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complimentary medicine anyone?

C

conwaylex

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5
Hi,
I am new to the forum (T2, 3 months background level of 7.7) and turning to anyone who might have advice about augmenting 1 x 500mg Metformin with non-script mineral suppliments. An Australian book I have mentions using the following: Alpha Lipoic acid (200mg), Curcumin 100,000mg, chromium picolate 200 micro g. But before I make myself a guinea pig, would anyone know a) if they work and b) do they negatively affect the action of the Metformin? I ran this question by my d. nurse and she got quite huffy, saying that she's not trained in these matters. I do try to take exercise and am not overwweight.
 
Re: complememtary medicine anyone?

Personally, I'd keep away from stuff like that. As a Type 2 you should be able to sort things out just by adjusting the things that you normally eat.

Apart from reducing sugar intake which you are certain to know about already, just cut back on any starchy carbohydrates that you eat - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice etc. If you do that , then you should see quick improvements in your blood glucose levels.

I'm a Type 2 of nearly nine years and I haven't any complications at all that I am aware of. You can read my story here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10512

Best wishes - John
 
Re: complememtary medicine anyone?

Taking vitamins is not really complementary medicine - they are food supplements and good nutrition is essential whatever kind of medicine you use.

I would refer you to http://www.bloodsugar101.cm take a look there and find the section on food supplements which have been suggested for diabetics. The author of that website has researched the scientific papers used to promote many (expensive) vitamins and food supplements. They are not all they are cracked up to be, unless you are actually deficient in something, although most of them won't do any harm - lots of people take cinnamon for example.

I have taken a few food supplements including chromium, but to be honest, what has made the difference is substantially reducing the amount of starchy carbohydrate I eat. I have been taking vitamin D3 for about a month but I have not taken the chromium for a while.

Since my diagnosis in Feb/March with an HbA1c of 7.8% I have brought it down to 6%, I expect it would have been under that but for a minor lapse while on holiday in the weeks before the test. I have done this by reducing the amount of carbohydrate I eat and I have been low carbing since May.
 
Re: complementary medicine anyone?

Some people take them and swear by them. Others have tried them and found no obvious benefits.

As to whether they interact with metformin? A pharmacist would probably be able to help.
 
Re: complememtary medicine anyone?

Dear Catherine, John and Spiral,
Thank you for your comments. I must confess the thing that has surprised me most about these threads is repeated reference to reducing carbohydrate intake, and that this seems to work for most people. The advice I have been given is to switch to low GI carbohydrates such as brown rice, but not necessarily reduce the overall percentage of carbs as a food type - is this wrong? And are we talking about an Atkins-type diet here?
 
Re: complememtary medicine anyone?

conwaylex said:
Thank you for your comments. I must confess the thing that has surprised me most about these threads is repeated reference to reducing carbohydrate intake, and that this seems to work for most people. The advice I have been given is to switch to low GI carbohydrates such as brown rice, but not necessarily reduce the overall percentage of carbs as a food type - is this wrong? And are we talking about an Atkins-type diet here?
Click to expand...
No you are not necessarily talking about an Atkin diet! I have drastically reduced the amount of refined starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice etc - that I eat. However, I am not what would be considered to be on a "low-carbohydrate" diet. I still eat quite a lot of carbohydrate - around 140gms/day at least and often quite a lot more. I eat lots of fruit (complex carbohydrate) and what other carbohydrates that I still eat I now tend to go for the lower GI options such as - e.g Lizi's granola, rye bread, sweet potatoes, pulse spaghetti, brown rice etc.

Really, Type 2s do not have much choice as to whether they should reduce the amount of sugar that they normally eat - i.e. the simple sugary foods that we all know about but also the starchy carbohydrate foods also because they turn into sugar almost as soon as they enter out bodies. The only other alternative for Type 2s is to follow the progession route (i.e. deterioration) becoming increasingly dependent on prescribed medications until eventually we need to start injecting insulin. Following the progression route increasingly leads to the likelihood of developing the quite horrible diabetic complications that we know can come our way.

