Day 5 off the Metformin... Oh it was glorious… yesterday I woke up in a good mood. Today I woke up with cognitive energy and clarity before coffee and stimulants… Food tasted better and was more satisfying. I’d walk a million steps to feel that way everyday.
Unfortunately I also had higher sugar values overnight... and so I burned through all my energy too fast. My Garmin Body Battery was all the way up to 93 at 6am and was down to 41 by 11 AM. Garmin said I should rest and try to recover because I was burning through my energy too fast. At that point, I realized I might as well take a Metformin at lunch, because if I am burning through energy too fast, what's the difference? I laid in my bed to ice my neck and almost exactly 45 min later I felt my heart start pounding and the room start spinning without any anxious thoughts, tv or other stimuli. 1.5 hours in and I was having problems with basic requests from dad. So, definitely the Metformin. BUT much easier to handle in the afternoon after the majority of stuff is done for the day and I am doing chores and stuff. It's much easier to push off the wrenching panic and think "it's just the med"... then clean something.
About 8500 steps today because I touched something gross looking for a geocache and the park bathrooms were closed and I had to go straight home because I hadn't brought hand sanitizer. I won't say what I touched. Ever.
Miracle from God today... I badgered Dad and made him get another A1C test done prior to surgery. Somehow despite all the junk food and binge eating his A1C did not go up from 7.9 to 8.6 like his Fructosamine indicated... but down to a jaw-dropping in range 7.7. I don't know how. It defies all science, logic and reason. The math absolutely 100% does not work. I praised the Lord... and emailed his endocrinologist for why that might have happened.
Started reading evryone's logs, but the food notes are making me hungry and I'm fasting... So I will comment more tomorrow!
Progress as of today: 99.3 lbs lost so far, only 57.7 lbs to go!
Tomorrow I get to see what it feels like to not have metformin in my system... I can't wait.
Controlling sugar is super hard without meds... not a long term strategy, but it does make it easier to see what drives it up and down. Just shy of 15,000 steps today, which was a lot of work. Fasting since 5pm and hungry... But worth it.
Progress as of today: 99.3 lbs lost so far, only 57.7 lbs to go!
What do you find works? Does the fasting help? The extra steps?
isn't it hard to control sugar while fasting??? can't it drop very low??
anyways, keep us updated on how you feel without the metformin. i've heard of it, but not familiar with it.
Day 3, no metformin, no anxiety attacks... but higher blood sugear overnight raised HRV and so I was exhausted today. I try again tomorrow. I fasted 14 hours, walked 10,000 steps, controlled my carbs, and drank 6 bottles of water. It eventually came down. Giving it 2 more days or so to see what I feel like with it out of my system. Science.
Progress as of today: 99.3 lbs lost so far, only 57.7 lbs to go!
Yes.
also, yeah, if you feel better with taking less drugs, will that ought to be a good thing!
nice job on your water.
Doing an experiment of not taking AM dose of metformin and seeing if it gets rid of fog and anxiety attacks. Already feel massively better. Takes 4 days to clear your system... so Tuesday should tell me if that was it. Already feel massively better. 2 days and a little anxious, but no attacks. I was so shocked at how much better I felt, I stayed up way too late last night watching Hulu. Just didn't want the day to end... I woke up in the morning, went for a walk, did paperwork, chores, errands, more chores, made dinner, did another walk, then worked on ADHD book club notes... it still wasn't time to go to bed... a whole hour and a half left... so I flipped on hulu and just spaced out... oops. Screwed myself up for today. in bed on time though and will hopefully drift off soon. I know I'm not supposed to be on my phone at bedtime... but logging here is just such a geat way to give it all up to God for the night and try again tomorrow.
Also, if you happen by a Target they have reusable silicone ziploc bags for your lunches in their dollar days bins for $3. I'm super happy. Finally a good way to pack insane amounts of broccoli in my electric cooler and still leave space for seltzer.
Augh now I am hungry again.
Happy mother's day tomorrow everyone! I miss my mom. I lit electric candles for all the moms tonight.
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
It's been so long since I've been to Target. My daughter went the other day. They have a nice selection of stuff :-)
well, along with you, i still go on my phone before bed. i just like to. i know it's not best, but i've learned to be able to still go to sleep afterwards.
hmmm, the reusable bags sound good...why are they better than plastic? more resistant to damage? are they easy to clean?
great idea with the electric candles. they will prob be popular thoughout these next few yrs.
I did my best again today. I can only do my best. It does not matter how slowly I go, only that I do not stop. Everyday does not have to count. It can be enough to just make it to tomorrow. I got another normal 8 hour sleep/1:34 rem cycle in. I feel human. I got my 10,000 steps in... 2 30 minute walks. I made food. I ate a vegetable. I made the document I was supposed to make. I paid a bill. I booked a caregiver to cover dad when I get my Moderna shot. I controlled the things I can control. I prayed.
Tomorrow I will do it again.
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
Breakthrough... finally achieved a totally normal REM sleep cycle.
Hope.
