Yet more update on my quest to cure myself of diabetes.

I am off my blood pressure medications, which means I am no longer taking any prescribed medications. To me, that is a huge achievement. In March this year, I was on at least 6 different medications. At that time my doctor suggested going on insulin to help control my blood glucose level. That was the turning point. Now, seven months later, I am free of all the medications.

Weight Gain

When I stopped the water pill recently, it seems like I gained about 10 lbs due to water retention. One night I had to go to the washroom so much that I weighed 6 lbs less the next morning than when I went to sleep. It is taking me a while to get over this, and my weight is still a bit crazy. It is mostly water though.

I need to watch my eating carefully. I eat one meal a day (dinner), and limit my carbs to under 20g per day. I have to stop eating by around 7-8 pm. Overnight, my blood glucose level goes up by about 1.5 mmol/L. It may continue to go up until around mid morning, before it goes down. I also try to eat a reasonable amount of fat, in order to get me into ketosis.

Blood Glucose Level

Here is an annotated chart of my blood glucose level for the last few days:

You can see a repeating pattern. In the morning I start out lower, then my blood glucose level goes up a bit to peak around 10 am and comes back down during the rest of the day. In the evening I eat my low-carb high-fat dinner, and my blood glucose level goes up a little. Then the pattern repeats daily.

Note all my readings are in range, and the average blood glucose level is about 5.7 mmol/L (or about 102 mg/dL for US readers). If I keep this average up, my A1C should be around 5.2% in December when I next test.

I am quite proud of this. It is sustainable, and in range. I am in control and without medications. Most days I am doing as well or better than my wife, who is non-diabetic.

Canadian Thanksgiving

We have quite a collection of food requirements at our extended family gathering. We have lactose intolerant, non-gluten, kosher, and now keto. I think my keto diet is the more restrictive, and I managed to make it through turkey day without any spikes in my blood glucose level.

I saw lots of things I would have previously eaten in quantity, and my blood glucose level would have been off the scale. I am quite carbohydrate intolerant, and I need to keep to the lowest possible or my blood glucose level spikes and takes up to a day to recover.

Cycling

We increased our cycling by taking a longer route to Pat's work. I'm now doing about 32km each weekday, or about 160km a week. It takes over 2 hours a day, and it is a lot of fun. We cycle via a trail called The Poco Trail. Pat likes to avoid the roads, and cars, so this is a good choice for her. I like to do all my own bike maintenance and repairs for our bikes. For example, I recently replaced a rear cassette, chain and rear derailleur cable. I also re-greased some bearings for a smoother ride.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This is based on my own experience. Your mileage may vary. Check with your doctor before doing anything drastic based on what I wrote above.