I followed the progression route for eight years and my situation gradually deteriorated until my HbA1c reached 9.4% and my GP decided to prescribe metformin. However, over the last twelve months I have normalised my blood glucose levels by starting to test and by reducing my intake of starchy carbohydrate. My last two HbA1c results have been a very healthy 5.3%.

You will read a lot of various arguments about "low-carb" v "non-low-carb" and these debates do become quite fervent. However, do not let the ferocity of those debates mislead you! If you are to take control of your blood glucose levels, it is inevitable that you will need to reduce your intake of starchy carbohydrates. Testing will tell you that you need to do this. How far you take it is a quite separate matter. Certainly, if I ever need to do more to maintain my level of glycaemic control then I shall quite simply cut my carbohydrate intake still further.

Best wishes and good luck - John
 
T2 diabetics are intolerant of carbohydrate - it isn't an overstatement to say it poisons us.

Recommending that diabetics eat a diet high in starchy carbohyrate when that carbohydrate turns to glucose in our bodies is extremely irresponsible and bad advice. Whatever diet you eventually opt for, you have to stick to it for the rest of your life. All succesful diabetics (those with good blood sugar control) significantly reduce their carbohydrate intake. My body can't tolerate any more than 50g carbohydrate a day before it hits diabetic blood sugar levels.

If you are interested in complimentary and alternative medicine you will be familiar with the fact our bodies do have some rather amazing healing properties when we give it the right kind of support. I do that with my vegetarian low carb diet, I have not felt this healthy for ages.

Follow up the link I posted in my original response if you have not done so already. That will tell you what you need to know to feel confident about dealing with this by diet, then come back here and join in the fun :wink: :D There is loads of great support for you here 8)
 
Hi conwaylex,
Whilst it is advisable to switch to low G.I. complex carbohydrates, it is the individual response to these foods that is important. Portion control is another major factor. Half the portion and see what happens then try a third if it is still too high. If the response is still too high then that particular food will have to be eliminated from your diet. Most of us cannot tolerate the amount of carbohydrates that we ate prior to diagnosis. That is where the testing comes in and why it is paramount in your management. I cannot tell you that if you eat what I eat then your blood sugars will be the same as mine. It doesn't work like that. How simple it would be if it did :D It is an individual thing and there is no secret formula.

Be guided by your meter with the frequent testing that will be necessary in the early stages. Keep a food diary as this saves wasting test strips by duplicating your responses. Above all, take it slowly, there is a lot to learn and it wont happen overnight.

Hope this helps,

Catherine.
 
Thanks again for your replies - most helpful. I have also followed the 'test-test-test' advice on this blog and having become more educated about this, am now no longer not doing the test strip thing in an ad-hoc but scientific fashion. I only wish I had been given this advice 8 months ago, when I was first given the equipment... :(

Anyway, (now on a much lower carb diet) it would appear that the 1hour, 2 hour post meal test is showing that my insulin levels are kicking in okay. e.g typically 7.2 (1st hr)->6.5mmol (2nd hr after meal), but I seem to be getting oddly high fasting readings first thing in the morning e.g. 8.7mmol this morning. These readings are usually higher than the test before I go to bed... I went on the bloodsugar101 website and started to scare myself when I read about the liver supplying more sugar in a bad feedback loop - I wonder if this could explaining the relatively high fasting reading. Any ideas anyone?
 
Sounds like Dawn Phenomenon to me. And liver dumps.

Dawn lasts until lunch time for some people - I'm one of them :shock: :roll: :? My high morning readings were why I opted for medication (Metformin ) in the end.

Also, it is not just what you eat, but when you eat. I have to spead my carb intake out over the day and not go longer than 3 hours max between meals/snacks.

I have experiemented with eating a small snack just before bed to try to reduce my morning readings, but that has not really worked for me. I don't usually eat until mid-moring at the weekend, but I do eat earlier on weekdays. These days I can't cope with food really early, although I know taking a snack to bed has helped some people.

If you eat to your meter and adopt eating patterns that work with your body you will get there, but there is a lot of trial and error involved to. See yourself as your own personal science experiment :wink:
 
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