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Evening all.
Please excuse a few newbie questions and a fairly long post. I'm age 51, diagnosed Type 2 on 13/Jan 2021. I had started getting tell-tale symptoms, like constant thirst, very dry mouth in the morning, and waking up 5 times a night for a pee - so I bought a little blood glucose meter from Amazon, and was consistently reading 28 mmol/L, so went to see my GP and got properly tested, with predictable results. So - still getting used to it, although trying to address it constructively by (finally) sorting out my diet and intake of red wine GP has put me on Metformin, and also I'm trying to follow Keto - 20g Net carbs a day, and 1200 calories. Fairly dramatic results - surprising, actually - hence these questions - apologies if they are silly to those of you in the know.
Firstly - the diabetes specialist at my local medical practice (it's not my GP - they have an actual Diabetes guy there) told me I'd be on the Metformin "for the foreseeable future" and that they would see me again in March for repeat testing. However - 11 days after beginning the Metformin, by 26th January, I was reading 7.7 mmol/L in the morning, 5.6 mmol/L mid afternoon, and 6.2 mmol/L just before bedtime. And this has continued - I have never been above 6.8 since then. Right now, 2 hours post-prandial, I just tested at 4.6. It has dropped dramatically, and seems to have levelled out.
So here's the question - is this in fact TOO FAST of a decline ? He told me to "phase in" the Metformin - 1 a day for week 1, twice daily in week two, three times daily in week three.... but here I am, just after week three, I stuck to twice a day - it seems to be stable - should I step up to 3 a day ? I'm not having any adverse symptoms (tummy trouble etc) and the medicine seems to be working. OR - in fact, is my combination of the Metformin, and a Keto diet, potentially giving false positive results which will not last and might even be unhealthy ?
I'm worried that my sugars may have dropped too far too fast. I've noticed that my eyesight has altered dramatically, in the last few weeks, and also I have become extremely clumsy. I keep bumping into doorways, and dropping things. My brain also seems a bit "vague", and foggy. Meanwhile the waking up all night, has gone. The constant thirst, has gone, and the morning parched mouth, has gone too. On the other hand - I'm very sleepy in the mornings, often not waking up until midday (I'm furloughed at the moment, thank goodness).
So anyway - I understand that this is not a medical forum, so of course am clearly not looking for any medical opinions - just generalised opinions based on peoples's experiences - is this "normal", for the first 2 or 3 weeks on Metformin, for a type 2 ? Should I step up the Metformin to 3 a day, as prescribed... or might this run a risk of getting TOO low ? Is the medication + Keto combination, having too dramatic an effect ? Are my changed physical symptoms (clumsiness, brain fog, eyesight, plus weird constant back-ache) normal... or not, at this stage ?
Many thanks to all in advance.
Kind Regards
Chris.
Please excuse a few newbie questions and a fairly long post. I'm age 51, diagnosed Type 2 on 13/Jan 2021. I had started getting tell-tale symptoms, like constant thirst, very dry mouth in the morning, and waking up 5 times a night for a pee - so I bought a little blood glucose meter from Amazon, and was consistently reading 28 mmol/L, so went to see my GP and got properly tested, with predictable results. So - still getting used to it, although trying to address it constructively by (finally) sorting out my diet and intake of red wine GP has put me on Metformin, and also I'm trying to follow Keto - 20g Net carbs a day, and 1200 calories. Fairly dramatic results - surprising, actually - hence these questions - apologies if they are silly to those of you in the know.
Firstly - the diabetes specialist at my local medical practice (it's not my GP - they have an actual Diabetes guy there) told me I'd be on the Metformin "for the foreseeable future" and that they would see me again in March for repeat testing. However - 11 days after beginning the Metformin, by 26th January, I was reading 7.7 mmol/L in the morning, 5.6 mmol/L mid afternoon, and 6.2 mmol/L just before bedtime. And this has continued - I have never been above 6.8 since then. Right now, 2 hours post-prandial, I just tested at 4.6. It has dropped dramatically, and seems to have levelled out.
So here's the question - is this in fact TOO FAST of a decline ? He told me to "phase in" the Metformin - 1 a day for week 1, twice daily in week two, three times daily in week three.... but here I am, just after week three, I stuck to twice a day - it seems to be stable - should I step up to 3 a day ? I'm not having any adverse symptoms (tummy trouble etc) and the medicine seems to be working. OR - in fact, is my combination of the Metformin, and a Keto diet, potentially giving false positive results which will not last and might even be unhealthy ?
I'm worried that my sugars may have dropped too far too fast. I've noticed that my eyesight has altered dramatically, in the last few weeks, and also I have become extremely clumsy. I keep bumping into doorways, and dropping things. My brain also seems a bit "vague", and foggy. Meanwhile the waking up all night, has gone. The constant thirst, has gone, and the morning parched mouth, has gone too. On the other hand - I'm very sleepy in the mornings, often not waking up until midday (I'm furloughed at the moment, thank goodness).
So anyway - I understand that this is not a medical forum, so of course am clearly not looking for any medical opinions - just generalised opinions based on peoples's experiences - is this "normal", for the first 2 or 3 weeks on Metformin, for a type 2 ? Should I step up the Metformin to 3 a day, as prescribed... or might this run a risk of getting TOO low ? Is the medication + Keto combination, having too dramatic an effect ? Are my changed physical symptoms (clumsiness, brain fog, eyesight, plus weird constant back-ache) normal... or not, at this stage ?
Many thanks to all in advance.
Kind Regards
Chris.
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