Metformin or not?

[borderbird]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 2 3 weeks ago with my initial bloods coming back at 84! with cutting out sugar and changing my diet the second lot have come back yesterday at 72 and cholesterol at 5.2. The nurse is wanting to put me on metformin MR (4 x 500 a day) and statins. After reading up on it I'm not sure I want to go down this route as most people seem to have a rough time with it! Is my drop in BG enough to continue the diet only approach?

 

[borderbird]

As I am a diet controlled only T2 I can't help you with the metformin but my humble advice about statins is hold out as long as you can before you start on them. I don't know how old you are but they make you feel very old, I used to walk 4 or 5 miles a day and get out and about but not since starting on statins, and I was not T2 before and have my own suspicions about this.

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

Hi Mr Tosh , welcome to the forums, no one can tell you what to take only offer our own experiences, mine, I was diag type 2 in march with Hb test of 107, finger bg was 34. after all the panic in my gp surgery i was given glic and metaformin, and told to cut out all sugar from my diet, the rest about carbs i read on here, i was allowed to go home on the understanding that if my bg hadnt dropped in 24 hours to go to A&E ( it didnt and i didnt) it took 4 weeks of a real strict diet before i was taken off the glic and just left with metaformin, 1800mg daily and still on a strictish diet,
now my hb test is 50 and my finger prick bg is between 5.9 & 6.9 every day which im over the moon with, i have started eating the fruit i love ( no grapes) the odd bit of real chocolate and the odd homemade diabetic friendly cake, the key though is the meter so you can test before and 2 hours after meals, its the only way to gage your sugar.

so i lost 4 st in wieght within 2 months and watch what i eat, metaformin has been great for me, and my hubby who was diagnoised in June,
the odd tummy upset with them but that wears off quick, speak to your DN ask her advice, read all you can about diet and we wish you well

 

[rogerzanker]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 2 3 weeks ago with my initial bloods coming back at 84! with cutting out sugar and changing my diet the second lot have come back yesterday at 72 and cholesterol at 5.2. The nurse is wanting to put me on metformin MR (4 x 500 a day) and statins. After reading up on it I'm not sure I want to go down this route as most people seem to have a rough time with it! Is my drop in BG enough to continue the diet only approach?

I'm type 2 and was put on metformin and simvastatin I had to stop taking the statins as they were affecting my feet and giving my pains in my feet and ankles and making walking difficult. They doctor eventual had to stop the metformin because they were affecting my kidney function I'm now on insulin and I'm feeling my old self again'

 

[jojo broadie]

Get rid of the bread, pasta, rice, potato, pies etc. Code free meters are cheap and its the strips that can cost, I got mine for £5.99 for 50. You wont get a meter from the doc. Their are loads of good recipes on here and the net for low carb diets. And don't fear the fat, it fills us up and doesn't muck about with blood sugars. Have bacon and eggs for brekkie, avocado, nuts like walnuts, macadamia and almonds.
Read the forum too.

Hi what meter do you have ...My husband pays £13 at Asda pharmacy he has the nexus meter....

 

[Bazzascp]

I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago and started on metformin straight away as my hba1c came back 98. Luckily I we provided a meter and have had excellent support from my practice nurse. After 6 weeks and a loss of 12 kilos my readings are now regularly in the 5.2 range. I am hoping that after my next test I may be able to reduce the medication

 

[Suzie Quartly]

Start with one metformin a day and see how it goes. Not everyone gets on with the stuff - i dont - so ease into it gently. if you get your diet right you wont need statins, and at your level of cholesterol its not urgent. I think they have a bee in their bonnet about statins. My doc wants me to have them at 4,3. No way! get low carbing and step up the exercise- I swim and its brill for many things.

 

[Liam1955]

I am Type 2 (15 yrs now) and have been on Metformin all these years and now take 4 x 500mg a day. I also take 39 Units of Humulin 1 Insulin daily (began Insulin a year ago). Go on the Metformin, it is supposed to help you loose weight. Also, I have been taking statins for the past 12 years and have had no problems at all. My cholesterol is always under 5 ( 3.4 in June this year). My HBA1C was 71 in June. At the end of the day it is your decision to take medication if it is offered by the professionals. Good Luck.

 

[Celeriac]

My GP explained that in 2007 when I diagnosed, Best Practice was to prescribe Aspirin to Type 2s whereas now, Best Practice is to diagnose a statin. If I were you, I would query the necessity for a statin. My GP said my cholesterol was excellent but practice nurse practitioner started doing prescription for a statin so I refused.

GP is supposed to give you a period of time to make changes with diet and exercise but not all GPs do this. I got a call 4 days after diagnosis to pick up a prescription for Metformin, with no info on possible side effects.

It seems like many people do have issues as I did, until switched to Metformin SR. It's a safe drug which is heart protective, cancer protective and an appetite suppressant. It also helps fix broken signalling between liver and pancreas.

If I were you I'd find a friendly pharmacist and ask him/her to talk to you about drugs because doctors don't have the in-depth knowledge of drugs that pharmacists have.

