level and up to 5.8 post meals. That said, I'm struggling to get below 6.1 for either at the moment. Also the CGM will show you what happens to you after eating so you can see how you feel best. I think I said above I can be high 3 hrs after eating if I eat bread/ crisps but I'll be up and down with chocolate so if I really really want to eat some bread I know I'm going to need to for a good long walk post meal. Obviously easier just to not eat the bread but hey, sometimes needs must ;-)