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A bit concerned

D

DeeAitch

Active Member
Messages
30
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 2.5 years ago, for at least 2 years I’ve been troubled with intermittent Diarrhea lately going at least twice if not 5 times a day, a colonoscopy showed nothing of concern, my doctor has tried changing my Metformin to Sukkarto in case it’s that that is the problem, but it’s made no difference, this morning she said to stop taking the Sukkarto, without anything to replace it for 4 weeks to see if this stops the problem. However I’m now left feeling confused & concerned about how is my diabetes going to be kept in check without my meds, has anyone else experienced this kind of treatment? (Although I do have a blood testing kit I don’t regularly use it as got told off by another GP for getting one when I don’t ‘need’ it)
 
DeeAitch said:
concerned about how is my diabetes going to be kept in check without my meds, has anyone else experienced this kind of treatment?
Click to expand...
Well you could always try diet as many of us have and continue to do?
 
I was really ill taking metformin and a statin, threw them away and relied on diet - using a meter to check that my BG was going down. No problem at all - I never needed the dratted tablets in the first place.
 
Metformin and it's like have only a mild affect on blood glucose levels (it is prescribed more to address liver duming etc).

Have you considered making small changes to your diet to offset the lack of meds? Diet has far greater effects on Type 2 Diabetes than some medications.
 
I do ‘try’ to be good but whilst I’m by no means ‘thick’ I struggle with the concept of good & bad fats etc, is it worth do you think signing up for the Low Carb Programme (I have to admit I find the £14.99 a month a bit off putting)
 
As long as you avoid processed oils you should be fine - I just use the fat which comes with the meat and olive oil so no problem.
I got onto the low carb program free and found it of very little use - it is so slow for one thing.
 
Hello @DeeAitch I'd thoroughly recommend using a blood glucose meter, otherwise you're flying blind.

In regards to good and bad fats, just focus on reducing the carbs in your diet, I have a saying fat's my friend and sugars the enemy and whilst i'm not a type 2 I can see a distinct link on my meter whenever I eat carbs as I have to increase the amount of insulin I take which can cause issues in itself, so focus on eating protein, fat and above ground vegetables, and leaving out breads/rice/pasta/crisps/cakes etc.

Try looking at https://www.dietdoctor.com/ instead for ideas, it's free.
 
Test. Definitely.
 
So.... Your doc put you from metformin on Sukkarto... Which is metformin by a different brand name. Same active ingredient. No wonder you're still in gastric distress, that was a pretty useless move! And I'm surprised you were put through a colonoscopy before they considered it might be the metformin. (I know how uncomfortable they are, alas). Metformin only does something about the glucose your liver dumps, usually in the morning. (Dawn Phenomenon). It doesn't do much of anything about what you eat during the day, so I don't think I'd worry so much about having to come off it. Just cut the carbs and use that meter (!!!). It's the most useful tool you'll ever get. Have a read here: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ , and don't get too hung up on the fats thing.... If you're alright with salmon, tuna, olives/olive oil,avocado and such, and don't go for lean meats, you're all good. You don't have to shove galons of butter down your throat if you don't want to.
 

Exactly!

Sukkarto is just another brand name for Metformin!
So all your doc did was swap you to another brand of the same medication.
And since MANY people experience stomach upset and loose bowels with Meformin/Sukkarto/any other brand name you care to use to describe Metformin then your doctor REALLY should know better.

So, if your bowel problems stop when you stop the meds, you know exactly where the problem lies.

What a tragic pity that you have experienced YEARS of bowel problems because of this.
For future information, if you read the Patient Information sheet inside every pack of medication you will see a list of common side effects to the drug in question. Both generic Metformin and brand name Sukkarto list diarrhoea as one of those side effects. Some people only experience this temporarily. Others experience it permanently, and those people should be taken off the drug long before 2 years have passed!

As for being medication-less... a few dietary changes (carb reduction) will be able to reduce your blood glucose levels at least as much as the Sukkarto ever did - let's face it, if your digestive tract was sweeping the tablets through on a tide of diarrhoea, then it is unlikely that you were actually absorbing much of the drug anyway.
 
