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hi my names Richard im 57 years of age and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes , and trying to learn more about my condition and how i can try to get my levels back to a normal level , i'm on metformin 500 mg and dapagliflozin , just wondering where to go and what to do now as so confused with it all to honest
hi my names Richard im 57 years of age and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes , and trying to learn more about my condition and how i can try to get my levels back to a normal level , i'm on metformin 500 mg and dapagliflozin , just wondering where to go and what to do now as so confused with it all to honest
Welcome to the forum. You have been prescribed a couple of medications which suggests your HbA1C is fairly high, the threshold for diagnosis is anything over 47mmol/mol. Metformin helps the body use the insulin it produces more effectively and reduces the amount of glucose the liver releases and the dapagliflozin encourages the kidneys to excrete excess glucose via urine. However they will not do the job without dietary changes in reducing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet as all carbs convert to glucose. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids otherwise there is a risk of becoming dehydrated.
Many find a low carbohydrate approach is successful with a gradual reduction in carb intake so your body can adjust.
Have a look at this link for some good explanation and some do's and don'ts as well as some meal plans and recipes to suit various tastes and budgets.
The suggestion is that a good starting point is to reduce your carb intake to no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day, it is not NO carbs.
hi my names Richard im 57 years of age and have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes , and trying to learn more about my condition and how i can try to get my levels back to a normal level , i'm on metformin 500 mg and dapagliflozin , just wondering where to go and what to do now as so confused with it all to honest
Hi, and welcome from me too. Confusion about what to do is a pretty common reaction to a T2 diagnosis, especially as the NHS not only provides little in the way of advice, but what advice it does give is often contradictory. However, now that you're here you'll get all the advice and information you need from people who started from where you are and are now successfully managing their T2 day-by-day.
Getting your BG back into normal numbers revolves around a combination of diet, exercise, weight loss (if needed) and taking the prescribed medication, but how much you need to do depends on how high your HbA1c was. Do you know what it was?
Thank you for your reply , yes my hba test came in at 49, I’m new to this so any advice is great ty , to suddenly be told that I have this came as quite a shock and I’m trying to learn As much as I can about my condition my gp told me the news and I was advised to eat more fruit n veg and take the medication
Thank you for your reply , yes my hba test came in at 49, I’m new to this so any advice is great ty , to suddenly be told that I have this came as quite a shock and I’m trying to learn As much as I can about my condition my gp told me the news and I was advised to eat more fruit n veg and take the medication
Oh my goodness that does seem a bit heavy handed with the 2 medications as usually when somebody is only just over the diagnostic threshold of 47mmol/mol then they are given the opportunity to make some dietary changes which they need to do anyway before starting on medication.
So reducing carbs, cutting out cakes, biscuits and sugary drinks including fruit juice but having smaller portions of other high carb foods like potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, tropical fruits, pastry and basing meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese with good sized portions of most veg being careful of starchy ones and going easy on fruit as except for berries they are quite high carb.
I followed the principals in this link https://www.freshwell.co.uk/ and reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months and to 38 in another 6 and that is now my new way of eating. No meds needed.
Ok thank you I will have a look at the link , I’ve asked to get checked again in 3 months time instead of having to wait a year until my next check , am I supposed to be checking my blood myself or is this something done Only at the drs ? No one’s said anything about testing myself so how can I tell if my levels are going down
Thank you for your reply , yes my hba test came in at 49, I’m new to this so any advice is great ty , to suddenly be told that I have this came as quite a shock and I’m trying to learn As much as I can about my condition my gp told me the news and I was advised to eat more fruit n veg and take the medication
That's some trigger-happy GP you've got there, Richard. I was only put on Metformin and when my HbA1c had come down to 56 I was even told I could stop taking that. Glad I saw my GP and not yours.
Ok thank you I will have a look at the link , I’ve asked to get checked again in 3 months time instead of having to wait a year until my next check , am I supposed to be checking my blood myself or is this something done Only at the drs ? No one’s said anything about testing myself so how can I tell if my levels are going down
It would be normal to be checked in 3 months to check if the regime is working, definitely not as long as 1 year initially.
Many doctors don't encourage home testing but many people find it is one way they can take control of their condition and make sure they are keeping on track.
