Managing your own Diabetes with drug changes

@Robo42
You say you have been on beta blockers (metoprolol) and statins(Atorvastatin) for years. The best way to get off them is to show that you no longer require them and/or they are causing unwanted side effects! what are your cholesterol levels (HDL, Triglycerides & LDL) IMHO the Total Chol figure will tell you nothing! As for the HbA1c drifting up, i would try trimming off exess carbs from your diet!

Robo42 said:

HDL and LDL and other blood readings have been perfect this year, all except HBA1c 48 and 54.

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Hi @Robo42 I was put onto Pravostatin when first diagnosed and my hba1c went from 48 to 54. I came off them due to other side affects and my hba1c started reducing and is now 36 so it could well be the statin that is causing your BS to rise

Robo42 said:

Has anyone tried something like this or any thoughts? Atorvastatin and metoprolol are both said to cause diabetes I have been on both for years. Until recently I managed by diet alone. But my HBa1c level has increased slightly in last year, so put on drugs, not good so far. I have said to the Drs how about looking to stop atorvastatin and metoprolol, replace with something else if needed, improve even more my diet and see if I can prevent having a diabetes drug which so far are making me ill/sick. But seems the easiest thing is to just prescribe more drugs as its too much hassle otherwise. I am willing to try anything but more and more drugs can only cause more complications.

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Is the metoprolol used to treat hypertension? (If it's for angina, then that might be more of a personal decision about what symptoms you can tolerate). If it's for BP, I would strongly caution against going off BP-lowering drugs. I tried this once and it sent a number of blood tests haywire, including getting the first signs of kidney damage, and messing up my lipid levels. BP meds don't usually cause bad side effects like metformin and statins can, but if they do, there are several others to try. If I were you I would get my BP checked (regularly). Ideally it should be under 130/80.

If metformin is causing bad side effects, ask for the SR version, and if that doesn't help, ask to come off the drug. IMO it's not worth the distress of pain and frequent diarrhoea. Another thing that can help with metformin side effects is reducing your carbs.

If you're on another diabetes drug, let us know and we can comment on that if you like.

Diabetes, hypertension, and lipid issues are separate but related conditions, so we need to decide on the treatments separately. It's a fallacy that all drugs (and supplements) are bad or good. This is a case by case issue.

Just to ad that when diagnosed as T2, I was put on statins despite having low cholesterol values. When I started to have muscle/joint pains, I came off!
diabetic meds, gone due to lower carbs.
Blood pressure meds : reduced but still there!

Robo42 said:

Has anyone tried something like this or any thoughts? Atorvastatin and metoprolol are both said to cause diabetes I have been on both for years. Until recently I managed by diet alone. But my HBa1c level has increased slightly in last year, so put on drugs, not good so far. I have said to the Drs how about looking to stop atorvastatin and metoprolol, replace with something else if needed, improve even more my diet and see if I can prevent having a diabetes drug which so far are making me ill/sick. But seems the easiest thing is to just prescribe more drugs as its too much hassle otherwise. I am willing to try anything but more and more drugs can only cause more complications.

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Hi . Iv just been told by my DN that I can come of gliclazide and give it a try for a few weeks . I'm self testing so if I need to I can go back to using gliclazide . It's nice to be able to self test and make my own decisions lm lucky that my test strips ore on prescription

Clive

I think you should do back to your doctor
I dont test my BG i monitor them . a test inplies a pass or fail . i monitor my bg so i can use the infomation to make informed choices . i know its only a change of words but can you doctor tell you not to monitor your diabeties . There is a letter on here from the N I C E have a read of the letter and take a copy to your doctor and see how you get on . its worth a try
CLIVE

Cl1ve said:

. . . . . . a test implies a pass or fail . . . .

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Is that like in "Test Cricket"? Sorry, just messing, it's something to do with logical semantics, or is it lexical semantics? Semantics anyway.