Effects from Diabetes or Metformin?

[G0ldengirl68]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with Type 2, two Mondays ago now. I still haven't gotten a meter but I changed my diet and think I am doing good on that, but I can't test. I have an appt. this Thurs. with my doc though and I want to discuss with her on buying one first.

I wanted to ask those of you who may be newer in their journey with Type 2 because I am scared of it yes, but, I also dislike the side-effects of drugs. So I have Metformin, was taking it regularly, 2 a day with food. I stopped because I was having bad sweating, but when I stopped taking it, I'm still having bad sweating. I totally believe my body is confused right now, and I want to get it evened out.

I am starting the Metformin again (I'm terrible about sticking with any meds and this is the only one I'll be taking). I'm 68, lots of smaller issues, but this is a biggie for me. I would really like to hear about others experience with getting past "maybe" the sweating, and also, cramping and tummy aches, nausea if I stick to the Metformin? I read somewhere about the symptoms of Type 2, I have to be honest, I'm so tired right at the moment, I am forgetting what I want to ask. I am also getting headaches, just feels like a lack of caffeine headache. Yes, still drinking one cup/one tsp per cup of coffee.

I'm sorry I am so scattered. I just hope to talk to others that have this disease, thank you much, Denise

 

[lessci]

1st of all Welcome to the forum, take a deep breathe we're generally a friendly bunch with lots of different experiences. Personally I've never had any difficulties with Metformin, but some people find it can give them an upset stomach.(Try asking for the slow release version) When I was diagnosed I was tired all the time and mainlining red bull as I thought I was burning the candle at both ends (Probable one of the worst things I could although it was the Diet version). I also had "brain fog" and was constantly forgetting things. Your doctor will probably say no to testing, but many of us believe that it's the only way to get a handle on how your body reacts to different foods, what I can eat might send your BG sky high and vise-versa. A good analogue with only having HbAc1 is how do you know how fast your travelling in a car if you only check the speed every 3 (or 6 or 12) months. Many of use find a low(er)carb way of eating (WOE) helps keep the levels down and there are success stoties a plenty where people have put their diabetes into "Remission" . Write down your questions for the doctor as you remember them, but also remember as a GP they don't have the deepest of knowledge about your condition and may be singing from the outdated Eatwell diet, the NHS is a very slow turning juggernaut

 

[jjraak]

Hi @G0ldengirl68

61 male, asthma.
T2D..diagnoses aug 2018.

Luckily didn't have issues with Metformin,
Was made aware it can cause stomach upsets, etc

though WAS advised it was one tablet in morning one at night for a few weeks before going into 2 in morning 2 at night from then on.

I didn't get the sweating
However the brain fog and tiredness I did get.
Slower in processing things, heavy tiredness, took me ages to clear my head on waking

Was told by doc to follow eatwell plan.

I actually got worse HBA1c went from the original 57mmol to 58mmol, and I did literally feel I was starving myself and above symptoms worsened

All the "expected" to be good for all foods.
Low cal this, low fat that.

In desperation I began searching web and I found my way here and began eating a low carb higher fat diet from that oct.

Meat, above ground veg, Greek yoghurt.
(Did find this DIET DOCTOR VISUALS most useful when choosing foods to eat.
lower numbers best)

Meter guided me and I normally felt full.
No snacks and I ate twice a day

Slowly all the those symptoms reduced.
By Jan just over 3 months later HBA1c was back at 42mmol, and I was starting to feel more like my old self.

And as said, we are all individual, the meter & testing was indispensable to me for finding out which foods I could eat safely, and which raised my blood sugar levels.

Hope that's of some use.

I don't think most of us get enough support from our surgeries, but GPs as suggested won't have an in depth knowledge of every disease.

Sadly we have to become as aware of what affects us (T2D) as possible, so WE have that deeper knowledge the docs maybe lacking. and this forum is for me THE best place to do that.

Good luck on your journey.
Hope you find a way to reduce your sweating headaches, etc.

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Sadly most GPs and Diabetes Nurses are instructed to discourage patients form testing their own Blood Glucose.
Instead they advise just relying on the 3, 5 or 12 monthly HbA1C test which gives an indication of the average Blood Glucose level over the last 2 months.
Because we Type 2's are sensitive to carbohydrates in our diet, this is like instructing a learner driver to steer by looking in the rear view mirror! We can't possibly work out which foods we should and which we should never eat form HbA1C tests, because we all react differently to different carbohydrates, react differently to mixes of carbs together with fats and proteins and even may react differently to exactly the same food but at different times of day e.g. at Breakfast versus dinner!

SO if your GP won't prescribe a BG meter for your (and the vast majority won't), get yourself either a Spirit TEE2 or an SD Gluco Navii both of these have cheap(er) test strips - this being the main cost since initially you will need to test both before and then 2hrs after 1st bite for every meal, until you work out which foods work best for you!

 

[Welshlass1]

Am I meant to be testing myself?

 

[Welshlass1]

So excuse my ignorance is blood glucose levels the same as blood sugars ?

