mike_nyc said:

PCOS success story with glycaemic control: as someone with polycystic ovary syndrome, this medication has been transformative beyond weight loss.

My labs after 9 months on glycaemic control: A1C 6.3%, fasting glucose 93 mg/dL, fasting insulin 8 uIU/mL. My endo says these are "textbook perfect."

For context, my baseline A1C was 8.1% and fasting glucose was 138 mg/dL. The improvement has been dramatic and consistent.

robert_kc said:

A1C went from 7.4 to 5.6 over nine months and my prescriber was more interested in the fasting insulin, which I did not expect.

Insulin sensitivity test (HOMA-IR) on glycaemic control — arguably the most important metabolic marker most people aren't tracking:

HOMA-IR = (fasting insulin × fasting glucose) ÷ 405

My numbers: Baseline HOMA-IR = 4.4 (insulin resistant) → Current = 1.2 (insulin sensitive)

Anything above 2.0 indicates insulin resistance. The goal is below 1.5. GLP-1 agonists address the root metabolic dysfunction, not just the symptoms. This is why they work so much better than calorie restriction alone.

BariatricNurseD said:

My labs after 9 months on glycaemic control: A1C 6.3%, fasting glucose 93 mg/dL, fasting insulin 8 uIU/mL.

Fasting insulin is the lab my functional medicine doctor cares about most for glycaemic control: it's a much earlier marker of metabolic dysfunction than glucose or A1C.

My fasting insulin: 31 → 13 → 7 uIU/mL over 9 months. Target is <7. By the time your fasting glucose is elevated, your insulin has been elevated for YEARS trying to compensate.

Ask your doctor to include fasting insulin in your bloodwork panel. It's cheap (~$20) and incredibly informative.

One thing that is still open after CanadaChris’s answer:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?

LindaRN_retired said:

Fasting insulin is the lab my functional medicine doctor cares about most for glycaemic control: it's a much earlier marker of metabolic dysfunction…

Glycemic variability as the key metric for glycaemic control success: my coefficient of variation (CV) on CGM dropped from 36% to 21%. Target is <36%, with <30% being ideal.

Why this matters more than average glucose: large glucose swings cause oxidative stress, endothelial damage, and promote advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). A flat glucose line at 95 mg/dL is metabolically healthier than oscillating between 60 and 160, even if the average is the same.