I did my best today. I got my blood labs done. I tossed everything in the fridge that will jack up dad's a1c. I bought expensive keto substitutes for his treats. I went for a 40 min walk. I sent my updated stats to my OT for tomorrow's appointment. Why is she so much better than doctors for helping me figure out what I need to do to put myself back together?
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
sounds like OT lady is a keeper.
Dad got one over on me. There's no reason not to do the surgery. Even with his ice cream bucket runs, everything else I did got him close enough... so might as well go ahead with the eye surgery. I am so angry I could spit but to block it would just be spite. Level up, let it go, get away.
More blood labs tomorrow. Sleep study June 16.
I'm worn to the bone.
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
It’s a toss up. Higher a1c raises risk of swelling in the eye and he could be completely blind.
One foot in front of the other... one day at a time... inch by inch. I can do this. I can scratch my way out and up and back to work. I can do this.
Eye surgery consult is tomorrow. Printed out some of my dad's notes from his last one where he lost vision in the right eye... his A1C was 10.5... who the $&@# thought that was a good idea? I could screeam. Glad I get to ask the surgeon in person why he did it and get some answers. I can't fing believe it.
Sunday I put another coat of hair gloss on, tidied my nails, and shaped my eyebrows. Today I went to Target and bought new headphones (defective) and my annual bottle of nail polish for summer. Also some bubble bath. I have to wait till I change my cgm sensor to use it... but ah. I can't wait.
i got 1:23 of REM last night. Today I pushed back on my dad everytime he tried to pull me off track and got through most of what I really needed to accomplish. Then I kicked my own *$$, slapped myself in the face, and went for a 40 minute walk tat sunset. I didn't try to get one more thing done when it was time to go to bed. I did my PM reset and set myself up for success in the morning. I even made an agenda I can follow on a notecard tomorrow morning.
So hungry I can't get to sleep. I ate enough today... Not sure why I'm ready to chew the furniture. I don't want to eat anything and ruin my overnight sugars. I just took my supplements and melatonin. I drank 2 bottles of water. I rubbed weird creams on my face. I rearranged my bed. I finished my pm reset routine. I put in my aligners.
I can do this. The tide is turning. Like a whale driving a buick through ballistic gel... but turning.
Ex-ish sent me progress photos for his tan and six pack. I'd like a time machine so I can go back and show it to my younger self and tell her stick it out, it gets better... this is our love interest in our 40s. He's bearded, tattooed, and can walk across his back yard on his elbows. Not clear why he does it... but it's hot.
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
I'm glad to hear that you're giving yourself some TLC.
To answer your comment on my entry, I will try to take a screenshot -- I will need my daughter's help to do that. And then I have to figure out how to post it here. LOL, forgive me with my lack of savviness when it comes to technology.
One foot in front of the other.
Ran ADHD book club today. It's starting to fill up. Just 1 or 2 at first. Today I think there were 8. Contemplating running it again at a different time slot... same book. One of the women who showed up again is a therapist and said she might be willing to work on the middle part of the book chapters that I skipped because they were too hard. Workplace... Family... Relationships. Those chapters really require you to have read the whole book and then circle back. It's weird when people say I do a really good job of it. It seems like an extravagant way to burn the energy I have, but the rigor of having to get something ready and deliver it at a certain time is really helpful in getting the rest of the week on pace. Sometimes the answer is do more not less.
Still hacking around trying to get REM up. Got sleep latency / insomnia solved last night, but then REM dropped out again.
Put a ban on dad going to the grocery store with the caregiver. I made it clear to the agency that if they do it again, I will suspend service until he has surgery and bring them back for aftercare. I can't take it. I don't need to put up with it. I feel better.
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
Another day in the can... I got my walk in, ate healthy... tried to be good to my dad. I was supposed to help him pay bills today, but my labs came back weird and freaked me out. Then I got massive cramps. I did pay my bills today so there is that.
Some day I will be the person I want to be. I will do the things I want to do.
Off sleep meds 8 days now. Insomnia is awful but I get way more EM sleep and feel a ton better. Except for the 4 hours I lie in bed trying to sleep and thinking about how badly I want a real pbj.
Super tempted by this hydration tracker... they are building a garmin app so you don't have to be tied to Apple... but not out till November.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hdrop/hdrop-real-time-hydration-wearable-device-monitor
Progress as of today: 98.5 lbs lost so far, only 58.5 lbs to go!
hope you feel better, keep on. Def good to hydrate. Keep on!
again, thanks for the list of Keto Costco treats!
I’m having the weirdest adverse reactions to things. Looking forward to the sleep study..
[ Previous Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 Next Page ]
When activity trackers begin to age the battery discharges quickly. I learned this the hard way by being cheap and purchased used ones on eBay. Some only lasted 2-4 hours. The new Fitbits I currently use usually last 5 days, on average. They send an email when the battery’s down.
