Hellooooo

[Jakki098]

Hi everyone, my name is Jakki, newly diagnosed with type two. At the moment my blood glucose is up and down all over the place, all the time. My first week in Metformin, has been ok, but of an issue in the tum on the first day but irritates my colitis a bit. Wary of taking two a day now as I fear my husband will think I'm having an affair with the bathroom!! This may also cause issues as he himself has IBS. So far, one 500 mg mgs made very little difference to my glucose levels. I used to be ok with diet alone, but now my glucose levels are anywhere between 7.5 and 21.6! Should I continue to measure my glucose and get more frustrated, or just take the evening dose and leave it to itself? I knew this would be complicated once I started on this, which is why I'm a little miffed at myself for not being able to keep it on the diet only way. Btw, which is the best way to count carbs? It was a locum doctor who prescribed them to me as my own was abroad on a personal matter. (Death in his family, I think ) so, I've yet to see a diabetic nurse. I'm also on cyanocobalamin 50mg as my B12 is very low as my colitis prevents me absorbing it.

 

[Northerner]

Hi everyone, my name is Jakki, newly diagnosed with type two. At the moment my blood glucose is up and down all over the place, all the time. My first week in Metformin, has been ok, but of an issue in the tum on the first day but irritates my colitis a bit. Wary of taking two a day now as I fear my husband will think I'm having an affair with the bathroom!! This may also cause issues as he himself has IBS. So far, one 500 mg mgs made very little difference to my glucose levels. I used to be ok with diet alone, but now my glucose levels are anywhere between 7.5 and 21.6! Should I continue to measure my glucose and get more frustrated, or just take the evening dose and leave it to itself? I knew this would be complicated once I started on this, which is why I'm a little miffed at myself for not being able to keep it on the diet only way. Btw, which is the best way to count carbs? It was a locum doctor who prescribed them to me as my own was abroad on a personal matter. (Death in his family, I think ) so, I've yet to see a diabetic nurse. I'm also on cyanocobalamin 50mg as my B12 is very low as my colitis prevents me absorbing it.

Hi Jakki, welcome to the forum 🙂 There is a 'slow-release' version of metformin that many people find they tolerate better than the ordinary sort, so if the problems don't diminish then I'd suggest asking your GP/nurse about this.

Testing is the best way to learn how to manage your blood sugar levels, so don't be put off by seeing such a range of numbers, especially the high ones. The key is trying to determine what is causing the high levels so you can correct it for the next time. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S to understand how to do this efficiently. It can take a little while to spot the patterns and pinpoint what items in your diet you do not tolerate well (and those you do!) but persevere - this is a marathon, not a sprint! :Keep a Food Diary and record the amount of carbs, in grams, in everything you eat and drink, plus the blood sugar readings before and after eating as described in the link. Again, this may seem time-consuming but it will give you a full picture of where problems may lie and where you might be able to make some simple and easy changes to improve things 🙂

I'd also recommend reading the excellent Maggie Davey's letter, and getting hold of a copy of a highly recommended book: Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which will guide you through these early weeks and months 🙂

For a useful guide to estimating carbs in meals, many people use the Carbs & Cals book or app, which has pictures of typical meals and their carb content for different portion sizes 🙂 You can also, of course, use the information on food packaging.

Let us know of any questions or concerns you may have and we will do our best to help 🙂

 

[Jakki098]

Hi!! Oh, thank you for such a quick response! Yes, I've got my diary to hand and I'm beginning to see a pattern and I've noticed a few surprises such as the day before yesterday, I made what I thought was a bad choice for lunch but it was quick and handy - a Cornish pasty! Not something I normally eat, and immediately though oh no, the carbs in all this pastry are going to wreak havoc, but surprisingly not so bad! I spiked at 9.6. I had expected a lot more! So though not a great choice, and not to be recommended I was quietly pleased. I had expected it to be mid teens to twenties again.
Thank you for the suggested readings too I'll get right on to them!! .... Amazon here I come!

 

[Martin9]

Hi @Jakki098 , welcome to the club no one wants to join, Northener above has given you some good advice above. You seem to suggest in your post that you take your Metformin at night, I'm not so sure it shouldn't be taken in the morning with breakfast if you're only on one per day.

I personally use an app on my IPad called 'Nutracheck' to keep a tally of my carbs, fats, proteins etc it's free for a while but involves paying around £4 / month thereafter, there are others which I'm sure members will inform you of, but meanwhile remember it's not your fault being unable to control it through diet & exercise alone,
diabetes is different to each individual , and just because some can do it with no meds doesn't mean you can.
Ask away and wish you well...

 

[Jakki098]

Hi Martin, no i started taking it after breakfast as suggested but now going on to the evening one starting today (with trepidation ) as soon as i can get an appointment to see my normal gp to have them changed to the modified release version I will. Earliest appointment it seems is 3 weeks away... hmmmm... there is a drop in centre I could visit though. Ooh thanks for the link!!
Many thanks for the welcome, and for the great advice. I do now feel less alone, and thats a good thing!

 

[Bubbsie]

Hi!! Oh, thank you for such a quick response! Yes, I've got my diary to hand and I'm beginning to see a pattern and I've noticed a few surprises such as the day before yesterday, I made what I thought was a bad choice for lunch but it was quick and handy - a Cornish pasty! Not something I normally eat, and immediately though oh no, the carbs in all this pastry are going to wreak havoc, but surprisingly not so bad! I spiked at 9.6. I had expected a lot more! So though not a great choice, and not to be recommended I was quietly pleased. I had expected it to be mid teens to twenties again.
Thank you for the suggested readings too I'll get right on to them!! .... Amazon here I come!

