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Awful1st week

C

canarypilot

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 2
What a week. Just thought I would share it.

Diagnosed last Friday with T2. Would never have known I had it but detected in annual medical review. Doctor advised change of lifestyle but also said I needed some help from Metformin. First week was to be 1 tablet a day rising to 3 over 3 weeks.

I've never had a reaction like this one to medicine before. For the last 6 days I've been totally out of it living in a constant daze with severe headaches that usual pain killers couldn't deal with. Such a weird and horrible feeling.

One day after stopping with Dr's agreement I seem to be back to normal. Just wish I had seen my Dr sooner but just felt my body was getting used to the medicine.

I have to wait a week and then they will try with new medicine.

Clearly the metformin is great for some people but not for me.

There is no suggestion for me to check my blood sugar levels myself; they will do this in 3 months. I was just told to lose weight and exercise more.

It's all very daunting but this forum is helping a lot, thankbyou. I'm confident I will get there.
 
Welcome @canarypilot Sorry you've had a rough time on your medication.

Tagging @daisy1 for you as she has some information. Many Type 2s here test their blood sugar and find it a great help.
 
Hi @canarypilot and welcome to the forum. I haven't used metafornin but some of the people on here who have been on it have said it made them unwell, and were subsequently prescribed a slow release version, so that might be what you will be given too.
Metafornin doesn't make much to your blood sugar levels, but does suppress your appetite so helps with weight loss.
A lot of us Type 2 diabetics on here have found that adopting a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) approach to eating has reduced our blood sugar levels.
Have a read round the threads and ask any questions you want to, the people on here can give you a lot of good advice.
Do you know what your HbA1c (blood sugar) levels are? If not you should find out from your GP surgery so you know where you are starting from.
 
@canarypilot

Hello canarypilot and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new Members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 147,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why :)
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
canarypilot said:
I've never had a reaction like this one to medicine before. For the last 6 days I've been totally out of it living in a constant daze with severe headaches that usual pain killers couldn't deal with. Such a weird and horrible feeling.
Click to expand...
I had the headache as well, plus some other symptoms. It's one of the symptoms of lactic acidosis, which metformin can cause in susceptible people. I had weird shoulder pains at 500mg, but at 1000mg it just blew up. The headache ended up being the worst part. It kept getting worse for about 18 hours after my last dose, culminating in the feeling that my brain had been dipped in acid. It took me several weeks to recover.

canarypilot said:
There is no suggestion for me to check my blood sugar levels myself; they will do this in 3 months. I was just told to lose weight and exercise more.
Click to expand...
It's good to test with your own glucose meter, so you know which foods are spiking your blood sugar, and it can help in reducing carbs to a level that works for you. Weight loss alone usually isn't sufficient to control diabetes once you've got it, though it can help a bit.
 
If you are having severe side effects from Metformin then stop taking it. It only has marginal benefits in reducing blood sugar compared with eating a LCHF diet. There are quite a few people on here who have got their blood sugars under control by diet alone, so perhaps you should try that also.

Get a glucose blood meter to see how various foods affect your blood sugar. Measure before eating and two hours after to see the effect. I suggest dropping breakfast cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Also stop drinking orange juice. You can eat more foods contains fats like cheese, yogurt, cream, avocados, nuts etc.
 
welcome here canarypilot
the best to do is to buy a blood glucose meter, and use it every morning fasting before breakfast and then also 1-2 hours after a meal to keep blood glucose low and under control and find out what foods you can manage to eat..

so also counting your grams of carbs in a meal is important... try to get under a total of 100 grams a day and if that is not enough to get you numbers into normal area, then go even lower like under 80 grams a day or even less..
one of the easier ways to go lower in carbs is to eat a breakfast almost without any carbs like bacon and eggs, or avocado, or a LIDL protein roll with a lot of cheese
 
Wow! Thanks for all the replies. They are very much appreciated.

I am now off the metformin and feeling so much better. Still slightly sea sick but back in the land of the living.

I asked my Dr about low carb diet and she advised against it in favour of the 5&2 diet where 5 days normal food and 2 days no more than 500 cals. Seems she is more interested in weight loss. I'm 96 Kg and 5ft 7 inches.

In terms of the blood tests, please forgive misunderstandings etc as it's a lot to take in during 10 min consultation. I believe the fasting test gave 7.8 whilst the indication of the A1C was average 9.5.

