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Please advise newly diagnosed t2

T

Todd1974

Active Member
Messages
29
Location
Uk
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,

New to the forum n recently diagnosed T2, I’ve been prescribed 2000mg Metformin but as not reduced my blood sugars down at all ( all fasting tests) in four weeks. My dr as now prescribed pioglitazone 15mg. I am just concerned of the read up on this mainly the bladder cancer area. This all new to me and a bit scary especially when medicines can have these side effects is this medication safe or should I be asking to change it for another medication. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
 
Do you have any numbers that led to your diagnosis?

What levels are you seeing when you test your blood and what d you usually eat.

Ah yes hello and welcome too !
 
Welcome to the forum.
Metformin won't bring your numbers down. The carbohydrates in your diet cannot be processed.

If you cut down on carbs and test your levels before and after eating you should see a downward trend.
 
bulkbiker said:
Do you have any numbers that led to your diagnosis?

What levels are you seeing when you test your blood and what d you usually eat.

Ah yes hello and welcome too !
Click to expand...
Fasting level is currently at 15.7 my diet is really clean only carbs at breakfast and dinner none at evening meal high protein and vegetables. Only eat berries if I have fruit I wouldn’t like to lower my carbs lower as I am on the bare minimum now.
 
xfieldok said:
Welcome to the forum.
Metformin won't bring your numbers down. The carbohydrates in your diet cannot be processed.

If you cut down on carbs and test your levels before and after eating you should see a downward trend.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply I will try that but I am virtually on next to no carbs now and my fasting level is still constantly at 15.7!!
 
bulkbiker said:
Do you have any numbers that led to your diagnosis?

What levels are you seeing when you test your blood and what d you usually eat.

Ah yes hello and welcome too !
Click to expand...
Sorry my Hba1c was 98 on diagnosis.
 
Todd1974 said:
Fasting level is currently at 15.7 my diet is really clean only carbs at breakfast and dinner none at evening meal high protein and vegetables. Only eat berries if I have fruit I wouldn’t like to lower my carbs lower as I am on the bare minimum now.
Click to expand...
Your diet is at the bare minimum? Are you absolutely sure? Can you be a little more detailed on what you're eating and drinking on a day to day basis? Maybe we can pick stuff out that could still make things better.

If there is absolutely no room for further carb reduction, and your levels remain high, you should request C-Peptide and GAD tests to look further into your insulin production.

This might help too, just in case: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
 
Hi. From what you say it is always possible you may be a late onset T1 and not T2. If you are not overweight then this becomes more likely. When my GP offered me Pioglitazone I refused due to the possible side effects. If it was me I would ask to be swapped to Gliclazide which is very commonly prescribed to stimulate insulin production and has very few side effects other than hypos if the dose is too high. So, keep the carbs down and discuss other med options with the GP.
 
Hi yes diet consists of breakfast 25g porridge skimmed milk, cup of coffee 1boiled egg, dinner is either 2 boiled eggs and 2 slices of whole grain bread dry, evening meal is either chick breast or steak with a large salad I drink water all day about 2 litres and might have around 3 cups of coffee skimmed milk no sugar!! On the odd occasion I have had a handful of blackberry but maybe twice a week. Hope this helps.
 
Daibell said:
Hi. From what you say it is always possible you may be a late onset T1 and not T2. If you are not overweight then this becomes more likely. When my GP offered me Pioglitazone I refused due to the possible side effects. If it was me I would ask to be swapped to Gliclazide which is very commonly prescribed to stimulate insulin production and has very few side effects other than hypos if the dose is too high. So, keep the carbs down and discuss other med options with the GP.
Click to expand...
Hi thank for reply I am 6’ tall I have lost over 2 stone through this was 17st 4lb down to 15’5 was fit worked out five times a week had a high proportion of muscle compared to fat. I am glad you agree to swap my medication I will do this as soon as I can speak to my gp only prescribed Pioglitazone yesterday then read the side effects and it’s not a risk I really want to take.
 
Porridge can be problematic for some.

The skinnier the milk the higher the carbs. I take my coffee with double cream.

I would drop the bread/toast.

In your position I would be pressing the gp for tests for T1, if only to rule it out.
 
