• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Raised blood sugars and Januvia

J

joeynomates

Active Member
Messages
31
Hi there,
I'm new to this forum, but can anyone help me? I have been taking Januvia for nearly 2 months now. Everything seemed to be working fine as my readings were coming down, but just last week, I had diarrhoea for 5 days, and now my readings are high again, as high as 17mmol in the mornings, and sometimes before my evening meal.

I have seen my GP, who said I must have caught a bug, but my blood sugars aren't coming down. I'm following a low GI diet, haven't touched alchohol since starting Januvia. Infact, I've been really behaving myself! So as you can imagine, I'm feeling stressed because it seems to have stopped working. Also, I've been feeling really depressed too. Has anyone had the same problem and if so, how did you manage to sort it out?
Thanks.
:?
 
Hi Joey and welcome to the forum :) There are just a few members on here who have taken/are taking Januvia and hopefully will see your post and help you with their experience. There may be a bit of a wait as the forum is quiet on this holiday weekend.

I don't know how long ago you were diagnosed but the Forum Monitors have written some basic information for new members which I hope will be useful to you. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will know the answer.

Here is the advice that Ken and I, as Forum Monitors, usually give to newly diagnosed Diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

For more information on CARBOHYDRATE see here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20306

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

For TIPS FOR STRIPS see here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19002#p173253

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2011 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking and before meals).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l...(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals........................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals......................... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do at least 30 minutes moderate exercise a day, it can be split into 10 min sessions to start with. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Finally a few QUESTIONS TO ASK AT DIABETES CLINIC.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091



Sue/Ken.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Daisy1 :)
I was told that I had type 2 about 10 years ago, but then the nurse thought that I'd just overloaded my body, and was reluctant to call me diabetic. Anyway, I've burried my head in the sand for a while, but now I've decided to do something about it. However, during my 10 years, I have never had any symptoms of diabetes, other than high blood sugar readings. I'm not really sure what to believe. I thought that you had to have some symptoms at least. Would insulin resistance be the more likely cause? This is really doing my head in! Thanks for the reply though.
 
Hi again Joey :) I have never had any symptoms of diabetes - I was just diagnosed as a result of a routine blood test. I can't tell you if you are insulin resistant I'm afraid although if you are an overweight Type 2 it is quite likely.
 
Well done with the weight loss. Reduce the carbs and your weight will continue to go down. As it goes down the insulin resistance will decrease. You will still be diabetic though if the diagnosis was correct then. What sort of blood sugar readings have you been having?
 
Well, when I started the januvia, it was around 17mmol in the morning. As the days went on, it would be about 11 or 12 mmol before breakfast. As for the rest of the day, my lowest was 6.4, but could be anything between 9 and 7 mmol before lunch or dinner. That was until the stomach upset. It's back up to 17 mmol now, with readings of around 15 throughout the day.
 
Cutting carbs will certainly help you get your levels down. They are much too high at the moment as you know. If you feel the Januvia hasn't been helping you, maybe you should go back to your GP/nurse for some more help. It looks however as though Januvia was helping your levels to go down. If you are not well with your stomach problems it could be that which put your levels back up again. Again, if the stomach problems continue and your levels don't go down then see your GP/nurse. If the stomach upset clears up your levels should go back down again hopefully.
 
I have been taking Januvia for 5months now. It is about he only thing which has ever reduced my levels .
I have found however that if there is a change in my routine and my bg rises it takes a while to get things stable again. This didn't really seem to happen before I began taking Januvia but there could well be other factors.

When do you take the Januvia? I take mine in the evening because it tends to make me drowsy but to keep my levels down I have to exercise in the late mornong or early afternoon.

The other day I think I was stressed and my Bg rose. I had planned a long walk involving a steep climb and was confident that this would bring me down to normal or lower.

I climbed this very steep hill then walked for an hour around fairly hilly woodland then descended the hill. Altogeher i was walking and climbing for almost 3 hours.. When I tested my levels hadn't moved at all.! That day I had eaten only a yogurt for breakfast and a boiled egg for lunch.

The levels have just returned to normal today, I take metformin and amaryl in the morning s but neither of these has ever made much difference to my readings. The same sort oft hing happens if my readings are low . Takes quite a while o get them back up.

I have also noticed a sligh reurn of the symptoms i had with metformin at first .but think it worth the effort to continue ith januvia.

It may just have reacted wih something you ate and is taking a while to return to working well for you.
 
I take the Januvia in the morning, normally after breakfast, then I wil usually go for a brisk 30 min walk, although that has been put on hold while my stomach has been playing up! I tend to eat porridge for breakfast because I can get a migraine if I haven't had many carbs. I did take Metformin at one point, but apart from the obvious side effects, I suffered from really bad nightmares and anxiety while I was on it. My GP has given me Metformin SR to try, but I'm reluctant to take it because of my bad experience. I've checked my bloods this morning and it's 16.0mmol. I know it's high, but I can't help but think that the Januvia has stopped working.
 
Hi joeynomates, (what a sad name), :(

Have a read through this thread about people's experiences with porridge. It seems that some can never tolerate it whilst others add other foods to make it more balanced and kinder on the blood sugars,
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20122

A lot of people find they get headaches when they reduce their carb intake but it is only a temporary thing so this may be the same for you.

I would seriously consider revising your diet and heed the very good advice that was given to you from the Forum Monitors earlier in this topic. Januvia works for many here. You may also find that combined with the SR Metformin, (which is kinder on the digestive system) your blood sugars will start coming down. It is all trial and error.

`Hope this helps.
 
Hi catherinecherub
Thanks for the advice. I had a look at the threads about porridge. I have found out through my GP that jumbo oats are the answer as smaller ones will spike your Bg. I swapped mine over, and they don't appear to raise mine much. I just need to get my readings down! I think that being stressed all the time about stuff doesn't help either. :)
 
Back
Top