Hi, I'm named Stuart and just been told I have type 2 last Monday. I live where I work near Southampton and I'm 48 I've just built up to taking 2x500 metformin twice a day today. I had a bad experience in the early hours of Saturday morning where I went to bed at 11.00 and my sugar level was 11, I then woke up with stomach pains and needing the toilet I got to the toilet and became very dizzy, sweating and shaking also thought I would pass out. I called my wife who quickly gave me some chocolate and took my blood levels which was 10.9. this lasted about 15 minutes or so, I did have diarrhea and I then seem to feel much better. Would this of been caused by the metformin or a hypo? I’m really unsure of everything at the moment, I seemed to of been getting my levels down from 17 last Monday at the doctors to last night before bed was 9.3 and when I got up this morning 9.7 and after breakfast (3 crumpets with a small amount of pro active spread ) for it to go up 2 hours later to 17.1, but I had taken my first 1000 metformin with breakfast and not 500 like the last few days. I’m not due to see the diabetic nurse until a week next Thursday for the first time. Can any one advise me on any info.
Help newbie info please
- Thread starter shall2001
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daisy1
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Hi Stuart and welcome to the forum 
I hope some members with personal experience of the problems you are experiencing will be along soon to help you. Metformin is well known for causing stomach problems so maybe you could ask for the SR version which has less side effects. Your levels sound rather high for you to be experiencing a hypo. In the meantime, here is the information that we give to new members which I am sure you will find helpful. Ask all the questions you like as there is always someone who will come along to answer them.
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 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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
I hope some members with personal experience of the problems you are experiencing will be along soon to help you. Metformin is well known for causing stomach problems so maybe you could ask for the SR version which has less side effects. Your levels sound rather high for you to be experiencing a hypo. In the meantime, here is the information that we give to new members which I am sure you will find helpful. Ask all the questions you like as there is always someone who will come along to answer them.
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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Hi shall2001
Welcoe to the forum
Agree with Daisy re the metformin - many examples on here of it causing tummy upsets (to be polite). it can settle down but if it doesn't ask the GP for the slow release version.
Re your dizziness etc. quite common to get feelings like this as you are reducing your BG levels. Your body is used to running at higher levels of BG so as you start to bring it down it can give sort of a 'false hypo'
Re the jump to 17 after breakfast - that will be the crumpets. Personally I cant handle any carbs in the morning, If you want to reduce your BG's to normal levels your best bet is to read through Daisy's advice, look through the threads on here and ask lots of questions.
Mary x
Welcoe to the forum
Agree with Daisy re the metformin - many examples on here of it causing tummy upsets (to be polite). it can settle down but if it doesn't ask the GP for the slow release version.
Re your dizziness etc. quite common to get feelings like this as you are reducing your BG levels. Your body is used to running at higher levels of BG so as you start to bring it down it can give sort of a 'false hypo'
Re the jump to 17 after breakfast - that will be the crumpets. Personally I cant handle any carbs in the morning, If you want to reduce your BG's to normal levels your best bet is to read through Daisy's advice, look through the threads on here and ask lots of questions.
Mary x
Hi Shall, welcome to our club, its a great place to be! I have to agree with Mary, I cannot eat crumpets, I would be very ill. I personally have cut back on all processed carbohydrates like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes. This sounds lifechanging, and it is, but these things are converted very quickly by your body into sugar, and now that you have diabetes your body cannot handle all that sugar. It is worse with white versions, so if you really feel like you cannot live without some carbs try switching to smaller portions of brown versions.
I have replaced rice and pasta with broccolli and cauliflower, mashed cauli makes a very nice replacement to mashed potato, and I usually have spag bol sauce over broccolli instead of pasta, just as filling and the sauce masked the taste if you are not a great fan.
Read through Daisy's great advice, have a look through all the posts on the forum and ask loads of questions.
We all know how you feel!
I have replaced rice and pasta with broccolli and cauliflower, mashed cauli makes a very nice replacement to mashed potato, and I usually have spag bol sauce over broccolli instead of pasta, just as filling and the sauce masked the taste if you are not a great fan.
Read through Daisy's great advice, have a look through all the posts on the forum and ask loads of questions.
We all know how you feel!
Thank you for your reply's, can anyone tell me the doctor asked me to just test my blood twice a day but for my own mind I've been taking it before every meal and then 2 hours after then just before bed, so this is 7 times a day. I feel I need to see what was happening with my blood but am I doing it to much? also at what levels are to high and to low before I need to call anybody for help!!!
Carry on with your testing Shall, its what many of us do! See Daisy's post for the NICE guidelines on blood glucose levels.
shall2001 said:
7 a day is not too much, but you'll soon reign this in as you get an idea of what you can and can't eat. You're aiming to be at or below 7.8 at the 2 hr mark. Some foods spike you quicker, so if you feel odd then test. Don't be put off eating if your pre-meal test is high - especially if you're hungry. Your liver can dump glucose if you leave it too long between meals and you'll end up with a false high reading.
