Hubby is type 2 diabetic, diet-controlled for over ten years. Recent heart bypass results in new meds, Lisinopril and Bisoprolol Fumarate. After a couple of months on this his BG is rising steadily and he's getting upset. He has always been very good re diet and hardly ever cheats. Can't get his BG under 9, when for years it was ion the 6/7s. Any advice on how to cope with this? We're wondering if going on the Newcastle diet or similar would work - but it might not because this is caused by meds.
Is his HbA1c rising in tandem with the noted self test results? I get the impression that this rise is steady and fairly gradual/ This is not usually indicative of a medication change per se, which is a step-change event, but points to a more gradual process being involved, such as Insulin Resistance building up, or pancreas output dropping.
A quick reset of the system using Newcastle or another 8 week Blood Sugar vlcal diet may remove the effect of IR buildup, and be useful to consider. It is difficult to give assistance when we do not know what his diet plan is or what he normally eats.
Does he snack much? You do say he rarely cheats, so probably not. But I have known people having similar rises, even when following strict diets that normally should work, but on investigation were not including the regular consumption of beer as a 'food item'. One person developed a secret craving for Tic Tacs and was actually consuming 2 packs a day. Another was a long-distance driver, who had fruit pastilles while he drove, then wondered why he could not get his sugars down. Since the level of glucose in the blood is directly related to the consumption of carbohydrates, then such extracurricular activities must also be declared.
Whilst there are some medications that raise bgl levels (statins, steroids for example) you should only suspect them when you have eliminated the other possible causes for a rise. Timing is possibly just a coincidence. I would not advise stopping the heart med to see if levels come down again. Best to play around with diet and lifestyle first,
