Barriers To Weight Loss?

[Cloudlesssky]

Hello.

I have read on a recent post that someone was finding Gliclazide seemed to be preventing weight loss.
As I am also on Gliclazide and have been seriously trying to lose weight for the last 9 months, I wonder if this could be a contributing factor.
Does anyone have any ideas, please?
I need to lose around 5 stone, and so this is quite urgent …
Thank you all.

Edited by mod to remove reference to deleted post.

 

[Resurgam]

The usual advice for type two diabetics is to reduce carbohydrates in the diet, but that would be a problem for someone taking Gliclazide as it could induce severe hypos.
Have you already tried modifying your diet to be low carb without there being a lowering of your blood glucose levels?
What are you eating now, and what are your blood glucose readings before and after meals?
That information will give us some inside into the problem, I am sure.

 

[Cloudlesssky]

The usual advice for type two diabetics is to reduce carbohydrates in the diet, but that would be a problem for someone taking Gliclazide as it could induce severe hypos.
Have you already tried modifying your diet to be low carb without there being a lowering of your blood glucose levels?
What are you eating now, and what are your blood glucose readings before and after meals?
That information will give us some inside into the problem, I am sure.

The usual advice for type two diabetics is to reduce carbohydrates in the diet, but that would be a problem for someone taking Gliclazide as it could induce severe hypos.
Have you already tried modifying your diet to be low carb without there being a lowering of your blood glucose levels?
What are you eating now, and what are your blood glucose readings before and after meals?
That information will give us some inside into the problem, I am sure.

Thank you for your reply.
Your comment about carbohydrates strikes a chord.
I have been following a low carb diet - but have found that I can begin to feel 'low' two or three times a day.
I test, find I'm around 4 and then have to eat something.
I hadn't realised that Gliclazide and low carbs are not necessarily a good combination.
As for what I eat:
breakfast - banana - with a slice of brown bread if I know I'm going to have an active morning
lunch - lettuce, tomato, salad with tuna or chicken or ham - possibly a yoghurt or a piece of fruit
dinner - meat or fish with veg - but not always potatoes

that's pretty standard for when I'm working - and my portions of salad, meat, fish and veg are quite large, so I don't feel hungry or deprived!!

I've also discovered how poorly I can feel if I eat too much carb. Biscuits, cake, chocolate can all send me to sleep very quickly - where ever and when ever, so I very very rarely have these now.
I have dextrose tablets for fending off a hypo...

Thanks for talking to me

 

[Resurgam]

No problem - but I'm afraid that you are not eating low carb.
In the morning when insulin resistance is usually high (it can vary thought the day quite a lot) most type twos chose to eat bacon and eggs or its equivalent.
I found, by testing that I needed to include some carbs in order to stay stable, but I eat mushroom omelets, scrambled eggs with cheese and a sliced tomato, or a sweet pepper chopped and fried before adding the eggs - or sausages, choosing a low carb sort, or I have some of the meat or fish left over from the day before.
Bread and banana are both high carb foods, and in the morning, and together - well, they would counter any hypo.
Your lunch time salad choice is good - but the yogurt could be high carb - and you need to chose fruit carefully as it can be high carb. Personally I don't eat lunch as I don't need to - I don't feel hungry and tend to eat early and late.
For dinner I would never include potatoes, I stick to low carb veges or salad.
I was able to get back to normal blood tests eating 50 gm of carb a day, but have cut back a bit now to try to lose more weight than the 3 stone which vanished away when I was not paying attention.
If you are getting lows on what you are eating, perhaps the first thing to do is consult your GP or nurse to see how essential it is for you to go on taking it on your present diet - and then see how receptive they are to the idea of lowering your carbs rather than continuing the medication.
In my case my HCPs have always been against low carbing, but in the face of my normal readings they can't really argue against it.

 

[Energize]

I take Glipizide 5mgs twice daily (similar action to Gliclazide) and I try to eat LCHF diet. However, I do have Freestyle Libre system so can scan as often as I want to and so am able to judge when my glucose levels are going up or down. I have found it hard to lose weight, although I have lost 3 stone although now 'stuck' there.

When I started on LCHF, I was already on Glipizide and so I certainly noticed my glucose levels going much lower, to the point of needing to take some Jelly Babies to bring it up a bit. I reduced the Glipizide gradually so to maintain LCHF diet and managed to stop the tablets altogether. I must say, the Diabetes Nurse was not too pleased but my HbA1c was pretty good.

I find using the fats in the diet can help reduce the 'lows' but you really need to understand how long it takes for the Glipizide/Gliclazide to work and how long before being out of your system. Then, you can use this information to your benefit and 'manage' the best times to eat various foods. This does, of course, mean frequently checking glucose levels, which the Libre is excellent to achieve this. I couldn't do it without the Libre, though.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. You can gain weight (or not lose it) when on Gliclazide as this drug stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin and that insulin can then metabolise the carbs you eat and hey presto - weight gain. The drug doesn't itself cause weight gain or prevent weight loss. Note that many (most?) T2 s have insulin resistance and normal or high insulin output and if so Gliclazide won't help. You may want to ask for a c-peptide test to find out your insulin output. I assume you are also on Metformin as this is the first level drug for T2 before Gliclazide or similar. Are you also keeping the carbs down as these are the main cause of weight gain?

 

[Koalajane]

I lost weight on a low carb diet whilst on gliclazide. I do not take any Meds now for my type 2 even though I am on steroids long term. I lost about 3 stone so it can be done.

 

[Terrytiddy]

Hi @Cloudlesssky I was on 4x80g Gliclazide a day (as well as other meds) When I started Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) I reduced them to 2x80g a day then stopped them all together. within 3 months I had reduced my HbA1c from 82 to 41, blood glucose from 16.6 to 4.7 average over 30 days and lost 4 stone. Off all diabetes meds now as I'm in remission. I also dropped my carbs to less than 20g per day then even lower. On 10g or less now as I also do Keto and fasting. As mentioned drop the banana and bread, lot of carbs in both. Have a look at "what have you eaten today?" thread in forum for ideas of meals also look on DietDoctor .com for more information. Good luck with your weight loss.