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Help Panic!!

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Sukaren

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53
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United Kingdom
I would appreciate some advice please. I have gone down with a really bad stomach upset, I can't eat so can't take the Metformin, my bg is 6.5, last night I felt so bad faint etc I had to call NHS direct as it was out of surgery hours, the nurse told me to sip lemonade!!! this freaked me out I thought it would send my sugar skyhigh, however it did'nt, I did feel better for the lemonade but what should I do if this happens again?

Confused of Wiltshire.
 
The lemonade sounds like it did the trick!Before it happens again I would ask your diabetes nurse or doctor about it so you are prepared the next time.A bottle of lemonade"for medicinal purposes" sounds good!Test your blood sugars before taking lemonade so you don't overdo it.I once had a doctor who practically prescribed lemonade for everything!We often wondered if he had shares in the company.You can also but products like dioralyte but you would need to check the ingredients for amount of sugar in them.

Knowledge is the key to control
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Sukaren</i>
<br />I would appreciate some advice please. I have gone down with a really bad stomach upset, I can't eat so can't take the Metformin, my bg is 6.5, last night I felt so bad faint etc I had to call NHS direct as it was out of surgery hours, the nurse told me to sip lemonade!!! this freaked me out I thought it would send my sugar skyhigh, however it did'nt, I did feel better for the lemonade but what should I do if this happens again?

Confused of Wiltshire.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I'm a little confused too - was your blood glucose 6.5 at the time you had the problem, or was that measured at some other time? Your symptoms imply much lower, but illness or infection can raise the baseline.

Because of that my philosophy is that I treat short-term illness as the first priority and my overall diet and exercise for the type 2, while still important, becomes priority two until that illness or infection is over. It sounds like the advice you were given worked well. Just don't keep drinking lemonade when you're fully recovered:-)

I've chosen to suspend my metformin use twice over the past year. Once was during a bout of gastro last year, the second when I had a dose of food poisoning earlier this year. My logic was that metformin was the last thing my innards needed at that moment. I re-started the metformin as soon as the plumbing was working again. I don't pass that on as a recommendation, just as my own decision at the time.



Alan, T2, Australia

Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter
 
Hi Alan,

Yes my BG was 6.5 at the time, I really did feel bad light headed,faint I was really worried. I did not have much lemonade a few sips did the trick, however, no more!!
 
Im a bit dismayed that nobody know's what to do if you get a situation like mine, surely someone has had a simular thing happen, I really dread another stomach bug with diabetes!!!
 
Hi Sukaren, now dont you go worrying yourself into yet another stomach upset, being so nervous can also upset your stomach and bowels.
Whenever I had stomach bugs I would sip some sugary fizzy drinks, not too much and try and drink unsweetened herbal teas (specific to settle the digestive system, eg fennel or aniseed)or water to replace lost fluids and calm me down in the process. So I think NHS advised correctly.

I did a quick net search for you and this is what I found:

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review the full text of medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the treatments of Diabetic Diarrhea.

Diarrhea - Acute: Treatment
(In a Page: Signs and Symptoms)


Treatment is generally supportive
Fluid resuscitation (oral, if possible, or IV)
Antimotility agents: Opiates (e.g., loperamide) and parasympathetic inhibitors (e.g., diphenoxylate plus atropine); former concerns that these agents may slow the clearance of pathogens have been disproved
Antibiotic therapy is reserved for severe disease
–Most authorities recommend empiric treatment with a fluoroquinolone or trimethoprin-sulfamethoxasole in patients with severe or bloody diarrhea, fever, or fecal leukocytes
–If Giardia, C. difficile, or E. histolytica is suspected, treat empirically with metronidazole
–Antibiotic therapy increases the risk of hemolytic-uremic syndrome in children with E. coli O157:H7
–There is no good evidence that antibiotics prolong the carrier state in Salmonella infections
Advise patient to hydrate with glucose-containing, caffeine-free beverages, and to avoid lactose, sorbitol-containing gum, and raw fruit until symptoms subside

the link is about stomach flu:
http://diabetesselfcare.blogspot.com/20 ... ugars.html

If you have no sugary fizzy drinks at home, then just some tea, herbal or ordinary with a small spoon of Manuka honey will do the trick for you, actually do a google search on Manuka, helps diabetics actually to heal ulcers but generally is also really good for the stomach so in times of need maybe you want to drink some tea and take a little bit of that particular honey, bit if you do then DO NOT put the honey into hot liquid otherwise all benefits are destroyed, this honey must never be heated up.

Also maybe you want to begin eating some good bio yogurt every day or even better might be kefir, to help keep your digestive system and general immune system ticking over nicely? Just an idea :-)

I hope that this has helped you a little bit.

Love

Karen x


Challenges can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones, it depends how you view them
 
Thank you sooo much for your help, Ive been agonizing over this I feel a little better now not great! but better than I was I think it was that novo virus or whatever they call it lol! Im new to this diabetes lark and get panicky....keep thinking if I do something wrong "off comes my legs" etc.

God bless Karen and thank you again.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Sukaren</i>
<br />Thank you sooo much for your help, Ive been agonizing over this I feel a little better now not great! but better than I was I think it was that novo virus or whatever they call it lol! Im new to this diabetes lark and get panicky....keep thinking if I do something wrong "off comes my legs" etc.

God bless Karen and thank you again.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Sukaren

How long have you been on metformin? This isn't a side affect of that is it? Tummy upsets are a well known side affect of this drug.

Patti
On Levemir/Novorapid. Last hba1c 5.3
 
I have been on Metformin since September 07...I would have thought if it was that it would have reared its ugly head before now, but it did cross my mind.


Thanks for the suggestion tho.
 
Hi Sukaren,

I think Alan's advice is spot on. As metformin can create stomach probleme all on its own, if you were to continue to take it when you already have an upset, it is likely to make the upset even worse.

Best thing is to treat the immediate problem, even if that means not taking the meds for a couple of days. Worst thing that can happen is your sugar levels will shoot up but that situation is recoverable and shouldn't cause anything to drop off!
 
Winter virus,nothing worse!!!!Dangerous at both ends and feeling rotten in the middle.Just plenty of plain fluid, cold boiled water, and if feeling hypo the occational sip of lemonade or sugary drink.Not too much as the little bugs/viruses(virii?!)feed of anything remotely edible and prolong the agony!

Knowledge is the key to control
 
Oh boy! your not wrong about both ends haha! The details would be considered "Toooo much information" I have never felt so ill in all my life, I thought death would be a welcome release! I have so much appreciated the advice from you guy's.
 
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