diabetes review

[staceyc]

hi everyone .
I went for my review today and my level had gone from 6.8 to 7.8 in the year she said as my weight has stayed the same it may be my body not my lifestyle that's the problem , I have now been told told to take metformin 2 twice a day instead of 3 a day and to go back in 2 months if nothing has changed then I have to start on something else as well . she didn't say what.
im quite worried as she said as im only 34 I would probably be on insulin earlier than normal as well.
I thought I had been doing quite well .

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

hi everyone .
I went for my review today and my level had gone from 6.8 to 7.8 in the year she said as my weight has stayed the same it may be my body not my lifestyle that's the problem , I have now been told told to take metformin 2 twice a day instead of 3 a day and to go back in 2 months if nothing has changed then I have to start on something else as well . she didn't say what.
im quite worried as she said as im only 34 I would probably be on insulin earlier than normal as well.
I thought I had been doing quite well .

Sorry to hear your A1c has gone up a bit. Have you been reducing your carb intake much? (this will really help your BG levels).

Are you testing your own BG? Have I understood you right... You are now taking 2x metformin tables a day rather than 3? That doesn;t seem to make much sense. I thought met worked better above a sort of 'minimum' dose. Hope some of the T2s can shed some light on it!

 

[staceyc]

thanks for replying I am now on 4 tablets before I took one at each meal I now do 2 at breakfast and 2 at tea.

 

[Andy HB]

That makes more sense.

Whilst your weight may be stable, do you think that the things you've been eating may have contributed to the slightly worse HbA1c? Have you been exercising regularly and then let it slip recently?

Answers to these questions (and others) would give you some idea about whether this is just an unfortunate natural progression or whether there is still something that you can do about it.

I'd suggest keeping a meal log over the next couple of months (being scrupulously honest!). Also, if you can test every now and then, that would give you a better idea of what is going on. For me a single HbA1c test is simply not telling you anything useful .... other than things are getting worse .... not WHY they are!

Andy

p.s. By the way, I choose not to believe this 'natural progression of type 2 diabetes' statement. I choose to believe that it can be prevented or at the least slowed drastically. So far, my condition has not given me cause to doubt that! 🙂

 

[Northerner]

I agree with Andy, write a diary and note down in particular the amount of carbohydrates consumed, then you will be able to review it and look for possible areas where you can fine-tune things. 🙂

 

[BigMalc]

Hi there staceyc.

The first thing I would say is well done for looking for reasons why and trying to take action. That is always a good first start.

I also agree with Andy and Northerner regarding food diary and testing. I do this from time to timewhen I feel I need to get back on track and it really does focus the mind.

I do disagree a little with Andy about the progression aspect but agree it is not inevitable, but the key to remember is providing you are doing your bit, then if it does get worse it aint your fault.

For example, I am close to maxing out all oral meds at present and may be hitting the insulin soon and my DSN made the point when I commented 'oh no' or similar, that I wasnt to worry as even if I did everything absolutely perfectly that diabetes was a degenerative condition and that if insulin was the best way to control it, then hey ho, that is what will be best.

That said if you are only on 2x2metformin daily at present there are plenty other options and combos they have to try before any injecting is needed.

Try the diary, test regularly if you can as well, and keep carbs under control too.

Best of luck, let us know how you get on.

Malc

 

[Andy HB]

I do disagree a little with Andy about the progression aspect but agree it is not inevitable, but the key to remember is providing you are doing your bit, then if it does get worse it aint your fault.

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with what you say. It's just that I choose to believe that mine won't progress! So far, I am Ok because my levels remain pretty good four years since diagnosis (in fact they got better last time).

Who's to say what the future holds? I for one am not going to worry about that now (other than trying to do my best with the diet and exercise).

Andy 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Well what I think is, a large proportion of diabetics seen in the past did have a degenerative condition because it was NOT controlled.

In actual fact, this has got worse instead of better over the last 40 years because 40, 50, 60 years ago all diabetics were told they MUST watch the carb intake and not eat too much of anything else anyway - plus UP the exercise level several notches - consequently you had people who RD Lawrence & his peers treated in the early 1900s living to a hale and hearty ripe old age with all their parts intact whereas people half their age were now dropping like flies.

This is because they did a complete U-turn on the dietary advice and started telling people to eat MORE carbs instead of LESS.

This was and is completely potty. They watched the USA grow obese and breed more and more T2 diabetics using this erroneous nutritional advice - and decided this was a brilliant pattern for the UK to follow too.

And Surprise, Surprise! the same thing happened here.

Completely bonkers.

If diabetes is a degenerative disease why having Pumper Sue and me fallen apart yet? We haven't even BEGUN to have an opathy yet and neither of us is planning on starting one!