Zand, sorry but I am confused, over the past year I have done everything I can to keep my bs within normal limits so that I don't need medication. Yes I go off the rails sometime but I am proud of myself because my HbA1c is fine and my cholesterol is normal.
Why do you want metformin?
I have 2 very good friends who are both overweight, very intelligent lovely people who think too much and analyse conversations and days events to the point where it is making them ill. I tell them to stop over thinking things because no one else is, life is for living. Be proud that you are fighting back, you are doing great . Xx
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Why do I want Metformin? That's a really good question. I'm glad you asked it and I will give you a full answer because I would like everyone who reads this thread to know the reasons. .Like you, I have tried to resist medication. At one point I was taking 6 drugs daily for blood pressure and heart. I read somewhere that 2 of these drugs could have interacted badly and caused my heart to go into AF. Obviously I can't prove this, but I think it's true. My heart specialist told me that AF can be 'just one of those things'. I don't believe anything to do with health is 'just one of those things' . There will always be a reason we just don't know it yet. So, yes my ultimate goal is to be drug free, or as drug free as possible.
Like you, I have done everything I could over the past 2 1/2 years to keep my bs within normal limits so that I don't need medication. I knew I was pre-diabetic for several years and during that time I began to slowly change my eating habits for good. So I knew there was a possibility that a blood test one day would throw up 'diabetes' . I tried to sort my body out before it got to that stage, but failed. Whilst I was pre-diabetic though I heard about the Newcastle diet and stored the name in my brain in case I ever needed it. So when I got the diagnosis of diabetes, there was no denial in me at all. I came home and googled 'Newcastle diet' and not a lot of info came up, there were only a few entries back then and not much info. Just that it was a 600 calorie diet (Why on enough they dubbed it this, when it was in fact 600 cals meal replacement sachets/soups and up to 200 cals veg, I will never understand.) And that it was for 8 weeks. The problem I had with it was that I couldn't get Optifast anywhere and wasn't confident in using other meal replacements. Up to that point, I had been trying to live as much as possible by the '1 ingredient rule'....if there's more than 1 ingredient listed on the pack you don't have it. Yes of course I fail on that rule all the time, but I do try to steer away from things that have10 or 20 or so ingredients listed. One of the health email newsletters I received regularly calls these things 'edible food substitutes'. I just did not want to go back to having such heavily processed non-foods.
So, I started my own version of the Newcastle Diet. 600 calories a day for 8 weeks. I soon found out that I needed to cut out breakfast so that my other 2 meals could be a decent size. Some days I 'cheated' and had 670 calories. Next day I compensated by having less so that the average was 600. I was so determined to beat this. At the 3 week mark things were great. My fasting BG averaged at 4.9 for that week. I was eating mainly veg with a very small amount of protein. My intake of fat and protein was far too low. I see that now. If they had called it the 800 cal diet, I may have been OK, but 600 was way too harsh. At 4 weeks, I started to get mild pains in my limbs and lower back. By 5 weeks my back was so bad, It took me ages to get out of a chair. Swearing helped, but I could only do that if I was alone. By 6 weeks I was crying when I got out of a car or stood for too long. Don't underestimate the pain level here. I did not cry at all when I broke my rib and sternum, not when it had just happened, and not when it was healing. I finally gave up at the end of 7 weeks. Yes, I know I was stupid. Yes, I know I should have been under medical supervision.
I am telling you all of this now as it is part of my journey here and needs to be told at some time.
At diagnosis my HbA1c was 58, since those dreadful 7 weeks it has remained at 41 until the most recent one this month, which was 49. I lost some weight during those 7 weeks, but not enough. I needed to recover by eating more fats and protein so the weight crept on, gradually though. I can't remember what my weight was then, and I can't check because my computer isn't working right now......Aaaarrggghh. I think I lost a stone taking me to around 16 and a half stones.
I know I still have a big problem with insulin resistance. This is a bad thing because I find it so hard to lose weight, but also a good thing because that means my pancreas is still working hard to produce it. I want to help it out by taking Metformin to improve my insulin sensitivity as soon as possible before it gets too tired to function. I don't need Metformin to control my BG's or as an appetite suppressant. I am trying to exercise more and lose weight which will help too. Also my liver test - (serum alanine aminotransferase level) is worse again - up to 73 from 40 - and my cholesterol ratio is still not good. The low carbing will help the liver and I have started having fish oil again to help my HDL cholesterol. I am hoping that improvements in these two will also help with improving insulin sensitivity.
So I hope you can see that I haven't taken this decision to have Metformin lightly. I was originally against the idea. My mind changed after reading comments about Metformin and insulin resistance from someone on this forum; someone who always made sensible comments which were in line with my own way of thinking.
I think you are right not to take Metformin yourself. You don't have as much weight to lose as me. I have tried so hard for so many years, it really is now or never. The thing is, when you have more than 8 stones to lose, it's obvious that lots have gone wrong in your body already, and hormones aren't working properly. I don't believe anyone gets to be this huge simply by being greedy and I am writing this thread for anyone who wants to read it, but especially for those who hate themselves because of their weight. It is oh so hard to put one foot in front of the other and try.
Thanks for the question, it's one I really needed to answer.
