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Another Newbie

From what I've read on here I think Metformin has some effect but not drastic - instead the diet changes are likely to be a bigger factor. So if/when I stop taking it I'm not expecting a big increase in numbers.
 
niblue said:
From what I've read on here I think Metformin has some effect but not drastic - instead the diet changes are likely to be a bigger factor. So if/when I stop taking it I'm not expecting a big increase in numbers.
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I was wondering the same, I had a test of 98 a few months back, just got my 4 month test back 41, the doctor told me to take 2000 metformin a day, I was testing regularly and in never above 7, so said no and after a few nights of horrific night mares and crazy high morning readings and cold sweats i agreed to take 1000 a day kept forgetting the second dose so only take 500 a day and was wondering what would happen if I stopped it
 
Metformin is generally accepted to affect Hba1c by about 1 -2 mmol, so not drastic at all. I only still take 1000mg a day to help circulation, i have peripheral artery disease, and have also had 2 strokes. Since i don't suffer any gastric problems from it, then it is of some benefit to me, although with Diverticular disease as well, i wouldn't know if any gastric problem was actually due to it anyway. stopping it will not have any big effect, if any at all.
 
If my test comes back as low as 41 there is not a chance I'll be accepting a higher metformin dose. At best I might agree to continue with the current 500mg x 2 that I'm on until the next blood test. If my result does come back reasonably low (and it might not as it's not much over 2 months since my initial diagnosis of 106 so I've only got a couple of months of lowering by blood sugar levels) then it'll be an interesting discussion with the doctor.
 
At my appointment with the diabetes nurse this morning - which was a little confused as she thought I was in for an annual diabetes check and hadn't realised I was newly diagnosed - she was a lot more accepting of my own data. In fact she decided not to weigh me or check my blood pressure but instead used the latest data I had for those. So in the end all she did was take blood and test my feet for issues.
 
Surely it does more than 1-2MMOL, so if i have a HBAC1 of 82 with Met it will be 80 with Met?

I wouldnt take it if thats the case, I guess the only way to tell is by someone whos on this regualry to give it up for a few days and continue the same diet as when they were on Met and see the difference.
 
Good luck with the Blood results, just call them tomorow they come back very quick. Dont expect a response from them for a week.
 
I think it's 1-2 MMOL from your finger prick type tests, not from an hb1ac
 
0110 said:
Good luck with the Blood results, just call them tomorow they come back very quick. Dont expect a response from them for a week.
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I'm expecting to see them first on the my diabetes my way site so will check there over the next few days.
The follow-up appointment with the diabetes nurse isn't until the end of the month.
 
niblue said:
I'm expecting to see them first on the my diabetes my way site so will check there over the next few days.
The follow-up appointment with the diabetes nurse isn't until the end of the month.
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At least you get appointments, more than what I did in London. They dont want to see me for a year now after going into remission. I told them NO i want to check again in atleast 6 months from now, she reluctantly agreed
 
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My hb1ac test from 06/06/2023 is up on the mydiabetesmyway site now and is 53. So while not as low as I'd hoped it's still half the 106 from my initial test on 22/03/2023. So decent progress but I expect I don't really have a case yet to get off the metformin - but hopefully do against the doctors suggestion of increasing my dosage.

I'd have preferred if my blood test had waited the full 3 months but will just have to hope that my next one is down further - especially as I've only been going low-carb for 2 months now anyway.

My cholesterol was also down to 5.9 (from 7.5 last time) but not really enough so I might need to consider taking the statins I'd been prescribed.
 
Fist of all you should feel good your gone from 106>53. Amazing achievement. Almost in the pre-diebetes range so thats nicely done. Can I ask you what sort of finger prick measurements you get on fast\pre-meal and after-meals now?

I recon you 100 per cent got this now, with or without Metaformin. Your chlesterol has coem down as well so well done.
 
I don't really do measurements before and after meals however I had a look over my data.