I will read the information on the forum as suggested and focus on the low carb diet. I see Dr a week tomorrow to review the Meds.

I will also order gadget to test blood sugar.

Thanks again to you all.
 
canarypilot said:
Wow! Thanks for all the replies. They are very much appreciated.

I am now off the metformin and feeling so much better. Still slightly sea sick but back in the land of the living.

I asked my Dr about low carb diet and she advised against it in favour of the 5&2 diet where 5 days normal food and 2 days no more than 500 cals. Seems she is more interested in weight loss. I'm 96 Kg and 5ft 7 inches.

In terms of the blood tests, please forgive misunderstandings etc as it's a lot to take in during 10 min consultation. I believe the fasting test gave 7.8 whilst the indication of the A1C was average 9.5.

I will read the information on the forum as suggested and focus on the low carb diet. I see Dr a week tomorrow to review the Meds.

I will also order gadget to test blood sugar.

Thanks again to you all.
Click to expand...

if you go very low in carbs like under 50 grams a day you would probably loose much, it is though healthy to fast too which the 5:2 diet is also about...
but being diabetic it is essential to get normal blood glucose to lower ones carbs intake every day... not only twice a week
 
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canarypilot said:
I asked my Dr about low carb diet and she advised against it in favour of the 5&2 diet where 5 days normal food and 2 days no more than 500 cals. Seems she is more interested in weight loss. I'm 96 Kg and 5ft 7 inches.

I will read the information on the forum as suggested and focus on the low carb diet.
Click to expand...
@canarypilot Most of the people who do LCHF find it does also reduce weight.
Most GPs don't encourage LCHF as it is against official NHS guidelines, which are outdated. But more HCPs are coming round to seeing it as effective in controlling T2 diabetes.
And well done on getting a blood glucose meter! :)
 
Hi @canarypilot .. and welcome
What a rough start you have had .. I really feel for you but I can assure you that you have joined an extremely welcoming, informative and friendly forum .. so, ask your questions and you can be confident that you will get the answers that you need

As others have said, managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing - with or without medication - seems to be the best way forward. For me, committing to an LCHF lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day, seems to be working .. I have lost almost a stone since my diagnosis on Feb 7th and my BG levels are down from 12.5 to around 6. There is a wealth of info about LCHF on the forum .. and a host of kind folks ready to provide positive and relevant advice and support.

Ifyou are planning to test your BG levels, this may be useful. I was given the website at: https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/ for the SD Codefree meter and I ordered one which arrived a few days ago . While I was waiting for this I also found the website at: http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/ who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free. I have been using both for comparative purposes since Feb 16th and I have found very little difference between them but .. my personal preference is the TEE2. In a recent email, I received details of a new T2 testing programme offer: https://www.type2testing.com .. another free meter but the test strips and lancets are marginally more expensive than the TEE2 or SD Codefree. The costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. I'm testing 3-4 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for the three packages above. I don't know yet whether my Surgery will provide the strips etc on prescription .. but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I will be able to manage them
Hope this helps
 
My doctor isn't even talking to me - the diabetes 'educator' said that I'd not even get diagnosed as diabetic on the results of my second blood test.
I had to give up the Metformin and statin as it made me so bad - I eat a low carb diet with whatever meat and fat I feel like. The only thing which I do which is not usual is a family thing - I boil bacon to remove the salt and other soluble substances. As I usually keep the packs in the freezer it is just a matter of peeling the block of rashers and putting it into a frying pan with hot water. Simmer gently and peel off the layers as it softens. leave it for a minute or so, then sieve out the bacon and put it into the frying pan to crisp up. It might have something to do with the excellent blood pressure readings I get. I then cook mushrooms, sweet peppers eggs etc - a LCHF diet is not exactly difficult to stick to.
 
Sorry, but I have to say something here as I'm totally confused.

I'm T2 diet controlled and have successfully been so for nine years now. I eat a healthy diet (including carbs and cereals), have no diabetes related hospital admissions, my BP's good, no skin, eye or feet problems; even my kidneys and liver are in good nick.

All the advice in this thread about low carbs and high fats is the exact opposite of what I do. I can't take statins and never test myself either. The testing is done at my MOT's every six months.

The only thing I can think of that's different between me and everybody else here is that I'm not on medication yet. Am I over analysing things?
 
