Am I doing the right thing?

[Brightside]

Hi folks, some advice needed?

In January I became symptomatic ie thirst extreme and urinating like a horse!

In March I developed thrush in my mouth so finally decided to visit the gp.

Prick test showed a bg of 19 and a blood test 4 days later (after meds) showed an improvement to 9mmol and hbac1 of 131.

I am calorie counting 2100 kcal/ day running 3x a week (3-5km) plus walking the dog and kid to school (2miles every day). Have lost 3 stone 21kg since last year this time.

Currently my home bg tests are all within parameters....ie between 4 and 6 fasting and maybe upper 6's during the day.

NOW HERE'S THE SHOCK QUESTION ?

I have taken myself off the meds ie medformin and gliglazide. Why? Because I felt the gliclazide was making me feel awful at around 10-11 am ie weak, sweaty typical hypo.

I went off the gliclazide and it did nothing to my bg levels

I then decided to go off the medformin too and after two weeks bg's still ok....

Doc wants me to reduce the gliclazide to half....but to be honest I cannot understand why I should be on medication at all if my bloods are within normal values....

Pls tell me if I'm being an idiot....AND most importantly WHY?





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[Squire Fulwood]

It's a bit difficult to say whether or not you are being an idiot but there are bits of your story that ring a bell with me.

I took all the pills given to me but I am very unfortunate in the pill department and got many of the adverse side effects. I was weaned off some pills and it made no difference to my blood sugar levels.

Realising I could not take the medication I was told that I was on my own. I took defensive action by looking into my diet using a blood glucose meter and had significantly more success than I had with the pills.

If there are benefits, "down the line" from taking the pills then I obviously won't enjoy them. Since you have chosen to give up the pills I would need to know more about these future benefits before I could judge you an idiot.

 

[Andy12345]

sounds a perfectly reasonable course of action to me (but im not a doctor)

so im voting for NOT an idiot lol

3 stone? wow, well done!

 

[Debmcgee]

I'm agreeing with Andy. All the books say diabetes can be controlled by good and you seem to have it under control.

I would do anything to fend off drugs for as long as pos!

Well done on weight loss. I thought I'd drop inches overnight but mine is a slow process! Shame but just typical of my life! I'm hoping one morning I'll just wake up a size ten...!


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[Scandichic]

Don't blame you for doing so but think you need to talk to doc. I would keep a diary showing food, fasting bs and pre and post prandial to show as evidence. I would also ask for an hba1c with fasting bs to look at cholestrol too. And I'd document weight. Good luck!

 

[Daibell]

Sounds like the meds may no longer be needed if your sugars are now good and you have the occasional hypo. I would certainly let the GP reduce the Glic and possibly stop it by agreement as it stimulates the production of insulin and you may not need it? BTW I wouldn't calorie-count I would carb-count as not all calories are equal and it's the carbs not the fats that are the villain for most of us.

 

[Scandichic]

Sounds like the meds may no longer be needed if your sugars are now good and you have the occasional hypo. I would certainly let the GP reduce the Glic and possibly stop it by agreement as it stimulates the production of insulin and you may not need it? BTW I wouldn't calorie-count I would carb-count as not all calories are equal and it's the carbs not the fats that are the villain for most of us.

Alternatively LCHF and then you don't need to carb count!

 

[peacetrain]

I use my fitness pal and I LCHF within my calorie range. Works for me.


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[Brightside]

Thanks folks for the responses! I will keep monitoring the bg's!
For me it's the exercise more than anything that helps! Being an office Johnny I feel we are not getting our metabolisms going, thus the uptake of nutrition by the cells including glucose is screwed.

I do hear a lot here about the lchf diet, and would consider except my collestrol is on the high side too, so opting for a balanced diet but reduced calories!
Any of you read the study from Newcastle uni....11 patients, 800 kcals a day plus a supplement shake 8 weeks and they were off meds....we'll 7 of them were! Very extreme and under supervision from the medics, but seems to show we need to lose the pounds and kilos! How is another story!

I'm opting for a slower more gentle approach....thus the 20kgs over a year....


Ps firmly believe I became symptomatic in January due to stress, too many whisky's and ginger ale plus copious amounts of red bull! Needless to say these are out of my life style now!

 

[Andy12345]

Hi, im not sure youve read about the consumption of fat not adding to your cholesterol levels? personally my cholesterol has gone form high to low on LCHF diet weight loss is also well documented food for thought

 

[Scandichic]

I also had cholestrol issues but follow LCHF. My doc (the good one) has no issue with me following it. Apparently bp, weight, diabetes, cholestrol - he thinks they're all interlinked. He believes the key is in the weight loss. I'm inclined to believe him as I halved my bs in 3 months and have now lost 2 stone 2lbs. Try www.dietdoctor.com - this website is by a Swedish doc specialising in obesity and diabetes.

 

[zand]

My cholesterol dropped whilst following LCHF even though weight loss was minimal. I am convinced that it's carbs that cause high cholesterol not fats, but then I'm not a scientist, just a type 2 diabetic.

 

[Brightside]

I also had cholestrol issues but follow LCHF. My doc (the good one) has no issue with me following it. Apparently bp, weight, diabetes, cholestrol - he thinks they're all interlinked. He believes the key is in the weight loss. I'm inclined to believe him as I halved my bs in 3 months and have now lost 2 stone 2lbs. Try www.dietdoctor.com - this website is by a Swedish doc specialising in obesity and diabetes.

That is absolutely fab that you lost so much flab! Good for you. I still need to lose about 13 kgs!
Told my wife that I'm back to the weight I was when we first started dating 10 yrs ago she was ecstatic till I said "so now we can have sex again like we did then" haha


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[Scandichic]

That is absolutely fab that you lost so much flab! Good for you. I still need to lose about 13 kgs!
Told my wife that I'm back to the weight I was when we first started dating 10 yrs ago she was ecstatic till I said "so now we can have sex again like we did then" haha


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[Scandichic]

My cholesterol dropped whilst following LCHF even though weight loss was minimal. I am convinced that it's carbs that cause high cholesterol not fats, but then I'm not a scientist, just a type 2 diabetic.

And we love you! How are you today? Big hugx