Hi Everybody!

I have a family history of diabetes. My granny took insulin from age 40, had a leg amputated and died a year or so later due to gangreen at the age of 60-something.

My mother (64), her sister (60), her brother (45) and her sisters son (36) was also diagnosed with diabetes (I think type 2 cause they control it with diet and oral medication - no insulin).

I went for a routine examination and my doc found that my bloodsugar was a little HIGHER than normal almost an hour after a very low carb meal around midday. A week later it was a little LOWER than normal when tested with my moms little machine at about 11 am, but with nothing to eat for the day yet.

The doc asked me to come back so that she could take some blood to be tested and told me that IF I have early stages of diabetes, she could prescribe Metformin or its generic equavalent. She phoned me today and said that my bloodsugar is normal, but my insulin levels in my blood is raised. In South Africa the "normal" count is 9 and mine was 10, so it isn't much higher than normal and she is not sure if taking Metformin is really necessary or will make a big difference. She has my Atkins book at the moment and is pro-lowcarb and I can discuss anything with her in a relaxed manner.

I am low-carbing for almost two years now, with a lapse of 6 months after one year. I stopped low-carbing as I have had 5 absolute cheatfree months and although I was in ketosis (ketostix stayed dark purple throughout the period) I had not shed even one kg during that time. I went back onto a low fat diet and picked up everything I already lost in the past year and went back to low-carbing 6 months ago and I am still low-carbing. I went to the doc while I was well in ketosis after 10 cheatfree days.

Next important bit of history: I get serious cravings (or I am really hungry - I am not sure) EVERY day from late afternoon till I go to bed (mostly past midnight every night). Not even eating avodado with tuna-mayonaise wich is very high in fat takes the hunger away. I also tried all sorts of eating patterns ... to eat the main meal in the morning, or at midday, or at night, or to eat six times a day, or I tried to vary the kilojoules I take in, etc. etc. I stay hungry from late afternoon, no matter what I do.

Next thing ... Due to pressure on me to shed weight all my life from well-meaning family and even more pressure from myself, I developed an eating disorder - Bulimia - but succeeded in forced myself to stop (about 3 years ago) and I fight every day of my life with the thought that the only way to eat right is not to eat. So this is the history of my eating ... but ...

I have a few questions ...

1. If I wasn't already low-carbing ... would my insulin levels be even higher at the time my doctor did the test?

2. Can this cravings/hunger be due to elevated insulin levels?

3. My understanding of Metformin is that it make cells more sensitive to insulin and that I will produce less insulin if I take Metformin cause less will do the job of stabilizing my bloodsugar. Am I right? Is that the way it works?

4. Will taking Metformin help me to shed weight? I have two sisters also very overweight and I got them both to do Atkins and they are doing great. Both average more than 14 pounds per month for the past 6 months. I shed about 1 or 2 pounds per month. I am not interested in fast weightloss, but IF the reason for my slow loss ... and for 5 months NO loss ... is due to elevated insulin levels, then I want to know it and work on it.

Thank you very much for your patience and for reading this. I hope some of you have some insights for me.

Rey

Hi Rey and welcome! I'll try to answer some of your questions if I can.


Most likely. Elevated levels of circulating insulin combined with being overweight, having high (or higher) blood pressure along with elevated triglycerides and LDL and lowered HDL can be indicative of insulin resistance. Your body is producing more insulin that it should have to to keep your blood sugar within a normal level.



Yes!




Yes, that's primarily how it works. Glucophage also inhibits the production of glycogen by the liver. Low carbing will also lower your levels of insulin production and over time decrease insulin resistance. "Cheating", however, can slow that healing process down.




It does seem to help initially, but its effects on weight loss seem to wear off after several weeks. Given that you are already showing signs of insulin resistance, it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try for a while. Glucophage isn't likely to cause hypoglycemia, but it can happen so it would be wise to monitor your blood sugars while taking it to make sure that they don't get too low.
Eating high carb foods (cheating) even once in a while can slow a lot of people's weight loss down also.

HTH!

Hello Rey-

Look in this thread http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=131572 about Alpha Lipoic Acid. It may be an alternative to taking Metformin, and may help increase insulin sensitivity and help weight lose.

Mark

Hi

Thanks for the wonderful responses. I really appreciate it.

LisaN ... Like I said ... I am never hungry till late afternoon, but in spite of that I eat every morning and lunchtime and sometimes inbetween that as well to try and stop the hunger/cravings later in the day, yet are hungry from late afternoon. How would you explain that? What is my bloodsugar or my insulin doing?

I forgot to mention that I also have anemia ... the count is 8 and a normal reading is from 12 - 15. It was discovered very recently and I now take iron supplements.

Thanks in advance
Rey

Hi Rey!

How about posting some typical days' menus and we'll take a look to see if we can spot something that might be triggering your hunger symptoms?