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Type 2 - to test or not to test?

Froglet 56

Member
Messages
8
Location
shropshire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Hot spicy food
Hi everyone. Was diagnosed 4 years ago with T2. GP suggested to sort it with diet. This I told
him was not the way forward as had been doing the diet way with my mum (this was before I
myself was diagnosed.)
He put me on metformin gradually increasing the dose and was given a BS meter. Last year blood tests
for other problems showed kidneys and liver were under duress from metformin. I was extremely ill for a while
in hospital. I was then started on Gliclazide by the hospital D nurse.
After coming out of hospital, he said it wasn't worth testing BS levels. I ignored him and carried on testing.
Then my machine 'died'. Surgery said I couldn't have a new one. I got in touch with manufacturer who sent me
a new one without any problem.
I'm now worried because I see GP next week and wonder if he will be understanding that I'm still testing.
Has anyone else been in this position?
Sorry this is a long post
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm tagging @daisy1 who will give you some basic information about diabetes.

Hard to know what to tell you about BG monitoring - its usefulness is very much based on how you're using it and why. If it's to tailor your diet to lower your BG then yes, it can be a great tool.

Following is a video that explains how to find your own personal carbohydrate tolerance:

 
I test when/if I wish to. I pay for my own strips so I consider it no-one else's business but my own. On one or two occasions DN has asked if I am still testing and I am completely honest with her and she knows there is nothing she can do about it anyway. When I asked her what the problem was she said that there is a sharps box on my repeat prescription and she wanted to know if she could take it off.

If your GP is a difficult person I suggest you tell him/her what they want to hear and carry on testing if you wish to. It's your health after all.
 

Froglet - Do you drive? If you do, and you are still taking Gliclazide, then you must be testing. As Gliclazide can push blood sugar levels down, you must test to ensure you are fit to drive. As I understand it, this is a DVLA requirement.
 
Hi. Yes, Gliclazide can cause hypos if the dose is too high so testing is important. Your GP can't argue against that and as others have said NICE supports testing where relevant. You may not be given strips, but you shouldn't get any negative comments. Be prepared to state you case if needed and leave it at that. It's your right to test or not.
 
Thanks, I found that really helpful.☺
 
I would recommend that it is between you and your meter to tell you what is going on an meal to meal basis and learn how your react to different foods. For myself the only thing from the following I have had this week is bread on haddock fried.... rice, pasta, potatoes and bread.... and I don't miss them. It takes time to see how you react and there will be times when it does not work as you hope/expect.... but it does come.
Wish you well.
Hj
 

I highlighted the first bit because that statement alone means that you have to know what your BG is doing especially before driving a car. Good job you ignored his advice, with advice like that who needs enemies? Pleased to see that the manufacturer provided a new meter, they understand the importance and are probably happy that you will be buying their test strips (only slight sarcasm about the manufacturer intended, they did give you a new meter, good on them).

You have nothing to worry about when you see the GP next week. The DVLA quite clearly says:

By law, you must tell us if any of the following applies:
You suffer more than one episode of severe hypoglycaemia within the last 12 months. (DVLA INF188/2 revised March 2013)

You will not know 100% for sure that you experience a hypo unless you measure your BG and your BG has to be below 4 to be counted as a hypo, no matter how you feel, that's how it's defined (diabetes.co.uk).

There have already been several discussions about measuring before driving and it seems to me that if you take a drug that can cause a hypo, like Gliclazide (I had several while taking them), then you should be measuring before driving for your safety and more importantly, every other road users safety.

Please don't tell me that you don't drive, it'll blow my statements right out of the water. LOL

Your GP is wrong and will appreciate being show the error of his ways, just do it gently, they sometimes have very fragile egos.
 
Hiya everyone. Thanks for replying to my post. Yes Andbreathe, I do drive but my sister thinks my driving is getting a bit weird at times. We've nailed it to my sugars being high or occasionally low, perhaps as low as 3.2. I find this easy to sort - always carry some fruit pastilles and a bottle of water which seems to sort me out. This has only been happening since I've been put on Gliclazide! I was very seriously ill in March - had UTI and my body shut down apparently, BS levels were top 20's - ended up in resus and they had a bit of a fight to keep me here. Thankfully I was completely unconscious so wasn't aware of the panic going on - I lip read so that would have made things even more interesting for me!!

I have got the test strips on repeat prescription but soon run out of them. Some don't work and testing more often uses them more quickly than they should so there are raised eyebrows at the reception desk.

When I was on the Metformin my BS levels, once I got used to everything, were between 6 and 11. The consultant I saw in March said I had to come off Metformin and go on Gliclazide because of the side effects of Metformin. Now, I'm between 9 and 22. I really hate this diabetes. I try very hard to watch what I eat - hence the testing so I can see that there are things I shouldn't be eating, but it is so hard. All my life carbohydrates are what we were given to fill us up. I am overweight but nothing I do seems to help. Trying to cut out carbohydrates has had no effect as yet on my weight. I have a degenerative spinal problem so that rules out a lot of different exercises. I really feel as if I've been cast adrift and left to drown. I'm trying not to sound "oh poor me" but things are getting desperate. Anybody got any ideas as to what I could do on exercise front, without using my elbow crutches, and how to sort out my diet. I get very unsteady and wobbly if I am hungry and with very few carbohydrates, I feel like a jelly on a plate. I'm only 57, I shouldn't be feeling like this. My mum in her late 70's was better than I am now!

