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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.
Hi, I’m new to the group. I joined as after 18 months on metformin, my appetite and enjoyment of food is constantly declining. I’ve lost about 10 kg over that time, which is not a problem. But I’ve lost my appetite and, as a keen cook and someone who has always enjoyed good food, I no longer look forward to meals and get little pleasure from food. Any advice about supplements or other ways of restoring enjoyment of food.
Some people get a metallic taste in their mouth from taking metformin so that could be spoiling your enjoyment of food. It is listed as one of the side effects.
I had to give up on the tablets after a few weeks - five years ago now, just stuck to low carb eating, but my appetite is very low - though I never really ate a lot all my life. These days I even forget to eat meals I have made - my dinner is still on the stove.
It is not something I would plan to do, but I've even had to throw away food this last year or so. There are ingredients for low carb baking in the cupboard which are past their best before date by a good way.
I did have long years of being pressured to stick to unsuitable low fat diets, high in carbs, and I gained a lot of weight - I was almost spherical, so the gradual reduction in weight is a good thing - but I doubt that I will ever be able to eat normal amounts. I eat twice a day and do not snack - but it is obviously enough - and as it is good quality protein and low carb veges I feel well fed on it.
Hi Alan, since being diagnosed several years ago, I cutdown on any sugary things, but also cheese and carbs. Inhad to fight to do that, esp cheese, as I love my food. Over last year, my appetite has declined and I get little pleasure from eating, even very well flavoured, interesting food.
Can I ask why you cut down on cheese when it has very few carbs and almost no impact on diabetes?
What is your diabetes management like ie Your HbA1c .... the blood test used to diagnose and track your diabetes management?
Metformin is known to act as an appetite suppressant in some people, so it may be your problem.
If your diabetes is well managed then you may not need to take them and could perhaps discuss a treatment free period with your GP to see how you manage your levels without it for say, 3 months. However if your HbA1c is still quite high, that may not be appropriate and perhaps some dietary changes are needed.
When I was first diagnosed I followed the NHS low fat, no alcohol, no sugar, no salt advice and also reduced my carbs to gain control of my diabetes. After 5 weeks it felt like eating cardboard. What changed things for me was ditching the NHS advice and continuing to eat very low carb, but incorporating more fat into my diet. So lots of cheese whenever I fancy it and cream in my morning coffee and fatty cuts of meat like belly pork and lamb chops and rib-eye steak and eggs, creamy Greek style natural yoghurt, fry my food in butter or animal fat or olive oil, but no bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, breakfast cereals etc. Increasing my fat intake really changed my enjoyment of food, but also changed how much food I need and it is much less than before because the fat is calorie dense and unlike carbs, you reach a point where you have had enough and it is slow to digest so it keeps you feeling full for the rest of the day without wanting to snack. Of course I also have plenty of vegetables and particularly the leafy green ones, like cabbage and kale and spinach and leeks and these all benefit from a knob of butter or a dollop of cream cheese. Salad is usually accompanied by a big dollop of cheese coleslaw.
I used to love potatoes and bread particularly but I just don't miss them now. It takes some getting your head around initially, cutting these major food items out and they should be slowly reduced to a low level rather than dramatically cut from the diet but I can tell you that I feel 20 years younger and fitter and slimmer and healthier for eating like this and it makes my diabetes so much easier to manage.... and I enjoy my food.
Hi, I’m new to the group. I joined as after 18 months on metformin, my appetite and enjoyment of food is constantly declining. I’ve lost about 10 kg over that time, which is not a problem. But I’ve lost my appetite and, as a keen cook and someone who has always enjoyed good food, I no longer look forward to meals and get little pleasure from food. Any advice about supplements or other ways of restoring enjoyment of food.
Hi @keithsomerviile initially Metformin was being developed as a weight-loss drug. Then they discovered it’s use in Diabetes, it’s origins tend to get forgotten these days and it’s generally thought of as a Diabetes drug.
Following diagnosis I was sent to the Dietitian who pushed the so called “eatwell plate” at me, emphasising that I must build my meals around carbs. Following that advice and mixed insulin regime where you have to “eat to the insulin” I gained 3 stone (42 lbs). It took me years to get rid of the excess weight, even when I went onto a proper basal/bolus insulin regime. It only started gradually coming off when I was prescribed Metformin... I agree, despite being a very competent cook who enjoys cooking, planning meals and putting lovely stuff on the table, I don’t have much interest in eating it. However, I’m now slim again and really don’t want to put the weight back on.
I too have a decreased appetite and find many foods too sweet - even unsweetened tea. I had a metallic or nasty taste in my mouth for many weeks. I've taken to drinking soda water as that helps.
