I have been very pleased with my progress in controlling my blood sugar and insulin levels. I have probably mentioned this before, but when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018, the doctor’s solution was medications. The first one they had me try was metformin.

Apparently, metformin is one of the most common meds prescribed for this condition. The side effects are as follows: 

• heartburn
• stomach pain
• nausea/vomiting
• bloating
• gas
• diarrhea
• constipation
• weight-loss

The only side effects I had were stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea. The diarrhea was so bad that I  crapped my pants in public. I have never been more embarrassed in my life. I was driving a school bus when it happened, and yes, there were kids aboard. At that moment, I wished another side effect had been sudden death and that it was happening to me at that moment.

After that incident, my doctor had me try another medicine,  Trulicity. It had many of the same side effects. However, with this medication, I only experienced extreme nausea. Yes, it caused some weight loss because I was so nauseated I couldn’t eat. I was not feeling well with Trulicity. Ozempic was a medication that was similar to Trulicity, but at the time, it was way too expensive ($1500).

I got tired of feeling so awful. Around the middle of June, a friend told me about intermittent fasting and how it had brought both his blood sugar and insulin levels down; close to normal in fact. On his word alone stopped taking my meds (not recommended!) and started fasting 16 hours a day; that’s from 8 in the evening until noon the next day. I already knew what types of foods I should eat so, I did my best to change accordingly.

It took a week or so for nausea caused by the medications to cease. It took just over a week to get used to fasting. Once I got used to feeling some hunger pains for a very short period, I was fine. Within a month, I had pushed myself to 18-19 hours a day. Every day I was feeling better.

As I’ve said in the past, it took 9 months or so to get back to a pre-diabetic a1c (6.0). Before a year had passed, my a1c was 5.5; a completely normal level. Other things like triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood pressure started to follow suit. It was a welcome improvement considering my doctor had been trying to get my rising a1c under control for 3 or 4 years.

At present, I have been intermittent fasting for almost 3 years. My numbers are still good and steadily improving, even though I don’t exactly eat the right things all the time. 

This week, after not losing weight for the longest time, I am down about 12 pounds; still eating the same way. I am trying to do better though. So maybe my body has healed enough to begin losing more weight.

I look forward to seeing what changes will come this year. Hopefully, I will be able to get more exercise. One of my major issues is the pain in my back, neck, knees, shoulders, and hands. Yes, my body is going crazy with pain. However, I AM getting older. I will be 60 in under a year.

Aside from pain, I feel pretty good usually. I just feel like an old man, and I am. However, I hope to be a healthy old man, though I’m not sure how long I will be able to bear this pain. I don’t mean to sound like I want to depart from this life early. However, pain is a real concern for me.

Anyway, I will take it one day at a time.