Playing with needles! - need advice

I will tag @daisy1 to send you an info packet you really should read carefully. Metformin is a safe drug that helps with insulin sensitivity and to reduce the amount of glucose your liver makes. It can have a mild appetite suppressing effect for some. It is not a wonder drug but it helps a bit. A low carb diet will help the most with both the weight and the glucose levels. Pills are not going to make you lose weight, if they did no one would ever be fat. You have to put in the work but on this forum you can learn how to do it in a way that is sustainable and pleasant. There are thousands of members here that have succeeded in both. Whether or not you take meds is ultimately your decision but the decision should be made with your doctors input. Please have a look around the forum and read threads then do ask any questions you may have. The forum members are wonderful and very supportive. Welcome to the forum.

I would not worry about that so much. Nothing else works quite the same as metformin and there is nothing that does the same thing only stronger. Other stronger drugs work completely different. Metformin has been around a long time and is very well studied and safe. If you decide to go off it at a later date that is your decision and many people do go off it with no ill effects. The thing with low carb is that it not only is excellent for weight loss but is the best way to control blood sugar without drugs. Many people continue this way of eating who do not need to lose any more weight. They just make adjustments to calories etc to maintain. It is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change and for a diabetic it is for life. There is no "cure" and what people call remission or reversal is really just good control, usually by diet. Good job on the weight loss so far, it is not an easy thing to do

@Snootybutnice

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 210,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Hi. The best time to test is 2 hours after a typical meal. With regard to medication, Metformin is very safe drug and many of us take it. It helps reduce blood sugar a bit and reduces the liver's output of glucose a bit. It also helps reduce insulin resistance when overweight and reduces the appetite a bit; it also apparently helps the heart a little. Pioglitazone is no longer a recommended diabetes drug for the newly diagnosed (Google it). Although it can work well in reducing blood sugar it has some known side effects such as water accumulation; I wasn't aware it helped the heart in any way? A low-carb diet is the first action anyone with excess weight should take together with some exercise. Meds may be needed and Metformin would normally be started.

Snootybutnice said:

Thank you Daisy1 and sorry for the delay in replying. I've been ill. Starting to get my mojo back now slowly!! It hasn't helped that my new really low calorie diet is probably contributing to me feeling awful and tired as well as being ill. Urgh. Good/useful advice and really appreciated :-D

Click to expand...

Most of us here don't count calories .. we count carbs .. I do and lost 6st now in 2 years ..still slowly going down.. I eat low carb high fat .. but the hight fat bit is just removing all my low fat foods with hight fat ones .. remember eating fat will not make you fat .. eating carbs will !!!!!

I was in 20g of carbs a day to start with .. no exercise to begin with as I was too unwell .. the weight moved quite quickly to start with .. then as I got lighter I was feeling better and the dog got walked more.
I am a vegetarian .. so on days I didn't want to cook (ok the wife did not want to cook) would have a big bowl big green salad with cheese & olive oil with full fat mayo

My bloods are 27.3 at the moment, I too find eating less carbs works great, reducing blood glucose, only today was a one off for me going overboard on a curry n rice and naan bread, oh and I accidentally drank a dandelion and burdock thinking it was the diet one ... my bad ... oh well tomorrow's a new day

Snootybutnice said:

Thanks chalup. I'm currently trying hard to lose weight and have lost 11lbs in 2 weeks so far - so I'm focused. I wasn't sure if the pills suppressed the appetite or just somehow made you lose weight in another way but was interested in this to support my current weight loss regime anyway (on the basis that every little thing helps!). I'm not so keen on drugs so will be weighing up the pro's and con's with the nurse. My worry is that once I start on Metformin I'll never get off it and/or may have to move onto something stronger.

Click to expand...

Don't worry about taking the Metformin you will be able to come off it if you want to it is not the sort of a drug that once you start taking it you can never stop it will be your choice. The benefit of it is it's protective properties for the heart and many of us would not want to stop taking it. I personally can only take a low dose 500gm a day because any higher and I completely loose my appetite then I loose weight I don't need to but my doctor said any dosage is better than none at all

Pinkorchid said:

Don't worry about taking the Metformin you will be able to come off it if you want to it is not the sort of a drug that once you start taking it you can never stop it will be your choice. The benefit of it is it's protective properties for the heart and many of us would not want to stop taking it. I personally can only take a low dose 500gm a day because any higher and I completely loose my appetite then I loose weight I don't need to but my doctor said any dosage is better than none at all

Click to expand...

I was so ill with it I would never want to go on it again.. no slow release option for me .. don't know why, coming off it was the best for me