New diagnosed and nervous!

[kh89]

Hi All!

Very new here (as in I stumbled onto it and was relieved there is a community).

I was diagnosed on Wednesday last week as Type 2. Not overly a surprise to myself. I don't really understand what the doc said in terms of diagnosis but basically said the line for T2 was 48 and my results came in at 50 and 52 (if anyone can shed light on what this means, that'd be fab haha!) Anyway, he has prescribed me Metformin, 500mg to take twice a day. I am assuming from everything I've read I am best to take this with breakfast and then evening meal?

Finally, I'm quite nervous to take it. I'm meant to start this morning, but as I have quite severe anxiety around taking new meds etc. It's really affecting me. Should I be nervous? Any advice really greatly appreciated because simply I don't really know where to start.

 

[EllieM]

Hi @kh89 and welcome to the forums. I'm T1 so have to be careful what I say but when I was on a metformin trial (they wanted to test whether it helped T1s) I took it with breakfast and evening meal.

As for the hba1c, that is a measure of how much sugar has been in your blood over the last 3 months. 48mmol/mol corresponds to an average blood sugar of 7.8mmol/L and is the point at which they diagnose diabetes. (It's a little bit arbitrary, but historically 48mmol/L is the point at which people started to get diabetic complications associsted with eyes, so that is one reason why that is the international dividing line.)

Glycosylated haemoglobin & diabetes. HbA1c facts, units, diagnosis, testing frequency, limitations, control & conversion. How blood glucose levels link to A1c.

Glycosylated haemoglobin & diabetes. HbA1c facts, units, diagnosis, test frequency, limitations, control, conversion. How blood glucose levels link to A1c.

www.diabetes.co.uk

 

[kh89]

Hi @EllieM thank you so much for the kind reply and for the link - that helps me understand so much more!

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi All!

Very new here (as in I stumbled onto it and was relieved there is a community).

I was diagnosed on Wednesday last week as Type 2. Not overly a surprise to myself. I don't really understand what the doc said in terms of diagnosis but basically said the line for T2 was 48 and my results came in at 50 and 52 (if anyone can shed light on what this means, that'd be fab haha!) Anyway, he has prescribed me Metformin, 500mg to take twice a day. I am assuming from everything I've read I am best to take this with breakfast and then evening meal?

Finally, I'm quite nervous to take it. I'm meant to start this morning, but as I have quite severe anxiety around taking new meds etc. It's really affecting me. Should I be nervous? Any advice really greatly appreciated because simply I don't really know where to start.

Hi @kh89 ,

I completely understand your hesitation, and you have been doing your research. Metformin can cause gastro-intestinal upsets, which is much less likely to happen when you don't take it on an empty stomach, so yeah... With breakfast and dinner would be an excellent plan!

That said, what metformin does is mainly make your liver dump less glucose into your system (it does that in the morning to help you get your day started, when you're stressed so you have energy to flee, for instance), and it makes you a smidge more sensitive to your own insulin. It doesn't really do a whole lot about what you ingest, and that's where the highest blood sugars usually come from.

So here's the thing... You're just barely into the diabetic range. A few small changes in your diet could well bring you back down to the prediabetic or even normal range. It's carbs you can't process well, being insensitive to insulin as a T2, so... Have fewer carbs. Sounds simple, right? https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might explain things some in that respect. Just, you know... It's a scary time and a diagnosis no-one wants, but now you know what's going on, and you can do something about it. Knowledge being power and all. Main options being a change in diet, medication, or a combination of those two. You'll find something that suits you and your situation, I'm sure.

Metformin is a very mild drug, and not everyone gets glued to the loo, just a fortunate few like yours truly. And if that happens, you can always ask for the slow release version, which is kinder on the gut but not the first version of choice given by the GP.

You have a say in all this.

Good luck,
Jo

 

[snowmonkey]

Hi @kh89 ,

I completely understand your hesitation, and you have been doing your research. Metformin can cause gastro-intestinal upsets, which is much less likely to happen when you don't take it on an empty stomach, so yeah... With breakfast and dinner would be an excellent plan!

That said, what metformin does is mainly make your liver dump less glucose into your system (it does that in the morning to help you get your day started, when you're stressed so you have energy to flee, for instance), and it makes you a smidge more sensitive to your own insulin. It doesn't really do a whole lot about what you ingest, and that's where the highest blood sugars usually come from.

So here's the thing... You're just barely into the diabetic range. A few small changes in your diet could well bring you back down to the prediabetic or even normal range. It's carbs you can't process well, being insensitive to insulin as a T2, so... Have fewer carbs. Sounds simple, right? https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might explain things some in that respect. Just, you know... It's a scary time and a diagnosis no-one wants, but now you know what's going on, and you can do something about it. Knowledge being power and all. Main options being a change in diet, medication, or a combination of those two. You'll find something that suits you and your situation, I'm sure.

Metformin is a very mild drug, and not everyone gets glued to the loo, just a fortunate few like yours truly. And if that happens, you can always ask for the slow release version, which is kinder on the gut but not the first version of choice given by the GP.

You have a say in all this.

Good luck,
Jo

Wow your blogspot is good. Wish I had known this from the outset of my journey.