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getting off gliclazide

J

jlm

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
Type 2
For 3 days I have stopped my Gliclazide. Now my sugar levels are starting to rise from below 7 to 7 - 9. I need to lose weight. I stopped most animal food except for sardines and mackerel. How long will it take before I can see some wieght loss. I am walking 30 minutes a day as fast as I am able to. I need to lose 10kg. It is all so confusing . the gp wants me to start statins but I am not going to. the entire cholesterol issues is so complicated. any advice on diet would be helpful. perhaps I need to eat some fat like cheese or what else? thank you all. jeff
 

Hi Jlm - Could you please clarify a couple of things for me?

Firstly, when were your bloods running under the 7 you mention; fasting/before food/after food or randomly? And, secondly, what motivated you to stop taking your Gliclazide? Does your Doc/nurse know about your change to your medication?

Dropping the animal foods, except for your fish is interesting. Could you help me understand why you adopted that approach?

People lose weight at different rates, so it's pretty impossible to predict how long the impact of dietary changes will take before they become apparent. The statin debate is often discussed on the forum, so if you would like to do any further reading on it, I'm sure either a further search could return some threads, or you could create a specific thread on it for yourself.

Should you choose the latter, it would likely be helpful if you posted your most recent cholesterol test results - especially the breakdowns if you have them.

Sometimes it's a tricky balancing act, but I wish you well whichever options you choose.
 

Hi. I stopped Gliclazide a month or two after diagnosis to focus purely on diet (ie. no to low carbohydrate). You don't say whether you are on a low cab diet or not, and I know there are all kinds of views on diet - but, for me, that was the way forward. My levels dropped quickly and I have been well in control for over two years now. Not sure why you gave up "animal food" but if it was due to someone's advice/opinion that it would help you keep blood sugars down and weight off, I would consider other diets - many people (like myself) eat plenty of meat alongside lots of other things but very few carbohydrates. You may already know this and have just decided to go another way...but..if not...you should know that carbohydrates effectively change to sugar in the blood and that they increase blood sugar more than any kind of meat would ever do. Lots of people here are successful on a low carb high fat diet. It's the carbs that will put on weight too - not the fat on its own. Anyway, I don't want to bore you to death with it..but if you haven't thought about it...look into it now. The right kind of fats you could try alongside cheese can be found in the oily fish you are already eating and in some nuts and in avocados. Use full cream too. Generally, a low carb diet will reduce the "bad" cholesterol and increase the "good" stuff. As for statins...no thanks! I don't see the small possibility of small benefits that might add a couple of years on at the end as worth the risk of problems with joints etc. To be clear...others disagree..and we all have to find out own way that works for us as individuals. If you are not planning a low carb diet..I'd stay on the Gliclazide. I only came off it so I could see from my meter whether or not my diet was being effective without the pills. It's only my opinion (though also the opinion of many on this site) that cutting carbs and being patient is the way to go. Avoiding certain foods is what let me see the drop in blood sugar pretty quickly (bread, cereal, pasta, rice and the obvious stuff were out). Good luck.
 
Hi. Yes, focus on reducing the carbs and don't worry about proteins or fats. Is there any reason the GP prescribed Gliclazide rather than the more standard Metformin to help with T2 and some excess weight? Gliclazide would often be added when the right diet and Metformin haven't had success.
 
Thank you so much for your detailed and very helpful and kind reply. I am pretty new to the forum and this is terrific that people are helping.

To answer your questions and add some new info:

I am eating 3 meals a day and testing before most meals and sometimes late at night.

What motivated me to get off Gliclazide is losing weight. I want to lose 10 kg and while on Gliclazide I can't seem to lose weight. So I have been off it for 4 days so far.
So 2 months ago started taking sugar readings with a home monitor for the first time ever. They were in the 12 - 16 range the first week. But now they are mostly in the 6 - 7 range except for there 3 days. But I am learning more about cholesterol and the entire controversy with statins. My GP wanted me to start statins last week due to high cholesterol and triglycerides. So I started to research it and joined the forum and now I amore confused about cholesterol but am believing that I should not be on it. Today for the first time in 2 weeks I had a cheese omelet and it was delicious. So I am thinking the low or no carb diet with mostly plants and some protein is good. I have been eating a good deal of tofu lately.

The GP and nurse know about my changes and agreed with me that I can get off Gliclazide for 4 weeks and then have another blood test to see if what I am doing is bringing my readings down. This includes readings for other tests: liver, kidney, cholesterol, triglycerides.

I stopped eating so much animal protein as I wanted (I thought) to reduce cholesterol.

My recent cholesterol test results are ( bit confusing but this is what I have)

non-HDL cholesterol - 22 Dec 15 - 3.48 mol/mol
8 Jul 16 - 4.62
28 Feb 17 - 4.08
4 May 17 - 5.01
3 Aug 17 - 3.80

Plasma triglyceride - 28 Feb 17 - 5.6 mol/L
4 May 17 - 8.9 mol/L
3 Aug 17 - 5.7 mol/L

My recent readings are as follows

HbA1c - 3 August 2017 - 57
HbA1c - 4 May 2017 - 73
HbA1c - 31 Jan 2017 - 111

So with my new diet the numbers are getting better. I hope to get them below 48.

What others tests would be helpful to share with you and others on the forum?

Any help or comments or suggestions is welcomed. Thank you all. Jeff
 

Hi jlm I was diagnosed in April 2017 and was put on Gliclazide 80mg once a day. I am not overweight (9st) but this does fluctuate 2lbs up or down. After 2 months my meds were reduced to 40mg of Gliclazide as I was having hypos, I am on LCHF but I also am a vegetarian = no meat, fish, seafood, meat substitute, I do have dairy and eggs. I have been veggie for 42 years. My bg is consistently between 4.5 -7.0, when diagnosed it was 22, I was also suffering with two infections at the time. Cutting out white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes significantly reduced my levels. I do eat a low carb brown seeded bread maybe once a week. If you are interested I will happily tell you the rest of my food intake but don't want to bore you if not, lol good luck on your journey. Tracy
 
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