hba1c

[swine1]

Hi.
Not been on for a while but thought I would ask this! Three months ago my hba1c was 6.4 and the nurse put me on another 500mg Metformin SR. This made me feel bloated to twice my size. plus I got trapped wind and a lot of gut pain. I put up with it for a month then dropped the extra 500mg. The bloating and wind issues vanished within 24 hours and I continued taking the one 500mg. Had my bloods done last week and got a call from the surgery today can I come in and see the nurse as my hba1c is 7.6. I have type 2. I do not want to go down the painful Metformin trail again. What if anything is an alternative? My bmi is just in the good, so weight gain would probably be another step in the wrong direction. I see the nurse next week. What do I say???.
Regards, swine1.

 

[dragongirl]

Have you tried sorting it out by diet only? eg adjusting your carb intake? Mine was higher than yours and is now down. You could try suggesting this to the DN if there is no reason why you shouldn't try it. No knowing what her reaction might be though!
DG

 

[Spiral]

I have had some of these same symptoms - I'm on 500mg of teh regular metformin x3 daily, I have built up the dose over the last month. My symptoms are manageable, but since I went on to the third one I have had some slight acid reflux (which had gone after I started on a low carb diet) and I have felt a bit bloated with wind. However, my symptoms are managable and are worth the benefit I get from metformin, so I will be staying on it.

I started with an HbA1c of 7.8% in March. I got it down to 6% by diet alone, before I decided to take the metformin. On a personal level, I prefer not to take medication, but I'm taking it because it will help me to get where I want a bit quicker than diet alone - this is normal blood sugar and I have a lot of weight to lose. I don't intend to take it forever.

As for your problems with the medication, I have some questions. What kind of metformin is it? Is it "regular" metformin or is it the "slow release" kind? It will have "SR" on the packaging if it is slow release. If it isn't slow release, you might want to ask for it, people who can't tolerate the regular stuff may do much better on the slow release version, they prescribe the regular version first because it is cheaper.

It is possible to manage your diabetes by diet, but if you'd like advice and support with that you need to tell us about the kind of things you eat over the course of the day. Take a look at the diet forums here. Yo need a diet you can stick to for the rest of your life. Also, have you made any changes to your diet since the test which gave you the 6.4%.

Also do you test you blood sugar? If you don't I suggest you get yourself a meter and start testing so that you can see what impact the dietary changes you are making have on your diet. Enter the competition at the top (it isn't a real competition) or ring the customer services of some of the drug companies - mine was a freebie from Roche.

I'd suggest you visit http://www.bloodsugar101.com to find out about how blood sugar works. That site offered me hope that diabetes was managable and the support I have had here has helped me to do it.

 

[hanadr]

You are on a low dose of Metformin and I should think, you would be able to improve your control by controlling your carbohydrates. If that doesn't work, there are pleny of other medicines available to your DSN.
The great thing about carbohydrate control is that the side effects are not usually uncomfortable. they tend to be, weight loss and improved vitality.
Hana