Went to the doctor today to show him the blood test results and as suspected I have diabetes type 2. He prescribed me this medicine called Xigduo (dapagliflozin + metformin). He told me he might put me on insulin but first he wants to see how it goes with this. However I've been thinking and I don't see how this medicine can be helpful in the long term. I mean, yes, it will lower the blood sugar levels by decreasing glucose production by the liver and by increasing glucose excretion through the kidneys BUT since my cells are insulin-resistant and my pancreas is not producing enough insulin doesn't this mean that at the end of the day my cells won't be getting enough glucose as a substrate to produce energy? Doesn't this mean that my cells will still be using fatty acids primarily to get energy and hence ketone bodies will be produced and released into the bloodstream? Isn't that a bad thing? Maybe I'm missing something here. Could anyone please help me out about this, I'm feeling a bit lost here. Thanks.
Rmoliv - As James has already said, nobody here is qualified to tell you whetherre or not to take or adjust your prescribed medication.
Having received a diagnosis of T2 diabetes, you clearly aren't dealing with your blood glucose as effectively as you did in the past. Whilst I agree most T2s are insulin resistent, far fewer generate a deficit of insulin - indeed quite the opposite.
What happens is our bodies tend to produce lots of insulin, but because of the insulin resistance, our bodies just can't make the best of it, so ourr bodies produce even more insulin. So, for most T2s anything that helps reduce insulin resistance is a good thing. Your Doc has suggested a medication which, as you rightly point out helps with that.
One key point I would just add is that for the vast majority of we T2s, what and how we eat are the two most important aspects of the management of our condition.
I personally found, after diagnosis, that if I modified my diet, and tested my blood sugars (to understand the impacts of what I was eating and drinking), I could manage myself quite well, without any medication.
At the outset, my own GP didn't prescribe any medication for me, but for those who have been prescribed meds, being prescribed medication doesn't necessarrily mean that's a forever, or even a long term position. Loads of folks on here have been able to give theirs meds up, over time.
However, let's be clear, there are some great success stories on the forum, but they have, without exception, taken effort ofrom the person themselves, and not everyone can manage it. Some folks don't actually generate enough natural insulin, but they are in the significant minority. Annoyingly, diabetes is a very personalised conditions, with no silver bullet cure, or panacea.
Good luck with it all.
