Blood Sugar: Metformin and Berberine

[Leesto]

subing to this thread. You're posting some good info here CSI007.
My PCP told me I was in the pre-diabetes range on my last blood test.
I am currently looking into diet and exercise to see if I can bring my numbers down naturally.

I once had a HbA1c of 13.5.

Metformin helped me.

Berberine helped me.

TRT helped me.

But without diet and exercise changes none of them helped enough to matter. The two biggest strides I made against T2 Diabetes were:

1) The ketogenic diet.

2) Intense workouts. Not long workouts, not necessarily often, but super intense.

 

[MikeXL]

Can you describe the super intense work outs? I find that very interesting. Particularly, the effect of a workout could vary drastically based on intensity.

I once had a HbA1c of 13.5.

Metformin helped me.

Berberine helped me.

TRT helped me.

But without diet and exercise changes none of them helped enough to matter. The two biggest strides I made against T2 Diabetes were:

1) The ketogenic diet.

2) Intense workouts. Not long workouts, not necessarily often, but super intense.

 

[CSI007]

I once had a HbA1c of 13.5.

Metformin helped me.

Berberine helped me.

TRT helped me.

But without diet and exercise changes none of them helped enough to matter. The two biggest strides I made against T2 Diabetes were:

1) The ketogenic diet.

2) Intense workouts. Not long workouts, not necessarily often, but super intense.

I think my last missing part of the equation is exercise. I can't cut my carbs anymore. 10 to 20 a day is about all I can deal with. By the end of this week I may increase to 1500mg and go with that for a week.

 

[Leesto]

Can you describe the super intense work outs? I find that very interesting. Particularly, the effect of a workout could vary drastically based on intensity.

Here's an example of a 45 minute workout I do at home about every 4 days. I have very little equipment and no gym membership. If you truly go to failure on most of the sets you'll be wiped out after this and will need several days of recovery. I add weight or slow down the reps each workout. If I can't do more this time than last time I know I need more recovery time in between.

Squats: 3 seconds down 1 up: 3 sets of 6 or 8 (to failure) with 30 secs rest between. Weight as needed.
Pushups: 8 seconds down 1 up: 3 sets to failure with 30 secs rest between
Diamond pushups or narrow pushups (mainly for triceps): 3 sets to failure at 3 secs down 1 up.
Chinups: 3 sets to failure with 45 seconds rest between. On last rep grunt it out for 6-10 seconds trying with everything you've got.
Shoulder flys and/or presses: 3 sets to failure. Weight as needed to get failure in 6 or 8 reps.
Shoulder-chest cross-pulls: @ 25 per side with 20 lb.
Situps: 30 at 1 sec up 3 secs down.
Windshield wipers: 20 per side
Mountain Climbers: 50/side
Locked Arm Torso rotators (with exercise band): 10 per side

I vary some of the exercises from week to week to keep it interesting and challenging. I'd love to start going to a gym but for now this is what I've got. It is changing my body noticeably.

This really made a big difference in my fasting glucose levels and HbA1C. Not to mention the many other positive benefits of intense workouts.

 

[CSI007]

So about 2 1/2 weeks into using Berberine (still using 500mg twice daily after a meal) this is my graph so far:



I can see a definite improvement overall on the fasting numbers but it has not been as significant as I had hoped. Before starting I seemed to be hitting more values above 120 on a consistent basis so I am willing to bet we shaved off about 10 points or so. I do think my random postprandial values have improved more so then the fasting numbers. I think this would be reflected in my A1C numbers in another month or two.

 

[Leesto]

I can see a definite improvement overall on the fasting numbers but it has not been as significant as I had hoped. Before starting I seemed to be hitting more values above 120 on a consistent basis so I am willing to bet we shaved off about 10 points or so. I do think my random postprandial values have improved more so then the fasting numbers. I think this would be reflected in my A1C numbers in another month or two.

Thanks for the update!

 

[CSI007]

Thought I would update this thread again. It's been a while. I lost interest after about a month in keeping track but I am periodically checking fasting glucose. I am still taking the Berberine once or twice per day (mostly twice) The results are about the same. My levels have been lower overall and rarely get above about 115 even after a previous day of binging on high carb crap.

So I guess its helping but not getting me were I wanted to be (Normal - Something my wife says I will never be)

Still holding out hope that in the next 3 to 6 months my increased serum T levels contribute to lowering my FBG and get me back to where I should probably be.

 

[salman630]

Buenas tardes,
Hace unos seis dias que empece a tomar berberina y he tenido que parar porque la presion arterial se me disparo. ¿Alguien sabe a que es debido?
Gracias y saludos

 

[Vince]

Buenas tardes,
Hace unos seis dias que empece a tomar berberina y he tenido que parar porque la presion arterial se me disparo. ¿Alguien sabe a que es debido?
Gracias y saludos

What were the amount of changes in your blood pressure when you started using Berberine.