Berberine

Hi, I've read about berberine and other natural herbs/berries, etc. but I honestly don't know how effective they are. Frankly I feel the best way to deal with high blood sugar is by diet and exercise: no white food except cauliflower and regular sustained exercise like walking, biking, swimming, etc. "No white food" actually means to stay away from carbs because most of them are white: food made with flour, potatoes, rice and sugar.

Please have your husband read through the website in my signature for more understanding of the effects of high blood sugar, even elevated blood sugar. His metformin dosage is rather high. What is he eating?

I understand what you're saying about taking something natural but you know that even natural herbs or other plants can have side effects, some of which we might not be aware of. I am a big proponent of natural food.

If his blood sugar levels are high enough to be on 2500 mg metformin, he's either very insulin resistant or not making enough insulin (I mean his pancreas is not making enough insulin.) or both. I don't know of any natural herb or plant that has that kind of control. I did try berberine, Ceylon cinnamon and gymnena sylvestre at different times over the past 14 years but didn't find any effects on my blood sugar.

Here is a website that talks about these supplements. The bottom line is what his blood sugar readings are and that they are fairly consistent and don't fluctuate widely. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/blood-sugar-supplements.

Me neither!

Have a great day, really!

This evening he had a 4.9 blood sugar reading. He doesn’t get low readings like that in the evening!
I think he took two Berberine today.

I’ll have to check with him for what/when he took metformin and berberine and how much.

Lanie G said...
That's completely normal! What were his readings before? Do you know what his H1c was on the last test?

He usually has 5.2 to 5.5 - I should have mentioned that he dropped one metformin as well. So he took 2000 metformin yesterday. (Sometimes it is higher than 5.5 (around 6)

I don’t have his lab work handy now to check his A1C

** Edited to add: It really is too early to tell, but if the Berberine is making a difference, and he can reduce his Metformin...that would be great.

The berberine is working well so far.

He has reduced metformin to 1000 per day and taking berberine with it.

He will be making an appt with his Dr and let her know.
He will get a lab req for an A1C - although it’s too early for assessing the berberine.

Hi Turtle, yes, I think people with vision problems might have trouble using a phone to read forums because of the size of the print. Maybe there are different phones or apps that can adjust font sizes?

Hope you are well!

Good health and happiness to everyone!

You have a great attitude, HT. I've never heard that expression to "go Marilyn". Hope you're having a good day!

I hope his labs are good! Thanks for keeping us updated. If he's keeping away from heavy carbs, then that should be the key here.

A person would only need insulin shots if his (or her) pancreas stops making insulin. Some people develop that early on as a type 1 or in later years. It's a progression that the person has no control over. Some type 2 diabetics may need insulin if they're not producing enough insulin OR if they load up on carbs in meals to the point that other diabetes meds can't bring the blood sugar down. In that case, then they would need insulin - and that would totally be avoidable.

And of course being active is another way to help control blood sugar.

Good luck to him!

My mother was type 2 but ended up on insulin by the time she was in her 50's. She did not control her eating in any way. However, back then in the 70's and 80's she did not have a blood sugar meter. She had urine strips. She ate rice, potatoes and pastries thinking it was ok because she was on oral meds first and then insulin. Her thinking was it was ok as long as she took her medication. It wasn't.

I also wanted to remind you (and your husband) to make sure you get copies of your lab reports. Keep them in your home file. In his case, his doctor will be watching his kidney function because in diabetes, the kidneys often stop functioning well and many need dialysis. We do have to be self-advocates for our health.

Have a great weekend!

As far as I understand, kidney function does lessen in all of us as we age. After all, I suppose you would say this might be true with all our organs but with diabetics our kidneys (and heart) may deteriorate faster. This is only one reason to make sure our blood sugar is as close to normal as we can get it.

At least once a year, we should have a urinanalysis which will check for protein (albumin) in the urine. So both blood and urine tests help doctors understand about our kidney function. There are several sites that talk about these tests.

Also, he needs to have his eye pressure checked by an ophthalmologist every year whether he wears glasses or not. This specialist has special equipment that can see behind the eyes, measure their pressure, the health of the blood vessels, etc.

Since he is taking berberine, he and the doctor should also pay attention to his liver function. I hope everything comes out well!

No, I haven't read anything about the liver. I was just stating in general. Anytime we take any medication or supplement we have to be careful of its effects on the body and this is why it's important to have these tests.

Even too much aspirin is bad on the stomach which is why it's coated. My doctor told me to avoid ibuprophen because of its effects on the kidneys (being a diabetic) and that I should use Tylenol (acetaminophen) if I need to for headaches. However, Tylenol at very high dosages is bad for the liver in long term but normal usage is not a problem.

So, my point is we do have to be our own health advocates and be schooled in accurate information.