 

[HSSS]

What was the diet change you’ve made? Maybe sharing that will give us some ideas what may be causing some of your symptoms

 

[HSSS]

Regarding testing this issue comes up a lot. Have a look at this short thread https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...ng-is-not-needed-for-t2s.179443/#post-2361443 there are quite a few others and one much longer one too.

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome,

I'm another type 2 and completely agree with @HSSS , @Mike d @ianf0ster and @jjraak . You may be advised by the doctor that there is no need to test- worst advice ever. The reason many don't think it is necessary to test is because they think it is a progressive disease with nothing you can do about it except try to lose weight. Which is problematic for those that don't need to lose weight and also problematic for those like me that do need to lose weight and find that very low carb helps with weight loss more than low calorie.

So I believe in very low carb for type 2s- however, if you get a meter you can test that. We all have different approaches to very low carb. Some like me use artificial sweeteners others don't. Some like me go about 10-20 grams of carbs a day others go even lower and others still aim for less than 100 grams of carbs a day. Some can tolerate some level of some types of carbs others can't. What we have in common is that we test using a meter to decide what will work for us individually long term. The meter has no biases and will not lie to you.

You may hear the term remission- that doesn't usually mean that you can eat a 'normal' amount of carbs it just means you have worked out the level of carbs you can eat to keep your blood sugar levels ion the normal range and have sustained it.

yes the diagnosis is scary but finding this site is great news- you will find all the information help and support you will need- and I can honestly say some of the best people I know I have 'met' (virtually) on this site.

Good luck and welcome

 

[Pontylad]

Blood glucose or blood sugars yes....you need to measure how much you have in your blood stream by regular testing.
I only do 1 or 3 a week as after 4 weeks now mine has dropped from the high twenty’s to between 5-7.
Trying myself to reduce the metformin as my stomach was like a very painful balloon and very windy!
Got the slow release ones to try.
Good luck.

 

[G0ldengirl68]

Hi @G0ldengirl68

61 male, asthma.


Sadly we have to become as aware of what affects us (T2D) as possible, so WE have that deeper knowledge the docs maybe lacking. and this forum is for me THE best place to do that.

Good luck on your journey.
Hope you find a way to reduce your sweating headaches, etc.

I didn't know I had replies here and glad I found out today. I posted again so that can get anyone interested up to date. I so appreciate that Link, I will be taking a good look. I love to research all kinds of things regarding health, but this one was a surprise. I grew up with asthma by the way, and my heart goes out to you. I used one of those inhalers for years. Wouldn't be caught dead without it right. Then I grew out of it I guess, at about 15 or so.

I just restarted my meds today as I mention in the other post. Got scared about my new meter readings. I think I can cure everything with foods and more exercise. I'm already calming down since spending a little time here so I think I will check my notification options, and make sure I am alerted, Thank you much

 

[G0ldengirl68]

Blood glucose or blood sugars yes....you need to measure how much you have in your blood stream by regular testing.
I only do 1 or 3 a week as after 4 weeks now mine has dropped from the high twenty’s to between 5-7.
Trying myself to reduce the metformin as my stomach was like a very painful balloon and very windy!
Got the slow release ones to try.
Good luck.

The slow-release are waiting for me at the pharmacy. Better get down there soon. They're a different for of the same med, but hope they work a bit better on my stomach

 

[G0ldengirl68]

1st of all Welcome to the forum, take a deep breathe we're generally a friendly bunch with lots of different experiences. Personally I've never had any difficulties with Metformin, but some people find it can give them an upset stomach.(Try asking for the slow release version) When I was diagnosed I was tired all the time and mainlining red bull as I thought I was burning the candle at both ends (Probable one of the worst things I could although it was the Diet version). I also had "brain fog" and was constantly forgetting things. Your doctor will probably say no to testing, but many of us believe that it's the only way to get a handle on how your body reacts to different foods, what I can eat might send your BG sky high and vise-versa. A good analogue with only having HbAc1 is how do you know how fast your travelling in a car if you only check the speed every 3 (or 6 or 12) months. Many of use find a low(er)carb way of eating (WOE) helps keep the levels down and there are success stoties a plenty where people have put their diabetes into "Remission" . Write down your questions for the doctor as you remember them, but also remember as a GP they don't have the deepest of knowledge about your condition and may be singing from the outdated Eatwell diet, the NHS is a very slow turning juggernaut

Thank you lessci, so appreciate all the posts people did here. I wish I'd had my "settings" right to be notified, but now I know My Physicians assistant is all I have, but she does recommend the testing, and yes, going to try the slow-release stuff. It's at my pharmacy and I'll get it tomorrow.

I've been tired too, couldn't figure it out, but since I started eating better, taking the Meds, and doing my walks each day I am starting to feel human. Today was the first day though, with my meter. I got pretty scared that it shot up after testing this a.m. at 6.l. Later I tested at 9.4. Knew I was dying for sure so I headed here. So glad I did, thanks again, Denise, Crescent City, CA

 

[jjraak]

I didn't know I had replies here and glad I found out today. I posted again so that can get anyone interested up to date. I so appreciate that Link, I will be taking a good look. I love to research all kinds of things regarding health, but this one was a surprise. I grew up with asthma by the way, and my heart goes out to you. I used one of those inhalers for years. Wouldn't be caught dead without it right. Then I grew out of it I guess, at about 15 or so.

