Metformin and fasting

[KevinPotts]

Dr Jason Fung advises not expect any adverse symptoms even in the absence of a gall bladder Romeran

 

[Finsky]

Thank you Mark and Finsky for your opinions. Yes, I have wondered for a while if I "eat to my medications" as you put it. I do enjoy eating more when my medication is increased, it's as though I have been given permission to indulge a little. Until I started reading this forum I didn't realise different approaches to diabetes are being investigated.
I have no gallbladder now and I lose my appetite completely if I overdo butter and fried food but will consider reducing carbs a little more, summer being a good time to experiment. I am due for my annual chat with a diabetic nurse (have been in a new area for 18 months) and will see what she thinks too.
I am not interested in fasting with regard to diabetes, I just do a 24 hour one to rest my stomach occasionally.

I like to hear that you are open to new ideas It may be that it is not for you...but you don't know if you don't at least try.
What many of us have experienced with so called 'health professionals'..nurses/doctors...many of them are not very positive and against anything that goes against NHS guide lines.. By all means, it is good to have your chat with your DN, I'm only saying that so you are not facing dissapointing surprise if you should get 'funny' reaction from her..we've heard all sorts of reactions from our 'experts' happening before. But end of the day they cannot rule what you can and cannot do..remember it is your body!
Have a chat..weight all the facts and make independent decision based to your own thoughts. If you do decide to have ago reducing carbs..we are here for you to give you lots of advice and food tips. Those changes doesn't have to be drastic...just little change here and there to get you used to it all and see what effect it has to your blood sugars..slowly slowly approach is always the best and safest way of doing it and easing your body to slightly different way of eating

 

[Living-by-the-beach]

http://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting-faq#who

@KevinPotts

This is a great link. Thanks..

 

[KevinPotts]

Living-by-the-beach


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[specialk]

There can be many reasons..including medical and religious. I fast because I have spare 'energy' stored around my waste line that doesn't get used =loosing it is VERY hard when you are diabetic AND have PCOS. Low carb diet on its own doesn't achieve quite as much results that I would like...or it is VERY slow progress. Add fasting to the diet and hey presto, things start moving.
Saying that, weight loss is added bonus..I have made all the changes to get my blood sugar levels under control.
When you fast..you body will need 'food'...when I doesn't come from your diet, it has to come from somewhere...it start drawing out from its own fat reserves. That is what nature has intended it to be..fat reserves are there when times are hard and food not readily available. But in modern times...food is everywhere and easily available...we eat all the time > weight gain and other health issues....or I should say..CARBOHYDRATES are everywhere, particularly very processed form carbs. All carbs raise our blood sugars causing body to release insulin to deal with those sugars. Insulin also is turning all/unused carb energy into fat stores in our bodies >weight gain. If you have lots of insulin in your system...more eaten energy is stored..when your body is in 'storage mode'..it sends signals that you are hungry, even if you have only recently eaten. So you eat because you truly feel hungry> more insulin produced..and so it goes on in circles.
During fasting your insulin production is minimal..once you body gets used to fasting , one doesn't get those hungry messages same way because insulin is not there playing the game in such a quantity nor is the 'storage' issue present as one will use up what is available.
That is very simplified way of putting some medical reasons for fasting...particularly with type 2 diabetics. But there are many more ways fasting will affect medically for other illnesses and conditions. Religiously it is seen body's way of 'cleansing' itself..and it is very similar way seeing it medically too. I see it way of giving one's body a break to get over come some 'hard days of work' and re-setting the system...or at least make some issues ease off a little.

Thank you. Very useful and you have helped me understand why fasting will help.

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[MikePea]

I take one Metformin 500 mcg after breakfast and one after lunch. It works for me. On a personal LC diet. Not fat free.

 

[specialk]

I take one Metformin 500 mcg after breakfast and one after lunch. It works for me. On a personal LC diet. Not fat free.

Do you take stations?


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[specialk]

Do you take stations?


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Ment statins

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[specialk]

Look at dietdoctor.com. great video about diabetes and LowcarbHighfat way of eating. It's worked for me. From very high readings down to just one point inside prediabetic range in 6 months.

 

[KEITHMARKS]

I too am following Jason Fung Obesity Code fasting diet. Completed one week, alternate fast days, and now had 10days no carbs, higher fat, my blood sugars coming down in day, but mornings still quite high. Only taking slow release metformin on fasting days when I eat, so some days only take one tablet. I am not overweight, just using the diet to correct sugar levels

No dry throat. I am trying to drink more water. I bought the Obesity guide by Jung. Really informative. Upping fat intake I find hard after years of being brainwashed into having low fat foods. I am making slow but steady progress. Looking forward to my next hb1ac test. Let me know how you are getting on perhaps we can help each other

 

[walnut_face]

I too am following Jason Fung Obesity Code fasting diet. Completed one week, alternate fast days, and now had 10days no carbs, higher fat, my blood sugars coming down in day, but mornings still quite high. Only taking slow release metformin on fasting days when I eat, so some days only take one tablet. I am not overweight, just using the diet to correct sugar levels

Welcome @KEITHMARKS You will find that for many folk, the first reading of the day is the last to fall into line. This is probably due to Dawn Phenomenon, or "liver dump" a quite natural event

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Upping fat intake I find hard after years of being brainwashed into having low fat foods.

Whenever I see mention of LCHF I ask what's low and what's high. More importantly, like you, spent years on low fat and struggled to cope with more fat. In my case it turns out that my body no longer processes fat very well and increasing it causes all sorts of problems. My daily fat intake is under 50 gms against an RDA of 80gms. The following might be useful reference.

Recommended Daily Fat Intake
Total calories per day Saturated fat in grams Total fat in grams
1,600 18 or less 53
2,000 20 or less 65
2,200 24 or less 73
2,500 25 or less 80

I don't rate my chances of that lot staying lined up. LOL

 

[Scrubbit]

Yep thats what I do, lunch is often my first meal and I eat my last meal late (8/9 oclock)

 

[Scrubbit]

I never used to eat breakfast or lunch, but found that once I was working full time, with an 8am start, by 10am I started to feel very muddled and wobbly. This was long before being diagnosed with diabetes, once I began eating a high fibre cereal for breakfast I was able to function much better at work.

Also, not eating regular meals does make it harder to resist the temptation to graze on high carb or high sugar snacks. I have fallen off the healthy eating wagon big style, hence coming to look at this forum. That comes from other factors, but when I was first diagnosed about 3 years ago, I cut sugar out straight away, reduced the carbs and lost 2 stone without even trying. If the differents diets work for you fantastic, well done for having that self discipline, (I hope that doesn't sound patronising because I really mean it). But if you are like me and struggle to follow these different eating regimes, don't feel that you are somehow failing. You are not, you can still lose the weight and feel better by just following a sensible eating regime and being a little more active.

 

[Living-by-the-beach]

I've found this video about losing insulin resistance from Dr. Annette Boswell important to me.

Instead of eating in the evenings I try and drink just green tea from about 4pm onwards and give my body a chance to lower my weight over the longer haul.. So I eat a good meal in the mornings a late lunch and very lightly eat in the evenings. I'm down 18lbs in 5 months. & down 42lbs from original diagnosis weight of T2DM of 252lbs back in 2014.

 

[Living-by-the-beach]

Don't skip meals and drink more water.

Have you read any of Dr Jason Fung's work or any of his books?

Complete Guide To Fasting (Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting) available from Amazon