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Elaine Everest

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, I'm newly diagnosed (7.15 this morning with GP) type 2.

I've been monitoring my blood glucose for past couple of weeks at home and at the appointment this morning my GP advised I start taking Metformin. I will receive an appointment for my local hospital to join 'the diabetes club'.
I've been lurking here for a week or so reading posts and familiarising myself with 'things' but have a few of questions if anyone would be able to advise?

Are there side effects to Metoformin?

Leading up to Christmas I may have the odd glass of wine. How do we work medication around this?

I have terrible 'brain fog' - not good for an author with a deadline!!! Will metformin help this?

Also, is it possible with weight loss and following a good diet to come off Metformin?

Thank you all for making this forum so friendly and a great help to newbies.
 
Hi Elaine, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but it sounds like you are right on the case, which is excellent 🙂 Do you know what your test results were?

Metformin is pretty much standard for Type 2s - it's a very well-proven medication that has been around for decades. It takes a couple of weeks before it really starts to become effective - sort of 'establishing' itself in your system - however, I think most people do experience some initial side-effects, chiefly gastric upsets and wind :( After a week or two these should normally subside, but if they become intolerable then there is a 'slow-release' version which some people tolerate much better, so don't suffer unnecessarily! Hopefully, you will be one of the people who doesn't get the side-effects 🙂

Shouldn't be a problem with the odd glass of wine, it's never been raised here as an issue for people, so I think you need to experiment and see how you get on 🙂

The brain fog is possibly due to your higher than normal, or fluctuating blood glucose levels - hopefully, once you have things under better control you will start to feel much better. Many people find that they hadn't realised how bad they had felt prior to diagnosis until they compare it with when they have good control of their levels 🙂

Depending on the individual, it's certainly possible to come off the metformin and manage things through diet and exercise - it will depend on your own particular circumstances and how your body is able to respond to the adaptations you make 🙂

Do have a browse of our Useful Links thread for links to some good resources. In particular I would recommend reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter and getting a copy of Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. Lots of information, but all positive and practical! 🙂 Read Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how to use your meter to effectively tailor your diet to your tolerances. Also, I'd recommend getting a copy of The GL Diet for Dummies which is a helpful guide to choosing food that will have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels.

And finally - please ask any questions you may have, we will be happy to help! 🙂
 
Hi Elaine, welcome to the club, i'm newly diagnosed T2. The friendly advice and encouragement given on here has helped no end, feel free to sk any questions no matter how odd you may think they seem, i'm sure someone will help.
 
Thank you all so much for your warm welcome.
Northerner, all I know from the blood result was that is was 89 - not sure what that is but GP said she had to put me onto Metformin. I've been using my own monitor this past week and fasting is around 9 - 13 mmol but later in the day it can be as low as 6.5 mmol which I know is within the OK range.
I've already discovered that eggs are a better breakfast that Weetabix and as I'm attending Slimming World I am eating healthily and cook from scratch most days.
My plan is to lose 2 stone then ask to be assessed again. I have quite a bit to lose!
At the moment I see this as a challenge but know it will be hard.

I look forward to chatting with everyone and don't feel so alone now. xx
 
Hi Elaine, welcome to the group....
 
Welcome to the gang Elaine 🙂
 
Hi I'm quite new to this too and I'm on Metformin. Initially 1 a day for a week then 2 a day.

  • Are there side effects to Metoformin? I have not experienced any at all. Not even wind! My GP started me on 1 a day as she said side effects less likely.
  • Leading up to Christmas I may have the odd glass of wine. How do we work medication around this? I have drunk red wine while on the tablets. I've limited myself to 2 glasses in one evening and had no detrimental side effects and my sugar levels have been fine.
  • I have terrible 'brain fog' - not good for an author with a deadline!!! Will metformin help this? I'm less tired now my blood glucose is lower so hopefully it will help you.
  • Also, is it possible with weight loss and following a good diet to come off Metformin? I was told by my Diabetic nurse it was depending how you can control your sugar levels/diet.
Your blood result is your hbalc. Your result of 89 means that over the last 12 or so weeks your blood sugar averaged 13..8 over that period. Your aim is to get your hba1c under 48.

I've been on meds and following a low carb diet since diagnosed 18th November and my hba1c was 117 and when they took a blood glucose test in surgery I was 14.7! It took me a over a week to get into single figures at anytime during the day. This week I finally cracked 5.3, my lowest yet. Even after eating now I'm always under 8. I literally cut potatoes, rice, pasta and bread out for 2 weeks but now I'm down lower I need to reintroduce them and test after eating to see if I can tolerate any of them. It appears some people can tolerate one or even all of them in low portions. I have also cut out fruit but again I'm going to reintroduce and test. Remember to have lots of greens & water with protein if you go low carb as you could end up constipated!

