2 Ways to Lower Your A1C Levels Without Medication

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I have been a diabetic for 15 years. I have also been overweight all my life. I am now struggling with the side effects of MetforminHCG ER because I've been prescribed 1000 mg in the morning and 1000mg's at night. This had made me very tired and Im sleeping too much. It has also made me nauseous and I've been on it for over two weeks with the high dosage. Im also taking Januvia which doesnt bother me. My doctor wants to add a 3rd med Byetta which is injectible. Most people suffer bad nausea from that med as well. Im on a diet that a nutritionist put me on and have managed to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks. This morning I woke up even more nauseous than before, so Im cutting back to 1000 a day of the Metormin ER until my doctor returns from vacation next week. I am also working out by doing water aerobics daily but come home exhausted.
Im hell bent on losing this weight once and for all. If anyone has shared the same experience and has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks

cessie of NC 10:36AM June 23, 2011

This information is vital and very helpful to me in reaching my goal of lowering my glucose levels and becoming healthier over all. One thought I want to share is that my worsening cholesterol numbers, including triglycerides, totally normalized after taking Vit. D3 for a few weeks. Friends who were put on the vitamin by their doctors for other reasons (stroke, etc.) have reported the same experience. One day their doctors were going over lab results and the cholesterol problem was simply gone. I recommend having D levels check along with your other labs. The doctors will say 35 or 45 are "normal" when it is truly sub clinical. If it is not 75 to 100 it is not optimal. Check Mercola.com and Federal government information on this. If your doctor is not routinely ordering D levels tested or at least a screening, he/she is not following federal guidelines.

Pris of NY 10:58AM May 05, 2011

From your comment I see you haven't really paid attention to ll the good advice from the commentators before you. Go back through and look at what these people have done to help themselves. Then gain courage and act on these insights.
Best wishes

Pris of NY 10:45AM May 05, 2011

My experience is exactly like yours and I have all my doctors mad at me, including the kidney specialist because my numbers on kidney function are going down, but they have been for years. When I gained 80 pounds from the insulin I said no more, for the same reasons you state. My doctor thinks I stopped the insulin (immediately losing 25 pounds and still dropping) as a vanity thing, but It's a survival thing. When I'm too big to even wipe myself I'm in danger of dying from obesity. The fact is that the pills and insulin simply don't work in the long run. I've changed my diet drastically to the point at which, even with the higher numbers I am not being periodically rushed to the hospital because bolus after bolus of glucose won't bring me out of shock, or worrying about severe swings from high to low, which is what makes diabetics sick. I no longer have yeast or bacterial infections in spite of the higher numbers, and my diabetic retinopathy has disappeared (Vit. C again). What doctors don't seem to realize is that the A1c only tells part of the story, it does not tell them that my 6.8 last year was the result of several days when I was having lows of 37 which is what causes the fluctuating vision and other illness.
My arthritis is keeping me from exercising as much as I would like. I can't take pain meds either. But I just started working with a PT to do some strength training. I know I am doing the right thing, but it was encouraging to hear from someone else of a similar mindset. I am really angry at doctors use statistics and not their brains.

Pris of NY 10:37AM May 05, 2011

I have had diabetes Type II for severals years. I am still struggling with my sugars. They put me on Insulin (even after asking not to be put on anything that causes weight gain) and I gained 20lbs almost immediately. That was the beginning of a vicious cycle for me. Gain weight = higher sugar = more insulin...which = gain weight = higher suger = more insulin...I think you get the picture. I took myself off the insulin and lost 25lbs. I am not one of those people who can lose weight easily or many times at all. Hormones and Genes have played a huge role in my getting diabetes in the first place. I will say there is no cure, no magic meds, no nothing, no hope except in yourself. Mind you this is a Type II discussion only. The only way to get your sugar and A1C's down is diet (which means carb reducing majorly) and exercise. I have been doing exactly that and today I will see if my A1C's have gone down. I feel so good, so lets hope so. We need to take our lives back and get our acts together and get the heck off all these meds!!!

Carin of MA 9:00AM May 02, 2011

to the person who said their fasting blood sugar was normal, but the A1C was high...fasting BS just measures current blood sugar, while a1c measures it over time (90 days, I think). so even though you had one good reading on the day of your fasting BS test, the high A1c means it's been fluctuating over the three month period.
Just found out I'm pre-diabetic, with an A1c of 6.2 So, I've started strength training 3-4 days a week (already lost one pant size after about 2 weeks) and reduced carbs significantly (mainly, the whites...sugar, flour, rice, pasta). I'm not fanatic about it, but I'd say I have no more than 30-50 grams of carbs a day, mostly from vegetables and fruits with a low glycemic index.
I get my a1c checked again in about 3 months, so I'm hoping it's gone down or at least not gone up!

sydneyla of DC 10:55AM March 28, 2011

my A1C levels have gone up from 6.4 to 6.8. I have been advised to use metoformin. but i want to try the yoga kapalbhanti suggested by mr. rawal and will report bakc in 1 week.
thanks so much for the all the information out there

jan of VA 2:42PM March 15, 2011

i just feel like i'm going to cry...my fasting blood was 95 but my A1C is 6.8! this has never happened and now the doctor wants me to take a second one. i'm in great shape, good health, i dont know what to do. isn't 95 low for fasting?

mmoran of CA 12:10AM March 09, 2011

my blood work came back with my a1c being 8.9, up frpm 7.3, itake lantus and it will be 53 one morning and 140 the next. need some advice. david

david adams of GA 8:13PM March 02, 2011

Wow. Hard to read all these entries from people who are scared and depressed. I feel for you. All I can tell you is that I think Dr. Richard Bernstein's book might help you. I think it's call The Diabetes Solution. He is a type 1, but the book is for both types.
His approach is very tight control of things, so that you are trying to have the same blood glucose levels as normal people. He says that is how to avoid all the awful complications of diabetes. He's very detailed in explaining what to do, how to do it, etc.
The basic eating pattern is eat 6 carbs for breakfast, 12 carbs for lunch, and 12 carbs for dinner. You add as much protein to that as you think will keep you happy til the next meal. There's list of many foods that you should not eat period.
I tried his approach once and gave up. Then a couple years later I reread the book and tried again. I was motivated because my A1C was 6.0-almost diabetic levels. I DID NOT want to continue down that road. I think I also had some diabetic complications already happening. In March I'll see how much it's lowered my A1C. I've also started mild exercising.
Good luck to everyone. Please consider his approach. He said if he had followed the American Diabetic Association diet, he'd have been dead long ago. He's now in his 80's.

Lynn of DE 12:46PM January 31, 2011