I just restarted my meds today as I mention in the other post. Got scared about my new meter readings. I think I can cure everything with foods and more exercise. I'm already calming down since spending a little time here so I think I will check my notification options, and make sure I am alerted, Thank you much

No worries, all forums when new have a learning curve
And your on the case now, so happy days.

Yep asthma..

Big hit aged 11 deaths door or so everyone thought, found in street collapsed.
Everyone thought it was just a cold I had

Quickly sorted..mine too went away at 16/17
Back with a vengeance mid 40's

One heavy attack put me in the edge of hospitalisation,.
Scared the bejasus out of me..
Ginger tea became my route back to clearer. Lungs back then
Now LCHF has improved my T2D and the asthma. so much so my HBA1c was 40 last test and the asthma has 'almost' disappeared.

So maybe we are what we eat, and can cure a lot with mere diet and exercise

I'm deffo a convert to that theory.

Good luck to you,
you seem to have a good handle on this, now,
I doubt from how you sound right now you'll have much difficulty whipping your T2D into shape..

 

[G0ldengirl68]

Hello and welcome,

I'm another type 2 and completely agree with @HSSS , @Mike d @ianf0ster and @jjraak . You may be advised by the doctor that there is no need to test- worst advice ever. The reason many don't think it is necessary to test is because they think it is a progressive disease with nothing you can do about it except try to lose weight. Which is problematic for those that don't need to lose weight and also problematic for those like me that do need to lose weight and find that very low carb helps with weight loss more than low calorie.

So I believe in very low carb for type 2s- however, if you get a meter you can test that. We all have different approaches to very low carb. Some like me use artificial sweeteners others don't. Some like me go about 10-20 grams of carbs a day others go even lower and others still aim for less than 100 grams of carbs a day. Some can tolerate some level of some types of carbs others can't. What we have in common is that we test using a meter to decide what will work for us individually long term. The meter has no biases and will not lie to you.

You may hear the term remission- that doesn't usually mean that you can eat a 'normal' amount of carbs it just means you have worked out the level of carbs you can eat to keep your blood sugar levels ion the normal range and have sustained it.

yes the diagnosis is scary but finding this site is great news- you will find all the information help and support you will need- and I can honestly say some of the best people I know I have 'met' (virtually) on this site.

Good luck and welcome

Really can't thank you enough @VashtiB Just feeling much more calm now. I was so excited to have that meter get delivered today and I am wondering how often I should test. I read that people usually test when they first get up in the a.m., then before a meal, and 2 hours after. That's 4 times a day. Hopin that might be enough. I must have some foods in there I shouldn't, or, too much.

I workout along with my walking, and for my height, weight and age, I have a TDEE (Total Daily energy expenditure). Hope I got that right, but anyway, so I try to stick with that and have been at a good weight until about 3 months ago. I just went nuts baking etc. but I am fortunate I don't gain much. I'm at 132 now, which most I think is around my mid section. So now I have to change my fat, protein and carb %'s which isn't too hard, but maybe need to go lower. I guess we'll see

Thank you again, Denise

 

[G0ldengirl68]

What was the diet change you’ve made? Maybe sharing that will give us some ideas what may be causing some of your symptoms

I have a food diary, but I'm afraid you guys might faint when you see all I eat, LOL!! I'll copy a couple of entries and share them here, and yes, I think I should just show you all, and roll with the punches Denise

 

[G0ldengirl68]

Regarding testing this issue comes up a lot. Have a look at this short thread https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...ng-is-not-needed-for-t2s.179443/#post-2361443 there are quite a few others and one much longer one too.

Will do and thank you again!! I am going to get my dinner out of the crockpot now but I'll be back on after that. It's almost 6pm here. Denise

 

[G0ldengirl68]

I'll just plug these in here since most replies on this thread. These are typical meals I've been doing since diagnosed. A lot of food it looks like but portions are pretty small I think. The clips didn't upload in order but you can get the jest of it I'm sure:

 

[jjraak]

A quick add to an interesting post ( UK ) related but seems universal, of testing .

Many others on here, but here was my contribution

[URL="https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...not-needed-for-t2s.179443/page-2#post-2363233

For a little too much detail, under my list in signatures is a few links .( If no signature links appear turn device to landscape view.)

https://www.bloodsugar101.com/must-you-deteriorate

 

[HSSS]

I'll just plug these in here since most replies on this thread. These are typical meals I've been doing since diagnosed. A lot of food it looks like but portions are pretty small I think. The clips didn't upload in order but you can get the jest of it I'm sure:
View attachment 47396 View attachment 47397 View attachment 47398

I’m not shocked at quantities. I wouldn’t be eating the bread or crackers myself. And definitely not the fruit in syrup! Fresh fruit if you must, berries are much better. If it absolutely must be tinned (and I can’t think of a single reason that would justify it for me) then get juice not syrup and drain it first. Is that the breaded chicken things? Why not have uncoated chicken and save the carbs?

Where’s the fats? Most of us don’t bother with calories.