If I eat certain types of carbs my blood glucose rises and stays up for hours, starchy vegetables, grains, high sugar fruits, I can see it on the meter, up in the teens two hours after eating - so I don't eat them.
Everyone has different reactions to carbs - I could never lose weight all my adult life, except by starving myself. On Atkins it just fell off - and all the foods which stopped weight loss are the ones which make my blood glucose rise, so I do wonder how long I have been diabetic.
On Atkins, foods are reintroduced after the first really low two weeks - so if you can or can't eat them soon becomes obvious.
 
Sunny66 said:
Sorry, but I have to say something here as I'm totally confused.

I'm T2 diet controlled and have successfully been so for nine years now. I eat a healthy diet (including carbs and cereals), have no diabetes related hospital admissions, my BP's good, no skin, eye or feet problems; even my kidneys and liver are in good nick.

All the advice in this thread about low carbs and high fats is the exact opposite of what I do. I can't take statins and never test myself either. The testing is done at my MOT's every six months.

The only thing I can think of that's different between me and everybody else here is that I'm not on medication yet. Am I over analysing things?
Click to expand...
Excellent that you are able to eat a higher carb diet with no problems. Can I ask what your last HbA1c was?
 
Sunny66 said:
Sorry, but I have to say something here as I'm totally confused.

I'm T2 diet controlled and have successfully been so for nine years now. I eat a healthy diet (including carbs and cereals), have no diabetes related hospital admissions, my BP's good, no skin, eye or feet problems; even my kidneys and liver are in good nick.

All the advice in this thread about low carbs and high fats is the exact opposite of what I do. I can't take statins and never test myself either. The testing is done at my MOT's every six months.

The only thing I can think of that's different between me and everybody else here is that I'm not on medication yet. Am I over analysing things?
Click to expand...
If your blood glucose is not high despite eating lots of carbs, then you probably don't have diabetes.

Many people don't have symptoms of diabetes despite having high blood sugar. If you are one of those people with high blood sugar levels e.g HbA1C over 100 for many years then you are liable to get diabetes complications at some time.
 
My doctor on diagnosing me with type 2 immediately said you need a very low carb diet, I was dianosed 4 weeks ago now.

He gave me a brief outline on what I needed to do and eat, he told me to reduce my sugar intake to as low as possible and my target was to get my blood sugar level down from 48 to 15-20 in 5 days when he wanted to see me again.

I was to,d to cut out, bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes, cut out al, fruit juice and most fruits apart from berries. And told to google how much sugar in what ever I wanted to eat. I have to say it was information overload in the 15 mins I saw him.

If your doctor says low carb low sugar otherwise you will be on insulin injections this time next week if you don't get it diwn you listen... I did...

Within 5 days I got my levels down to 12.5 - 14, my doctor was ecstatic and really couldn't believe what I had done, he honestly thought I wouldn't be able to manage to reduce the levels.

My next appointment was 7 days later. By staying off the carbs and sugar I got them to 7-9 and I was prescribed metformin. I also lost 3kg when he weighed me and my blood pressure was down but only slightly.

So, I have another check up on Friday and hopefully if things go well my sugars will be in the range of 4-6.5 after meals.

The thing is, my driving force is the fact that if I can get this under control with diet I'm hoping that I'm not going to have yo inject insulin at a later date.

I class myself as a lucky one, my doctors seem to be bucking the trend and recommending a low carb diet, I can honestly say that it's been the right advice for me. I've also found this forum which I've read avidly for the last 4 days

Please listen to the advice on here, these are real people living with diabetes and they are sharing what works for them, it also gives you options that you wouldn't know of before

Good luck on your journey though, it's not easy at times and can at first be overwhelming
 
firstly thanks to everyone for their advice. I have been on a low car diet and already lost a few pounds. I have aso bought a meter which has proved interesting. Levels on waking up are on average with no Meds 9.2 and then 2 hrs after food around 7.2.

I came off the metformin and after 3 days was back to normal on terms no headaches or feeling 'spaced out'. 1 week on and I'm back on the metformin (500mg) once a day as it's a slow release version. Been on it for 3 days now. No severe headaches but quite light headed after about 1 hour which lasts all day and into the evening. I have just tested my blood and have a level of 5 which is 2 hrs after food and meds. This morning on waking it was 7.5. Could this sudden drop be causing my light headiness?
 
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