Todd1974 said:
Hi yes diet consists of breakfast 25g porridge skimmed milk, cup of coffee 1boiled egg, dinner is either 2 boiled eggs and 2 slices of whole grain bread dry, evening meal is either chick breast or steak with a large salad I drink water all day about 2 litres and might have around 3 cups of coffee skimmed milk no sugar!! On the odd occasion I have had a handful of blackberry but maybe twice a week. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
The bread, porridge and skimmed milk won't be doing you any favours, and there's very little fats in your diet. (Fats are good for a T2, long story short). While there's still ground to be gained, by, for instance, swapping the porridge for eggs with bacon, cheese, high meat content sausages and maybe a tomato or something... Lunch could be a salad with tuna, salmon, warmed goat's cheese or something... (Do you put dressing on your salad? That could be sugary too. I stick with either mayo or olive oil/vinegar). Just put something fatty in there to bulk it up, maybe toss in another boiled egg. Berries are fine, but should preferably be eaten with something fatty (they have some carbs, and fats flatten the curve), like full fat cream/greek yoghurt.

You could cut out more carbs and up the fats some and see what that gets you, but I would still seriously consider getting those tests done. People often assume adults don't get any other type than T2, and as the tests are expensive they rarely check unless there is cause to. And there might be cause here.
 
xfieldok said:
Porridge can be problematic for some.

The skinnier the milk the higher the carbs. I take my coffee with double cream.

I would drop the bread/toast.

In your position I would be pressing the gp for tests for T1, if only to rule it out.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply ,I will look to modify my diet even further and talk my go about T1 test I have never been told if I am type 1or 2 because of the situation we all are in with covid 19 the only dr I have seen in the one at the hospital who just have me Metformin and said to contact my go ASAP.
Again thank you for your help and knowledge.
 
Todd1974 said:
Hi thank for reply I am 6’ tall I have lost over 2 stone through this was 17st 4lb down to 15’5 was fit worked out five times a week had a high proportion of muscle compared to fat. I am glad you agree to swap my medication I will do this as soon as I can speak to my gp only prescribed Pioglitazone yesterday then read the side effects and it’s not a risk I really want to take.
Click to expand...

Hi from across the pond. One question I have is how often to test ? If your other readings are good then you might be dealing with the sunrise effect. If you didn't I would recommend that you should start.. In the beginning my numbers were jumping all over the place.The only way I was able to get things under control was to regularly test to figure out what worked. It is good that you work out that should help.

I have taken Glipiztde and if you take it make sure you have fast acting carbs available cause you might get low blood sugar. Make sure you take it your main meal. I whole heartily agree that you should talk with you doctor. This forum is an excellent resource for you to have conversation with you doctor, but it does not replace him or her. You are first starting out on this and will have some bumps in the road, this is a massive learning experience. It will take some time to figure this out.

Best of luck

Dave
 
Todd1974 said:
Thanks for the reply ,I will look to modify my diet even further and talk my go about T1 test I have never been told if I am type 1or 2 because of the situation we all are in with covid 19 the only dr I have seen in the one at the hospital who just have me Metformin and said to contact my go ASAP.
Again thank you for your help and knowledge.
Click to expand...
A definite T1 would've been put on insulin, not sent home with just metformin. (A T1 doesn't put out any insulin of their own, though when they are slow in onset the insulin production might taper off, in what is called the Honeymoon Period. A T2 makes massive amounts of insulin, but is insensitive to it.). So they're assuming you're a T2 for now.
 
If you are a plain ordinary type two then removing those high carb foods and the skimmed milk will help a lot.
Grains such as wheat and oats are high in starch, skimmed milk is just about sugar water coloured white (it is naturally blue) so they are better avoided and replaced with protein and fat. I use chicken thighs rather than fillets, cream in my coffee.
To keep my levels normal I eat salads, stirfries and roasted veges, keeping to low carb options. The berries are fine, I eat them in moderation too, no problem.
 
Really appreciate the feed back, helps me to find me through what’s seems like a mine field at present.
 
Todd1974 said:
Really appreciate the feed back, helps me to find me through what’s seems like a mine field at present.
Click to expand...

No problem we have been in the same place your in. You will get to point where will able be defuse the mines, right now you are learning things
 
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