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Metformin

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Fizzybird

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Hi, newly diagnosed type 2…..was given Metformin, felt so I’ll on it so stopped taking it!…..try to control it with diet!…..I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing with diet control, I feel so depressed at times, there’s no info on what I should eat and what I shouldn’t! The only information I have found is asking Google!…I don’t eat chocolate, or have sugar in my tea, don’t eat biscuits or sweets now, I’m going round the bend! xx
 
Fizzybird said:
Hi, newly diagnosed type 2…..was given Metformin, felt so I’ll on it so stopped taking it!…..try to control it with diet!…..I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing with diet control, I feel so depressed at times, there’s no info on what I should eat and what I shouldn’t! The only information I have found is asking Google!…I don’t eat chocolate, or have sugar in my tea, don’t eat biscuits or sweets now, I’m going round the bend! xx
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You might find this very useful on what to eat to be dietary controlled.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/jokalsbeek.401801/
 
Best way to prove what is good for your body is to regularly test your bg with a meter.
@Rachox has some details
 
Blood glucose, also known as blood sugar.
@Rachox will post a list soon. She's probably asleep now
 
Here’s some info on UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.


HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews if you use this link and select the meter plus 5 packs of strips, and then add the code dcuk (all lower case) at check out you may get money off, I’m not sure if this code is still valid.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/


Links to the strips for future orders:


https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/



There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips respectively. Again I’m not sure if these codes are still valid.



Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!



https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/



Discount codes for the Code Free strips



5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833







SPIRIT HEALTHCARE

They have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular however I haven’t been able to find it on their website lately.


(Old link which doesn’t work for me now but maybe works for you, if it doesn’t try the phone number below



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793 )



The strips are to be found here:



https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097



Some members have got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order, with a large order of strips they often throw the meter in for free:


Phone number 0800 8815423



If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.







Don’t forget to check the box if you have pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 
Hello @Fizzybird - all you need to know is that, if you are a plain ordinary type 2 then by reducing your blood glucose you should feel better fairly quickly. The glucose and other sugars come from what we eat and is the product of digesting starches and sugars, so grain, potatoes, sugary drinks, sweet fruits all contribute to the problem.
By testing to see how well a meal has been coped with it is possible to assess tolerance of various foods and to make changes to lower levels to more normal numbers.
I found that once I wasn't overloading my metabolism with 'healthy' carbs my numbers went on improving.
 
Resurgam said:
Hello @Fizzybird - all you need to know is that, if you are a plain ordinary type 2 then by reducing your blood glucose you should feel better fairly quickly. The glucose and other sugars come from what we eat and is the product of digesting starches and sugars, so grain, potatoes, sugary drinks, sweet fruits all contribute to the problem.
By testing to see how well a meal has been coped with it is possible to assess tolerance of various foods and to make changes to lower levels to more normal numbers.
I found that once I wasn't overloading my metabolism with 'healthy' carbs my numbers went on improving.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
catinahat said:
bulkbiker no longer participates in this forum unfortunately. I'm sure he won't mind if i answer for him.
He used a very low carb diet and intermittent fasting with a few longer fasts thrown in.
Here's a couple of links that should help explain how he and many others have had success
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6640893/
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Thanks! I’m trying intermittent fasting this week. I’m doing sunrise to almost sundown since it’s something I’m used to (dry fasting in Ramadan) and was successfully able to do earlier this year. The only change I’ve made is that I consume lots of water and other beverages through the day and then eat dinner at the regular time. This is helping me. The one thing I struggle with is my readings after waking up and after breakfast. Fasting can be okay-ish but starts creeping up the moment after I check (upon waking) and continues climbing after breakfast. It only starts it’s decline after 12 or 1 in the afternoon. No amount of high protein in the morning is helping with this
 
The dawn phenomenon is just your body taking the opportunity to use up some of its stored glucose.
If you haven't eaten anything and your glucose levels rise, that glucose is coming from you, it's not new glucose, it is just your body moving energy from storage in your liver, to your blood.
It's how our bodies have evolved to efficiently store and use energy.
It seems to me to be quite pointless to try and stop my liver doing its job, after all it has been doing the same thing all of my life, I was just unaware of it until I became diabetic and started testing.
The high blood sugar is not really the problem, it's just a symptom of our insulin resistance. Trying to fool our livers into not using our stored glucose with protein snacks or alcohol the evening before, could possibly make our numbers look better, but will do nothing to improve our insuln resistance .
The whole point of fasting is to use up the excess glucose, as the glucose stores dwindle so will the insulin demand. Low insulin levels result in fat burning and hopefully improving insulin resistance.
It takes a long time, you can't fix it in a few weeks, or even months. Concentrate on keeping as low carb as possible, try to avoid filling that storage up, put your energy into something you can control, your diet.
Your liver is going to do it's job, try to work with it by reducing how much sugar you force it to store, not against it by trying to stop it.
 
I really liked what you wrote @catinahat - good stuff.

But for some T2D folks, and I am one of them - there is other complex stuff going on that might give you high fasting blood glucose readings, so that even on a low-carb way of eating - the liver is getting the signal to shunt out a pile of glucose, wrongly. And my understanding is, it isn't just stored glucose, but self-created glucose, from gluconeogenesis, which due to really wonky signaling - one's poor old diabetic body (mine! at least) thinks there isn't enough glucose out there in the blood, so makes a big batch of new glucose (from fat and protein) and just shoves it out there. It just depends on how damaged or wonky your blood glucose regulation system is, just how stubbornly insulin resistant your cells are (after decades of protecting your cells, off and on, from too high glucose and insulin).
 
And oh - on the thread topic of metformin - I am sadly finding that my fasting blood glucose levels are not being affected positively by metformin any longer. It was never by much. Now , after a year - not at all.
 
Hi everyone! Although I'm not newly diagnosed it's been about 8 months now but still I have issues with taking metformin. I'm taking galvus met (metformin and vildagliptin). Please do you think I can control high bg with only diet. Thank you
 
Mansur_Sani said:
Please do you think I can control high bg with only diet.
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Well - I could, but we are all different. Lots of us here can, so maybe you can as well, but if not, there is no shame in using whatever help is available. I was on metformin 2x daily, cut down to 1 x daily, then phased it out completely, and my diet controlled my BG and still is doing so.
 
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