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Metformin

H

hainess652

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi, six month ago I reduced my metformin by half after losing over two stone. This was with doctors agreement. I have since put back oh all the weight I lost. I have recently got pins and needles and numbness in one part of leg. Do you think I should up metformin again.
 
Hi and welcome,

What are you expecting additional Metformin to do? If it is an appetite suppressant you need, then increasing the dose may be a good plan. If you are suffering from diabetic retinopathy in your leg, Metformin won't be quite so useful, but reducing your blood sugars will, and diet is the key to that.

What sort of blood sugar levels are you seeing?

EDIT for retinopathy read neuropathy!!!!!
 
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Hi, I thought maybe it would help with the leg pins and needles ect. I know the sugar intake is poor and I really need to get back to healthy eating again. Thanks for your reply.

Not sure on blood sugar levels, as only checked six montly
 
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hainess652 said:
Hi, I thought maybe it would help with the leg pins and needles ect. I know the sugar intake is poor and I really need to get back to healthy eating again. Thanks for your reply.
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Only a suitable diet will help you reduce your blood sugars, which in turn should help with the neuropathy. Metformin may help to a limited extent with reducing blood sugars, but not by much. Only a good sensible diet will do that. A good sensible diet for diabetics is one that is low in carbohydrate (not just the sweet stuff).

If you tell us what you are typically eating we may be able to help.
 
I am back to eating healthy now. I managed to lose over two stone before and things improved. Unfortunately I re gained the weight. My main downfall is bread, but I will reduce that also. This is the first real problem I have had since I have been diabetic. Think it was the shock I needed to get back on track.
 
hainess652 said:
Not sure on blood sugar levels, as only checked six montly
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@hainess652 The alarm bells are ringing at that.
How do you know the impact of a certain food if you do not measure your Blood just before, and again 2 hours later?

Over six months you have probably eaten over 500 times, how will you pinpoint the meal (s) that caused the problem?
Please get yourself a meter if you haven't, and if you have one, use it.
 
I have a twice yearly review with doctors, they say I don't need to check myself. !!
 

You say that you are back to eating healthily - but then say that bread is your main downfall.

Could you give us an idea of what you consider to be "eating healthily"?

From what you say about your GP practice they don't seem to be very clued up about diabetes. Have you been told to eat only "healthy carbohydrates" for example?

You also don't say what you currently weigh; only that you lost and gained 2 stone.

One big problem with T2 diabetes is that until things really start going wrong there are often no outward signs that you have poor blood glucose control. This is why many of us believe in testing (at least occasionally) just to check that our numbers are O.K. Cynics (who, me?) suspect that GPs who discourage testing may be influenced by the cost of the test strips.

It looks as though your numbers may have been bad for up to 6 months; hopefully the numbness in your leg will clear once you get your BG back under control.

@Bluetit1802 you said "If you are suffering from diabetic retinopathy in your leg".
That would be a wonder of modern science and no mistake!
 
Johnjoe13 said:
Get yourself a meter then you can see what foods are causing you a problem which in turn will lower your blood sugar.
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Where can you purchase these meters and learn how to use them? I am only checked twice a year as well.
 
Eve_M said:
Where can you purchase these meters and learn how to use them? I am only checked twice a year as well.
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Any pharmacist. If you are lucky your surgery may have some free ones. The medical reps tend to hand out freebies because they make their money on the strips.

Last time I was in Lidl there were some meters for sale there.
Well worth a quick trip to check.
 
Eve_M said:
Where can you purchase these meters and learn how to use them? I am only checked twice a year as well.
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I bought the SD Codefree from Homehealth (link below) which a lot of people use on here, there is a diabetes.co.uk video showing you. When ordering on line choose the mmol/mol version and tick the you are diabetic link so you do not pay tax. Also order some extra test strips and lancets as you wont have enough in the starter pack. There are discounts for 5 and 10 pack of strips but I cant seem to find the code. I'll see if I can find the link to the video

https://homehealth-uk.com/
 
Hi metformin is a great drug but not everyone can handle it.what metforming does for you is pushes your blood more freely around your body especially your organs kidney liver ect so the more you can handle the better for yourself that's it it does not lower your sugars or make them higher or supress hunger or anything else.And yes get a meter asap.check your sugars as everyone has said you need to know what's what with what your eating that could spike your bloods and also what helps to lower your bloods...low carbing is best to try keep a good control over them.good luck.
 
LittleGreyCat said:
@Bluetit1802 you said "If you are suffering from diabetic retinopathy in your leg".
That would be a wonder of modern science and no mistake!
Click to expand...

Lol Lol...... ooooops that should say diabetic neuropathy of course. It would indeed be a miracle of modern science!!!!
My apologies, and thanks for noticing my deliberate error.
 
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