Metformin

[willow51]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes about 6 years ago. I am now 72. I have yearly bloods done which always come back ok. Around the 4 year mark I spoke to another
Doctor who was standing in as a Locum about my results for that year. He said they all looked good and said something strange. He said who diagnosed you with Diabetes? I replied my GP after some tests were done as I had not been feeling too well. For the past 6 months I have been feeling quite unwell, dizzy, weak etc. so I took it upon myself to take less Metformin and see what happened. Strangely my blood glucose have stayed around the 7 mark and the dizziness is so much less. I also have Hypothyroidism. I suppose my question is should I continue to take 1 Metformin a day insted of 3 and is it possible to be misdiagnosed? Thankyou

 

[lovinglife]

Hi @willow1951 and welcome to the forum

We can’t give advice on whether you take your medication or not, it’s best to speak to your GP on that one. We also can’t diagnose or give diagnostic advice but we can maybe help answer your question if you could give a bit more info

Why do you think you have been misdiagnosed? How were you diagnosed? Did your GP do an HbA1c at the time can you recall what it was. Do you know what your HbA1c is currently, 2 tests of 48 or over are an official diagnosis of diabetes. You say your BG have stayed around the 7 mark is that a finger prick test that you do yourself, if so how often do you test

Sorry for all the questions but it helps build a bigger picture for members to share their experiences and maybe share their advice

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes about 6 years ago. I am now 72. I have yearly bloods done which always come back ok. Around the 4 year mark I spoke to another
Doctor who was standing in as a Locum about my results for that year. He said they all looked good and said something strange. He said who diagnosed you with Diabetes? I replied my GP after some tests were done as I had not been feeling too well. For the past 6 months I have been feeling quite unwell, dizzy, weak etc. so I took it upon myself to take less Metformin and see what happened. Strangely my blood glucose have stayed around the 7 mark and the dizziness is so much less. I also have Hypothyroidism. I suppose my question is should I continue to take 1 Metformin a day insted of 3 and is it possible to be misdiagnosed? Thankyou

Hi @willow51 ,

We can't actually say a whole lot about dosage here, we're not doctors, alas. If I had bloodwork done today any locum would wonder why I was diagnosed with diabetes, but little over seven years ago i was thoroughly in the diabetic range. So who knows why they said that? I don't know when you test and where the 7 came from (morning fasting glucose, throughout the day, around meals?), but just that number alone doesn't say all that much to anyone here. Do you see why we can't advise on dosage, with incomplete information?

What we can tell you, is that when your thyroid is out of whack, it can influence your blood sugar control. So it is worth it to have everything looked at. And metformin can only do so much about what your blood sugars can get up to, so if you are feeling better without it, or less of it, you might want to try a low carb diet to gain (more) blood sugar control. I couldn't stand the metformin side effects, so that's the route I went, anyway. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html is a bit of a how-to.

Dunno if that helps at all, but can't offer more for the time being, I'm afraid.
Take care eh,
Jo

 

[KennyA]

Hi willow51

That's an interestingobservation. Normally there's very little doubt about diagnoses - it is very rare these days to have a T2 diagnosis unless there are two separate HbA1c readings of greater than 48. That doesn't mean that diagnoses shouldn't be made at lower HbA1c levels if the clinical evidence is there to justify them, just that it doesn't happen much anymore. It's certainly possible to have a range of diabetic symptoms at considerably lower blood glucose levels.

So without knowing why the doctor asked, it's difficult to answer. You say your yearly bloods are "OK" - this will probably be an HbA1c reading - do you know what your actual values have been?

 

[willow51]

Thankyou everyone for your help