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From 78 to 27 in 3 months

finsit

Well-Known Member
Messages
331
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Well, i wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this forum during my scary journey of the last three months since my diagnosis on Dec 23rd, 2020 with an a1c of 78. Much of my appreciation goes to Dr. Richard Bernstein, the real hero of modern diabetes solution. It was a tough ride, but it paid off.

Just in case you are curious to know, I completely stopped all carbs except the veggies etc (30 gms/day). Moderate exercise (due to pandemic, just walking or home cycling) and of course 5-6 time testing a day.

In the end I realised 3 meals didn't work for me well and in the last month i started 2 meals a day and a snack in the middle of the day, each 5 hours apart (bf 8-9, snack 1-2 and dinner 6-7). I have also included dry fasting on Mondays and Thursday (that is dawn to dusk).

Please note, D2 runs in family, 80% family members already have it. I was 71 kg at diagnosis and lost 16 kg in the last three months. Now at my ideal 55 kg (Protein Power by Dr. Michael Eades). I was put on 500gm twice Metformin that i stopped taking after 2 months based on my reading and low carb affect. I am sure Metformin did play a role to get to 27 and my next test in 2 months will show how far i can take it without meds. I will be happy even if i have to be in early 30s a1c without meds.

Also i did my fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR test last week which came out at 0.7 which means i have no insulin-resistance.

Now the marathon starts, i need to stick to this plan for the rest of the life though, no holidays or exceptions. Health is more precious than food I love
 
One question though based on your experiences please. Based on my finger readings, i thought i will be somewhere in mid 30s though. I can only think of this much lower because i read Metformin also reduces glycation process, so probably a 10 digit below my actual readings means the Metformin work? It will be interesting to see what i get in couple of months. Any of you have any substantial change in their a1c after stopping Metformin?
 
I never took metformin, but my HbA1c is always higher than either finger pricks or CGM (Libre) suggests. So many variables.
 
To be honest I never really started on metformin.. only took it for 3 weeks at the start so not sure if it ever had any effect on my blood glucose levels. I never managed to get off the loo!

Depending on your meter and if it over or under reads your blood sugar too I guess. Which do you use?
 
So yes the meter could be a factor, i used different and i thought they were about the accurate ones. Freelite and Exactive, my fasting morning was always around 4.9-5.0 and postprandial could do up to 7 most of the days. The current 27 means a mean bg of 4.8 mmol/l which doesnt make sense for me. I would probably give the credit to Metformin for its affect of reducing glycation process, i read detailed article on medicine.org.uk. One more thing i know from Dr. Bernstein book that he mentioned somewhere that your sugar has to be high for a prolonged period to affect you a1c, so even if my sugar goes to 7 lets say and because im on low carb, probably that all gets utilised without glycation, so then it makes sense to related a1c to my fasting sugar, any thoughts?
 
I have never had Metformin myself but it has often been said that it has a minimal effect on BG maybe a reduction of 1 mmol/L. As far as I know, unless it is very severe, glycation itself isn't a problem, it is just used as an indicator of average BG. If Metformin is altering the indicator rather than the actual effect, then that would be worse than useless. Having a broken speedometer doesn't mean you can exceed the speed limit with impunity.
I think glycation works like being in a smoky room. If there is a lot of smoke and you stay there a long time, a strong smell will be attached to your clothes. If there is not much smoke or you are in the room for a short time there will be little smell attached.
As regards your low HbA1c, have you considered what you BG level is overnight, you could be spending 8 hours at 4.0 for example, which would bring you average down considerably.
 
I was reading why a1c could be lower than BG readings and it struck to me that having G6PD enzyme deficiency can lower a1c levels. I am a known G6BD deficient (its a genetic disorder in red blood cells). Through further digging, it seems correction factor for men is about 0.8% to be added 4.6+0.8 = 5.4% or 35 which seems about right based on my BG readings. I was expecting in the range of 32-34. Of course its just my assumptions based on what i read, it might be that i have reduced glycation genetically ....
 
Those a great results and ones I hope to replicate. Congratulations and here’s to it being the start of something permanent.
 

It's interesting about you being G6BD deficient. I have just obtained some genetic results and going through each gene to determine whether I have a propensity towards a multitude of conditions has proven very informative. It's not for everyone of course because you have to be the type where you don't worry obsessively when a singular inherited gene shows you 'may' have a tendency towards diabetes, etc. Incidentally there are many, many genetic factors involved in all of these conditions and it's not until you go through genetic testing that you realise WHY you may have this or that. I'd definitely recommend it. x

Just edited to add; for anyone who's interested, you do have to pay privately through one of the DNA ancestry sites that also includes this genetic health info.
 
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Fantastic achievement zamalik, inspiring and breathtaking! Very well done!
 
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