Please help me understand

[kazd63]

Girl at work is diabetic, diagnosed a year or so ago, she still eats loads of carbs and hasn't lost any weight (despite watching her sugars, just her sugars!) has increased walking and swims once a week. She is on Metformin and some other medication and her three/six monthly blood test comes back with her sugars ok allegedly.

So my question is, if she is taking medication that 'artificially' brings her blood sugars down, then how if I have to take them, do I monitor my sugars because surely the blood glucose monitor will show me as having lower blood sugar. Or is it a case that the metformin and other drugs bring your blood sugar down but you can still monitor to see which causes a rise and therefore cut those foods out of the diet.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[bulkbiker]

Or is it a case that the metformin and other drugs bring your blood sugar down but you can still monitor to see which causes a rise and therefore cut those foods out of the diet.

Yes .. simply put that is what you should do. Metformin won't bring your sugars down a lot though and as your work colleague may find will only control them for a while if eating is not addressed. I'd be interested to know what her "OK" sugars are. I'd put money on them still being way higher than I would like for my own.

 

[Resurgam]

OK could cover a lot of possibilities, having normal and having OK BG levels could be rather different.

 

[Guzzler]

Whether we are on drugs/insulin or not diet has to be watched carefully. Insulin Resistance can make all the difference, too, so we should try not to compare ourselves with others who have the same condition.

 

[kazd63]

Yes .. simply put that is what you should do. Metformin won't bring your sugars down a lot though and as your work colleague may find will only control them for a while if eating is not addressed. I'd be interested to know what her "OK" sugars are. I'd put money on them still being way higher than I would like for my own.

She is going for her 6 monthly review tomorrow, not sure if they will take her bloods, will try and find out what they are. Mind you she might not be willing to share, today we were talking about food and she kept saying what are the sugars and I said that she needs to look at the whole amount of carbs not just the sugars. She just repeated, yes but what are the sugars.

 

[Guzzler]

She is going for her 6 monthly review tomorrow, not sure if they will take her bloods, will try and find out what they are. Mind you she might not be willing to share, today we were talking about food and she kept saying what are the sugars and I said that she needs to look at the whole amount of carbs not just the sugars. She just repeated, yes but what are the sugars.

Aye, but you know better

 

[kazd63]

If the medication is not keeping her sugars artificially low then how come her sugars are okay, she said the db nurse said they are fine but with the carbs she is eating her sugars should be higher.

 

[Guzzler]

If the medication is not keeping her sugars artificially low then how come her sugars are okay, she said the db nurse said they are fine but with the carbs she is eating her sugars should be higher.

Does she use a bg monitor?

 

[Karen Dwyer]

If the medication is not keeping her sugars artificially low then how come her sugars are okay, she said the db nurse said they are fine but with the carbs she is eating her sugars should be higher.

I would be willing to bet that the DB nurse said that her glucose numbers are fine because they fall within the standard numbers recommended for diabetics by Diabetes Associations in most countries of the world. However, these are not normal, non-diabetic numbers and can cause complications of diabetes, according to Dr. Richard Bernstein In his book, "Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution." As a type 2 diabetic, I have been following Dr. B's recommended low-carb, high protein diet for 17 years and have maintained non-diabetic blood glucose levels for all that time (My A1C numbers are always 5.0 or below).

 

[Terrytiddy]

As @bulkbiker has said Metformin does not have a big influence on Bs but helps with HbA1c. Be interesting to see what her HbA1c is and also her Bs .

 

[kazd63]

Does she use a bg monitor?

No, been told she does not need to monitor her blood.

 

[kazd63]

I have to have the HbA1c test done again in the next week or so for them to confirm the diabetic diagnosis. Whats the chances of getting my blood sugars improved enough to make the result go down? Gutted because we are doing afternoon tea and dressing up for the wedding on Saturday, I have looked and am taking General Tso's chicken wings rather than the Guiness Cake I was going to take. Maybe if I walk or cycle there and back and drink wine I could have a slither of cake.

 

[AdamJames]

Whats the chances of getting my blood sugars improved enough to make the result go down?

Not sure when your last test was, sorry if I missed it.

But yes, even just a couple of weeks of very significant change, ensuring you keep your blood sugars low, can have quite a dramatic effect. It's called a 3 monthly average, but really, the blood sugars you've been getting closer to the test have much more of an impact than the ones two and three months ago. You'd need to be ditching all thoughts of 'getting away with' bits of cake, and chicken wings coated in anything carby though if you really want to make a dramatic change!

 

[Guzzler]

No, been told she does not need to monitor her blood.

Then her nurse is judging by her A1c which is just an average and won't show the spikes that she may have.

 

[dbr10]

Then her nurse is judging by her A1c which is just an average and won't show the spikes that she may have.

Remember telling my doctor this once.

 

[Crocodile]

Metformin moderates the release of glucose by the liver. It does sweet ***** adams for what you choose to put in your mouth.

 

[Daibell]

No, been told she does not need to monitor her blood.

That is standard NHS advice to save money. All diabetics need to use a glucose meter

 

[Allanmax]

What Daibell said is so right. I was told the same thing, don't bother checking. I bought the recommended one on here asap. It's helped enormously. You really need to know what's going on inside you.

 

[kazd63]

What Daibell said is so right. I was told the same thing, don't bother checking. I bought the recommended one on here asap. It's helped enormously. You really need to know what's going on inside you.

I have bought one myself already, this is what prompted me to go to the Doctor. Trying to lose weight to see if I can bring my sugars down.

 

[Karen Dwyer]

-

Aye, but you know better

She doesn't seem to understand that ALL carbohydrates convert to glucose (sugar), the minute they hit your system - I didn't know that until I became diabetic - I just thought that I would have to avoid sugar itself. My doctor explained the facts to me, using as an example the fact that one medium-sized baked potato converts to the equivalent of three heaping tablespoons of table sugar - I was shocked!