Metformin

I think your Doctor is the best judge and it seems like he has a good approach. The last thing you want to do is go on meds. Get a meter, measure your blood glucose levels and change you diet and you may be able to avoid meds altogether. There is plenty of advice and guidance on here on how to go about it. Have you done anything about your diet yet?

It seems to be pot luck to tell the truth , depending on what your GP believes....

I wanted to start with diet and exercise but my GP put me straight on 2000mg a day..........

I prefer your docs approach, to see if you can improve your results via diet

pinklady69 said:

Yes ive cut down on carbs eat no sweet stuff and ive lost 9lbs in three weeks so far.

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That's a fantastic effort already. Please consider getting a meter and self testing. It will give you control and help you make informed choices in your diet. You would probably have to buy it but I believe there is a quite cheap one that others on here can point you too. I'd be surprised if you find any on here that don't believe this is the number one thing in getting control of your diabetes even though many have been told that it is not necessary by NHS Nurses and Doctors

pinklady69 said:

Yes ive cut down on carbs eat no sweet stuff and ive lost 9lbs in three weeks so far.

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Keep that going (with weight loss and testing) and you can get off them in no time. I did.

Also search google , plenty of free meters out there if your doctor wont give you one...

My T2 diagnosis result was just over 7 it was 46 HbA1c and I was put straight on to Metformin working up over 8 weeks from 1 a day to the full dosage of 2000mg a day I never got past 1000 mg a day with the standard one awful indigestion and bloating with it. GP put me on the slow release version but still wanted me to take the 2000mg a day but I still couldn't get above 1000mg a day without having problems with the bloating and lack of appetite. I saw a different doctor this week to the only I usually see she said that as my recent 3 month HbA1c result was so good it had gone down to 42 she was happy for me to stay on just the 1000mg a day.. one 500mg tablet twice a day.. but if I can't tolerate that to just take one 500mg a day as she said any dose it better than none at all as it has so many good properties including protecting the heart. I am so far so good on the 1000mg SR so I don't have any objections to taking Metformin

pinklady69 said:

Hi everyone. I have a confused question that some of you may be able to help with....at what point should you go on metformin? When i got diagnoised 4 weeks ago my doctor said to try diet no meds My fasting reading was 7.9 and when i read on here and other sites of what peoples diagnosied readings are simular to mine they were put on tablets! Im confused should i be on them already?

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It is very important that you and your doctor (GP) build a good working alliance. You need to have room for discussions about your progress. I was put on a two days study which is free for every one newly diagnosed where I live. Think I learned something, but consider myself as always on the learning path when it comes to living with my Diabetes.

What we learned was that we are the ones who are responsible for how to live well with our Diabetes. Often the road for Type 2's are to try first with physical activity + change in diet. That might work for some, but not for all. Your HbA1c (long term glucose) shall be 7% or lower (European terms). There are many new words to understand at first. HbA1c is measured in percent and tells how stable your blood sugar has been the last two - three months. To measure eventually progress or stability in Blood Glucose you need to know your value of longterm glucose (HbAc1). If you have HbAc1 at 7.5, as an example, it is going the right way if it is beneath that measurement next time. 7,2% is in the right direction.

When it comes to fasting Blood Glucose this is measured otherwise: 4 to 7,5 mmol/liter blood (ca. 70 to 125 mg/dl). Your fasting measurement is 7,9 and that is too high. The best you can do is to get yourself a glucose meter and try to measure fasting BG daily. It is recommended to measure before and after physical activity as well (because you need to know if your blood sugar falls to low. Physical activity usually lower it). To measure before meals and two hours after might be a good investment in your general health in the beginning. That will tell you about Blood Sugar stability during the day. The longer times there are continual spikes during the day, the higher the risk is for developmnt of problems like Retinopati or problems with nerves.

Back to the development pattern of Type 2. One can start with only physical activity and food regulation. HbAc1 will tell after two month if it is OK to continue without medication. (It didn't work for me). Next step on the Type2 ladder is medication that cannot give you hypoglycemia. Next step: More of the same medication. After that (some years): medication combo (now it will be possible to get hypoglycemia triggered by the medication). If we live long enough after being diagnosed (some get diagnosed late in life and will not have the development described) next step is a combo of meds and insulin.

As soon as you learn to live with your diabetes and can discuss it with your GP, you will find that it may work out well to live with Diabetes.

I am on Metformin, but have had a very unstable blood sugar in the past months. My GP and I watch it closely. My hope is to stay away from medication that can give hypoglycemia as long as possible.

Please, never be afraid to talk to you doctor!

Hope this was at some help!