friend just diagnosed type 2 and Metformin , getting free meter and strips ???

DCUKMod said:

Something must have gone wrong somewhere.

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Sorry if I'm derailing, but does that happen every now and then? A while ago I posted a link which never showed up, and a few minutes later I caught a brief glimpse of a notification from a mod, but not enough time to see from whom. The link had been deleted because of 'profanities'. I re-read the article I'd linked to, and not a single profanity within miles, and I can't find the notification.

Charis1213 said:

How is she getting them free especially when she is making no effort to change her diet ?

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That's unfair, but doesn't it make you feel good to know you're on the winning team? I hope your friend will realise that you're not telling her fibs when discussing diet, but to me it does sound as if she's in denial. Maybe she's one of those people who think that T2 isn't that serious, like my dad ...? I once used that misconception against him and told him a white lie. I didn't want to tell him the real reason why I was in hospital for 4 days (lung embolisms) as I didn't want to worry him, so vaguely told him that it had to do with my diabetes. It worked. He looked relieved
I could comment on strips, but as I'm in Denmark that would be quite useless info to you.

Charis1213 said:

Also she thinks Metformin will allow her to carry on eating carbs no change in diet and will cure her type 2 A1c 111.





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Did she say why she thinks this?

All very frustrating I'm sure.

If your friend is expecting to be able to continue her previous diet whilst Metformin cleans up the mess, she is in for a [very] rude awakening. Hopefully she will soon understand this (we all start somewhere). Otherwise she will likely end up taking far more serious medications in doses that will make her diabetes even worse than it plainly already is. Actually, many people who have just been given “the news” probably make their diabetes immediately worse by increasing consumption of disastrously unhealthy whole grains. Not to mention vegetable oils, aka WD40.

Get her on here and we’ll have her fixed up in no time

Any chance you could move to use their GP?

If she believes the Metformin will do the job alone then the prescribing of strips and a meter is a good idea, but only if she uses the testing kit. If she uses it the way we all know is informative then she’ll soon realise that tablets alone won’t work. Whether she does this or responds to the info she collects is debatable. You can only encourage her by showing what you’ve achieved Charis.

Rachox said:

If she believes the Metformin will do the job alone then the prescribing of strips and a meter is a good idea, but only if she uses the testing kit. If she uses it the way we all know is informative then she’ll soon realise that tablets alone won’t work. Whether she does this or responds to the info she collects is debatable. You can only encourage her by showing what you’ve achieved Charis.

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Agreed. In fact it occurs to me that perhaps her doctor is aware that she’s probably not going to to be the most proactive diabetic and has prescribed the meter in the hope of encouraging some helpful behaviour.

I have a friend who is T2 been so for over fifteen years he is on insulin now but has had meter and strips prescribed for most of that time even when he was on just metformin.

Another friend also T2 also thought metformin meant she could carry on eating the way she had and metformin would take care of things three or more hospitalizations with BS above 35 and one diabetic coma have disillusioned her of that fallacy now she has cottoned on to LCHF her blood sugars are way lower she has lost weight and reduced her insulin.

Edit to add. We had suggested lchf and eventually her diabetes consultant advised her to try lchf as well.

JohnEGreen said:

I have a friend who is T2 been so for over fifteen years he is on insulin now but has had meter and strips prescribed for most of that time even when he was on just metformin.

Another friend also T2 also thought metformin meant she could carry on eating the way she had and metformin would take care of things three or more hospitalizations with BS above 35 and one diabetic coma have disillusioned her of that fallacy now she has cottoned on to LCHF her blood sugars are way lower she has lost weight and reduced her insulin.

Edit to add. We had suggested lchf and eventually her diabetes consultant advised her to try lchf as well.

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This seems to be somewhat of a general perception in society, the thought that you can just pop a pill and all will be fine. Carry on.... nothing to be worry about. The thought that one may have to change one's ways doesn't seem to factor into consideration, untill the pills don't work or just mask a worsening health outcome or some major medical event takes place and they wake up in hospital.... if they are lucky.

my nurse wanted me to take Metformin to bring my blood sugar levels down to normal. This was in the very early days. So misinformation is still alive and kicking.

All Doctors have discretion to give out strips to type 2s and I suppose it's all dependent on individuals risk factors and circumstances. Has she been newly diagnosed do you know @Charis1213, maybe they are still trying to determine her daily levels, or if she is an established type 2 maybe they are unhappy with her A1c and are now telling her to start checking more? It is a shame that those who want to responsibly manage their diabetes aren't given the means to do so.