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What do I do

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AliciaM15

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Johannesburg, Gauteng. South Africa
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Hi there,
I need assistance, or advice. I'm 26 years old and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
My mum is a juvenile onset type 1 diabetic, who's had diabetes for 41 years, both her parents were diagnosed well into their 70's with type 2, and 2 of my aunts (mum's sisters) are type 1 and type 2 respectively.

Late April I was diagnosed with a sugar (glucometer testing) of 16.9, I'm not financially able to keep running to drs, so thats why I need assistance via this forum.

Within the past 2/3 weeks, I've been struggling to keep food 'in'. I've had a runny tummy which leaves me gassy, but not energy less. I eat small meals and my food intake has dropped substantially since being diagnosed.

I'm on metformin and glycomin/glygard. I'm based in South Africa, Johannesburg to be exact...

I asked a friend who's also on the same medication and she mentioned that I may be over medicating, I really am not sure what to do. I had severe thrush which my dr said was a result of my sugar levels but that's all cleared.

Please can someone advise me as to what to do?

May God bless you and your health
 
From other posts on this forum I understand that lots of people have had similar problems with Metformin. What often happens is a doctor will prescribe lots of it initially and will back off a bit if you have a problem. There is a slow release version which has the letters SR in the name and other posters say this is much kinder on the stomach.

You could try using the SR version if you are not using it already or cut your dosage to one that you can tolerate.

In my own case I was prescribed the SR version from the beginning so I didn't have the stomach problems but the dose was still halved when all food started to taste funny.

I don't know anything about your other medication, sorry.
 
Thanks alot Squire!

Will find out from my dr telephonically if I can get the SR medication,

The taste of food hasn't changed, its just I rarely have an appetite of late, which is fascinating considering the fact that I could eat anything and everything at any given time :lol:
 
The problem I had was called Taste Disturbance in the list of side effects and it made some food taste like burnt plastic, especially vegetables. It would not be a great leap to assume something like this has affected your appetite.

At the time I was taking 2x500mg tablets per day and it got reduced to one a day. My taste came back. There is no doubt in my mind that it was the Metformin that caused it.
 
I agree with Squire. Ask for the slow release version. This will certainly improve stomach problems and gas. Good luck Alicia !


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Hi. Yes, Metformin SR (or MR) should help with the tummy problems; it does cost a bit more. The Glycomin is a sulphonyurea similar to Gliclazide and helps stimulate the pancreas. Sulphonyureas don't tend to cause many problems but the Metformin will reduce your appetite and can cause a metallic taste for a while. You don't say what weight you are? Age 26 is very young for T2 so if you are not overweight bear in mind you could possibly be a Late onset T1 (LADA) and not T2. Yes, the thrush would be sugar in the urine which normally goes once your blood sugar is below around 11 mmol. Do keep an eye on your blood sugar just in case it keeps rising.
 
Daibell said:
Hi. Yes, Metformin SR (or MR) should help with the tummy problems; it does cost a bit more.
Click to expand...
Yes costs NHS (per electronic drug tarrif)
Metformin 500mg tablets x28 = £0.90 = 2.5p each
Metformin 500mg modified-release tablets x56 = £5.32 = 9.5p each
 
Oooooh wee, I'm south african, so everything is in ZAR, however the meds like diabetic medication, if the pharmacist/dr know you and like me they know I'm young and still trying to find my feet in terms of my financials they give it to me at a discounted rate, if not the state clinic who supplies my granddad also gives him a box or more for me.

Daibell, the first dr who treated me said it was type 1, but the 2nd said its type 2 as I responded almost immediately to the type 2 oral meds. For now I'm just grateful I don't need to inject myself :thumbdown:

Thank you all for your advice/help. I look forward to chatting with you!!
 
Oh and one more thing, I've been overweight since I was born (seriously the biggest baby to be incubated in the year 1987) lol.
My weight's ballooned over the years, but now since my 20's I've stayed between a 62 - 69/70kgs. I'm very short so I look more plump than I actually am, at present my hubby says I'm 64kgs.
 
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