When on Metformin you dont have "hypo's or hypers", is this true???

[AmyPar37]

Hi Guys!

Hope your all well?

Im currently taking x2 Metformin (1 with breakfast & 1 with tea), last night around 9:45pm I had a little piece of malt loaf, not long after finishing it I started to feel a little strange, tired, dry eyed & irritable so automatically I thought my sugars had rocketed but they were only 6.6 (this for me is a low score), after having x3 ginger nut biscuits I tested again around 20/30 mins later and they were 6.1, being slightly anxious I rang NHS Direct for some advice...the anxiety really doesnt help at times!

Anyway the nurse who spoke to me was really nice and she said that my BS was in a normal range even though to me its low. She also said that being on Metformin shouldnt allow me to have "hypos or hypers" but then i've read conflicting information about this.

Just wondered what peoples experiences were and whether theres any advice?

Thanks for taking the time to read

 

[sally and james]

A "hyper", as I imagine you know, means too much sugar in your system. If you eat enough sugar or carbohydrates, as a diabetic, you will raise your sugar levels. Metformin will not prevent this, but neither will it cause a hyper.
A hypo is sugars below the normal range, to the extent that you don't feel well and may ultimately fall into unconsciousness. Some people say you can go hypo on Metformin, others, including the medics, say you can't. It is important to differentiate between being hungry/ in need of your next meal and actually having insufficient sugars in your system to function safely. When you are first diagnosed, blood sugar levels are often quite high, so your body gets a bit of a shock (a false-hypo) when you return to normal levels.
Sally

 

[Lamont D]

Unfortunately, metformin does not prevent hypers or hypos, it does bring your blood sugar levels down but very gradually. That's what you will find if you read around the forum that diet is a big part of how to control diabetes.
6.6 is fine for a T2. But when was the test done? I usually test before(fasting) and then 2 hours after. To see if I have kept my BSLs under 2mmol.
.

 

[AmyPar37]

I tested within a few minutes of finishing eating as I didnt feel right but my nurse has always told me not to test on a regular basis. Ive had a stomach bug over the wkend and not really felt much of an appetite and the same today so thats why I thought the reading was low.

 

[angelicbaby]

Have I read you correctly? You ate some malt loaf and took a BG reading shortly after. Your reading was 6.6 (which even if it was low for you, is not actually low) therefore you ate 3 ginger nut biscuits.

I have only been diagnosed a type 2 diabetic for a couple of months now but I can't get my head around this. Would it not have been better to eat a slow release carb or some yoghurt and berries if you felt your sugars were dropping fast rather than biscuits? As a new diabetic I am personally striving to get my average blood sugars within non-diabetic range.

 

[AmyPar37]

Have I read you correctly? You ate some malt loaf and took a BG reading shortly after. Your reading was 6.6 (which even if it was low for you, is not actually low) therefore you ate 3 ginger nut biscuits.

I have only been diagnosed a type 2 diabetic for a couple of months now but I can't get my head around this. Would it not have been better to eat a slow release carb or some yoghurt and berries if you felt your sugars were dropping fast rather than biscuits? As a new diabetic I am personally striving to get my average blood sugars within non-diabetic range.

Yes you read it all correctly.

Ive only been diagnosed since July and am still trying to get my head round it all so maybe I am going wrong in some places, im still waiting to go on my DESMOND food education wokshop so maybe then I will have more knowledge about what foods are best and what to avoid. I know 6.6 is within a normal range.

 

[angelicbaby]

Fair enough. I have found this forum very helpful in helping me get lower blood sugars. Have a look at the diet section here, it may give you a starting point of how to manage your sugars successfully. Maybe even better than the DESMOND course can offer (I'm waiting for an appointment slot too, so cannot give you an insight of what it will entail).

 

[douglas99]

Have I read you correctly? You ate some malt loaf and took a BG reading shortly after. Your reading was 6.6 (which even if it was low for you, is not actually low) therefore you ate 3 ginger nut biscuits.

I have only been diagnosed a type 2 diabetic for a couple of months now but I can't get my head around this. Would it not have been better to eat a slow release carb or some yoghurt and berries if you felt your sugars were dropping fast rather than biscuits? As a new diabetic I am personally striving to get my average blood sugars within non-diabetic range.

Yoghurt and berries wouldn't particularly increase BG.
While the BG isn't low, it's not particularly high, and still decreased even after the biscuits.
It takes the body a while to get used to falling BG levels, so even what you personally see as a high number, make feel like a (false) hypo to someone else coming down slowly.

I believe in eating to your meter, normalising slowly, and letting your body re-adjust to the new levels.

 

[angelicbaby]

Yoghurt and berries wouldn't particularly increase BG.
While the BG isn't low, it's not particularly high, and still decreased even after the biscuits.
It takes the body a while to get used to falling BG levels, so even what you personally see as a high number, make feel like a (false) hypo to someone else coming down slowly.

