That's great! Thanks for the update!

I just got my A1C this week.... from 6.4, to 5.7 and NO drugs
for months! I stopped the Glumetza because it was beginning to torture me too.

What I am using however, is R-lipoic acid (stabilized) by Doctor's Best. 100mg a day. This new form is good for neuropathy, and I guess it really is working on my A1C.

I also use 300mg SunTheanine at bedtime and 150mg of Benfotiamine. The theanine is suggested for PN also. I have seen some suggestions that it lowers cortisol, which may be why my A1C fell that much.

Since Sept I also drink 4 ounces of Kefir daily, and this has really helped my GI tract (which the metformin trashed).

So I am just controlling now with diet and my supplements, and testing daily. I've lost some weight too, but not as much as you!

It's great to hear that you are doing well also!

Mrs. G. Where do you get your R Lipoic Acid from?

Thanks much

Melody

It is available from iherb.com

But I am finding Amazon competitive now in price and
free shipping for smaller orders... $25.

So my last order came from Amazon. Doctor's Best. R-lipoic stablized 100mg

I took a walk to my local GNC. They not only didn't have it but the guy said "I've only heard about this from two people".

So my best bet is to get it online. Do you take the Alpha also, or do you just take the stabilized R Lipoic. Thanks very much

Melody

There is a LONG thread on PN about this. Take a look.

The R-stablized form is far more absorbed, meaning less is needed, and it works far better-- it is water soluble unlike the original Alpha. The original alpha needs very high doses to work, and 1/2 of it is not biologically active. Why use that when the new form is so good?

Melody, you've been around a LONG time... you KNOW that local stores don't usually have what we use here, and if they do, like GNC they charge over double the value for them.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ht=lipoic+acid
I had been using R-lipoic 100mg daily but it wasn't stabilized form. That thread explains why the stabilized is superior. We all learn new things daily.

Besides the sales people in stores know basically nothing IMO.
They are not medical people and only want to sell you "something".
GNC is notorious for being overpriced for anything you get there.

Yup, I chalk my lack of remembering stuff to LOTS of stress in this family right now. But I'm dealing with it.

I'm getting it from Amazon today. Can't wait

And guess what else I learned. That when you get Levemir from the company (and it comes refrigerated naturally), it works BETTER than when you get a sample from the doctor. (even if that sample was refrigerated.)

Got my first batch yesterday (brand new prescription and my first one for Levemir). When I was using the doctor's samples I was getting 150 in the morning, 133 in the morning, and I could not understand why. The pen had not expired but who really knows when it's passed from sales rep to physician, right? So while I wasn't getting tremendously high numbers in the am and during the day, I knew something wasn't quite right.

So got the new shipment yesterday. Ate exactly what I eat all the time. Don't cheat. And this morning my number was 106. I was never so happy to see a 106 in my life. Now that I can live with.

So I now take my 19 units at bedtime. I want to get as close to the 100 in the a.m. and better post prandials during the day.

I go back to Cornell in January so we shall see.

I probably could go back on orals but they did such a job on my gastro system and I have NO problem with the amount of insulin that I take so why not leave things the way they are.

I let my sprouts take care of the rest of me.

Thanks for all the good input Mrs. D.

Melody

I thought it would be okay to share what one reviewer wrote as a comment on the amazon R-Lipoic topic.

What a great write-up!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3E04AA...elpful.Reviews

Melody

Samples are always either short dated, or may be mishandled.

If the pen was exposed to high heat in the trunk of the sales rep's car for hours and hours, it would be degraded.

Those reps get boxes of samples and store them in their cars, and travel around. I've seen them countless times getting them out of a hot trunk and lugging them into the clinic or office!

Not surprised. In fact long ago when tetracycline was new and popular, its samples were stored for long periods of time (this is before exp dates were put on drugs---yes there was time this was true) and doctors used the old samples on themselves and family members and employees and patients and old tetracycline cause kidney damage--Fanconi's syndrome. When traced back to outdated drug, it was an incentive to have exp dates put on drugs from then on:
from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedic...i%27s+syndrome

P.S. this paper refutes the lysine link to Fanconi BTW. There was one report on PubMed over the years only.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978v647225604382/