Hi there,
I'm a 60 year old male who has recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes after two Hba1c tests 4 weeks apart with the first being 82 then 85 subsequently. I have been prescribed metformin and am currently on day 6 of that. I had one day of loose stools and then have had really bad constipation since then. I generally feel unwell, bloated and am not sure I can carry on with this medication. I have been surprised to read on this forum that metformin does not actually decrease blood glucose level that much!!?!! I wonder why I am on it then? My niece in Australia has told me about a compound called Berberine which she takes to help her maintain low blood glucose as she has a rare ovarian cancer which feeds off high blood glucose levels. Has anyone tried this compound? I don't know how I can combat this with diet as the only high carb I eat is brown bread and only 2 slices per day. I usually eat meat or chicken or fish with steamed vegetables. I stopped eating potatoes at the start of the year anyway. I have had bad gastric reflux for about 3 years but that is better now with the help of the drug Esomeprazole and I eat my main meal at lunchtime and nothing between 7pm and 10am. I have also just given up the small amount of alcohol I consumed weekly (10 units per week-mostly bottled beer and a little wine-one bottle per week spread out over many days) I take a statin (atorvastin 10mg) as there is history of strokes and heart attacks on both sides of the family and hypertension medication from 2017 and am wondering if these are the culprits? Not sure what to do frankly- any suggestions?
I'm a 60 year old male who has recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes after two Hba1c tests 4 weeks apart with the first being 82 then 85 subsequently. I have been prescribed metformin and am currently on day 6 of that. I had one day of loose stools and then have had really bad constipation since then. I generally feel unwell, bloated and am not sure I can carry on with this medication. I have been surprised to read on this forum that metformin does not actually decrease blood glucose level that much!!?!! I wonder why I am on it then? My niece in Australia has told me about a compound called Berberine which she takes to help her maintain low blood glucose as she has a rare ovarian cancer which feeds off high blood glucose levels. Has anyone tried this compound? I don't know how I can combat this with diet as the only high carb I eat is brown bread and only 2 slices per day. I usually eat meat or chicken or fish with steamed vegetables. I stopped eating potatoes at the start of the year anyway. I have had bad gastric reflux for about 3 years but that is better now with the help of the drug Esomeprazole and I eat my main meal at lunchtime and nothing between 7pm and 10am. I have also just given up the small amount of alcohol I consumed weekly (10 units per week-mostly bottled beer and a little wine-one bottle per week spread out over many days) I take a statin (atorvastin 10mg) as there is history of strokes and heart attacks on both sides of the family and hypertension medication from 2017 and am wondering if these are the culprits? Not sure what to do frankly- any suggestions?