Hi @DeeAitch I’d agree with all the above posts. I’d suffered with IBS for a few years before my T2D was diagnosed, when I started eating lchf not only did my bg levels improve but the IBS got quite a bit better. I still had some diarrhoea but as it wasn’t as bad as it had been I was grateful for that. I finally took the plunge and stopped taking metformin completely a few months ago, miraculously the gut problems have pretty much disappeared since then! I’m now a nice regular ‘once a day in the morning’ kinda gal.
I wish you luck, but please do start testing, I’ve no idea why so many HCPs are so against us testing our bg.
 
Thank you everyone for your comments & support, I feel much more confident in the changes I need to continue/ make than I did earlier
Thank you ALL!
 
When we're type 2 we have issues handling carbohydrates (in both sugary and starchy foods) so cutting down on these will help to control our glucose levels and thus our diabetes, so in way our lower carbohydrate diet IS actually our "medicine".

Follow the good advice you've been given here by experienced fellow diabetics, get a meter and learn to use it to help manage your diabetes, cut down on all the obvious high carbohydrate food and eat normal full fat foods - e.g. full fat cream, cheese, yoghurt, etc, (not low/reduced fat varieties) and you'll be on your way, and hopefully resolve your diarrhea issues - carbs and metformin are known to not always be "good bed fellows" and in combination can cause gastric upsets!

Robbity
 
Last question (for today at least) how many times a day do you test & if only once at what time (ish)
 
DeeAitch said:
Last question (for today at least) how many times a day do you test & if only once at what time (ish)
Click to expand...
The most useful times to test are immediately before you start each meal to get a base line figure, and (in general) two hours after this test, which will give you a post meal figure to see how what you've just eaten affects your glucose levels. If you also keep a diary of what you eat, you should start to see patterns emerging which will help in identifying both OK foods and those best avoided as they raise your glucose too much. The smaller difference you see between the two tests, the better, but try to aim for a maximum difference of two points. The other test that is useful to do, but which you'll have less control over initially as it's determined by what your liver "thinks" you need in the way of glucose to provide fuel to get you started in the morning, is a fasting test done soon after you wake up. Have look at figures here on our main Diabetes.co.uk site to see target glucose levels to aim for.

If you only have access to a limited supply of test strips, my personal preference would be to choose different days to test before and after every meal, but other people may have suggestions for alternative strategies.

There are a few meters available that have cheap test strips, so it 's possibly worth considering a change to one of these, and @Rachox can give you details for them.

(I never had a meter for the first couple of months, but managed to reduce my glucose levels from 62 to 47 purely by being very strict and cutting right down on all obviously high sugar and high starch foods, but I was much more confident when I could actually see whether I was managing to control things.)

Robbity
 
Great advice from everyone, personally, I would not set foot in that doctors room again. Don't know if it's possible, but I'd be looking for a new doctor. That is a terrible standard of care imo. IF, and I say, IF, that doctor thinks they have changed drugs when all they have done is change brand names (And put you through several years of clueless misery in the process) then there is potential for very serious mistakes to be made in the future. Mistakes made with drugs can be deadly, not knowing interactions, or a wrong treatment can be very serious.

Read that "Nutritional thingy" that @JoKalsbeek offered you, it's good solid dietary advice that should be very helpful. Good luck in the future. And do test.
 
Hi DeeAitch

Here’s some info on meters in case you want something more affordable and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned. For a meter with cheap strips go for the Tee2 + found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-plus-blood-glucose-meter/ with the strips found here:

http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-testing-strips/


With more expensive strips is the Caresens Dual which I currently use, this one has the advantage of glucose and ketone testing in one machine, it’s to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual


And to be totally transparent I used to use the SD Code Free which has the cheapest strips available. However I found it to be becoming less and less reliable. Here it is for anyone wanting to give it a go:

http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/

and here for the extra strips

http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

There are discount codes if you buy in bulk.

5 packs 264086

10 packs 975833


Don’t forget to check the box that you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 
Thank you
 
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