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In a quandry

T

trishy

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi everyone,
I am new to all this and I could really do with some advice. For the past 18-24 months my fasting sugars have been checked every few months and have been between 6.4 and 6.9. All my family have diabetes 2 and the biggest majority are insulin dependent.
The doctor gave me 3 options,
1. diet, which I have tried so many times and after losing weight I have then put my old weight and more besides
2. exercise - I suffer with chronic pain and fibromyalgia and when I try to exercise I am in pain for days afterwards. OR
3. metformin.

Because my sugar isn't that high I am in two minds whether to take the metformin. As the doctor said I was a MILD diabetic whatever that is supposed to mean. I have taken 1 in the morning for the last 6 days and I must admit I do feel much better in myself or is it mind over matter. I just dont know what to do. Will taking them make me more dependent on them or should I wait till my sugar reading is higher.

Can anyone give me any advice should I or shouldn't I take them.? :?
 
trishy said:
The doctor gave me 3 options,
1. diet, which I have tried so many times and after losing weight I have then put my old weight and more besides
2. exercise - I suffer with chronic pain and fibromyalgia and when I try to exercise I am in pain for days afterwards. OR
3. metformin.
Click to expand...

I think you should do 1+2+3.

1) A diabetic diet doesn't have to be restrictive like a weight-loss diet, you just have to eat less carbs. There is no need to by hungry, and you'll probably lose weight without even trying.
2) Just try walking more or swimming, you can get all of the "gain" with none of the "pain".
3) Metformin is a wonder drug, if you can get past the stomach cramps, then it only had benefits. I think everyone should take it, including non-diabetics.

All of the things above will require a bit of effort, but none of them have to spoil your life, and all have side benefits.

If you commit yourself now, you might even be able to make this go away.
 
borofergie said:
trishy said:
The doctor gave me 3 options,
1. diet, which I have tried so many times and after losing weight I have then put my old weight and more besides
2. exercise - I suffer with chronic pain and fibromyalgia and when I try to exercise I am in pain for days afterwards. OR
3. metformin.
Click to expand...

I think you should do 1+2+3.

1) A diabetic diet doesn't have to be restrictive like a weight-loss diet, you just have to eat less carbs. There is no need to by hungry, and you'll probably lose weight without even trying.
2) Just try walking more or swimming, you can get all of the "gain" with none of the "pain".
3) Metformin is a wonder drug, if you can get past the stomach cramps, then it only had benefits. I think everyone should take it, including non-diabetics.

All of the things above will require a bit of effort, but none of them have to spoil your life, and all have side benefits.

If you commit yourself now, you might even be able to make this go away.
Click to expand...

I agree with borofergie, eat less carbs do a bi of excercise and take Metformin, it's good for the heart...
 
I also agree with borofergie. No downsides to the metformin (unless it disagrees with you, in which case ask for the slow release version). It won't do a great deal for the Bgs though so you'll need to diet as well. Just cut out some of the starchy carbs. Here's what i did which would also help you lose weight, but isn't a too tough diet to follow even though you might not be "fully diabetic" yet - it might stop you getting there!
In general terms you will need to reduce the total number of carbohydrates you eat per day. All carbohydrates turn to sugar when we eat them, and no type 2 diabetic on diet only, or on diet and metformin only, can control their blood sugars (BGs) without controlling their carb intake. Even those on strong medication normally choose to control their carb intake to keep the level of medication they take down. The total number of carbs per day you can eat depends on how advanced your diabetes is. It’s perhaps worth starting at about 50% of normal levels for a non-diabetic then adjusting up or down according to how you get on. So that means eating 150 grams of carbs per day for a man, 125 for a woman. You can read the total carb content of food under “nutritional info” on the packet or wrapping, or look it up on the internet for loose food. Just google “carb content..”
You also need to stop or reduce the bad carbs; that is the starchy ones that make your BG go up quickly.
So obviously no sugar or glucose! But also no white bread, white rice, pasta, flour products like pastry, cake and batter. You can eat a little basmati rice, wholewheat pasta or the tri-color pasta fusilli ones in small quantities. Boiled new potatos (again not too many) are OK but not old pots mashed, boiled or in their jackets. (Roast is not so bad, the fat slows their absorption and conversion to glucose in the blood) Amongst other veg, parsnips are about the worst for BG, and carrots not great but ok in smaller amounts.
Multi grain bread (not wholemeal) is not SO bad, but lots of us eat Burgen soya and linseed bread from tescos and sainsburys, although all bread should be in limited amounts.
All fruit has carbohydrates, and needs to be included in the amounts of carbs you eat in a day. For most people, bananas are about the worst for pushing our BG up and berries (like strawberries, raspberries etc) are the least bad.
No sweeties!
Exercise is important. I tend to exercise about an hour after eating when I know my BG will be peaking. This helps to bring it down quicker and further. I do ten minutes hard work on an exercise machine, but you could run up and down stairs for ten minutes or go for a brisk walk.
Returning to types of food and quantities of carbs - you can only find out how many you can eat by testing. Most type 2’s are not given access to testing equipment, so you should get your own – although try arguing with your Doc that you want to manage to NICE guideline blood sugar levels, and can’t do that without testing! If you have to buy a meter, they are cheap and most manufacturers will give them away for free. They make their money on the strips you have to use! So go for the meter with the cheapest testing strips. The SD Codefree available on the internet is about the cheapest at the moment. Some people test before and after eating, on waking (fasting test) and before bed. But if you have limited strips because of cost, the key to me is testing 2 hours after eating. If your BG is above, say, 7.8 at that stage, you need to cut down on the carb content the next time you have that meal. Test after various different meals and you soon get to see a pattern of what you can and can’t eat, and in what quantities. Keep careful records of what you ate and when, together with the result, so you can refer back at a later date. You can then reduce your testing. I said “below, say, 7.8” because NICE guidelines are below 8.5 but most of us think that’s a little high. 7.8 is the max. level at 2 hours after eating that a non-diabetic normally gets to so is perhaps a better target. Some then set progressively lower targets.
Do ask lots of questions; there is normally an answer on here. The more you get to learn about your diabetes, the better it will be.
Good luck!
 