I believe in eating to your meter, normalising slowly, and letting your body re-adjust to the new levels.

I understand that yoghurt and berries would not increase BG however I thought it may stabilize it. 6.6 is still a high reading compared to that of a non diabetic and I thought that or even some slow release carb would help the false hypo. I am new to this game myself so my knowledge is by no means expert. I know that when I was getting false hypo's a few weeks ago, I used to eat something that I hoped would not send my sugars soaring back up. It seemed to work for me.

 

[airsair]

I felt really strange today. I had low carb breakfast and nothing for 5 hours. Shakey, irritable ,sick and eyes bleary. I tested and was 5.2 which is my lowest since being diagnosed 3 weeks ago . Was this what you called a hypo?

 

[Lamont D]

No, what you had was a false hypo.
You get some symptoms but that's because of a quick drop in overall blood sugar level.
A hypo is low blood sugar levels below I believe 3.7 by my experience.

 

[Brunneria]

In my experience, the best way to avoid a hypo is to eat low carb foods on a regular schedule, allowing a slow and steady 'drip feeding' of blood glucose.

Also, in my experience, the best way to treat a hypo is to eat a small amount of quick release carbs, followed by a much larger portion of low carb food - which will give a quick rise in blood glucose followed by slow release to stabilise - hopefully avoiding the high/low blood glucose seesaw.

False hypos feel very real. I hate them. And I try to avoid them. But the best way for me to do so is avoid eating irregularly and quick release foods (I'm type 2, low carb diet and exercise).

 

[fugly54]

Hi Guys!

Hope your all well?

Im currently taking x2 Metformin (1 with breakfast & 1 with tea), last night around 9:45pm I had a little piece of malt loaf, not long after finishing it I started to feel a little strange, tired, dry eyed & irritable so automatically I thought my sugars had rocketed but they were only 6.6 (this for me is a low score), after having x3 ginger nut biscuits I tested again around 20/30 mins later and they were 6.1, being slightly anxious I rang NHS Direct for some advice...the anxiety really doesnt help at times!

Anyway the nurse who spoke to me was really nice and she said that my BS was in a normal range even though to me its low. She also said that being on Metformin shouldnt allow me to have "hypos or hypers" but then i've read conflicting information about this.

Just wondered what peoples experiences were and whether theres any advice?

Thanks for taking the time to read

Hiya AmyPar37 - welcome to the forum.

I am Type 2 (have been diagnosed for 7 years) and, in my experience, we CAN experience hypos and hypers.
On the very rare occasions that I've had a hypo my symptoms are severe sweating, light-headedness and feeling nauseaous, and with a hyper I just feel generally "wrong" - light-headed, stomach cramps and just an over-riding need to lie down.

I'm on Metformin (was 3 a day but just been reduced to 2) and don't have the inclination to follow a strict, specific, diet. I simply (and always have) eat plenty of fruit and veg, chicken fish and red meat and, obviously, read the labels on the food I buy and check out the amount of saturated fats, and the sugar content etc. on the packaging.

There are lots of different schools of thought on which particular diet is best, however, I honestly believe that our bodies know best and, to some degree, it's really a case of "suck it and see" as to what foods you can and can't eat that don't cause great fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.

The only "advice" I would give you would be to eat what you fancy (within the guidelines above). in sensible amounts, without over-indulgence, and eat regular meals. I would suggest that you (as has been suggested by others here) test your BG before you eat and then 2 hours after you've eaten and keep a note of which foods affect your meter readings - and then either cut down the amount or cut out altogether - and then test with these new proportions.

In a way there is no advice that any one individual can give you (sufferer or health professional) that will be exactly right for YOU as we are all individual and each of our bodies cope with the disease in its own way. This is why the types of medication and the doses people are taking are so wide and varied.

Don't let diabetes run your life - live the life you want and deserve, but be sensible and adjust your food according to what suits YOU, what you enjoy and which keeps you blood sugars within acceptable limits. This has worked for me so I can only speak from my own experience.
My motto for enjoying life is "Don't suffer from diabetes - learn to live a full and happy life with it" - and it works for ME, lol

Good luck on ya journey.

 

[pavlovsdog]

I definitely experienced hypos on Metformin but when I spoke to my GP about this he told it was impossible. It was actually a Pharmacist who told me that you could have hypos with Metformin . I had terrible side effects when I was taking it, but my GP wouldn't take me off it as he felt the 'benefits' outweighed the costs. I now off Metformin after discussing it at the Diabetes Clinic and feel so much better

 

[EveryCloud]

I have been on 2000 mg Metformin for over a month now. My BS always seems to hover around the 10 mark, although one day it had dropped to 5 and I felt horrible. Thanks to this forum I was told this was a 'false hypo' because my body wasn't used to my sugar being so low. As far as I am led to believe it doesn't stop hypos, but to have one while on Metformin alone is very rare.

 

[Kat100]

Yes you can have hypos on Metformin, and without it ....