metformin | Rain Coast Review

I have been afflicted with Type 2 Diabetes for more than twenty-five years. Perhaps even longer, since my partner reports that she saw symptoms of it even in my late twenties and early thirties. But despite diagnosis in the 1990’s by my doctors, and a referral to an endocrinologist who worked out of St. Paul’s hospital at the same time, the seriousness of the disease and its potential consequences were not really taken into account until relatively recently, when some of the symptoms started to become more pronounced.

Truthfully, until the summer of last year, I didn’t really feel like it was even possible to have any real impact on my diabetes. After being put on insulin, nearly fifteen years ago, with steady weight gain and gradually increasing problems related to my diabetes, I think I didn’t really believe there was anything I could do about the decline in my health, and probable premature death from diabetes related conditions and disease.

On my birthday last year, my middle son gave me a copy of a book by Dr. Jason Fung, on which I have written a lot in this blog in the past. Reading his book, The Diabetic Code, taught me that I need not be doomed to continual decline as a result of diabetes, but in fact could take control of my lifestyle, and thereby forestal future declines in my health, and even, perhaps, recaptures some of the vigor of my earlier years.

From July until the present I have been working towards a better life. I’ve lost a bit of weight, about 30 pounds down from my weight last summer, although I’m back up 10 pounds more or less since November, as a result of failing to maintain my lifestyle changes over the Christmas break.

Starting last night I am back to doing my intermittent fasting for three days a week, thirty-six hours for each day. During November I went from strictly obeying the fasting hours, and not eating anything, to eating Keto foods which are not supposed to break the fast. Whatever I thought I was doing, what was really happening was that my fasts became shorter and far less effective.

Fasting now until I reach my net goal of reaching 15 BMI during the current calendar years is my objective, for now, until I get my weight down from 222 pounds down to 167 pounds for a total weight loss of 55 pounds over the next 12 months. It doesn’t sound too daunting, having to lose between four and five pounds a month to reach my goal. But of course my goal isn’t really so much about losing weight as it is about gaining control over my blood glucose levels, and wrestling my metabolic syndrome to a point where my health doesn’t continue to decline, or lead to ever more serious consequences of my diabetes.

It is discouraging losing weight by changing your lifestyle, in many different ways, but intermittent fasting and eating a low carb diet is probably the least difficult method. All it requires of me is to pay attention to what I eat when I’m not fasting, and to fast long enough and for enough days, to ensure that my liver gets a reboot, during this process. Even when I reach my targeted goal it will not be the end of managing my carbohydrate and sugar intake. A healthy lifestyle for a diabetic (or former diabetic, which is what I’m trying to achieve) should be one that avoids carbohydrate and sugar in one’s diet, on a day to day basis.

Of course, all people need some carbohydrate and sugar in their diets, but it should always be extremely limited since it has proved to be so problematic to long term health. I’m recommitting to changing my lifestyle to a healthier and strong future. This recommitment includes reasserting my plan to get out and walk an average of 4,000 or more steps, at least four or five days out of the week. With serious neuropathy in my feet this isn’t always easy, but it is nonetheless critically important, to build and maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.

It’s currently two o’clock in the afternoon, and I haven’t eaten anything since about eight o’clock last night. My next meal will be tomorrow morning about eight o’clock, when I’ll have breakfast. My next fast will start tomorrow after dinner, at about eight o’clock tomorrow night, and will continue until 8:00 am on Thursday morning.

Hang in there with me, folks. I may not be changing the world, but I’m certainly changing my world.

Past the pain

It is Friday afternoon, and I’m sitting at my desk thinking about the past week. Wow! What a week it has been, and despite everything I’ve kept to my Intermittent Fast.

It has been a struggle, not to keep up with my fast, but to keep my blood glucose in tight control. I try to maintain my readings in a range between 4 and 7.8 mml, from my Free Libra meter. Twice in the past week my readings have been wayyyyy too high, up as high as 15 mml for a few hours after a meal, and even as high as 10mml all day long on my fasting days. Ouch! But I need to explain that in order to keep my levels in the right zone, it isn’t as simple as it seems.

I have to control not only my food intake, which I’m managing by eating low carb healthy meals on my eating days, without being obsessive about it, and fasting my three days a week, but also adjusting my insulin and other medications to balance off my fasting and feasting.

This week, for the first time, I haven’t been taking my jentadueto which up until I’ve been taking twice a day, once in the morning and once at dinner time, even though I’ve been skipping on my fasting days. This week I’ve stopped taking them altogether, largely as a result of concerns about chronic pain, which seems to have become much worse since I switched from pure metformin a couple of years ago. My pain this week has been terrible, and I’ve thrashing about trying to figure out what’s triggering it.

Metformin itself can cause chronic pain, either as a standalone drug or as a component in Jentadueto.

I probably should have increased my insulin even more than I did, both on my fasting days and my eating days. As an adjustment for not taking the metformin I increased by long acting insulin to 35 g from 30 on my fasting night, and 40 to 45 g on my eating days. On both days my blood glucose levels were high all day, above 8mml but even higher, up to 15mml.

Tonight I’ll increase my insulin long acting to 50 units, and see if that does the trick, along with controlling my carbs. I’ll get it right, sooner or later.

Christopher Columbus – This week I played Christopher Columbus in a short movie.

However, what made me say “Wow” to my week is that this is the first time in my life I’ve actually been a paid actor in a documentary tv series. I don’t know if my scene will end up on the cutting room floor, although I hope not, but in some way it doesn’t matter. I’m now officially an “actor” because someone has paid me to appear in a movie or tv show.

One of the things I’m determined to do is to try new experiences, and to expand my capacities. Having shot one show suggests that I can do more, if I want. And I think I do. It’s important for me to make some money, of course, since I don’t think anybody can live on their Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security checks. But I don’t need to make a lot of money, just enough to take the edge off, and be able to afford the luxuries of life, like food and housing.

Me as Christopher Columbus in a film shot in Vancouver, BC this week.

The fact that my acting debut happened the same week as my excruciating pain, and all my adjusting of my meds is perfect. Fasting doesn’t interfere with life, it is simply just another part of life. Pain interferes with life, for sure, but I won’t allow it to stop me from doing something fun and interesting.