metformin

I would ring another chemist..have you tried a low carb diet? a lot here are having success with it by cutting the main carbs

it’s a long page and a video
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

A dietician site
http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management

blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

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brenda walker said:

I have been taken metformin for a year and at my annual checkup the dosage was doubled. The medical practice now do electronic prescriptions so I turned up to pick up my prescriptions from Tesco Friday evening, Saturday, Monday and now Tuesday. Is there a national shortage? My current reading is now 24.7 as apposed to regular readings of between 14 and 16. and have run out completely.

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Dear Brenda

I do not wish to alarm you but a reading of 24,7 verges on the dangerously high. Please get access to your medication immediately, monitor your levels and if feeling unwell seek medical help, maybe even consider going to A&E.

Even your regular readings of 14 to 16 are unacceptably high and put you at longer term risk of suffering complications.

The increase in your metformin should help to bring these down but only by a limited amount. If you want to bring your counts down to the recommended levels you need to combine the medication with an improvement in diet and level of exercise.

Our diet is probably the single most important element of achieving good glycemic control. And as it is carbohydrates that mostly turn to glucose and cause our blood sugar levels to rise, you need to reduce your consumption of carb rich food such as bread, grain products, rice, potatoes.

This may not be what you have been advised to do by your doctor/nurse but it is what many of us have found to be most effective in controlling our diabetes.

All the best

Pavlos


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Hi Brenda welcome as jack412 has mentioned I would definitely try low carbs your readings do seem high.
I would advise you to try another chemist I collected mine o.k,there was one item on my prescription that they could not give me as they were having problems with the manufacturer.
Hope you manage to get your medicine keep well.

@brenda walker can you ring the practice manager of your GP and arrange a paper script to pick up?, A&E or an out of hours for another script? or ring 24/7 nhs help? you need your meds,

Hi. There is no shortage of Metformin. You are entitled to ask the surgery or chemist for an emergency prescription and don't take no for an answer as your BS is far too high. If you are not already low-carbing you must do that. You need to aim to keep meter readings below 10 as far as possible. Metformin will only help BS a bit so you may need additional tablets beyond Metformin. Can you let us know if you are normal weight or not; also how old are you if you don't mind me asking. Whilst your sugars are in the 20s do have plenty of water and go to A&E if you feel unwell

Hi. If the problem is with Tesco then complain to their pharmacy as they can always get an emergency delivery of Metformin. I think you should also formally complain to the Practice Manager (not the receptionist) insisting that they should issue another bridging prescription with another pharmacy. You surgery is failing and needs a boot up the backside. My surgery may not be the best but they will alwyas put themselevs out to solve a problem like yours. Yes, you weight is proba;ly causing the high blood suagr due to insulin resistance. Try to set your self a daily carb target, perhaps 150gm/day, and see how you go. My wife was concerend about her weight (not diabetic) and also went seriously low-carb. She has reduced her weight by 25% in a few months and it's now quite stable. She probably has less then 100gm/day but eats fat and protein freely.

brenda walker said:

thank you for your concern and information. I have not seen a GP since last year and non of this information had been put to me. Although vegetarian I certainly was not on a low carb diet - far from it, I love my root veg and cheese and crackers. My nurse at the checkup back in November had said it was a little high but of no concern, I can see I have not been properly informed. Again thankyou, I think I am beginning to understand more.

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Many of us have found that we can control our levels best by checking our glucose frequently, before and after each meal, and reducing our carb intake (of our next meal) until we can keep the count two hours after a meal within 2mmol of the corresponding before meal count.

According to the NICE guidelines t2 diabetics who are not on medication that puts them at risk of hypos should aim for fasting/before meals levels of between 4-7 mmol. The corresponding recommended range for two hours after meals is under 8,5.

Many on this forum actually believe that these targets are too generous and, to minimize the risk of diabetic complications prefer to run their glucose at levels which are in the non diabetic range: 4-5,9 before meals and under 7,8 two hours after meals.

As you are starting from a higher starting point it may take a few weeks to work your sugars down to the above recommended ranges. To do so you should concentrate on the 2mmol maximum after meal rise rule at the beginning. Once you achieve this consistently you should see a descending trend in your before meal counts as well as a result.

All the best

Pavlos

Ps by looking at the Low carb section of this forum you should find ideas for low carb recipes suitable for vegetarians. If not just start another thread and ask for advise. I am sure there are a number of vegetarian members in the forum.

W

brenda walker said:

thank you for your concern and information. I have not seen a GP since last year and non of this information had been put to me. Although vegetarian I certainly was not on a low carb diet - far from it, I love my root veg and cheese and crackers. My nurse at the checkup back in November had said it was a little high but of no concern, I can see I have not been properly informed. Again thankyou, I think I am beginning to understand more.

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What was your last HbA1c?

Does your Tesco have no Metformin whatsoever? They could perhaps to a partial fill, or use their internal systems to dispense your meds from another Tesco?

I would suggest you could consider getting a bit more forceful. Those levels won't be doing you too much good.

Recently @ally1 had somilarly high levels, but she is getting them into much better order, using her diet.

I think it would be useful for you if @daisy1 posted the introductory material on diabetes usually given out to new users of this forum.

Spend some time reading through this and then ask about anything you are not certain about.

All the best

Pavlos

pavlosn said:

I think it would be useful for you if @daisy1 posted the introductory material on diabetes usually given out to new users of this forum.

Spend some time reading through this and then ask about anything you are not certain about.

All the best

Pavlos

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@brenda walker
@pavlosn

Hello Brenda

Here, as Pavlos suggests, is the information we give to new members and includes information about carbs. I hope you find it helpful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 over 100,000 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-and-whole-grains.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 bloodglucose 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.

You really do need to get Tesco moving When my local independent pharmacy had no Metformin one morning they had it for me in the afternoon and offered to deliver it for me .Surely a large firm like Tesco should be able to get your script for you Make a fuss and tell them you are taking your complaint to higher levels
CAROL