I want to take this time to say Hello to all the members of this site, I’m a brand new member but not new to diabetes. I’m a type 2 diabetic and have been one for about 20 years and have uncontrolled sugar levels. I have been on just insulin the whole time, at times my A1C is ok, then times it’s at least 9, I don’t like this! The doctors all do the same thing, increase my insulin, same thing all the time. My daily routine is 30 of lantus in the morning, and 25 at dinner, and I have a sliding scale for my Novolog injections through the day. Still no good, so I was introduced to a new doctor a week ago who appears to be a bit better. She was very good in getting my whole life of diabetic history and ended up changing my insulin use and adding Metformin, 500 mg in the morning, I thought I would be so sick from the side effects and thought my life would be horrible. I took my first dose yesterday morning and believe me or not I had no side effects except for some diarrhea, I going to continue to try this, and my BG levels were under 130 all day! Can any members give me some real advice about this medication and how to get use to it along with diet and exercise, I need all the help I can get, and how long does it take for the levels to stay down? Thanks to all for allowing me in and Hello! (Dede)
New member, Hi Guys...
- Thread starter Dede2fun
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Kittycat_7_
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daisy1
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@Dede2fun
Hello and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 600,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 600,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hi @Dede2fun and welcome
re metformin, there are several on here who didn't get on with it and control their T2 through diet. The majority of those who have taken it have no or mild side effects where the benefit outways the cons. Personally I was v wary before starting it due to posts on this forum. I did have a similar unpleasant experience to you the first time I tried it but then no problem since. I make sure I take it after eating and avoid a carb heavy meal to take with it.
Good luck! I note you are on insulin and you say your bg levels are uncontrolled. I hope you get some great suggestions from insulin users here to help you. I can't read signature info with the ios app I am using to read this, so I don't know any info you may have put there, sorry.
re metformin, there are several on here who didn't get on with it and control their T2 through diet. The majority of those who have taken it have no or mild side effects where the benefit outways the cons. Personally I was v wary before starting it due to posts on this forum. I did have a similar unpleasant experience to you the first time I tried it but then no problem since. I make sure I take it after eating and avoid a carb heavy meal to take with it.
Good luck! I note you are on insulin and you say your bg levels are uncontrolled. I hope you get some great suggestions from insulin users here to help you. I can't read signature info with the ios app I am using to read this, so I don't know any info you may have put there, sorry.
JoKalsbeek
Expert
- Messages
- 5,980
- Type of diabetes
- I reversed my Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Hi Dede,
Twenty years eh? Oh my. The thing with T2 is, we're insulin resistant. You start off making heaps of the stuff, and I do mean a LOT, so your body becomes insensitive to it. Adding more insulin to the mix, knowing that, seems a little counter-productive; it just keeps making a bad thing worse, as you've noticed. The focus should've been on increasing your insulin-sensitivity, not making it go backwards even further. As things have been this way for 20 years, I have no idea what state your pancreas is in, (it can get exhausted and that would then deplete your insulin production) but it's never too late to change your diet. See, we need insulin to deal with our bloodglucose. And what makes bloodglucose rise? Carbohydrates. All carbs, not just sugar, but starches too, make our glucose levels go up. So that's bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, corn, fruit, anything made with oats like cereal/weetabix... The last time I ate two buns, my BG went up to 18. Haven't had them since, and now my levels are non-diabetic, I've got energy, no complications, and no medication. I started down this road because the metformin I got gave me the runs too... And I mean weeks of it, bleeds included. For quite a few people it's 2 weeks and then the side effects abate, but I wasn't so lucky. So I went looking for an alternative and found the low carb, high fat diet. In the meantime I was switched from metformin to gliclazide, but all in all... After 3 months my levels had dropped so much i could stop all medication (including statins). So while i don't know what your pancreas is up to, i do have a feeling you could gain control when going down that route. just keep in mind that insulin and low carb mean you have to test a lot so as to not hypo.
As for metformin, the most it does is tell your liver not to dump as much glucose as it usually would, about 75% less. It doesn't do anything about what you ingest. So while it does help, it's not a miracle cure.
You might want to read Dr. Jason Fung's the Diabetes Code and www.dietdoctor.com, besides all the advice you're bound to get here. And maybe this'll help too: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/
Just keep in mind that if you make any dietary changes (your choice entirely of course, but it is something to at least look into, I hope?), it will make your blood glucose drop like a stone if you take too much insulin with it. So please do be careful of hypo's. Test like mad.
In any case, welcome, and good luck!
Jo
Thanks for replying to my post, I feel better knowing that someone had some side effects like myself, I can relate to you, and thanks for the Welcome to the site. I have read a few posts on Metformin and what I have read makes me a bit on the nervous side, but I’m trying it because I really need to get my numbers down, seriously. Hope we get to speak very soon, thanks! (Dede)
@Dede2fun
You're welcome. I chose to start it at the weekend when I was staying close to home in case I needed to visit the smallest room in the house in a hurry etc. Hopefully you'll be one of the majority with more benefit than disadvantages with it. As said above it's a mild drug and won't replace carb control in getting your bs numbers down. Good luck
You're welcome. I chose to start it at the weekend when I was staying close to home in case I needed to visit the smallest room in the house in a hurry etc. Hopefully you'll be one of the majority with more benefit than disadvantages with it. As said above it's a mild drug and won't replace carb control in getting your bs numbers down. Good luck