Low carbing is good for fybromyalgia too.
 
I too agree with borofergie, but would like to add a couple of points.
Firstly; there's no such thing as mild diabetes. If treated in the way the NHS recommends, it usually progesses
Secondly ; a fasting blood glucose in the 6s isn't low.
I would recommend , if you can, get yourself a meter and test at least daily, so you can see exactly what is happening. Use the methods described elsewhere in this forum to find out which foods "spike" your blood glucose.
then reduce your carb intake drastically, as much as you can. If, at the same time you increase your fats, you won't be hungry and will lose weight. Remember fat doesn't make you fat, but it does satisfy hunger.
Metformin is an excellent medicine, with one drawback. It can cause digestive problems. However it doesn' always. I've been taking a minimal dose for 9 years and it's never bothered me
Hana
 
Do 1,2 and 3.

To do 1 like many of us and keep your levels low (in the range of a non diabetic) so that hopefully you can stop the progression then cut out the majority of high sugar content stuff and importantly restrict your starchy carbohydrate intake (rice, bread, pasta, cereals, potatoes and flour based products). If you were fully diabetic then "restrict" would probably mean at least halve. Get a meter and then test to see what effects foods have. You should aim as a non diabetic to end up under 7.8 two hours after eating and be between 4 and 7 at all other times.

2 can be anything you want. I just walk the dogs for a hour a day others do a lot more but doing some exercise is good as it will help keep your levels lower. If you get the dietary regime right then you will lose weight anyway if of course you need to.

3 is fine. Many of us take Metformin even though we have are levels under control via diet. Metformin has other benefits including to protect against heart disease.

If you are in the early stages of T2 i.e pre diabetic I really would recommend doing things now as the condition is pretty much reversible at that stage. If you let things continue so that in the end you do get a full diagnosis then although you can certainly get your levels safe via the right diet the underlying condition usually leaves lasting damage to your insulin production capability.
 
Thanks everybody, you have all been a great help. I shall take the tablets, look for some low carb recipes and try gentle exercise. I really appreciate all the feedback you have given me and I feel much better now. I have been using my mums glucose meter and usually after fasting overnight my BG is between 6.5 and 8 when I test it myself , I shall now also test 2 hours after a meal and see what it reads.
Just one more query, I notice that a lot of you are taking 2x500mg metformin whereas my doctors told me to take 3x500mg and now I am wondering is he over-prescribing for a pre diabetic.
 
Hi. I wouldn't worry about over-prescribing. Although Metformin is a great drug it doesn't reduce sugars by that much so having up to 2000mg a day won't do you any harm. If it does give you stomach problems do ask your GP for the SR version.
 
Metformin can apparently also be prescribed to overweight people to help with weightloss. I've certainly found that since being put on metformin my appetite has shrunk, it's a lot easier to say no to food (even if it's already on your plate!), and as it helps your body work a bit better I also found I didn't crave chocolate and lucozade several times a day (whereas before I was a daily consumer of those things).

Since being put on metformin I've lost over a stone with no actual effort/planning on my part, and it's stayed off. This is probably mainly due to me not relying on locozade and chocolate to get me through the day, but the reduced appetite has also played it's part. As has the more sensitive stomach side effect, which objected to a lot of the unhealthy foods I used to eat too much of :wink:

I'm on 3 x metformin as well. They originally wanted me on 4, but it turns out that was a bit more than I needed. I'm hoping that as the weight comes off and my eating patterns (and therefore blood glucose levels) improve I can get the dose reduced further. My initial blood glucose reading when diagnosed was either 7.8 or 8, the 3 metformin has it down to 5.something.

Welcome to the forum :wave: Everyone seems really nice and helpful, I've learned lots through reading through lots of the older threads.
 
I agree with all below, but would add

could you be wheat or gluten intolerant ?

Low carbing will reduce these elements, but not eliminate them.
Since you have chronic pain, a stricter regime may be necessary.
Try eliminating wheat for a week or two, and see if symptoms start to disappear.

Good luck with whatever changes you implement :thumbup:

Geoff (remembering that we're all individuals :D )

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librarising said:
could you be wheat or gluten intolerant ?

Low carbing will reduce these elements, but not eliminate them.
Since you have chronic pain, a stricter regime may be necessary.
Try eliminating wheat for a week or two, and see if symptoms start to disappear.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I think that the best way to start low-carbing is to cut out wheat and sugar and everything derived from them, which would help if you are gluten intolerant (and I think that we all are to some degree).
 
You have all given me food for thought. My diet consists mainly of carbohydrate as I eat very little meat (I find it really boring and tasteless unless it has loads of sweet marinade on it) so the question would now be what do I eat instead of the carbs. My favourite and probably the biggest part of my diet is fruit. I must admit cake and biscuit are my downfall. I don't eat lots but I certainly enjoy them. It looks like my whole diet is now due for a complete overhaul. Thanks for the tips everyone, I'm really grateful for the advice. x
 
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