Good Results so Far but I have a question

science
(Carolus Daniel) #1

So about a year and a half ago my Doctor noticed my A1C was high a put me on several medications. He prescribed me Metformin first , Farxiga and Victoza. I made a decision about six months ago to try the Keto diet. My A1C last year was 6.4 had it taken again in June at beginning of the diet it was 5.8, August it was 5.3, he took me of of Farxiga. Last week it was 5.0 and he took me off of Metformin. All other blood work is normal. I have noticed that my ketones have dropped since coming off Metformin. Last week I was 2.8 last week, and this morning I was .9 could this be related to me stopping metformin or have I been eating to many vegetable carbs

(Cathy) #2

I am curious to know the answer to your question.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

The goal is not to have a high ketone level, but to be fat-adapted. As long as your beta-hydroxybutyrate level is above 0.5, you are by definition in nutritional ketosis. The fact that you’re not reading as high as you did is most likely a sign that your body is burning fat more efficiently. After all, you don’t really want your ketones to be running around your bloodstream, you want them in your cells, being burned for fuel. If you’re worried about your carb consumption, cut back a bit, but it’s not really a problem, since you’re clearly still ketotic.

(Cathy) #4

I am always confused by this idea of either being in ketosis or not. I have found that my morning fasting blood ketone levels are pretty much around 1 to 2. When I am fasting for more than a day, they jump up considerably to almost 4. Clearly, I feel differently when fasting but not sure what is making me feel differently ~ the increased ketones or the lack of food? It seems to me that having higher ketones is not just a case of efficiency of use but rather availability. If the body senses some deprivation (i.e.no dietary input), does it bump up ketones and why? How does metformin impact this?

(betsy.rome) #5

I’d like to know what the up / down sides to Metformin are for T2 ketonians, in the long run.