Using the monitor to keep a check on progress day to day, week to week etc by testing first thing in the morning giving a fasting reading but also testing before and 2 hours after meals to see if that meal is suitable, an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l would indicate the meal is OK. This allows you to identify which foods are OK and which should be avoided or only had in small portions.
People also test if they feel unwell.
It is a very powerful tool to help to get you levels down and keep them there.
Inexpensive monitors can be bought on line, ones with the cheaper test strips are the GlucoNavii or Spirit TEE2.
You could put one on your Christmas list. 🙂
Thanx for all the reply’s , over the years i have a history of heart problems and circulation problems at my Gp and I have had them since I was about 36 so just over 20 years, I had a double heart bypass about 6 years ago and I didn’t have diabetes then but in hindsight I must have been pre diabetes for a few years before now so surely someone must have picked up on my levels over the last few years gradually going up a few years back I was asked to fast for 24 hours and get re tested but no one mentioned that this could be the start of diabetes if I’d known then I could have looked into this earlier ,if my levels drop then I hope to reduce the medication i don’t think I’ll be off the medication anytime soon as my levels are still high so still learning as much as I can about my condition and I now have a good diabetes nurse who is a godsend she’s been very caring and helpful it was her that suggested getting tested every 3 month and to see if there’s any improvement , I’ve changed my diet and my wife has bought me a carbs n calls book as you say I could by myself a cheap testing kit so yes thanx for the advice
Hello Richard and welcome. I was surprised to learn you had been put on medication at first until you explained your previous medical history. Diabetes can lead to heart issues so I suspect your GP is just being ultra cautious on your behalf. I take your 2 medications and they do make me wee a lot, so please drink plenty. Also I think you need to watch your fruit intake. I was advised berries are best, tropical fruits are worst, and just two 80gm portions a day. I find the easiest way to manage my daily carb intake is with an app - it does all the working out for me! Best wishes
That's some trigger-happy GP you've got there, Richard. I was only put on Metformin and when my HbA1c had come down to 56 I was even told I could stop taking that. Glad I saw my GP and not yours.
You are so so lucky. My hba1c has been in mid 30s for a good few years, always asked about reducing Metformin, always told 'if it aint broke etc etc'. Finally a Prescribing Pharmacist at the surgery queried the Metformin and took the bold step of reducing it by one. Later, received a call from surgery, GP wanted to know who told me to reduce Metformin. She was not happy. Sigh...
You are so so lucky. My hba1c has been in mid 30s for a good few years, always asked about reducing Metformin, always told 'if it aint broke etc etc'. Finally a Prescribing Pharmacist at the surgery queried the Metformin and took the bold step of reducing it by one. Later, received a call from surgery, GP wanted to know who told me to reduce Metformin. She was not happy. Sigh...
Thank you very much for all the lovely comments from everyone so glad i came here I'm learning a lot from everyone ,@Felenia ty for your comment and i know all about weeing a lot I'm up every night not sure if its the medication but yeah I'm with you on that one , fruit u say ok ty ill look into getting some .Before being diagnosed i thought i ate pretty healthy i think the hardest part is working out what to eat and changing things about i work a 40 hour week so im pretty active during the day holding off going to the gym for now but i might need to look into cycling or doing more walking its a big life change but im learning so hopefully my next results in march are a bit better , i think if i can get a grip on my condition then my nurse might reduce the meds ,
Thank you very much for all the lovely comments from everyone so glad i came here I'm learning a lot from everyone ,@Felenia ty for your comment and i know all about weeing a lot I'm up every night not sure if its the medication but yeah I'm with you on that one , fruit u say ok ty ill look into getting some .Before being diagnosed i thought i ate pretty healthy i think the hardest part is working out what to eat and changing things about i work a 40 hour week so im pretty active during the day holding off going to the gym for now but i might need to look into cycling or doing more walking its a big life change but im learning so hopefully my next results in march are a bit better , i think if i can get a grip on my condition then my nurse might reduce the meds ,
I think it likely to be the medication if you were not up during the night before but if you were then you are of an age where it is worth getting your prostate checked out.
Good luck with your changes in diet, as you are only just over the threshold then modest changes should be sufficient.
