• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • Diabetes UK staff will be logging into the forum at various times throughout this Bank Holiday weekend, however, if you require emergency medical assistance or advice please call 999, or if it is less urgent then please call the 24 hour NHS 111 service on 111. Alternatively, please speak to your GP or healthcare team.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

lost 5kg but hba1c the same

I think the doc is probably suggesting that it would take 3 months to see the effect of not taking Metformin because that is how long it would take for it's effect to be seen on your HbA1c, not that that is how long it takes to clear your system.... if that makes sense. Basically your HbA1c result is affected by the previous approx 3 months glucose levels, so if the metformin is having a beneficial effect it would take 3 months clear of it to show the full impact on your HbA1c.
 
MarcR said:
I was thinking that dried cranberries are better than raisins but now I read they have added sugar so may be worse!
Click to expand...
As all carbs are converted to glucose, we need to consider all carbs on UK product, not just sugar.
That said, a quick look on Tescos (randomly selected supermarket) website shows that dried cranberries are 83.9% carbs and raisins are 74.5% carbs. Both are very high but it depends how many you are eating.
 
rebrascora said:
I think the doc is probably suggesting that it would take 3 months to see the effect of not taking Metformin because that is how long it would take for it's effect to be seen on your HbA1c, not that that is how long it takes to clear your system.... if that makes sense. Basically your HbA1c result is affected by the previous approx 3 months glucose levels, so if the metformin is having a beneficial effect it would take 3 months clear of it to show the full impact on your HbA1c.
Click to expand...
I hadn't thought of it like that, thanks
 
helli said:
As all carbs are converted to glucose, we need to consider all carbs on UK product, not just sugar.
That said, a quick look on Tescos (randomly selected supermarket) website shows that dried cranberries are 83.9% carbs and raisins are 74.5% carbs. Both are very high but it depends how many you are eating.
Click to expand...
I think you can get dried cranberries without added sugar, or reduced sugar.
 
MarcR said:
I think you can get dried cranberries without added sugar, or reduced sugar.
Click to expand...
You can but they are still high carb at between 75g and 85g carbs per 100g and a high proportion of that being sugar despite being a very sour fruit.
Check out the GrapeTree web site and there are lot of different fruits, nuts and seeds with the nutritional information.
I think you may still be making the mistake of looking at the 'sugar' content rather than the carbohydrates.
Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries are low carb with blueberries being a bit more but as soon as you dry them the carb content goes up.
 
I saw the doctor yesterday and they agreed to lower my Metformin to 500mg a day. I asked about lowering the Atorvastatin to 10mg but she said there is evidence 20mg reduces the risk of heart attacks and they don't know how much plaque is already there, it helps reduce the risk of bits flaking away.
Yesterday my morning blood was 4.4 and about 6.5 hours after lunch is was 4.3. Will occasionally monitor it and wait till my hba1c in July. It's all an answer to prayer.
There was a change after 10.5kg weight loss, same at 15kg, but something changed after 18kg. My weight was a bit static after 15kg, but reducing carbs helped.
 
JITR said:
After a week (officially 5.5 days) residual Metformin will be too low to affect your BG levels.

For all I know other effects of Metformin, such as those on the Mitochondria, may persist for weeks and months.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hijack the thread but I've never heard that metformin affects the mitochondria. Please could you tell me more? Thanks!
 
debs248 said:
I've never heard that metformin affects the mitochondria. Please could you tell me more? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ben Bikman referred to Metformin and the mitochondria in his Public Health Collaboration 2023 talk starting around 30:10. He refers to this paper:

Metformin inhibits mitochondrial adaptations to aerobic exercise training in older adults​

In this talk about insulin resistance Bikman argues changes in lifestyle and diet are much better than medication, detailing the adverse effects of the main types of therapy for type 2 diabetes.
 
Since going to 1 Metformin tablet a day in the morning since Friday, I tested my blood today, was 4.8 fasting (up from about 4.3 previously but OK) but 2h after breakfast was down to 6.3. Will have to wait till Friday for a week to pass. I eat most of my carbs for breakfast, very little at lunch and then fast so it seemed to make sense to have it in the morning.
 
I do have two cups of cocoa in the evening with almond milk added though.
 
MarcR said:
Since going to 1 Metformin tablet a day in the morning since Friday, I tested my blood today, was 4.8 fasting (up from about 4.3 previously but OK) but 2h after breakfast was down to 6.3. Will have to wait till Friday for a week to pass. I eat most of my carbs for breakfast, very little at lunch and then fast so it seemed to make sense to have it in the morning.
Click to expand...

Sounds like an ideal regime. Early time restricted eating fits in with our circadian rhythms according to Prof Russell Foster's Life Time.
 
Last edited:
I'm reading or seeing stuff on the internet and YouTube about side effects of statins, but my doctors think it's a good precaution although my qrisk is about 6%. I'm following their advice but I have doubts and I heard the statin increases hba2c
 
MarcR said:
I didn't know that. I've heard 2 meals a day is ideal with breakfast being the biggest meal, and if a supper is eaten should be light and not too late.
Click to expand...

""Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper"
 
It's been about 5 days since dropping from 2 tablets to one Metformin a day 500mg, my fasting blood seems to have settled about 4.7mmol/L up about 0.3, I don't know if I dropped the last tablet if it would go up another 0.3 or stay the same but I'm content for now.
 
It's been just over a week since lowering my Metformin to one 500mg tablet in the morning. My fasting blood was 4.9 and 2h after breakfast 6.5. My fasting has gone up, was about 4.3 on two tablets a day but the after meal has gone down, was getting 7.4-8.1 before.
 
Yesterday I had readings of 4.5 and 6.5, after reading the great cholesterol myth, I decided to dump my statin, and also my Metformin. The book seems to say that lifestyle changes and low carb does more to help than statins, except for people at high risk, and that it's the triglyceride to HDL ratio that is a better pointer to cardiovascular disease. Apparently the absolute risk reduction of statins is only about 1%!!! But they compare figures in relative terms to make it look better, e.g. if a group of 100 on statins one person died of CVD, but in a control group two died, they would present that as being a 100% reduction in risk, when it's really only 1% better in absolute terms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top