Gliclazide: Newly diagnosed

[oskanoears]

Hi folks, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post so please be gentle with me.

After recurrent colds, Sinus and chest infections, my doctor finally did some tests to see what was going on.
On June 14th 2012 I received a call from my GP informing me I had Diabetes and with a reading of 15.5 there could be no doubt; My heart sank and my first thoughts were, it was a freak reading. I then went on holiday for a week, abstained from sugar and remained active and returned to a second HBA1c revealing a 15.4 reading. :shock:

The practice nurse told me to go home and alter my diet (already a super healthy one) so the only real change was swapping white rice for brown rice. I then moved house and GP, this took some time and brings us to 2 weeks ago; I saw my new GP who was appalled I had been left, especially with meter readings over the last few months of anywhere between 8 and 19mmol.
One week later and I'm with a specialist at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands where I had 7 viles of blood sniped from me and left with a prescription for 80mg of Glicozide per day to be taken on waking, with a request to conduct 4 blood readings 2 hours post meals. See you in three months, thanks for stopping by and good luck.

My usual morning reading is between 11.5 & 12.5 prior to meds.. I'm now on day two.

Day one: My normal waking 11.5 reading, I then took my first tablet with a bowl of unsalted, unsweetened organic porridge and a cup of tea sweetened with Xylotol; two hours later I took a reading: 7.4 :clap: Hey, this stuff could do the job!, then dinner came 4 slices of ham 3/4 packet of tilda brown rice and 1 inch cube of cheese...mmmmmmm cheese! 2 hours post and 7.6 :clap: but feeling kinda spaced :thumbdown: evening meal saw the super healthy go out the window due to a very late finish at work and a home cooked 100% beef burger on white bun with waitrose organic chips.. approx a fist sized portion and the same with fresh steamed broccoli (keeping it healthy, honest ) two hours post and a reading of 13.6.

This morning I did a reading when I awoke and it was 14.6mmol :***: that's some 3 points up on my normal readings? two hours post 80mg of Glicozide and I'm 12.6 and feeling a bit ****** with a slight upset tum and struggling to concentrate and recall things..

I'm feeling somewhat deflated today not to mention a little spaced out.. I had a pre lunch reading of 8.4 which I guess is good and will have to await what the post reading gleams.

Its all a bit strange at the moment and I'm unwell with yet another chest infection and laryngitis to boot. I guess the questions I have are:
Is the increased morning reading normal? and do all tablets/Insulin/alts have some side effects and you just have to live with them?
If my sugar remains higher in the morning while I'm on Glicozide, how long do I leave it before letting my nurse/GP know?

Thanks in advance for any feedback

Cheers Andy

 

[paragliderpete]

Re: Glicazide: Newly diagnosed

Hi Welcome to the forum. You will find that it will take a while for your blood sugars to fall. The gliclazide works by making your pancrease produce more insulin, which will bring down your bm's fairly quickly. Your doctor put you onto your meds because of your high hba1c levels, had it been a bit lower then he would have put you on Metformin, It would be worth asking your doctor if you could change to metformin, or use both. Gliclazide can cause hypo's so you will need to ba a little carful with it until you get used to it.
You will still need to possibly reduce your carb content, as the neds will not do all the work for you, You've see the effects of carbs on your reading already. It's all a matter of reducing them gradually until your bm's come down to acceptable levels. To that end we are all different , and carb tolerence varies from one person to the next.
Daisy should be along soon and give you lots of advice, Keep us updated with your progress, and ask as many quetions as you like, we all started where you are, you soon get the hang of it. Cheers

 

[daisy1]

Re: Glicazide: Newly diagnosed

Hi oskanoears and welcome to the forum

I hope that this information that we give to new members will be useful to you. Ask all the questions you like 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 30,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

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

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.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.

 

[Fraddycat]

Hi Osk and welcome to the forum! The Dr put me on Glicazide in July but it really didn't agree with me, after a week I begged to come off it. I have been eating a low carb high fat diet since July and have managed to reduce my fasting BG to 5.2 on my best day, which I am really chuffed with. I would really recommend having a look around at this website, if you can make some changes to your carb intake it will really pay dividends. Good luck, have a read of all the info you have and ask lots of questions!! Good luck!

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

 

[Daibell]

Hi. If you are normal or underweight then Gliclazide is often the best starter med. If you are overweight then Metformin is the better first med (see NICE guidelines). If you are not overweight and quite young then bear in mind the possibility of late onset T1 but persevere with the meds and see how the Hba1c pans out. BTW I tend to avoid start of day testing as it can be affected by overnight liver dumps; go for 2 hours after a meal.