Hello, Gillian, Northern Ireland here

[MinxyMel]

Hi there, my name is Gillian and I am mid 40's N.Ireland, I was diagnosed with type 2 a couple of years ago. I went through some stress in the last year and a bit and hadn't been taking care of myself. However I am out the other side of that and recently went back to my diabetic clinic to get restarted and back on track. I have been given gliclazide 80mg once a day as my sugar levels when finger prick checked were over 20. However I have been taking this for a week now and my levels are still the same when i check them 4 times a day . I have made changes to diet already, swapping to weetabix for breakfast for example and less processed foods. Was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions . I have an appointment Tuesday with the Diabetic Nurse at the clinic just want to be sure I am doing everything i can on my end

 

[snowball12]

Hi Gillian, your Hba1c was 20? That is very low. Over 48 is considered Diabetic. Low carb diets are helpful, aim for 130g per day. Good luck

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi Gillian, your Hba1c was 20? That is very low. Over 48 is considered Diabetic. Low carb diets are helpful, aim for 130g per day. Good luck

Without units we don't know what the 20 refers to, it may be a fasting glucose in mmol/l not an HbA1C.

 

[MinxyMel]

my apologies, its the reading on the tester when i check my blood sugar levels daily

 

[Tdm]

20 for a finger prock is rather high. You may ve eating more carbs than your body can cope with. Could you give us an idea of what you normally eat in a day?

 

[Leadinglights]

my apologies, its the reading on the tester when i check my blood sugar levels daily

I believe gliclazide may take a little while to start working as it is a medication which encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin.
Your dietary change may not be the best as weetabix is still quite high carb.
People find it useful to adopt a strategy for testing rather than something random. So a fasting reading first thing in the morning, in bed is often better, to check day to day progress, before eating and after 2 hours to check if your meal is tolerated, an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l would indicate it is OK.
You would be aiming at 4-7 mmol/l fasting and before meals and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
So your 20mmol/l certainly is high regardless of when you took it.
With levels so high have you got a means of testing for ketones with a urine dip stick as that would be wise.
Many do find a low carb approach successful and with the proviso that gliclazide can cause hypos if carb are too low to wise to go cautiously and test.
This link may help you with some menu ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

 

[MinxyMel]

I believe gliclazide may take a little while to start working as it is a medication which encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin.
Your dietary change may not be the best as weetabix is still quite high carb.
People find it useful to adopt a strategy for testing rather than something random. So a fasting reading first thing in the morning, in bed is often better, to check day to day progress, before eating and after 2 hours to check if your meal is tolerated, an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l would indicate it is OK.
You would be aiming at 4-7 mmol/l fasting and before meals and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
So your 20mmol/l certainly is high regardless of when you took it.
With levels so high have you got a means of testing for ketones with a urine dip stick as that would be wise.
Many do find a low carb approach successful and with the proviso that gliclazide can cause hypos if carb are too low to wise to go cautiously and test.
This link may help you with some menu ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

thank you, i do a fasting test before i eat breakfast and its still at the 20 something range. I will definately check out the link and the plan is not to have weetabix everyday but will keep in mind.

 

[Leadinglights]

thank you, i do a fasting test before i eat breakfast and its still at the 20 something range. I will definately check out the link and the plan is not to have weetabix everyday but will keep in mind.

@harbottle commented in another thread that people take their gliclazide about half and hour before eating and it should start to work quite quickly.
I would have a talk with your diabetic nurse or GP as soon as you can as that high fasting level is not good to have for any length of time./