Glucose

My glucose levels went through the roof awhile back. At first I thought it was due to the introduction of Atorvastatin, which has been shown to increase glucose levels in some people. I tried to talk about this with two of my doctors and my pharmacist, all of whom told me that that was nonsense. Finally a pharmacist from Express Scripts got involved, said that I was right, and my doctor changed my prescription to Rosuvastatin (Crestor). Alas, though it helped, it wasn't the answer, and my glucose levels rocketed to dangerous levels. I tried to increase my exercise, but between my heart disease and the removal of most of my left lung, that was somewhere between very difficult and impossible for me to do. I didn't know where to turn. My doctor was talking about starting me on insulin, which I definitely wanted to avoid. 

So I began to search. And I happened upon an infomercial for something called Berberine.

Now, I might not look it, but I'm smart enough to know that somewhere between many and all infomercials are bullshit. But I listened carefully, and what Doc Ock was saying seemed reasonable. So  I did what any self-respecting semi-intellectual would do: I Googled Berberine and glucose levels. That brought me to an NIH study (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6434235/) which affirmed that there was indeed a connection between the two. So I crossed my fingers and put in an order for 

I chose that brand because it was listed as best on a website that at least gave the appearance of being objective.

And? 

Well...I was supposed to have my blood levels checked that week, but I put it off until my Berberine arrived and I had a week's worth of it in me. When the data came in it looked like this:

 

So my Glucose level had dropped dramatically.  Skeptic that I am, though, I tried to think if there were any other possible factors to explain this drastic change. I came up with four possibilities:

(1) I had not been fasting.

(2) I had had two bottles of water to drink in the two hours preceding my blood draw.

(3) I had been eating a handful of walnuts every day for a couple of weeks.

(4) Berberine. 

Well...(1) unless I seriously misunderstand the situation, not fasting should have led to worse glucose level results, not better.

(2) I've had more water than this to drink before past blood draws, and my results were nowhere near this good on those occasions. 

(3) According to an NIH study (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4679815/), the inclusion of a small amount of walnuts (a small handfull) in the daily diet had a salubrious effect on body functions, but did not affect blood glucose results.

And (4) "In one study, participants taking 3,500mg of Berberine daily over 12 weeks lost about 5 pounds and reduced their BMI and belly fat significantly. Other studies showed similar results...."

"Berberine Blood Sugar Control Natural Diabetes Weight Loss Supplement" by Tayyab khan

https://archive.org/details/berberine-blood-sugar-control-natural-diabetes-weight-loss-supplement/mode/1up

So while further investigations are needed for me to be certain, I'd have to say that at this point it's looking like the Berberine did it.

Might be worth a shot if you're in similar dire straits vis-a-vis your glucose levels.

P.S. On looking through various online postings, the 3,500 units of Berberine alluded to in the NIH study is pretty high and could cause some gastro-intestinal cramps, etc. I'm hitting three tablets of 500 per day and feeling no pain.