The Metformin-Avoidance Plan…
How’s it going?
Back in 2022 I mentioned that blood tests had put me in the pre-diabetic range, and I really, really wanted to avoid Metformin. There is a slew of articles I wrote about the embarrassment of being in the diabetic range, [Dec 2022 up to April 2023]. It was embarrassing because I teach students how to construct management & dietary plans to help patients avoid or manage their type 2 diabetes. I also have patients to whom I give similar advice.
So, how is it going?
I rely now on blood-glucose testing strip to see how my body is reacting to food, which is one of the ways that we can see what we cannot feel.
The pattern is this: insulin rises after eating [varying on what type of food we have eaten carbs/fat/protein], glucose peaks around 45–60 minutes and returns toward baseline by 2 hours. Hopefully.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
Randomly, here goes….
Two hours after eating 2 slices pumpernickel bread with cheese and butter my blood glucose levels were 6.4 [26.06.26]
Two hours after eating chicken, carrots, and mushrooms my blood glucose levels were 6.8 [28.06.26]
One hour after eating a jacket potato, chicken and salad my blood glucose readings were 9.2 [29.06.26]
One hour after eating 2 slices of ‘normal’ bread my blood glucose levels were 11.00 [30.06.26] – unfortunately I didn’t test after 2 hours because I wanted to go to bed…
I have more results, but my pattern suggests that if I keep off bread and potatoes then I am fine. I do not think I will ever be able to indulge in starchy carbs as freely as my husband does, with no issues. And I think this is a pre-disposed genetic/family tendency that I will just have to live with. It means that I must keep up with my Fenugreek capsules and my Mulberry Tea, for like, forever…
But the point is that because I test my blood sugar, I can hopefully avoid the damaging diabetic neuropathy and other results of living with a high blood sugar level in years to come.
And one doesn’t just rely on one or two results to establish for a fact that one has pre-diabetes, or diabetes; one will get that diagnosis from a GP. But these little gadgets have been useful for me to keep track of tendencies and to see what specifically raises my blood sugar the fastest and highest.
If I hadn’t had a blood glucose monitor, I wouldn’t have realised that healthy, organic oats raise my blood sugar very high and very fast; or that I can tolerate pumpernickel bread but not ordinary wholemeal; or that I should be very circumspect about eating potatoes. It helps me maintain a steely backbone while watching my husband eating cheese on toast and roast potatoes.
But that is what it will take to avoid Metformin, so I will just have to pull up my big girl pants and get on with it…
Thank you for posting this Maggie. Do you find there is an optimal time for taking the fenugreek e.g. before or after eating?
I follow a ketogenic diet and my triglyceride levels are very low. It would be interesting to do your tests after eating just some protein and/or healthy fats for comparison with a meal that contains carbs. The issue I have with carbs is that if I eat some my brain instantly starts looking for more even if I’m not hungry. And if I eat lots, say over Xmas when I loosen up on my keto diet, I definitely have huge cravings for carbs as I wean myself off them again. After a while those cravings disappear. So I do think carbs have an effect on the body that encourages us to seek out more of them. As a middle aged woman, I pile on weight if I eat carbs so for me, I’ve just eliminated them as much as possible.