METFORMIN &GLIXOZADE

[henrik7]

Hi Guys , Can anyone offer advice on what both of the above really do , I have been type 2 for 11 years mostly uncontrolled , went on a health kick on 13th July this year weight was 21 stone 11 pounds , meter reading was 23.7 shocking that morning , anyway 16 weeks later at my weigh in last Thursday at weight watchers I was 15 stone 11 pounds , I was at that time on 4 metformin sr at night 2000mgs along with a Glixozade 80mgs 1 in morning and one at night , anyway gradually and probably wrongly I have reduced without seeing my doc to 1 tablet of each in the mornings for the last 2 months meter readings have been around 6.3 morning and night sometimes a wee bit higher and sometimes a bit lower but very rarely above 7 , I obviously feel much better my last HBA1C on the 10 th August this year was 66 or 8 not sure how those readings work ? but I was around 19 stone 8 pounds then I'm hoping my next check is down quite a bit as the truth is I'm fed up being Dr Google messing about with my meds etc and being daft - I really just don't know which does what and what benefits most , my feet are the biggest improvement as I was in agony with Neuropathy I bought a product from America called Nerve Renew and it has been fantastic I was sceptical about it like all these things but the reduction in pain has been incredible not just in my feet , my plan is to take some of the empty bottles to my doctor and recommend they use this instead of the horrible Garbapentin , as it has really helped me and it can't be a coincidence , truth is can understand the docs being sick of me and uninterested as it's took me so long to try to take control of my own health I'm just looking to find out what meds are best for what as i feel the Michael Moseley has been an inspiration to me with his Blood Sugar diet as well as talking in Lamens terms on how to try and get our own health under control

 

[Ross.Walker]

Hello

Lots of information to take in above. Firstly well done on doing something, loosing that weight must have been a challenge, keep it going, I am proud of what you have achieved.

Personally I would not change meds without my doc knowing, but you seem to be keeping it in the happy zone of below 7. Tell you doctor no matter how painful the conversation is. The coincidence of the nerve renew working and the weight loss is what sticks out in my mind, I suspect the "too good to be true" medicine is perhaps "too good to be true" and the efforts of your diet is the key to long term success. I know this is a non medical view so please take it as that.

Diet and exercise are critical to long term health, medication can help but the key is to make the decision to be disciplined.

Ross

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi Guys , Can anyone offer advice on what both of the above really do , I have been type 2 for 11 years mostly uncontrolled , went on a health kick on 13th July this year weight was 21 stone 11 pounds , meter reading was 23.7 shocking that morning , anyway 16 weeks later at my weigh in last Thursday at weight watchers I was 15 stone 11 pounds , I was at that time on 4 metformin sr at night 2000mgs along with a Glixozade 80mgs 1 in morning and one at night , anyway gradually and probably wrongly I have reduced without seeing my doc to 1 tablet of each in the mornings for the last 2 months meter readings have been around 6.3 morning and night sometimes a wee bit higher and sometimes a bit lower but very rarely above 7 , I obviously feel much better my last HBA1C on the 10 th August this year was 66 or 8 not sure how those readings work ? but I was around 19 stone 8 pounds then I'm hoping my next check is down quite a bit as the truth is I'm fed up being Dr Google messing about with my meds etc and being daft - I really just don't know which does what and what benefits most , my feet are the biggest improvement as I was in agony with Neuropathy I bought a product from America called Nerve Renew and it has been fantastic I was sceptical about it like all these things but the reduction in pain has been incredible not just in my feet , my plan is to take some of the empty bottles to my doctor and recommend they use this instead of the horrible Garbapentin , as it has really helped me and it can't be a coincidence , truth is can understand the docs being sick of me and uninterested as it's took me so long to try to take control of my own health I'm just looking to find out what meds are best for what as i feel the Michael Moseley has been an inspiration to me with his Blood Sugar diet as well as talking in Lamens terms on how to try and get our own health under control

