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Type 2 On Gliclazide - Snacks? Any ideas welcome!

Cloudlesssky

Well-Known Member
Messages
273
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi guys,

I have just been started on Gliclazide - which seems a very powerful little beast.

I have been told that I will probably need a mid-morning snack and I need to check before bed to see if I need a snack to get me safely through the night ....

What on earth can I have as a snack that won't put on weight, (I'm desperately trying to lose about 4 stone) but will give me the oomph I need to help.

Thanks for all your suggestions and advice.
 
A lot of us swear by the power of the avocado. Delicious, filling...and |I have olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing with mine - both thought to have beneficial effects for diabetics. Obviously, if you're snacking on the go, just eat it with a spoon......yum.
 
Yup. Avocado is my dream. Meals and snacks ...
 
Thank you all ... just don't like avocado ... is that being terribly awkward?!
 
Is it really wise to take so high doses of medication to lower your blood glucose that you need to eat carbs in order to raise your blood glucose?

What are your pre- and post meal readings and what do you usually eat?
 
I'm thinking the same thing as toto. If I kept going low I would prefer to reduce my meds but this is a question for your diabetic team
 
Sometimes the action of meds isn't perfect and people do need a snack to stay level.

Did your GP suggest anything? Or give you an idea about the size of snack you might need or how many carbs it should have?
If I'm unsure about what will work, I tend to,experiment with something eaily countable for carb counting purposes eg a digestive biscuit, oatcake, cream cracker (I think they're low calorie?)
 
I like full fat Greek yogurt - I have a few spoonfuls in the evening Lidls sell a 1kg tub for £1.39 Also a few walnuts or almonds, a small cube of your favourite cheese, a couple of slices of cold meat. All of these snacks are low carb
 
I go for nuts, walnuts and or almonds, though once started it can get messy.
 
Gliclazide can cause low blood sugar so the OP might need a carby snack specifically.

@Cloudlesssky Im moving this thread to Ask A Question for you in the hope that someone who takes that medication will see your thread and be able to give their experiences and snack choices as an example of the kind of thing you might need to do/eat
 
I would urge you to contact your HCP to discuss altering size and timing of your dosage - increasing carby snacks to counteract the impact of gliclazide seems precisely the wrong way round to me. I had problems initially on gliclazide in the form of late morning or mid-afternoon hypos. Switching to very small morning dose and main dose in evening solved that very easily. If gliclazide has a strong effect on you that is a good thing, but the best solution is to therefore reduce the dosage until it fits your existing metabolism
 
Thank you so much, everyone.
Yes, its a very good point about taking meds to lower blood glucose and needing a snack to put it back up!
I've only been on it for three weeks, so thought I my body might get used to it!
Yes, nuts (like the one word, slightly ambiguous reply!) might be good.
Easy to put into a handbag - along with the testing kit and the jelly babies!
Thank you, Azure, for moving my post. I'll go look tomorrow and see what happens.
Also like the sound of a little cheese or yoghurt.
Thank you all. Very helpful.
 
Hi there,

I've been put of Gliclazide as since being diagnosed over a year ago (was 30 on diagnosis) Metformin and I didn't get along too well - usual troubles! Then had slow release Metformin, but still my BG was rarely under 10, regardless of what I ate - and sometimes I tried to go completely carb free. Also, in the morning, after eating at around 7pm, my levels were generally around 12.
The doctor has said I should test before bed, and if I'm a 4point anything, should have a snack - like a couple of biscuits ... not good for the diet though!
Thanks for your comments.
 
If your dropping too low you might need s carbier snack rather than fat such as nuts. Nuts can keep you where you are but rarely raise you. Maybe something a little healthier than biscuits such as a little fruit with some nuts. The fruit will be slowed by the nuts. Good combo and nutrients. I would also stick with berries or half an apple.

However if you are continuously having hypos I would look to reduce meds.
 

This is what I had to do.

If you are exercising and trying to lose weight, then it could be that your dose of Glic is too high - fortunately my doc agreed to reduce my Glic and I am now on 40gr a day (half a tablet) because I was getting too many hypos. Discuss this with your GP - s/he may agree to reduce your dosage.
 
I've been low carbing for 5 months..............my figures are below. At the start I was on Gliclazide 240mg (and Metformin/Canagliflozin).

By April, I was getting one or two readings of 3.9 or 4.0, on returning home from work after no food since lunch. So I reduced to 160mg in April and 80mg in May. Recently started following Jason Fung's intermittent fasting regime, and again went down to 3.9, so stopped my Gliclazide completely a few days ago.

I worry +++ about hypos. Although I'm aiming for BG to never go above 7.7 (and failing, as can't stay low carb enough!), I would much rather go high a few times each week than low. I think there is good evidence that regular hypos do a lot of damage.

I haven't told my GP yet about any of the Gliclazide reductions.

I agree with previous posters that it makes no sense to cover the hypoglycaemic effect of Gliclazide with carbs, but understand your reluctance to reduce it, as your sugars have not come down as you would like. How long have you been low-carbing? If you stick with it, there is a good chance your sugars will come down without the risk of hypos or high doses of medication.
 
I split mine to give me 1 in the morning to cover breakfast. 1 middday for snacks, and then 2 early evening to cover my main meal of the day. Since going low carb, I have had to drop one of my evening tabs due to consistent low bgl at bedtime. Even now I have readings around 4 mmol/L at my 4 hr Post Prandial. Like you I used to take a carb snack to counteract this, but over time I noted that for me, the Gliclazide effect had plateaued by this time, and my bgl was stable at the low level, Now I can accept going to bed with a lowish bgl and not fear a hypo. I keep the revival kit next to me in bed just in case but have not used it yet.
 
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