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Re: oral meds

Hi. In your post you don't mention diet at all? Are you low carbing and what are some of your typical meals? You mention 'more of a snack at bedtime' when in fact for diabetes any food at bedtime might not be a good idea but that depends on the person's diabetes type etc. Weight gain can happen where someone is trying to match meds to their diet rather than the other way round. Januvia doesn't cause weight gain but does extend insulin production time so can be quite helpful. As you say, Metformin does help reduce glucose in the blood.

Re: oral meds

That is one heck of a first post tom2 !

I am sure that help will be along soon...

You have certainly come to the right place here buddy !

Our community seem to have had all there is to have in the diabetic spectrum of complications !

Your situation is going to need a bit of analysis to offer any positive help.

Please give the forum a little time to digest your issues.

All the best Superchip

Re: oral meds

Cool down tom2 ! you are amongst friends here buddy !, there is nothing that the good people on this forum haven't seen before !

You are aware already that what you eat has quite an effect on your weight and well being.

So, somebody, probably daisy, will be along shortly, to give you her much valued advice to new posters.

Please do not be ' at your wit's end mate !' No need !

With the help you will get on here you can achieve a great deal ! but you have to help too !

We are here for you ( sounds like a bloody advert ! )


Superchip

Re: oral meds

Tom

What dose of each medication are you in! Both of the medications that you take contain metformin (glucophage). If the januvia is causing weight gain you might want to try exenatide which does not cause weight gain. You might also want to try extended release glucophage as it is often easier to tolerate.

Regards

Doug


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Re: oral meds

Hi Tom and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members as mentioned above. Carry on asking questions and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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.

Re: oral meds

Hi Tom

Don't feel like this and think that nobody cares. I think the problem is that not many people on this forum are on the meds that you are on and can't give their experiences of it.

What you eat does have a huge impact on what your blood sugar levels are doing and many people on here do not eat bread, potatoes, rice and pasta and things made with sugar and flour or at least cut them down significantly.

At 6.4, you shouldn't be feeling like you are too low, but if your body is used to running at higher levels the body starts panicking and has what is known as a 'false hypo'. Don't feed it sugar as this will just extend the amount of time you get to feel like this.

Weight gain doesn't seem to be a side effect of the meds that you are on (I've done a quick google search) so unless you are eating loads of carbs or extra food, then a trip back to your doctor would be my recommendation to you.

When you are going back to your doctor, I would take a food and blood sugar level diary with you and hopefully this evidence will help them decide what the best course of action is.

All the best.