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Actos Medication - A bit scared

M

MsMollie

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12
Hi Everyone -

I am a bit scared today. I've had this now for 8 years and have been on Janumet.

My doctor has now added Actos to my medications. Reading up there are scary things written about it relating to bladder and pancreas cancers.

Can anyone allay my fears. I suffer anxiety as well, which is helping my brain from spinning.
 
MsMollie said:
Hi Everyone -

I am a bit scared today. I've had this now for 8 years and have been on Janumet.

My doctor has now added Actos to my medications. Reading up there are scary things written about it relating to bladder and pancreas cancers.

Can anyone allay my fears. I suffer anxiety as well, which is helping my brain from spinning.
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Sorry if this has been asked and answered before, but how's your diet? Is changing that an option, try to avoid more medication if it makes you anxious?
 
JoKalsbeek said:
Sorry if this has been asked and answered before, but how's your diet? Is changing that an option, try to avoid more medication if it makes you anxious?
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Hi JoKalbeek - thanks for responding.
My diet is by no means perfect, but I do try to stick to protein and greens and keep the sugar out.
 
MsMollie said:
Hi JoKalbeek - thanks for responding.
My diet is by no means perfect, but I do try to stick to protein and greens and keep the sugar out.
Click to expand...

Not saying it needs to be perfect, just low carb. ;) I am curious though, what is your HbA1c? If they want to pile on the medication, are they absolutely 100% sure you're a T2? There's quite a few people who get misdiagnosed, might be useful to get GAD and C-peptide tests done before taking more medication... Mody and LADA are an option, even after 8 years of this...
 
JoKalsbeek said:
Not saying it needs to be perfect, just low carb. ;) I am curious though, what is your HbA1c? If they want to pile on the medication, are they absolutely 100% sure you're a T2? There's quite a few people who get misdiagnosed, might be useful to get GAD and C-peptide tests done before taking more medication... Mody and LADA are an option, even after 8 years of this...
Click to expand...

Doc said HbA1c is currently 13. I did get my figures very low a few years back with strict low carb, but was unable to maintain it. My new Doc says a mediterranean style diet on the lower carb side is better and more sustainable.
 
MsMollie said:
Doc said HbA1c is currently 13. I did get my figures very low a few years back with strict low carb, but was unable to maintain it. My new Doc says a mediterranean style diet on the lower carb side is better and more sustainable.
Click to expand...
Oof, that's high. When you say you were strict low carb but couldn't sustain it, do you know where things went wrong? Did you miss certain foods, felt restricted, on the outside at social gatherings, or depressed? What did a usual day's food look like back then? Mediterranean sounds about right, but there's so many more suitable foods than "just" Mediterranean. Don't limit yourself too much eh. Mediterranean's just one part of low carb, there's so much more out there. When you say strict, do you mean keto? (20 grams of carbs a day or less?) Sorry about all these questions, just wondering if I can help somehow...
 
JoKalsbeek said:
Oof, that's high. When you say you were strict low carb but couldn't sustain it, do you know where things went wrong? Did you miss certain foods, felt restricted, on the outside at social gatherings, or depressed? What did a usual day's food look like back then? Mediterranean sounds about right, but there's so many more suitable foods than "just" Mediterranean. Don't limit yourself too much eh. Mediterranean's just one part of low carb, there's so much more out there. When you say strict, do you mean keto? (20 grams of carbs a day or less?) Sorry about all these questions, just wondering if I can help somehow...
Click to expand...

I did stict low carb, the eggs, broccoli, bacon, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, type approach. Worked with a doctor to see what upped my sugar levels etc. However I'm not a big meat eater, I don't eat lamb at all. And I soon got sick of pork and beef. I don't mind salads, veggies etc, always looking for new salads. I don't like beans, peas etc, can't handle the texture. I know to stay away from the 5 whites, pasta and rice is pretty easy, as is bread. I do eat hi fibre low gi bread.

I find it very hard when I go out. I also have a husband who eats badly, and a son who's following him and no matter how much I say don't bring home the bad stuff they still do. Though these days I don't join them on the chips etc.

Like last night we had roast chicken, with a salad, lettuce, tomato, egg, corn kernels (very sml amount) and cucumber.