Hi Alan, since being diagnosed several years ago, I cutdown on any sugary things, but also cheese and carbs. Inhad to fight to do that, esp cheese, as I love my food. Over last year, my appetite has declined and I get little pleasure from eating, even very well flavoured, interesting food.
Can I ask why you cut down on cheese when it has very few carbs and almost no impact on diabetes?
What is your diabetes management like ie Your HbA1c .... the blood test used to diagnose and track your diabetes management?
Metformin is known to act as an appetite suppressant in some people, so it may be your problem.
If your diabetes is well managed then you may not need to take them and could perhaps discuss a treatment free period with your GP to see how you manage your levels without it for say, 3 months. However if your HbA1c is still quite high, that may not be appropriate and perhaps some dietary changes are needed.
When I was first diagnosed I followed the NHS low fat, no alcohol, no sugar, no salt advice and also reduced my carbs to gain control of my diabetes. After 5 weeks it felt like eating cardboard. What changed things for me was ditching the NHS advice and continuing to eat very low carb, but incorporating more fat into my diet. So lots of cheese whenever I fancy it and cream in my morning coffee and fatty cuts of meat like belly pork and lamb chops and rib-eye steak and eggs, creamy Greek style natural yoghurt, fry my food in butter or animal fat or olive oil, but no bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, breakfast cereals etc. Increasing my fat intake really changed my enjoyment of food, but also changed how much food I need and it is much less than before because the fat is calorie dense and unlike carbs, you reach a point where you have had enough and it is slow to digest so it keeps you feeling full for the rest of the day without wanting to snack. Of course I also have plenty of vegetables and particularly the leafy green ones, like cabbage and kale and spinach and leeks and these all benefit from a knob of butter or a dollop of cream cheese. Salad is usually accompanied by a big dollop of cheese coleslaw.
I used to love potatoes and bread particularly but I just don't miss them now. It takes some getting your head around initially, cutting these major food items out and they should be slowly reduced to a low level rather than dramatically cut from the diet but I can tell you that I feel 20 years younger and fitter and slimmer and healthier for eating like this and it makes my diabetes so much easier to manage.... and I enjoy my food.
Low calorie and high carb way of eating doesn't work to lower weight and to lower A1c. The key is to lower insulin!!! Was taking 75 u Levemir, 15+ Humalog, 1.8 Victoza, 4 mg Glimepiride, and 2g Metformin.
High fat, moderate-lower protein, and low, low carbs works for me. Lost a ton of weight, lowered meds (diabetes & bp), controlled fasting bgl and overall stabilized readings throughout the day. It did take 2 months for all of this to get to 120 bg fasting and keep in the 120s throughout the day.
Only on 1.5g metformin now and 1.8 Victoza. Now trying to reduce Victoza starting today to 1.2 and see how it goes. Best to all.
Hi Alan, since being diagnosed several years ago, I cutdown on any sugary things, but also cheese and carbs. Inhad to fight to do that, esp cheese, as I love my food. Over last year, my appetite has declined and I get little pleasure from eating, even very well flavoured, interesting food.
Consider a fresh start. Just as an experiment forget past advice to avoid fats and concentrate on the effects of your food choices on your blood glucose spikes after meals. Think back to the foods you used to enjoy and add some back to the menu one recipe at a time. Use your meter after meals to discover your portion size limits. Note that those limits might be different for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As you change the menu I suspect you will find improving blood glucose levels will help with weight more than cutting fats did and you might also rediscover an appetite. These ideas might help:
Consider a fresh start. Just as an experiment forget past advice to avoid fats and concentrate on the effects of your food choices on your blood glucose spikes after meals. Think back to the foods you used to enjoy and add some back to the menu one recipe at a time. Use your meter after meals to discover your portion size limits. Note that those limits might be different for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As you change the menu I suspect you will find improving blood glucose levels will help with weight more than cutting fats did and you might also rediscover an appetite. These ideas might help:
We each have to find our own way to control the beast. If that worked for you, keep doing what you're doing. But I won't be joining you.
I decided when I was diagnosed that until the cure was found I had to develop a way of eating which not only manages my diabetes but which I could also enjoy for the rest of my life without feeling deprived or disadvantaged.
That was nearly 20 years ago. I enjoy my food. My carb portions are based on past testing for portion sizes and my fat and protein portions are based on appetite and common sense but are not limited in any other way. So far I have no complications at the age of 74 but I accept that they might come some day as I never say never with this condition.
