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Type 2 Taking Gliclazide on an irregular basis?

WheatBush

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi there - I’m new to the forum. I’ve been Type 2 for 3 years. Got a reading of HBAC1 101 after being 42, 10 months prior but was classed as pre-diabetic before this - overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol - classic Metabolic Syndrome. I’m in my late 50s and am about 3 stone overweight.

I was put on Met and Glic and then when it reduced to 53, taken off Glic - Met played havoc with my guts which was fine when I was unemployed and at home but once I got a job, my urgent need for the toilet was a problem. Put on slow release Met - no difference.

I asked to be taken off Met and put back on Glic and started monitoring sugars again. Started reducing carbs. It felt as if the Glic wasn’t really reducing down my Blood glucose - I got low readings when I ate no carbs and high readings when I ate carbs. And I’m talking about just having a roast potato not having porridge for breakfast or toast. I thought I would try really low-carbing (I’ve done it before - was doing Zoe Harcombe 12 years ago) My readings were great but I never, ever went too low like Glic is supposed to put you at risk of. Lowest was 4.5, average 5.5-6.5 after not eating for 4 hours.

After being strict with my diet (max of 12 carbs a day, often less) I decided to try stopping Glic. Didn’t make any difference. I can still wake up after not eating for 14 hours and having 10g carbs the previous day and have a reading of anything from 6-8.5. But usually by just before my evening meal at about 8-9pm (I work evenings) it can drop to an average of 5-6.5.

I recently went on holiday and thought I would treat myself with an ice cream or some bread with my meal. I thought I would take Glic 20 mins before each meal where I was going to have something ‘off-limits’. It sort of worked. I should add that I had my first alcohol in over 6 months of total abstinence. Perhaps this lowered my BG too?

My question is: am I harming myself by taking Glic like this? Does it actually work so quickly after not taking it for a month? I dont intend doing this on a regular basis because I want to continue low carb ing because I think ultimately that’s the solution. I sometimes think I have insulin resistance rather than my pancreas not producing enough insulin. The fact that I can have a day where I eat about 7g carb in the form of 30g of blueberries and 200g of low carb yoghurt and still wake up the next day at about midday and have a reading of 7.5 still baffles me.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
Hi @WheatBush & welcome to the forum :)

We can’t advise on medication or give medical advice on the forum but personally I wouldn’t mess about with a medication that is designed to be taken regularly not ad hock. I was on max dose Gliclizide at the beginning of my diagnosis and with the help of my GP slowly reduced my carbs and Gliclizide until I was diet only. When I was on the lowest dose it was quite scary to come off it all together but I was ready as I was having hypos. I then went full keto in 2019 and accepted that I just can’t eat carbs and this is a lifestyle not a diet.

There’s no shame on being on medication if you need it as a low carb or keto diet isn’t for everyone, you have to find out what works for you but I think you have to decide one way or the other
 
Thanks LovinglIife. Understand about the non-advice on medication stance. I'm just at a loss at the moment. I might just get back on the Glic. My body seems to create too much glucose in my blood with very miniscule amounts of carbs so I might as well eat carbs and up my Glic.
 
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