Keeping Diabetes and Psoriasis in Check

Hi Dr. Eric and team, my name is Amy from Singapore. I've had diabetes since I was 16. Currently, I am 37 years old. Over the past 21 years, I struggled to bring my diabetes under control and my HbA1C had always been in the 8 to 10 range on average. Before I came across your videos in March 2021, I was on 40 units of Insulin (Novomix), 1000mg of Metformin, 5mg of Enalapril, 5mg of Linagliptin, and 25mg of Empagliflozin in the day. I was also on 35 units of Insulin (Novomix), 1000mg of Metformin, and 20mg of Atorvastatin at night. Nonetheless, these medications could not keep my diabetes under control. My HbA1C in Jan. 2021 was 9,7 and only came down from 10.2 since my doctor introduced Empagliflozin in late 2020. I also suffer from psoriasis (both plague and pustular) and eczema at the same time. To keep my psoriasis in check, I had been taking methotrexate since 2011. My highest dose was at 17.5mg at one time. I tried to stop it after consulting my doctor in 2018 and it backfired. Since then, I had maintained 5mg per week to keep my psoriasis in check. However, I still had episodes of bad outbreaks from time to time. Besides these conditions, my menstruation was irregular. From 2018 till 2020, I only had it 2 to 3 times a year. In Mar. 2021, I chanced upon Dr. Eric's videos on YouTube and he was sharing on insulin resistance. That enlightened me that perhaps my problem could just not be diabetes. Perhaps, I can reverse my situation by correcting this first. So I began 16/8 intermittent fasting in late March this year and am still on it to date. I changed my eating habits from eating processed meats to eating actual meats. I am not a big fan of meats actually, so I had chosen to eat processed meats since I was young thinking that they are also sources of protein. I had no issues with fiber per see, cause I love greens. However, I was a huge lover of sweets, cakes chocolates, and carbohydrates. My diet in the past was low to no protein, lots of greens, and carbohydrates. These made me hungry all the time and I had to keep eating to make myself feel satiated. After watching Dr. Berg's videos and his sharing, I realize that I was wrong with my food choices and started focusing on eating the right food choices. I also started exercising 6 times a week with both cardio and weight training at home due to Covid. By May 2021, when I went back to my hospital for my diabetic review. My doctor was ecstatic about my improvements. My HbA1C was 5.7 and all indicators were within the acceptable range. This is the first in my entire fight to control diabetes. My weight on 25 May 2021 dropped to about 78kg. To date, I am at 68.5kg with my fasting blood sugars between 4.9 to 5.8 and my post-meals glucose readings between 5.5 to 7 depending on my meals. I also started taking apple cider vinegar and lemon juice daily. The other good news is that because of these improvements I had, my skin doctor decided to take me on a fibroscan over liver biopsy as I have reached my 1500mg threshold for methotrexate. I'll be taking my fibroscan end of Sep. If everything goes well, I will be spared from the painful liver biopsy which I had in 2014. The interesting thing is that I lost 20kgs or 40lbs of weight almost effortlessly. My exercises were simple or some days when I am lazy, I would just walk. I am always full at every meal which helps to reduce my urge to snack most of the time. I can easily keep to my two meals a day. Thank you, Dr. Eric and team for giving me a second chance in life to enjoy life healthily. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.