Hi, and Welcome to this site, which is full of entrepreneurs like you. Your desire to reduce medcines back to a minimum is something I share, and I too was on the same regime as you. I have dropped my Gliclazide from 4 tabs a day to 1.5 tabs alternating days. I keep the 2g of Metformin since it offers other benefits than just bgl lowering. Met is not very good at reducing bgl by itself, and most of your success will be from the Glic and diet changes. And weight loss is part of that path,

Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas to push more insulin into the blood, and by so doing tries to overcome Insulin Resistance so that you end up storing more glucose in the liver, Hence put on weight and inches.
To my mind this is not the best way of dealing with the problem, being a sledgehammer to ctack the proverbial, It also stresses the pancreas which can lead to burn out of the remaining islet cells so that future use of insulin is almost guaranteed. To my mind this med is the evil one and must be eliminated from my scrip. To this end I am using a low carb diet to reduce my overall need for insulin so I don't have to punish my pancreas so much..

Currently I am still needing 2 tabs a day on some days, and drop to 1 tab on other days. I know that when I used Gymnema Sylvestre instead, I did get my bgl down, but I am not sure of what the long term risks are for that treatment. I am pretty sure that if I reduce my carbs input through a stricter diet then that would also allow me to drop the Glix, but I m not ready to do that yet. I could also consider fasting, but that seems a bit extreme to me.

So I advise keeping the Metformin, and reducing the Glics if you can. Remember that Met can prevent absorption of Vit B12 when used long term, so condider a supplement on occasions,

Before the Glics, I tried other newer meds such as Jardiance, Forxiga, Januvia, but these all gave risks and side effects I could not live with, and anyway they didn't work for me, Gliclazide does carry an increased risk of pancretis ot pancreatic cancer,, which is another reason to knock it on the head. I had enough problems with Actos and Avandia.

 

[asparagusp]

So I advise keeping the Metformin, and reducing the Glics if you can. Remember that Met can prevent absorption of Vit B12 when used long term, so condider a supplement on occasions,

Before taking a B-12 supplement , ask the doctor for a blood test. You may not need it at this point.

 

[henrik7]

Hello

Lots of information to take in above. Firstly well done on doing something, loosing that weight must have been a challenge, keep it going, I am proud of what you have achieved.

Personally I would not change meds without my doc knowing, but you seem to be keeping it in the happy zone of below 7. Tell you doctor no matter how painful the conversation is. The coincidence of the nerve renew working and the weight loss is what sticks out in my mind, I suspect the "too good to be true" medicine is perhaps "too good to be true" and the efforts of your diet is the key to long term success. I know this is a non medical view so please take it as that.

Diet and exercise are critical to long term health, medication can help but the key is to make the decision to be disciplined.

Ross

Hi Ross , thanks for the kind words and reply , how did you manage to get so many tests for the HBA1C

 

[Oldvatr]

Before taking a B-12 supplement , ask the doctor for a blood test. You may not need it at this point.

You may have to fight for this test. My GP needed some persuading that this is a documented side effect attributable to Met, since it is not in the BNF or NICE guidelines.

 

[henrik7]

Hi, and Welcome to this site, which is full of entrepreneurs like you. Your desire to reduce medcines back to a minimum is something I share, and I too was on the same regime as you. I have dropped my Gliclazide from 4 tabs a day to 1.5 tabs alternating days. I keep the 2g of Metformin since it offers other benefits than just bgl lowering. Met is not very good at reducing bgl by itself, and most of your success will be from the Glic and diet changes. And weight loss is part of that path,

Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas to push more insulin into the blood, and by so doing tries to overcome Insulin Resistance so that you end up storing more glucose in the liver, Hence put on weight and inches.
To my mind this is not the best way of dealing with the problem, being a sledgehammer to ctack the proverbial, It also stresses the pancreas which can lead to burn out of the remaining islet cells so that future use of insulin is almost guaranteed. To my mind this med is the evil one and must be eliminated from my scrip. To this end I am using a low carb diet to reduce my overall need for insulin so I don't have to punish my pancreas so much..