I also exercise more. I've added to my daily 20 minute lunch break walk a walk up 3 flights morning and afternoon in work plus 5 or 10 minutes sessions on my stepper in the evening while watching TV. Weekends I have longer walks.

Weight was I was already 2 stone lighter than 2 years ago when diagnosed. Since I've been diagnosed I have lost just under 1/2 stone. Yet when I measure my stomach I'm 3-4 cm less than when I was measured in the surgery. My husband thinks I've gained muscle weight. My clothes are looser so perhaps he's right.

You will get to grips with what you can and can't eat. Metformin acts as appetite suppresser for some. In the first 2 weeks I did 12/18 hour fasts which was surprisingly easy. If I had a late lunch and wasn't hungry tea time I didn't eat and went to bed early!!! My go to snack now is a small handful (weighs 10g as I weighed them first to see how much of a handful I could have). I find they get rid of my craving for a packet of crisps. I was a real chocoholic but no long crave.

Finally not sure if you will be affected but it's happened to me. My eyesight has changed completely. I was short sighted, no so bad that I needed to wear glasses everyday but only for driving and TV etc. Now I no longer need them, if I put them on everything is blurred. However my reading vision before was fine, not bad considering I'm 52. Now I need glasses to read and see my computer screen. From looking on line it's not uncommon and usually settles in 2 -6 weeks. I'm at almost 4 weeks so maybe this is my new vision!
 
Elaine Everest said:
Thank you all so much for your warm welcome.
Northerner, all I know from the blood result was that is was 89 - not sure what that is but GP said she had to put me onto Metformin. I've been using my own monitor this past week and fasting is around 9 - 13 mmol but later in the day it can be as low as 6.5 mmol which I know is within the OK range.
I've already discovered that eggs are a better breakfast that Weetabix and as I'm attending Slimming World I am eating healthily and cook from scratch most days.
My plan is to lose 2 stone then ask to be assessed again. I have quite a bit to lose!
At the moment I see this as a challenge but know it will be hard.

I look forward to chatting with everyone and don't feel so alone now. xx
Click to expand...
Hi Elaine, it sounds like the 89 was what is known as an HbA1c test (you'll become very familiar with that test and other jargon!). Ideally, this should be 48 or below, but your result is far from unusual at diagnosis (mine was 106 😱). You don't need to fix everything overnight, but it sounds like you have set off on the right path - already learning that Weetabix are not as 'healthy' as they say!

Try and make sure you get some regular exercise as this will really help. It not only hels to burn a few calories, it also makes your body more sensitive to the insulin you are producing, so helping to bring your blood sugar levels under control 🙂 Are there any particular activities you enjoy?
 
Hi, not newly diagnosed myself, but I have been following the recommended course by the NHS, of just taking the Metformin and 'try to do more exercise and cut out sugary foods'. This meant that my HbA1c has gradually crept up year on year over about 6 years, until this year I decided to do something about it and have been measuring my BG levels and as a result changed my diet completely.

Basically, as you're testing, you're going to learn that what is generally referred to as 'healthy' is not the same for you. The weight loss will be good, there's no denying that - in particular the fat in and around your liver is likely to be affecting your BG and insulin levels and losing that will be good for your diabetes and heart. However, I and many others have found that you can lower your BG to acceptable levels (and personally I don't think the NHS recommended level of 48 is low enough - I want to be normal, i.e. below 42) much much quicker if you cut down the carbs enough. As a result I follow the so-called Low Carb High Fat diet, which is a bit of misnomer, you won't have to start eating spoonfuls of lard or anything, but it's been very useful and brought down my BG to below 42 within 2 weeks. My last test before I started was 66 with a lot of Metformin and after 3 months it was 38.

I've also lost about 20kg and about halfway through that weight loss started exercising regularly. I now generally run a 5k (or equivalent calories on the cross trainer) at least 5 times a week.

I personally would set your goals high - to get back to normal for normal BG levels (below 42) and keeping spikes right down.
 
Welcome newbies from a T2
 
Elaine Everest said:
Hi, I'm newly diagnosed (7.15 this morning with GP) type 2.

I've been monitoring my blood glucose for past couple of weeks at home and at the appointment this morning my GP advised I start taking Metformin. I will receive an appointment for my local hospital to join 'the diabetes club'.
I've been lurking here for a week or so reading posts and familiarising myself with 'things' but have a few of questions if anyone would be able to advise?

Are there side effects to Metoformin?

Leading up to Christmas I may have the odd glass of wine. How do we work medication around this?

I have terrible 'brain fog' - not good for an author with a deadline!!! Will metformin help this?

Also, is it possible with weight loss and following a good diet to come off Metformin?

Thank you all for making this forum so friendly and a great help to newbies.
Click to expand...
Hi Elaine
Warm welcome to the forum .
 
Hello Elaine, nice to meet you. :D
 
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