I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (insulin resistance) a year ago, and the doctor prescribed Metformin (first 500 mg x 2, then 500 mg x 3, which was later raised to 850 mg x 2). I took it for a while, it worked well, and lowered both blood sugar and insulin levels, but then I got scared because I read about ketoacidosis. Granted, a rare side effect, but it scared me nonetheless, as it can be lethal. Then I read about Berberine, and how it has shown to lower blood sugar levels the same way Metformin does, but with fewer side effects. I also read that Berberine should be combined with milk thistle for optimal absorption, so I ordered Glycosolve (500 mg) and milk thistle, and have been taking them three times a day about 15 minutes before meals. I have not had labs since switching to Berberine, but I will go to the lab later this week as I have a doctor's appointment next week.
What scared me about Metformin was also the fact that you are supposed to avoid alcohol while on it. If I am invited to a party on Saturday, and don't take Metformin on that day, can I take it the day before and the following day, or how long am I supposed to stop taking it just to be on the safe side? I thought Metformin sounded scary, and that was another reason I stopped taking it, and started looking for alternatives.
I have also been taking Erfa Thyroid for the past year, due to problems with Armour. In 2012, on 5 grains of Armour, my FT3 levels came back 2.9 (ref 1.8-3.8), so I asked the pharmacy if they could give me Erfa instead, and they had no problems with that. But Erfa seems to contain a lot of sugar, and I am not sure if that is a good thing if you have insulin resistance...? Sugar was what was removed from Armour back in 2009, and replaced with cellulose. It seems cellulose lowers absorption of thyroid hormones, which would explain why many saw their hypo symptoms return after Armour was reformulated...however, I have read about Candex (cellulase), said to destroy cellulose (and be the most potent cellulase product on the market). I thought that could maybe be a way of avoiding excess sugar, while remaining on NDT, as thyroxine did not work for me at all (even with FT4 levels slightly out-of-range, FT3 levels remained below the lower normal limit).
So I wanted to know if anyone has successfully taken Armour Thyroid with Candex?
Thanks.
Anna