Currently I am still needing 2 tabs a day on some days, and drop to 1 tab on other days. I know that when I used Gymnema Sylvestre instead, I did get my bgl down, but I am not sure of what the long term risks are for that treatment. I am pretty sure that if I reduce my carbs input through a stricter diet then that would also allow me to drop the Glix, but I m not ready to do that yet. I could also consider fasting, but that seems a bit extreme to me.

So I advise keeping the Metformin, and reducing the Glics if you can. Remember that Met can prevent absorption of Vit B12 when used long term, so condider a supplement on occasions,

Before the Glics, I tried other newer meds such as Jardiance, Forxiga, Januvia, but these all gave risks and side effects I could not live with, and anyway they didn't work for me, Gliclazide does carry an increased risk of pancretis ot pancreatic cancer,, which is another reason to knock it on the head. I had enough problems with Actos and Avandia.

Hi Oldvatr , thanks for the detailed reply much appreciated , I will do my best to cut down the Glix as I would like to avoid the inevitable insulin , when do you find the best time to take Glix daily

 

[henrik7]

I'm hoping when I get my next test my HBA1C is dramatically reduced , I'm trying to lose another 27 pounds by Xmas Day if I can , then my target is 12 stone for Easter , the intermittent fasting on the blood sugar diet has definitely worked for me as I've tried all other diets

 

[Ross.Walker]

Hello @henrik7

I am a skydiver and the medical standard to maintain a licence is to be in control so my doc is keeping a close eye on me to make sure I behave. I suspect they will become annual in a short while.

The impact of hypoxia from high altitude and a hyper/hypo at the same time could be horrible, the likihood with good discipline and predictable monitoring is incredibly low.

Ross

 

[henrik7]

Hello @henrik7

I am a skydiver and the medical standard to maintain a licence is to be in control so my doc is keeping a close eye on me to make sure I behave. I suspect they will become annual in a short while.

The impact of hypoxia from high altitude and a hyper/hypo at the same time could be horrible, the likihood with good discipline and predictable monitoring is incredibly low.

Ross

Hi Ross , hats off to you with an extreme hobby like that well done , I will just be happy to get back and have a game of 5 a side again with my pals , I miss that and I thought my feet were beyond repair until now and they seem to be getting stronger every day , I tried 3 weeks of no meds at all about 6 weeks ago and my readings started creeping up over 8 so I went back on reduced as you say I need to speak to Doctor and get some kind of proper advice , problem with that is they always want to just get you back on full pelt meds and it's disheartening , seems like GLIX is the main impact one

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi Oldvatr , thanks for the detailed reply much appreciated , I will do my best to cut down the Glix as I would like to avoid the inevitable insulin , when do you find the best time to take Glix daily

I am currently taking one tab midday, and the second one 30 mins before my evening meal. The midday one was because I was taking a med that protected my tummy from aspirin meds. and this prevented the early morning meds from being absorbed properly. I have since moved that med till last thing at night, but decided to leave the Glic at nidday since I am getting reasonable results from it. I have also split my Metformin to cover breakfast and my main meal in the evening. I peronally found that taking the Met 30 mins before the meal gave me best control, which makes sense since Metformin needs to be dissolved before the meal hits so it is ready and waiting (and all fluffed up).

 

[henrik7]

I am currently taking one tab midday, and the second one 30 mins before my evening meal. The midday one was because I was taking a med that protected my tummy from aspirin meds. and this prevented the early morning meds from being absorbed properly. I have since moved that med till last thing at night, but decided to leave the Glic at nidday since I am getting reaonable results from it. I have also split my Metformin to cover breakfast and my main meal in the evening. I peronally found that taking the Met 30 mins before the meal gave me best control, which makes sense since Metformin needs to be dissolved before the meal hits so it is ready and waiting (and all fluffed up).

I see what you mean , how long have you been diabetic ?