Magic wand needed I think. Thanks for reading this.
 

Your diet is critical to your whole well-being. Exercise is useful and can be used to drive levels down, but to reiterate, diet is key.

Running your levels at 9-22 isn't doing you any good, and is highly likely to be impacting on how you feel. The sad back-up fact is that it is carbohydrates, largely, that push our blood sugars up. Those are hard facts and only you can do anything about them.

There are a number of forum users who have mobility issues with one thing or another, but I feel sure they would agree that when they have improved their way of eating, some other things ease.

I note you say that cutting carbs hasn't impacted on your weight. Did it impact on your blood scores? I would urge you to concentrate on getting your bloods right. As they moderate, you could find your weight starts to shift, albeit maybe slightly more slowly than you might like. The most important thing is your blood scores.

Can I ask what you are generally eating, and when you say you've cut down on the carbs, what you've given up or moderated?

And finally, it is important you follow the DVLA guidelines for diabetics, or you could find yourself uninsured and on the wrong end of a prosecution. How many strips are you prescribed a month, and how many of those do you think don't work properly?
 
Sorry to hear of your problems, it's not going to be easy, but it's not impossible.
Which side effects was your consultant referring to? Were they life threatening? They can be a pain in the backside, literally, but do exactly what it says on the tin.
As you know, Gliclazide causes the pancreas to create more insulin. Metabolic problems are a side effect recognised by the NHS and weight gain is not unusual. I know that I actually gained 10 kgs when I started taking Gliclazide, not good as I was already carrying enough spare energy in the form of fat..
There's some interesting info about Gliclazide at http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/p...ationGliclazide 30mg modified-release tablets including "The amount of Gliclazide you need to control your blood sugar levels will be worked out by your prescriber or your diabetes team. They may also advise you to measure your blood sugar regularly – they will show you how to do this. If you are having problems controlling or measuring your blood sugar, you should contact your prescriber or a member of your diabetes team". Your doctor must have missed that bit and more importantly the highlighted bit. There's several possibilities, have you been prescribed the modified release version, what dose are you on, when do you take it. In my own experience if I didn't eat at the time I took the tablets, I would hypo.
You say you are trying to cut your carbs and I confess, it's not easy, but how much have you cut down. I stopped bread/rice/pasta/potato and still manage about 80 gms carb a day. Again, in my case, so just for me, I was able to get rid of the Gliclazide but then I am still taking Metformin. If giving up is not possible perhaps going for low GI carbs is better, they won't cause the spikes and any increase in BG is theoretically slower, but there will still be an increase in BG.
As for exercise, that's always going to be tricky, what's possibly more important at the moment is to get the BG/medication/diet thing right first.
I think you're going to have to go back to the doctor, who has to be reminded that taking Gliclazide means you have to test whatever he/she thinks. Due to the hypos and hypers, the GP needs to look at dosage and you need to look at timing. Be careful with cutting carbs, it will easier cause hypos. The balancing act is like keeping the plates spinning.
 
Thanks everyone. When I said I was seriously ill, my body had shut down and apparently I was
a long time in resus at A&E. UTI had caused all sorts of problems and I died. Thankfully the wonderful A&E people got me
back to the land of the living. I'm still finding that hard to come to terms with.
The metformin I was on has made my kidneys stop working properly and also my liver is not good because of the metformin, so the consultant said. Was changed to gliclazide in hospital. I don't feel as well on that as I did on metformin. Perhaps it's too early to decide on that?

As to carbohydrates, I have given up rice and pasta which I eat a lot of prior to being diagnosed. I've stopped eating bread apart from special occasions. I have to be very careful with fruit as much of it causes stomach problems, especially citrus fruit. I have so many medical problems its difficult to know which to concentrate on first. I have a bad degenerative spine problem which means I can barely walk some days. I can stand for a short while say 15 minutes and then I
get sciatica down both legs and then the pain and numbness kicks in. I really am at rock bottom. Now will have to battle about testing. I know I need to do it to keep me on the straight and narrow but I feel I'm in the dark. Diabetic nurse at surgery is on long term sick leave and there is no-one else there at the moment to get advice from.
The strips on prescription I get one box of 50 strips. Being in touch with the manufacturer it is my wonky meter that is causing some of the failures. I was told double check the use by date, which I am now doing.

Thanks for the link Graj0. I don't know anything about the tablets at all so that will be useful. In fact I have not had any info on anything connected with my diabetes. Hence me being in the dark. Reading posts on here is definitely helping but I could do with a face to face session with someone. I always take my gliclazide with my breakfast as instructed by nurse in hospital. Thanks for the info on cutting carbs Graj0

Other posters mentioned courses that they had been on and found them really useful. Could anyone tell me what they are and how to access them please?

Have been in touch with DVLA but they said I was ok as am on tablets and any hypo I have had I've been fully able to sort myself out and not needed anyone else. I live on my own but my sister lives next door so she checks up on me a lot which is good.
 
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