To cut a long story short... Diagnosed as T2 with Hb1ac of 52 in August 2011. Lost weight and moderate carb diet brought it down to 37 within 3 months and I was able to keep it in that range for about 6 years. Even a GTT came back as normal. However over the past couple of years I lost control of my diet and put a bit of weight back on and was shocked to discover that between 2017 when i was last tested, and Sept of this year my level had shot up to 70, with a fasting score of 11. I immediately reverted to my previous way of eating, lost weight and kept my carbs to around 150 per day and with the help of 2 x 500 metformin a day, my score at the beginning of this month was 42 and a fasting level of 5.9.
How much of this drop can be attributed to my lifestyle change, and how much to the metformin? My doctor seems to think that if I had not made any changes to my diet and relied on the metformin alone the I would probably still be in the low 60;s. However, I also think that the more you help yourself, then the more the metformin is going to help you.
He has suggested that i come off the metformin completely and carry on with the lifestyle changes and re test in another 3 months to see what happens. I tend to agree with him as I hope to shift another half stone or so and haven't felt particularly good on the metformin. (although I have opted to stay on it over the festive period)
How does metformin work? Is it an accumulative effect or a more "of the moment" response? if I stopped taking it regularly, would there be any benefit to taking one as required if I knew that for some reason I would be eating outside my normal diet (work/family celebration etc)?
How much of this drop can be attributed to my lifestyle change, and how much to the metformin? My doctor seems to think that if I had not made any changes to my diet and relied on the metformin alone the I would probably still be in the low 60;s. However, I also think that the more you help yourself, then the more the metformin is going to help you.
He has suggested that i come off the metformin completely and carry on with the lifestyle changes and re test in another 3 months to see what happens. I tend to agree with him as I hope to shift another half stone or so and haven't felt particularly good on the metformin. (although I have opted to stay on it over the festive period)
How does metformin work? Is it an accumulative effect or a more "of the moment" response? if I stopped taking it regularly, would there be any benefit to taking one as required if I knew that for some reason I would be eating outside my normal diet (work/family celebration etc)?