I started taking measurements after I was diagnosed about 2.5 months ago and the average over all those readings was 8.3, which is equivalent to an hb1ac of 51. Given my blood sugar in the couple of weeks prior to I started testing (i.e. to complete the 3 months) would have been very high then an hb1ac of 53 over that period is pretty consistent with my own testing.

If I look just at the measurements since I went low carb a 2 months ago then they average at 7.2, which is equivalent to an hb1ac of 44, and over the last month they've been an average of 6.8, which is equivalent to an hb1ac of 41. In the last 2 weeks the average is 6.1, which would be an hb1ac of 36. So at least that gives me some encouragement that my next hb1ac might be more in the range I'm hoping for.
 
I had my follow-up call with the diabetes nurse yesterday, to discuss the results of my hb1ac earlier this month. She was very impressed that my hb1ac had dropped from 106 to 53 in 6-weeks - to the point she said she'd written WOW! in my notes (and was interested in what I'd done as she said they don't often see drops like that). We've agreed to do another hb1ac in 3-months and that I'll stick with the 2 x 500mg of Metformin for the moment (and hopefully the doc will also be onboard with that as prior to the test he was talking about upping my Metformin). I've let her know my target is to get off Metformin and her suggestion was that if my next hb1ac is in the "normal" range then maybe drop to 1 x 500mg, then if the one after that is in the normal range then they'd regard that as being in remission (i.e. 2 normal hb1ac's) and coming off metformin would then be fine.
 
Prior to the call I'd also been sent a report on my results (although I'd already seen them a couple of weeks back via the mydiabetesmyway portal) and it was quite interesting to see how those were scored. They measure a number of things:
- Diabetes control: The hb1ac of 53 put me into their "lower risk" category of less than 55, where on my last test (106) I'd been in their "higher risk" category of above 65.
- Blood pressure: I'm usually in the normal range of this so no change to being in the "lower risk" category of less than 140/90 (I'm usually something around 120/80 although I did have a test by the doctor of over 140/90 earlier this year)
- Cholesterol and Blood Fats: While I'd dropped from 7.5 to 5.9 this still puts me in the "higher risk" above 5 category - hence why I've started taking statins
- Weight: My BMI had dropped from just over 28 (which is "more risk") to 24.8 at the time of the test which put me in the "lower risk" group (and it's since dropped further to 23.5
- Smoking: I've never smoked so am in the "lower risk" category.
- Eyes: That's unresolved as my retinopathy didn't get a good result on my left eye (probably 'cause I've had a cataract lens replacement in that eye) so I've got a follow-up test organised
- Feet: I'm down as low risk in both feet after tests at the start of the month
 
I had my 3rd hb1ac blood test yesterday and am quite pleased with the result which was 43. That's down from 53 in June and 106 when diagnosed in March. I think that's now getting close to the "normal" range and I think is maybe now into what would be regarded as the remission range. I think I'll stick with the metformin for now, but if I'm still at that sort of level in 3 months maybe discuss coming off it with the doctor.

My cholesterol was also down again, to 4.6 this time. That's down from 5.9 in June and 7.5 in March. Still work to do there but decent progress towards getting it down to 4 or under.
 
That's really impressive - well done!
 
Amazing achievement well done. Any tips on getting the cholesterol down, I think mine is way to high?

Chol 5.92 MMOL
LDL 4.00 MMOL
HDL 1.55 MMOL
TRIG 0.81 MMOL
NON-HDL 4.37 MMOL
CHOL/HDL 3.8 MMOL
 
0110 said:
Amazing achievement well done. Any tips on getting the cholesterol down, I think mine is way to high?

Chol 5.92 MMOL
LDL 4.00 MMOL
HDL 1.55 MMOL
TRIG 0.81 MMOL
NON-HDL 4.37 MMOL
CHOL/HDL 3.8 MMOL
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I didn't do anything specific to target cholesterol, so I think it was a side effect of the improvements in diet and the weight loss I did to target the diabetes.

I was taking statins for maybe a month or two (although stopped some time back) so that might also have had a positive effect.
 
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