Is it not possible to get off readings on A1C readings? I know it is with the various type of home meters. I’ve found POGO to be the most accurate,
There are a lot of different ways to track sugar... I have a regular meter for checking fasting sugar so I can calibrate my CGM sensor. I also buy the home A1C tests to quality check the data from the CGM sensor. I'm really pushing on this with Nutrisense because I don't seem to to have a uniform typical daily response that I can work around and rely on to control my sugar. It's been the thing that has helped me narrow down why my REM sleep disappeared, why I have terrible insomnia, and now anxiety. I don't have a history of a mood issue... but tons of mood side effects of diabetes. If I nail down the sugar issue, I can dig myself out and get back to work and a real life. Inch by inch with a spoon. Nutrisense has really been the key to identifying what isn't working and advocating for what I actually need. Health care providers are really lazy and not very scientific in their recommendations and they don't like being challenged by real data, but if you email their supervisor, they have to dig a little deeper.
Donkey on 05/12/2021:
I've often wondered if my comments about food - especially those "food fits" and "cake encounters" - are triggers for others. I suppose the best thing to do is to not have fits and encounters, right? Then I wouldn't feel compelled to confess here, because there'd be nothing to confess. I'll work on this.
That is amazing about the Metformin experiment! Wow, I wish there was something you could do to stay off of it for longer. How about a lower dosage?
That really is a miracle with your dad's A1C levels. Wow!...
I think I only got triggered because I was trying to fast! ;-) Normally not. I'm adding apple cider vinegar and berberine before meals. Apparently berberine helps lower sugars in about 7 days once you reach a full 1500mg a day... but you have to give your tummy time to adjust or you will have some issues. Hopefully that will help both my sugars and my lipids.
bearcountrygg on 05/12/2021:
D is very interested in hearing how this goes for you.....he is on 2 metformin a day...up from one....this winter.....and i will say that the second pill made no difference in his daily tests or his A1c.
If he's well-controlled and Metformin isn't moving the numbers, try Berberine?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/
If he's well-controlled and Metformin isn't moving the numbers, try Berberine?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/
In study B, 48 adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes were treated supplemented with berberine in a 3-month trial. Berberine acted by lowering FBG and PBG from one week to the end of the trial. HbA1c decreased from 8.1% ± 0.2% to 7.3% ± 0.3% (P<0.001). Fasting plasma insulin and HOMA-IR were reduced by 28.1% and 44.7% (P<0.001), respectively. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were decreased significantly as well. During the trial, 20 (34.5%) patients suffered from transient gastrointestinal adverse effects. Functional liver or kidney damages were not observed for all patients. In conclusion, this pilot study indicates that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with beneficial effects on lipid metabolism.
Jacky82020 on 05/13/2021:
Sounds complicated. I will have to google some of the things you discuss. They interest me.
Is the home A1C expensive? I wanted the PCP to do a another, but he said the insurance wouldn’t cover it, so I passed.
Your insurance needs to cover 1 A1C every 3 months. If it doesn't you are on the wrong plan, or you need a different subgroup. Why does your PCP make decisions based on insurance anyway?
It's cheaper than not adequately managing my health and not being able to work.
Or losing a foot or an eye, totally miserable and trapped in my body like my dad.
Mom got her A1C down and under control a month before she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. High A1C is a cancer risk.
An A1C through a lab is most accurate, $40.
I'm using these... $22
https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-at-home-a1c-test-kit-prodid-496010
Take the first one the same day as your lab A1C to get a feel for how different the two results are... Everyone is a little different. My lab one was .1 lower than the home kit. They need to be stored in a temperature controlled room and not in a drawer or a closet. I keep mine in a gym bag under my bed. If they get too cold or too hot they are ruined. You can get them down to $13 if you want to test more frequently and buy a bigger box, but I don't because I don't use A/C or heat in my bedroom and they'll go to waste.
Your insurance needs to cover 1 A1C every 3 months. If it doesn't you are on the wrong plan, or you need a different subgroup. Why does your PCP make decisions based on insurance anyway?
It's cheaper than not adequately managing my health and not being able to work.
Or losing a foot or an eye, totally miserable and trapped in my body like my dad.
Mom got her A1C down and under control a month before she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. High A1C is a cancer risk.
An A1C through a lab is most accurate, $40.
I'm using these... $22
https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-at-home-a1c-test-kit-prodid-496010
Take the first one the same day as your lab A1C to get a feel for how different the two results are... Everyone is a little different. My lab one was .1 lower than the home kit. They need to be stored in a temperature controlled room and not in a drawer or a closet. I keep mine in a gym bag under my bed. If they get too cold or too hot they are ruined. You can get them down to $13 if you want to test more frequently and buy a bigger box, but I don't because I don't use A/C or heat in my bedroom and they'll go to waste.
Jacky82020 on 05/14/2021:
Them’s the insurance rules for healthy thin people. What he’s saying is the insurance won’t cover it. I can request the same test on my own , done at the same lab, but I’m too cheap to pay $69 ( as I recall, may be off) I get the A1C annually as part of my yearly physical. I sometimes monitor at home with POGO, tried Reli first.
I’m into the book The Switch, on lifestyle to reduce many diseases & promote longevity. Low glucose good. Basically advocates calorie restriction and IF.