As a side issue I was also diagnosed back then with CLL and hypogammaglobulinemia. I make no claims for my way of eating as a cure or treatment for either condition but the CLL blood indicators improved at the same rate as my HbA1c over the first couple of years and it has remained in remission ever since. Despite travelling widely over the past 20 years with a compromised immune system the worst things I have caught have been traveller's curse and an occasional common cold.
I hope you are aware that type 2 diabetes is not reversible? Some complications are reversible by good blood glucose management but type 2 is presently incurable. It is manageable and I would accept remission as an acceptable word but the word reversible suggests it is cured.
Congratulations on managing it very well. If you ate high carb instead of Mediterranean for a week would your blood glucose levels remain healthy? If not, you have not reversed it, you have managed it.
We each have to find our own way to control the beast. If that worked for you, keep doing what you're doing. But I won't be joining you.
I decided when I was diagnosed that until the cure was found I had to develop a way of eating which not only manages my diabetes but which I could also enjoy for the rest of my life without feeling deprived or disadvantaged.
That was nearly 20 years ago. I enjoy my food. My carb portions are based on past testing for portion sizes and my fat and protein portions are based on appetite and common sense but are not limited in any other way. So far I have no complications at the age of 74 but I accept that they might come some day as I never say never with this condition.
As a side issue I was also diagnosed back then with CLL and hypogammaglobulinemia. I make no claims for my way of eating as a cure or treatment for either condition but the CLL blood indicators improved at the same rate as my HbA1c over the first couple of years and it has remained in remission ever since. Despite travelling widely over the past 20 years with a compromised immune system the worst things I have caught have been traveller's curse and an occasional common cold.
I hope you are aware that type 2 diabetes is not reversible? Some complications are reversible by good blood glucose management but type 2 is presently incurable. It is manageable and I would accept remission as an acceptable word but the word reversible suggests it is cured.
Congratulations on managing it very well. If you ate high carb instead of Mediterranean for a week would your blood glucose levels remain healthy? If not, you have not reversed it, you have managed it.
We each have to find our own way to control the beast. If that worked for you, keep doing what you're doing. But I won't be joining you.
I decided when I was diagnosed that until the cure was found I had to develop a way of eating which not only manages my diabetes but which I could also enjoy for the rest of my life without feeling deprived or disadvantaged.
That was nearly 20 years ago. I enjoy my food. My carb portions are based on past testing for portion sizes and my fat and protein portions are based on appetite and common sense but are not limited in any other way. So far I have no complications at the age of 74 but I accept that they might come some day as I never say never with this condition.
As a side issue I was also diagnosed back then with CLL and hypogammaglobulinemia. I make no claims for my way of eating as a cure or treatment for either condition but the CLL blood indicators improved at the same rate as my HbA1c over the first couple of years and it has remained in remission ever since. Despite travelling widely over the past 20 years with a compromised immune system the worst things I have caught have been traveller's curse and an occasional common cold.
I hope you are aware that type 2 diabetes is not reversible? Some complications are reversible by good blood glucose management but type 2 is presently incurable. It is manageable and I would accept remission as an acceptable word but the word reversible suggests it is cured.
Congratulations on managing it very well. If you ate high carb instead of Mediterranean for a week would your blood glucose levels remain healthy? If not, you have not reversed it, you have managed it.
My HbA1c has been rock-steady at 5.3% since Sep 2018, insensitive to the amount of carbs I eat, generally about 190g per day now, but often higher. I would certainly pass an OGTT and in general there is no reason why anybody examining me de novo would diagnose me as diabetic.
I'm comfortable with calling this "reversed", and it is due to losing enough visceral fat to get my liver and pancreas sorted. (If I stack weight back on again I expect I would once again develop metabolic syndrome & eventually T2D.)
There sems to be a view that carbs somehow *cause* T2D, a view for which there is sod-all credible evidence, in the absence of excess energy intake.
And that eg post-prandial BG and HbA1c somehow scale continuously with increased carb intake - ditto. Non-diabetic people do not show increased post-pandrial with increased carb intake, past a certain level, and a few months ago Nicola Guess published a little study which showed the same thing for T2D's:
Consider a fresh start. Just as an experiment forget past advice to avoid fats and concentrate on the effects of your food choices on your blood glucose spikes after meals. Think back to the foods you used to enjoy and add some back to the menu one recipe at a time. Use your meter after meals to discover your portion size limits. Note that those limits might be different for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As you change the menu I suspect you will find improving blood glucose levels will help with weight more than cutting fats did and you might also rediscover an appetite. These ideas might help:
I don’t use a meter. My doctor and the nurse at my surgery’s diabetes clinic says the daily blood tests are inaccurate and a waste of time. They use the HbA test every couple of months. I am now losing weight without trying and simply do not enjoy food.
