Hi Everyone
I have been diagnosed Type 2 for about 8 years now - shouldn't have come as a surprise as my father, uncles and grandad were all diabetic. At first diagnosis I was sent to the dietitian and came away clutching my diet sheets. After a couple of years trying to keep things under control I moved to a new area and registered with the local practice. In short order I was prescribed 2 x 500mg Metformin and statins and again handed the same dietary advice - low fat regular carbs.
The Metformin dosage was increased over the years to 5 x 500mg daily and so did the side effects - embarrasing backside explosions at the most inconvenient times - the final straw was a meal out with friends at the local chinese where my pals came to look for me as I had been sitting on the throne for about 20 minutes while they were lingering over coffee. Slow release Metformin seemed to settle things down in that department.
Then I realised (about 3 years ago) that my memory was going - I went to see the Dr after having to leave a trolley full of shopping at the checkout when I couldn't remember any of my pin numbers for my credit cards. I sort of suspected that the Statins (Lipitor I think) were to blame having read the little leaflet in the box and seeing memory loss being a 'rare' side effect. He was so patronising and blamed it on stress (I have retired early) - age (only 52) and arranged a head CT scan for me - but as I pressed the point switched my statins to Crestor (Rosuvastatin). Needless to say the scan was clear and my memory gradually returned.
All went well for about 18 months or so until I began to have back / shoulder / kidney pain - aching joints - insomnia and hair loss. I was convinced I had something terminal and when the pain got so bad that the only chance I had of getting any sleep was by propping myself up on pillows I finally went to see the Dr again. I saw a fresh faced young doctor who arranged a chest x-ray but also quizzed me about indigestion saying that the chest and back pain couuld be referred pain. I got home from the surgery and googled 'statins side effects' and threw the statins in the bin.
2 weeks after dumping the statins came my annual diabetic review - which had my HbA1c at 7.9 - Cholesterol at 5.8 and Trigs at 8.0 - the highest my nurse had ever seen she smilingly informed me. She told me that I would have to start taking Glitazone(?) as well as my Metformin and change my diet to cut out all the fats etc etc.
Anyway - sorry its taken so long to get to the point - I started searching on the internet for alternative ways of getting my lipids in order (no way am I taking statins again) and found a site claiming Low Carb diets helped - and a mention that there was evidence to suggest it could help my blood sugar control. After a bit more digging I found this forum and the rest, as they say, is history.
After Low carbing for a week and seeing my glucose levels fall to 6s and losing about 7 lbs in the process I arranged to see the DN again - she was all apologies that my Glitazone prescription hadn't come through yet and was amazed when I told her I didn't want it and her jaw dropped when I stepped on the scales and she saw the amount of weight I had lost. To be fair she has been very supportive - and agreed another blood test after 3 weeks to see how I was going on and arranged prescriptions for test strips so I can carry on monitoring my BG.
Just got my results back and after only 24 days of LC my HbA1c is down from 7.9 to 7.0 ... cholesterol down from 5.8 to 5.4 ... 15lbs lighter and trigs down from 8.0 to 1.56. I stopped taking my Metformin about 2 weeks ago to see what would happen and my BG still keeps on falling - 5.0 to 5.7 now 2 hours after a meal and between 4.8 and 5.3 first thing. I am losing weight - eat as much as I like - feel brighter and more alert - sleeping like a baby every night and totally smug at my shrinking waist line.
Thanks to everyone on this forum - what I read encouraged me to try low carbing even though everyone I mentioned it to warned me that it was dangerous and would lead to heart / kidney / stroke problems. All these posts on here were just what I needed - and I am now delighted with my progress and the lock is staying on the bread bin.
I have been diagnosed Type 2 for about 8 years now - shouldn't have come as a surprise as my father, uncles and grandad were all diabetic. At first diagnosis I was sent to the dietitian and came away clutching my diet sheets. After a couple of years trying to keep things under control I moved to a new area and registered with the local practice. In short order I was prescribed 2 x 500mg Metformin and statins and again handed the same dietary advice - low fat regular carbs.
The Metformin dosage was increased over the years to 5 x 500mg daily and so did the side effects - embarrasing backside explosions at the most inconvenient times - the final straw was a meal out with friends at the local chinese where my pals came to look for me as I had been sitting on the throne for about 20 minutes while they were lingering over coffee. Slow release Metformin seemed to settle things down in that department.
Then I realised (about 3 years ago) that my memory was going - I went to see the Dr after having to leave a trolley full of shopping at the checkout when I couldn't remember any of my pin numbers for my credit cards. I sort of suspected that the Statins (Lipitor I think) were to blame having read the little leaflet in the box and seeing memory loss being a 'rare' side effect. He was so patronising and blamed it on stress (I have retired early) - age (only 52) and arranged a head CT scan for me - but as I pressed the point switched my statins to Crestor (Rosuvastatin). Needless to say the scan was clear and my memory gradually returned.
All went well for about 18 months or so until I began to have back / shoulder / kidney pain - aching joints - insomnia and hair loss. I was convinced I had something terminal and when the pain got so bad that the only chance I had of getting any sleep was by propping myself up on pillows I finally went to see the Dr again. I saw a fresh faced young doctor who arranged a chest x-ray but also quizzed me about indigestion saying that the chest and back pain couuld be referred pain. I got home from the surgery and googled 'statins side effects' and threw the statins in the bin.
2 weeks after dumping the statins came my annual diabetic review - which had my HbA1c at 7.9 - Cholesterol at 5.8 and Trigs at 8.0 - the highest my nurse had ever seen she smilingly informed me. She told me that I would have to start taking Glitazone(?) as well as my Metformin and change my diet to cut out all the fats etc etc.
Anyway - sorry its taken so long to get to the point - I started searching on the internet for alternative ways of getting my lipids in order (no way am I taking statins again) and found a site claiming Low Carb diets helped - and a mention that there was evidence to suggest it could help my blood sugar control. After a bit more digging I found this forum and the rest, as they say, is history.
After Low carbing for a week and seeing my glucose levels fall to 6s and losing about 7 lbs in the process I arranged to see the DN again - she was all apologies that my Glitazone prescription hadn't come through yet and was amazed when I told her I didn't want it and her jaw dropped when I stepped on the scales and she saw the amount of weight I had lost. To be fair she has been very supportive - and agreed another blood test after 3 weeks to see how I was going on and arranged prescriptions for test strips so I can carry on monitoring my BG.
Just got my results back and after only 24 days of LC my HbA1c is down from 7.9 to 7.0 ... cholesterol down from 5.8 to 5.4 ... 15lbs lighter and trigs down from 8.0 to 1.56. I stopped taking my Metformin about 2 weeks ago to see what would happen and my BG still keeps on falling - 5.0 to 5.7 now 2 hours after a meal and between 4.8 and 5.3 first thing. I am losing weight - eat as much as I like - feel brighter and more alert - sleeping like a baby every night and totally smug at my shrinking waist line.
Thanks to everyone on this forum - what I read encouraged me to try low carbing even though everyone I mentioned it to warned me that it was dangerous and would lead to heart / kidney / stroke problems. All these posts on here were just what I needed - and I am now delighted with my progress and the lock is staying on the bread bin.
It's great that you have had such good results from cutting back your carbs. I do the same. Keep up the good work. On your travels around the forum you may have already seen this - if you have I apologise. This is basic information written by the Forum Monitors for new members - I know you are not newly diagnosed but in a way you are starting again so perhaps you would find a lot of this information useful. It has anyway recently been updated even if you did see it. Ask as many questions as you like - we would all love to help you.
