@Halirez I'm in my second week of metformin and it just makes me feel tired all day long and not want to eat much
@4ratbags May I know how long were you on metformin?
@AndBreathe One of my family members have NAFLD and a close relative had liver cancer. My liver is fine for now (touch wood) but having seen how liver failure tortures people, I just want to stay away from anything that could possibly wreck my liver including meds
I'm sorry to hear of the serious nature of your family member's liver issues.
I must admit, I am also anti-meds where I can possibly avoid them, and I have been extremely fortunate to be able to manage my diabetes, without any medication. At diagnosis, my GP and I agreed I would have a period without medication to try to make improvements, and for me, that worked. That's not possible for everyone, and for those with symptoms at diagnosis, sometimes Metformin is a sensible step.
Whether we are taking medication or not, what we eat, or don't eat makes a tremendous difference to how we do with out diabetes. Almost without exception, T2s find that cutting the obviously sweet (sweets, cakes, desserts, fizzy drinks for example) things is imperative, but also most of us find we need to take action on the other carbohydrates we eat. By that I mean, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals. Most of us find we either have to give them up completely, or significantly cut down our portion sizes and frequency of consumption.
But, the only way you're going to get an idea of what makes a difference to
you is to test your blood sugars as you go. Most T2s are not prescribed a meter and strips by our GPs, so we have to fund them ourselves, but by being sensible in the product choices, the costs can be contained. Most of us use the SD Codefree meter and strips from Homehealth UK, here:
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm
It's by far the cheapest option I have found.
By regular testing you can see how you're doing as you go, and minimise your chances of being on long term medication. Many people have been able to reduce and come off Metformin by paying attention to their diet, so it has to be a serious consideration for you.
Good luck with it all, and keep asking questions. It's what most of us did when newly diagnosed.
