On boxing day I decided to donate blood. Since turning my health around, I thought to give back, plus I heard that donating blood has some health benefits too. Unfortunately I was informed I was banned indefinitely from donating blood because I came from the UK in the 1980's. At that time there was the risk of mad cow disease, and there is currently no test available to prove I am not infected. I felt rather sad. It is like being rejected by your school crush. Now I go around to people and shout "Mooo!" for no reason. My using humour to hide my sadness I guess.

Another update on my quest to cure myself of diabetes.

I've recently been doing 3 day fasts. They seem to make more impact than 2 day fasts.

For a while I was doing one meal a day (OMAD). This was 20 hours fasting and about a 4 hour window of eating each day. I learned recently that it is not good to do this long term, as it is more like a caloric reduced diet and leads to a permanently slowed basal metabolic rate (BMR).

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.

I just met with my doctor again for a three month checkup. I had all my results and data to review with him. I had more data than he did, since I have access to the results from the lab tests as well as my own data. I have made progress over the last three months in all areas, although in some areas I have made more progress than others. Here is a bullet point summary:

Yet more update on my quest to cure myself of diabetes. It is now six months into my quest, and I continue to make some encouraging progress, and I am learning a lot.

Keeping my blood pressure in range has been a challenge. I am taking Ramipril, plus half a water pill. I have noticed the water pill can elevate my blood glucose level, which means I have a trade off between blood pressure and blood glucose level. That is why I only take half a water pill a day, trying to compromise. My hope is that as I reduce my weight in the future, my blood pressure will normalize to the point I don't need medications.

In my last update I reported that I was no longer taking medications to lower my blood glucose level. Since then I have successfully continued to maintain my blood glucose level with just diet and fasting. I am carefully monitoring my blood glucose level, and so far I am averaging around 6.0 mmol/L. It is interesting that without the medications, my blood glucose level is more stable, in that it does not move up and down as wildly as it did when I was taking medications. The moving average line is almost straight.

It has been a while since my last update. I have been waiting for things to report on. Well, looking back, I think I now have something I can share. A couple of weeks back, I reduced and then stopped taking my Metformin (blood glucose reducing). About 3 days ago I stopped taking Glyburide, which was the last medication for controlling my blood glucose level.

My latest update, and I am continuing on course. My wife is happy with her weight loss too. She sorted though her wardrobe and got rid of a load of 'fat' clothes, that no longer fit. I shrunk my shirt size and my waist size, so I will be gradually replacing some of my clothing too.

We have been quite active, doing kayaking and cycling a lot. The activity is good to keep my blood pressure in range. I find a sedentary life leads to higher blood pressure, but lots of exercise can fix that (a drug free treatment).