Gawd help me I ate so much cauliflower when I did it I can barely eat that at all now.
 
MsMollie said:
I did stict low carb, the eggs, broccoli, bacon, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, type approach. Worked with a doctor to see what upped my sugar levels etc. However I'm not a big meat eater, I don't eat lamb at all. And I soon got sick of pork and beef. I don't mind salads, veggies etc, always looking for new salads. I don't like beans, peas etc, can't handle the texture. I know to stay away from the 5 whites, pasta and rice is pretty easy, as is bread. I do eat hi fibre low gi bread.

I find it very hard when I go out. I also have a husband who eats badly, and a son who's following him and no matter how much I say don't bring home the bad stuff they still do. Though these days I don't join them on the chips etc.

Like last night we had roast chicken, with a salad, lettuce, tomato, egg, corn kernels (very sml amount) and cucumber.
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like you're doing pretty good still, especially considering the circumstances. My husband has a sweet tooth too, but more often than not he takes his snacks to work, so I don't have to be around them. When I go out I usually stick with meats, eggs, salads... (If fries are served while not mentioned on the menu, OH eats them for me.) But if you don't like meat I guess it does get monotonous after a while... :(
 
JoKalsbeek said:
Sounds to me like you're doing pretty good still, especially considering the circumstances. My husband has a sweet tooth too, but more often than not he takes his snacks to work, so I don't have to be around them. When I go out I usually stick with meats, eggs, salads... (If fries are served while not mentioned on the menu, OH eats them for me.) But if you don't like meat I guess it does get monotonous after a while... :(
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Firstly thank you so much for your replies and help, it means a lot.

I have stopped ordering fries, or if it comes with them, I palm them off (or at least most of them). So I am trying and will even try harder now. Do you think diet alone can work?
 
MsMollie said:
Hi Everyone -

I am a bit scared today. I've had this now for 8 years and have been on Janumet.

My doctor has now added Actos to my medications. Reading up there are scary things written about it relating to bladder and pancreas cancers.

Can anyone allay my fears. I suffer anxiety as well, which is helping my brain from spinning.
Click to expand...

This medication is banned in America, I was on it for years but as soon as I read about it, I asked my GP to stop it, I suggest you speak to your GP
 
MsMollie said:
Firstly thank you so much for your replies and help, it means a lot.

I have stopped ordering fries, or if it comes with them, I palm them off (or at least most of them). So I am trying and will even try harder now. Do you think diet alone can work?
Click to expand...
It does for me... I've been without medication for over three years now. (Was diagnosed +/-3,5 years ago, took me about 3 months to become med-free from metformin and gliclazide, because I was having to figure it out on my own). It's not for everyone though... Some people just need a little medicinal assistance. No shame in that. Just figure out what works for you, what fits your life best and what makes you feel good about life, food and diabetes. This is basically what I do: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html I practice keto and intermittent fasting myself these days, though I started with low carb and that was enough to ditch the meds.
 
I would just like to add that I too got my HbA1C down into the pre-diabetes range through a Low Carb 'Way Of Eating' alone - i.e. no medication and no additional exercise, and as a bonus since I did it as a 'Way of Eating' not a 'diet' , with no hunger either.
I am/was Thin Outside Fat Inside (TOFI), so that influenced me not to try to cut Calorie. But the weight just came off at a nice sustainable pace of between 1lb and 2lbs per week until I had lost 23lbs (around 12% of my original body weight).
 
MsMollie said:
Doc said HbA1c is currently 13. I did get my figures very low a few years back with strict low carb, but was unable to maintain it. My new Doc says a mediterranean style diet on the lower carb side is better and more sustainable.
Click to expand...
I use a diet like that. Called the Pioppi diet, it is a low carb version of Mediterranean. It is strongly supported by Dr Aseem Malhotra, who is an eminent Cardiologist at Surrey Hospital. My heart support team support my diet choice as being suitable for someone with a dodgy ticker like me., and they are very surprised at the level of BGL control I am maintaining. I am on Day 1547 according to my food log. (5th year on LC diet) so it is sustainable. My family is also sharing my diet with me since I am chief cook and bottle washer, and the hunter gather-in-charge too.
 
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