Feeling better / herbs

erin40

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Other
Hey everyone,

I am new here. I posted awhile ago about not being sure if I am diabetic or not. I don't want to do the OGGT as I have had a bad reaction from single instances of sugar excess, and my endo is on board with my rationale about this. But I have some signs of impaired glucose control. So I am basically in a gray area, not yet diagnosed but with potentially a problem that is being kept under wraps at the moment by my low carb diet.

I have been doing a lot better though lately (I can eat peas/carrots/corn and lentils again), and I just wanted to post to mention, I seem to be getting a lot of help from some Chinese herbs that I am taking. This is a herbal preparation or 'decoction'; you have to soak the herbs and cook them. I did some research and ordered the herbs online, but that's not really how you're supposed to do it. Chinese herbal medicine is really complicated, and it's always recommended to see a practitioner. It took me a fair amount of trial and error before I found something that helps me, but... WOW. I am feeling really good. The herbs are not the only thing I am doing, I'm also taking Vitamin D, kefir, going to bed earlier, and eating according to the daylight hours and in a 'time restricted' way. But the herbs seem to be helping quite a bit.

I just thought I'd share in case it's of use to anybody. Herbs can also lower the blood sugar, so they are only recommended to be used with caution if people are on blood sugar-lowering drugs. A herbalist can advise on these things.
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,216
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi,

How are you monitoring your BG management progress. Do you have access to a meter?
 

Circuspony

Well-Known Member
Messages
959
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
There are herbs that can affect glucose absorption - any idea what's in the mix?
 

erin40

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Other
@Jaylee thanks for asking. Yes I have a meter. My endo recommended that I stop using it for the time being though. My BS wasn't high before, and it isn't high now, I just feel way better, and I can eat more foods without feeling like I've just ingested five chocolate bars or three cans of coke.

@Circuspony Some of these herbs do affect glucose absorption, or at least, they lower blood sugar so I am assuming they do. My blood sugar wasn't high to begin with though, as I was eating low carb. The herbs supposedly do a lot of things in addition to that though, and I think this is where I am getting a benefit. I don't really want to say what they are on the forum, because they aren't necessarily good for everyone with diabetes, like, some of them can exacerbate autoimmune issues. But they are a variation of some common Chinese herbal formulas that are used for diabetes.

@bulkbiker I added the herbs on recently, well after all the other stuff, so it's clear that the additional benefit is from them. I am not giving the herbs sole credit though - the other things have been helpful too. But they weren't improving the situation, they were just keeping it from getting worse. I seem to be actually getting better now, & I wanted to come on here and mention it, because if I do have a problem it's of the T1 variety & supposedly is not supposed to respond to lifestyle-type interventions. Yet that's not my experience.

(Edited by moderator)
 
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