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Do I really need medicine?

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A

Andrea Fornari

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All
I have been diagnosed as type 2 a few weeks ago, and sent home with two sets of tablets to take. I´m 57 thin, very active and more or less eating a healthy diet. I bought a BG monitor which gives me an average daily reading of about 125mg/dl, mornings usually being the highest reading. Is this an acceptably high level or should I take the tablets?
I really could do with some advise
Thanks
Andre
 
Andrea Fornari said:
Hi All
I have been diagnosed as type 2 a few weeks ago, and sent home with two sets of tablets to take. I´m 57 thin, very active and more or less eating a healthy diet. I bought a BG monitor which gives me an average daily reading of about 125mg/dl, mornings usually being the highest reading. Is this an acceptably high level or should I take the tablets?
I really could do with some advise
Thanks
Andre
Click to expand...

No one can give you medical advice.
If you have been prescribed meds, that's down to the HCP you spoke with.
 
Welcome to the forum, I assume you are not in the UK as we use mmol/l as the units from a blood glucose monitor and different countries often have differing criteria for the level that would be prescribed medication and indeed what HbA1C would give a diagnosis of diabetes.
So as said a discussion with your diabetic nurse or GP about medication would be more appropriate however it may be worth looking at your diet as it is carbohydrates that convert to glucose so reducing ALL carbohydrates not just 'sugar' will help reduce your blood glucose.
It is how your body copes with food that may well determine whether medication is needed. Many people think they have a healthy diet but foods which might be healthy options for somebody non-diabetic are not so if you are Type 2 diabetic.
This link may help you see some dietary changes that many find successful in reducing blood glucose. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
What medication have you been prescribed and what is your HbA1C that has given your diagnosis.
( to compare blood glucose levels from your monitor to those you will see mentioned in the UK you divide mg/dl by18 to get mmol/l but the HbA1C test result is given in mmol/mol )
People would be aiming at 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting morning readings and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours after eating.
 
Hi
Thanks for your reply, I would say apart from odd morning highs I am pretty much in the range you mention in the last sentence without taking the tablets, so I´m confused to what I should be aiming at. The two blood tests that gave the diagnosis show A1C at 6.5% and 6.3% and 48 mmol/mol and 45 mmol/mol.
There wasn´t much of a discussion with the doctors (I saw two), it was just a matter of you are diabetic, take these tablets and come back in 3 months for another blood test.
Really appreciate your time and yes I´m in Portugal well spotted.
 
Andrea Fornari said:
The medication was Empagliflozina and Metformina
Click to expand...
You would need to check with your own medical team but in the UK at those levels (prediabetic and the first rung on the ladder) then people would not be usually prescribed medication and advised to make dietary changes and retested in 3 months to see if they had been effective.
The first medication would usually be metformin and even then only if levels were in the mid to high 50 mmol/mol or above and if that didn't work then add other meds.
 
Thanks for the information.
What is confusing me is If I can not lower these levels by diet and I remain as I am, but I am below tablet intervention levels, do I just do nothing more than keep an eye on my BG levels. I have blood results dating back to 2013 where my BG was 8.2mmol/l (which no one commented on) so at the moment I appear stable, on the high side but stable.
 
Hola @Andrea Fornari 🙂

Recommendations in the UK for BG levels are 4-7mmol/L before meals and no higher than 8.5mmol/L by 2 hrs after meals, so your 8.2 does seem less than ideal if that is your default level.

Your 125mg/dl equates to 6.9mmol/L (to convert mg/dl to mmol/L divide by 18)

Is there a chance your 8.2 might be 8.2%? That’s an older way of expressing HbA1c, but still in use in some places. The target level for HbA1c is 6.5% or 48mmol/mol or lower.
 
Could the 8.2mmol/l in 2013 have been a random blood glucose (not fasting)? If so, then it would be within the range of normal which would explain why no one commented on it
 
42istheanswer said:
Could the 8.2mmol/l in 2013 have been a random blood glucose (not fasting)? If so, then it would be within the range of normal which would explain why no one commented on it
Click to expand...
That is the way I read it.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Hola @Andrea Fornari 🙂

Recommendations in the UK for BG levels are 4-7mmol/L before meals and no higher than 8.5mmol/L by 2 hrs after meals, so your 8.2 does seem less than ideal if that is your default level.

Your 125mg/dl equates to 6.9mmol/L (to convert mg/dl to mmol/L divide by 18)

Is there a chance your 8.2 might be 8.2%? That’s an older way of expressing HbA1c, but still in use in some places. The target level for HbA1c is 6.5% or 48mmol/mol or lower.
Click to expand...
The 8.5mmo/L was a fasting reading, it was taken in 2013, it was the highest fasting reading of my records, that´s why I mentioned it, to show I have had quite a high reading for a long time. It´s not my default, the next blood test record I have is 2015 and that was 6.4mmo/L.
My average over the last 2 weeks using a home kit is 6.9mmo/L and for some odd reason my morning fasting reading is always one of the highest of the day, that aveage would be higher than 6.9mmo/L
 
High Fasting BG (higher than 3hrs after evening meal) is Dawn Phenomenon or Foot on the Floor syndrome.
Your liver thinks you are a cave dweller and so produces glucose in your bloodstream just to be helpfull so you have enough energy to go hunt/gather your breakfast.
Control of Bg spikes from meals should eventually bring the Fasting BG down, but mine is still 6.5mmol to 7.0mmol and that is after 2 yrs in remission (i.e. 'normal' not even pre-diabetic HbA1C levels.
 
ianf0ster said:
High Fasting BG (higher than 3hrs after evening meal) is Dawn Phenomenon or Foot on the Floor syndrome.
Your liver thinks you are a cave dweller and so produces glucose in your bloodstream just to be helpfull so you have enough energy to go hunt/gather your breakfast.
Control of Bg spikes from meals should eventually bring the Fasting BG down, but mine is still 6.5mmol to 7.0mmol and that is after 2 yrs in remission (i.e. 'normal' not even pre-diabetic HbA1C levels.
Click to expand...
I guess I would be first at the breakfast table then. I even tested at 3.00am and my BGL was 5.2mmo/l so it seems to go down quite low whilst asleep and then rocket when I get up.
 
Andrea Fornari said:
The 8.5mmo/L was a fasting reading, it was taken in 2013, it was the highest fasting reading of my records, that´s why I mentioned it, to show I have had quite a high reading for a long time. It´s not my default, the next blood test record I have is 2015 and that was 6.4mmo/L.
My average over the last 2 weeks using a home kit is 6.9mmo/L and for some odd reason my morning fasting reading is always one of the highest of the day, that aveage would be higher than 6.9mmo/L
Click to expand...

Are you on a low carb diet?
 
It should go down with low carb, even my bg goes down with low carb. 🙂
 
travellor said:
But it does make fasting BG increase.
But not to a level to worry about.
Click to expand...
Not really the body is simply taking an opportunity to dump excess stored glucose out of the cells into the blood stream to use it up.
Once the excess glucose stores are used the FBG will revert to normal.
Took mine about 6 months to do this when ultra low carbing.
 
bulkbiker said:
Not really the body is simply taking an opportunity to dump excess stored glucose out of the cells into the blood stream to use it up.
Once the excess glucose stores are used the FBG will revert to normal.
Took mine about 6 months to do this when ultra low carbing.
Click to expand...

It's actually the liver dumping it into the bloodstream.
Which constantly replenishes itself.
 
travellor said:
It's actually the liver dumping it into the bloodstream.
Which constantly replenishes itself.
Click to expand...
So why do you believe would it go higher on a low carb diet?
 
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