 

[makfai]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 2 3 weeks ago with my initial bloods coming back at 84! with cutting out sugar and changing my diet the second lot have come back yesterday at 72 and cholesterol at 5.2. The nurse is wanting to put me on metformin MR (4 x 500 a day) and statins. After reading up on it I'm not sure I want to go down this route as most people seem to have a rough time with it! Is my drop in BG enough to continue the diet only approach?

If you want to keep an eye on the carbs then visit here http://www.carbsandcals.com
I keep the book handy and use it at least once a day. I also keep a list on my iPad of the regular foods I eat and their carb content.

 

[Liam1955]

My GP explained that in 2007 when I diagnosed, Best Practice was to prescribe Aspirin to Type 2s whereas now, Best Practice is to diagnose a statin. If I were you, I would query the necessity for a statin. My GP said my cholesterol was excellent but practice nurse practitioner started doing prescription for a statin so I refused.

GP is supposed to give you a period of time to make changes with diet and exercise but not all GPs do this. I got a call 4 days after diagnosis to pick up a prescription for Metformin, with no info on possible side effects.

It seems like many people do have issues as I did, until switched to Metformin SR. It's a safe drug which is heart protective, cancer protective and an appetite suppressant. It also helps fix broken signalling between liver and pancreas.

If I were you I'd find a friendly pharmacist and ask him/her to talk to you about drugs because doctors don't have the in-depth knowledge of drugs that pharmacists have.

Hi. Like your comments.

 

[purp]

Hi Mrtosh,

I can't believe I'm the same as yourself, near enough to the last decimal point.
Anyway I had a fantastic response from the people on this site. It's a minefield out there but as you probably know. The best people to get the info from are the people who suffer from the condition.
Anyway I just wanted to see how you are getting on with things as you are ahead of me in how long you have been diabetic. I also wanted to ask if you have seen on YouTube about a Dr in Canada called Dr Yung, a fellow diabetic gave me the link and i found this to be quite unbelievable but totaly agreed with everything this young doctor was saying ( it made total sense) well to me it did. You should have a look at his ideas. It has really opened my eyes the idea of ridding your body of type 2.

I wish you all the luck in your journey and as people say, the information you get of this site from people has stopped me screaming about being diabetic ( hahaha.)

 

[dawnmc]

Hi what meter do you have ...My husband pays £13 at Asda pharmacy he has the nexus meter....

Its the code free one, just misquoted the price it was £6 99.

 

[jojo broadie]

Its the code free one, just misquoted the price it was £6 99.

Where do you buy the strips ...We have to test a lot at the moment due to low carb diet I have put him on ....thanks for your help

 

[dawnmc]

Where do you buy the strips ...We have to test a lot at the moment due to low carb diet I have put him on ....thanks for your help

The site is called homehealth-uk.com, don't know how to do links but if you Google it, you will find it.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

The site is called homehealth-uk.com, don't know how to do links but if you Google it, you will find it.

http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

There is a discount code if you buy 5 or 10 boxes of strips, which brings the price down to about £5 for 50 strips.
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833

 

[Ryan19uk]

I was diagnosed with type 2 in January 2015 I'm 19 so quite new to it and understanding it all I would advise to go on the metaformin because I think that diet can only do so much and if you want to get it under control quickly then I would say take the tablets

 

[Liam1955]

I was diagnosed with type 2 in January 2015 I'm 19 so quite new to it and understanding it all I would advise to go on the metaformin because I think that diet can only do so much and if you want to get it under control quickly then I would say take the tablets

Well said - agree with you. Everything helps, no matter how little.

 

[Grahamers67]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 2 3 weeks ago with my initial bloods coming back at 84! with cutting out sugar and changing my diet the second lot have come back yesterday at 72 and cholesterol at 5.2. The nurse is wanting to put me on metformin MR (4 x 500 a day) and statins. After reading up on it I'm not sure I want to go down this route as most people seem to have a rough time with it! Is my drop in BG enough to continue the diet only approach?

Hi Mr Tosh,

I was diagnosed with type 2 just over a year ago now. I was put straight on to metformin sr 500 mg twice daily I did well for the 1st 8 months and brought my HBA1c down to 39.5 with diet and excercise. Back in Jan I had it checked again and it had gone up to 62. The dose of the metformin was increased to 1000mg twice daily. Like yourself I heard all the horror stories about metformin. I must say for the first 2 months I felt really sick and was running to the toilet quite a bit. Glad to say the symptoms disappeared after that and have been grand ever since. I tend to do whatever my gp and diabetic nurse recommend as they know best but that's just my opinion.

 

[Mr tosh]

Hi and thanks for all the great advice, I've seen what I think are some good changes over the the last 6 days since I've had access to a meter, ( accu chek aviva nano, kindly lent by my daughters fiancee, being his sons spare whos 4 & type1 ) which has been really helpfull in seeing what foods affects me and how. I've now managed to keep my bloods below 7 for the last two days, even my morning one which for the first 4 days was a 9.0 (even though my bedtime ones were av around 6.2!!?) I've seen some noticeable spikes (up to 16) , after breakfast Being the worst!. 6.2 these last two mornings and after changing to a different brand of cereal they haven't got past 7. So I'm quiet keen to give the diet a chance first, it's still early days I know and a week probably isn't long enough to get a full picture but I'm feeling encouraged by the results so far , although the morning highs before food have me a bit confused .