You will also get some false hypo symptoms as your blood sugars come down (sounds like you're already experiencing this). After a while you'll stabalise and this should stop happening.
Write everything down - what you eat and what your readings are - I can't emphasize this too much. You won't remember or realise how well you're doing unless you see it in a graph!
Swim
Hi. Three crumpets is very high carb. Typically crumpets are just under 20gm, so three is around 50-60 which is very high for breakfast. I sometimes have just one in the afternoon. Breakfast suggestions include porridge or no sugar-added muesli and/or fried egg & bacon etc being sensible with the quantities.
Hi, I have found this thread really helpful. I'm having real problems! I'm under the care of Endocrinology at the mo at my local hospital, I was diagnosed with Type 2 in April and left to diet and exercise which went ok, lost a few pounds then Horror!! one nice Tuesday afternoon I was rushed to A&E! turned out I had pancreaitis, caused by those nasty Triglycerides. Since then my BG are haywire!! I concentrate so much on my sat fat intake, am I missing something?! Mornings I'm usually btwn 11- 17 this morning however 30.5 tho was very naughty and had takeaway last night! Testing 2 hrs after meals I'm in mid 20's!! Ive been on Metformin over 2 weeks now 1000mg, Ive already decided I'm off to my GP on Tuesday. What's going wrong? I feel ok but an so worried about damage being done!
Thank you all for replying. I have been having Weetabix for breakfast but thought I would try the crumpets this morning but will steer clear of them from now on. I seem to be bringing my blood down the last few days but I do have the odd high spike now and again, before my main meal today which was at 18.30 I was 6.1 and then 2 hrs later it was 10.1, this is a lot lower than a few days ago. I tend to feel different through out the day but guess this is getting use to the meds and change of diet. Jellystar I would suggest that your levels are going way to high but I’m really new to this so don’t take my word, what’s right for others might not be the same for you, your doctor should advise you best.
Hi Shall
I would have problems with weetabix too, in fact any cereal is a no no for me. For me I eat up to 35g carbs per day and test sometimes 7 times a day. In the 1st 3 months a noted everyone I ate including, carbs, sugars, fat, etc. I don't do that anymore as I now know what I can and cannot eat.
I would have problems with weetabix too, in fact any cereal is a no no for me. For me I eat up to 35g carbs per day and test sometimes 7 times a day. In the 1st 3 months a noted everyone I ate including, carbs, sugars, fat, etc. I don't do that anymore as I now know what I can and cannot eat.
Hi Shall
I was diagnosed two weeks ago with a BG level of 22.1. I was given 2x 500mg Metformin a day and told to radically change my diet. For the first week BG levels were still high but I read threads on here which said that the meds need time to 'kick in' so to speak. After a complete diet change and the meds staring to work my levels much improved. Perhaps I have no idea what I am talking about but my T2 seems to react exactly as predicted by my GP and the wonderful people on this forum. Hang in there fella and keep asking questions from the 'real' people on this site. I am still very much on a learning curve myself but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
Regards
Chris
I was diagnosed two weeks ago with a BG level of 22.1. I was given 2x 500mg Metformin a day and told to radically change my diet. For the first week BG levels were still high but I read threads on here which said that the meds need time to 'kick in' so to speak. After a complete diet change and the meds staring to work my levels much improved. Perhaps I have no idea what I am talking about but my T2 seems to react exactly as predicted by my GP and the wonderful people on this forum. Hang in there fella and keep asking questions from the 'real' people on this site. I am still very much on a learning curve myself but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
Regards
Chris
Jellystar - what are you eating? those figures are high, if you are low-carbing then you may need some more help frm meds or it could be you are not a straight-forward T2
- to be fair I know nothing about pancreaitis so yours could be different again
Mary x
- to be fair I know nothing about pancreaitis so yours could be different again
Mary x
Hi Shall
It does take a while to get your numbers under control, and time for the metformin to take full effect. When I started it took about 3 weeks (I was not testing initially) to get to the stage of no sugar in my uring, although the symptoms of thirst and night time toilet visits only took a few days to stop.
I have been testing for a couple of months now, and my figures are looking OK. My 14 day meter average is 6.4, including after meals.
The others are right as well, you start off testing a lot, then it becomes less as you know what it does to you. For example, tonight for dinner I am having chicken with 75g of pasta. I will not test after this as I know that meal does not spike me. At the weekend I had a curry from a new restaurant, and I did test after that. I find it is vital to keep an accurrate food diary, combined with test results.
It does take a while to get your numbers under control, and time for the metformin to take full effect. When I started it took about 3 weeks (I was not testing initially) to get to the stage of no sugar in my uring, although the symptoms of thirst and night time toilet visits only took a few days to stop.
I have been testing for a couple of months now, and my figures are looking OK. My 14 day meter average is 6.4, including after meals.
The others are right as well, you start off testing a lot, then it becomes less as you know what it does to you. For example, tonight for dinner I am having chicken with 75g of pasta. I will not test after this as I know that meal does not spike me. At the weekend I had a curry from a new restaurant, and I did test after that. I find it is vital to keep an accurrate food diary, combined with test results.
