Hi,
I had a series of blood tests in Jan to try any find the underlying cause of nerve damage in my shoulder. One of the tests was BG which came back at 19.5 mmol/L. GP ordered second BG and HBA1C. These came back at 18 mmol/L (BG) and 93 mmol/mol (HBA1C). Diagnosis of type 2. Prescribed metformin 1500mg daily split over 3 x 500mg doses. Also made 'some' changes to my lifestyle - healthy food choices, more exercise etc.
3 months later and second set of blood tests... 18 mmol/L (BG) and 96 mmol/mol (HBA1C)! GP changes metformin prescription to 2550mg daily, split over 3 x 850mg doses. GP advised not me not to worry as 'quite usual'. Asked about testing my own BG levels and GP advised 'no need'.
As you can imagine, I was a little worried that the levels hadn't changed. I made more radical changes to my diet (avoid lots of carbs, esp. 'white carbs' etc), more exercise etc,
I gave up smoking about 8 years ago and I'd read the guidance relating to smoking and diabetes but didn't think it applied to me. However, I found an article relating specifically to nicotine and diabetes - not just smoking. Even though I'd given up smoking many years ago, I was still using nicotine replacement therapy - I.e. I was still on relatively high doses of nicotine. Given this new information I gave up the nicotine overnight.
I also purchased my own BG tester so I could track my levels myself. Initially I was getting readings of 15 mmol/L but these have, slowly, started to creep downwards. Morning readings seem higher that daytime (dawn phenomenon?) but are now around 10 mmol/L. I've also observed that after a lot of exercise, my levels can drop as low as 5.5 mmol/L.
Given the above background, my question(s) to this forum:
- My levels still seem dangerously high. Should I be concerned or is the downwards trend normal and eventually they should get to good levels?
- Since giving up the nicotine my sleeping patterns have changed completely. I always used to sleep a solid 8+ hrs and could sleep much longer if not awakened (e.g. by my alarm clock). Now I find I'm waking-up much earlier in the morning (always before my alarm clock and usually around dawn) and not able to go back to sleep. Conversely, I find I am nodding off early evening... Is this normal?
- About 1 in 3 nights I seem to now suffer from mild(ish) 'night sweats'. This doesn't seem to be a hypo as when I test my BG levels before breakfast they are around 10mmol/L.
Any advice?
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I had a series of blood tests in Jan to try any find the underlying cause of nerve damage in my shoulder. One of the tests was BG which came back at 19.5 mmol/L. GP ordered second BG and HBA1C. These came back at 18 mmol/L (BG) and 93 mmol/mol (HBA1C). Diagnosis of type 2. Prescribed metformin 1500mg daily split over 3 x 500mg doses. Also made 'some' changes to my lifestyle - healthy food choices, more exercise etc.
3 months later and second set of blood tests... 18 mmol/L (BG) and 96 mmol/mol (HBA1C)! GP changes metformin prescription to 2550mg daily, split over 3 x 850mg doses. GP advised not me not to worry as 'quite usual'. Asked about testing my own BG levels and GP advised 'no need'.
As you can imagine, I was a little worried that the levels hadn't changed. I made more radical changes to my diet (avoid lots of carbs, esp. 'white carbs' etc), more exercise etc,
I gave up smoking about 8 years ago and I'd read the guidance relating to smoking and diabetes but didn't think it applied to me. However, I found an article relating specifically to nicotine and diabetes - not just smoking. Even though I'd given up smoking many years ago, I was still using nicotine replacement therapy - I.e. I was still on relatively high doses of nicotine. Given this new information I gave up the nicotine overnight.
I also purchased my own BG tester so I could track my levels myself. Initially I was getting readings of 15 mmol/L but these have, slowly, started to creep downwards. Morning readings seem higher that daytime (dawn phenomenon?) but are now around 10 mmol/L. I've also observed that after a lot of exercise, my levels can drop as low as 5.5 mmol/L.
Given the above background, my question(s) to this forum:
- My levels still seem dangerously high. Should I be concerned or is the downwards trend normal and eventually they should get to good levels?
- Since giving up the nicotine my sleeping patterns have changed completely. I always used to sleep a solid 8+ hrs and could sleep much longer if not awakened (e.g. by my alarm clock). Now I find I'm waking-up much earlier in the morning (always before my alarm clock and usually around dawn) and not able to go back to sleep. Conversely, I find I am nodding off early evening... Is this normal?
- About 1 in 3 nights I seem to now suffer from mild(ish) 'night sweats'. This doesn't seem to be a hypo as when I test my BG levels before breakfast they are around 10mmol/L.
Any advice?
Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
