macdiv2024
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I was diagnosed with T2D back in Feb 1997. I have tried various tablets including gliclazide, metformin (including sustained release) and other drugs. Metformin was best but I could not tolerate the GI side effects, so I had to abandon. I have tried all kinds of diets but none worked and whenever I have been initially successful, the weight just piled back on again. Constant international travel, living in and out of airports and hotels, was not helpful! I was finally put on insulin, initially lantus and eventually levemir+penfill. Long story short, last summer I had a stroke. Fortunately not a major one, but serious enough to concentrate the mind! I knew I would not survive another. So I "got a grip" and started to research this diabetes thing carefully. Meanwhile I had discovered I had more illnesses (hypertension, sleep apnoea, BPH and peripheral neuropathy. Some related to T2D, but all metabolic syndrome, others not. It became pretty obvious, pretty quickly, that keeping on increasing insulin was just making things worse (a huge amount of evidence to support this), but docs kept saying I need more insulin and, "by the way, lose some weight". No-one told me how to do it on insulin. The insulin was working against me! Reducing food intake just led to more and more hypos. So, dieting didn't work. Drugs didn't work and insulin just made things worse. Then I discovered Intermittent fasting and saw the weight loss results being reported in the literature. Important authorities I studied included Jason Fung, Benjamin Bikman and others These authors provided solid scientific information and a rational for weight loss based solidly on IF. I am aiming for remission. So far, since January this year, I have lost 10Kg, reduced waist measurement by 9cm, brought BMI down to 27 (so not obese any more). HbA1C stubbornly sticking at 55 mmol/l. I am doing 3 days of 36 hours fasting. Also cutting down the carbs drastically (not easy!). Libre 2 Continuous Glucose Monitoring has been a revelation and indispensible in my journey so far. Weight loss much easier than I had ever expected but a LONG way to go. However, I now have returned to the weight I was before diabetes was diagnosed. I would love to hear how others are getting on with IF. Tips and tricks, please!!