Jakki you can preview the book by Gretchen Becker on Amazon before you decide to buy it...I sometimes believe Type 2 Diabetes The Frist Year is underestimated...far from being useful for the first few weeks or months after diagnosis it's something that will prove beneficial in the long term...it was a great help to me & many others here...Gretchen Becker is type 2 diabetic herself...she writes about her first year from diagnosis onwards month by month...I would say it's an essential piece of kit for managing T2 diabetes...it explains the 'battle' against carbs...the benefits of testing our own blood glucose...and most importantly for me dispels many of the myths surrounding T2...I still refer to it and I'm two years into my diagnosis...good luck & welcome.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum Jakki from a fellow T2.
My usual advice is for people to manage carbs. We can have carbohydrates. The question is which and how much. This is where self testing comes in. Test both before and after eating, so you can see the affect any food makes. As well any changes you make. Keep a food diary, along with a record of your BG levels. Hopefully after a couple of weeks you'll see a pattern.

As a new diabetic, you will see some high numbers. When you start managing the condition, you'll have the benefit of seeing them come down.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

Hello and welcome 🙂

 

[grovesy]

Jakki you can preview the book by Gretchen Becker on Amazon before you decide to buy it...I sometimes believe Type 2 Diabetes The Frist Year is underestimated...far from being useful for the first few weeks or months after diagnosis it's something that will prove beneficial in the long term...it was a great help to me & many others here...Gretchen Becker is type 2 diabetic herself...she writes about her first year from diagnosis onwards month by month...I would say it's an essential piece of kit for managing T2 diabetes...it explains the 'battle' against carbs...the benefits of testing our own blood glucose...and most importantly for me dispels many of the myths surrounding T2...I still refer to it and I'm two years into my diagnosis...good luck & welcome.

I have reread mine too. Mine is 15 years old.

 

[Bubbsie]

I have reread mine too. Mine is 15 years old.

I've read it quite a few times grovesy… I'm still learning all the time.

 

[Drummer]

I had a terrible time taking Metformin so if the only choice of food was something with a lot of carbs I would just not eat.
I only eat twice a day anyway, early and late, then I can have the whole day not concerned about food at all.
I manage without any medication, and these days after decades of low carb eating to control my weight I know the carb count of what I eat - I long ago calculated the carbs in a pack of salad or frozen fruit, so I know that a quarter or a tenth or a fourteenth of a pack will be x gm of carbs - I used to have a notebook but need to refer to it only once in a chile when I realize that the weight of the packet has changed or the ingredients varied.

 

[KARNAK]

Hi @Jakki098, welcome🙂. Read all you can take on board, lots of good advice and also friendly members. Just realise we`ve all been there, so
ask away and you can add your own input eventually. Cheers thanks for
joining take care. xx

 

[weecee]

Welcome to the friendly forum Jakki. You will learn loads from reading posts on here. Like others have said, the best thing is to test yourself, no matter if you are told otherwise. This gives you the most reliable information about what foods YOUR body will tolerate. Even the most common foods affect each of us differently so testing with various foods will give you info relevant to yourself. You may be surprised at what will spike your bg levels and what won't. Trial and error really but a good learning curve. Good luck.

 

[Billychick]

Hi Jakki

I had all sorts of problems with Metformin - tied to the loo for 5 weeks or so, horrible, horrible. On the advice from the lovely people here, I got my Dr to change me to slow release. I started on a low dosage and worked my way up, still have a few Metformin "days" but on the whole, much better. I wish you luck on your diabetic journey x

Billychick

 

[CathyB]

Hi Jakki, welcome 🙂 I think the others have covered it really, for me the food diary was a real key to understanding how I reacted to food and how to tweak things along the way, for example I was having Greek yoghurt with a few raspberries but each time my bg spiked right up, I thought I had to go without my favourite treat until I read here that some of us don’t tolerate fruit, next night I used sugar free caramel instead of the fruit and my bloods stayed nice and steady! I always carry a small pot of almonds/walnuts and a small pot of sugar free biscuits (3), these are my emergency packs, handy for when I forget to take lunch or can’t get the right food. The other thing I’ve started doing is making a no pastry quiche, handy to take a quick slice as a snack or easy lunch 🙄

 

[Jakki098]

Hi to everyone and many thanks for all your help! I've taken the last few days to get to grips with reading as much as I can (thanks for the recommendations!) I'm learning despite what my doctor apparently thinks, that Metformin is very definitely upsetting my guts. He says there's no evidence for it, but not what I've heard, read or indeed experienced so I'm having to wait another 8 days before I can see him to try to persuade him to give me the modified version. Not hopeful though . I've still not seen a specialised diabetic nurse but do have an eye appointment at the hospital on the 23rd. He doesn't think testing my glucose ( average is 10.2 mmol ) is a good idea according to his receptionist either, and when I asked if the testing strips were available on prescription I was told he said "what are they?"….. I KNOW testing is the only way I can learn what to avoid and what's okay for me. It's working for me, but costing me a fortune. Is anyone elses gp like this?

 

[Northerner]

Hi to everyone and many thanks for all your help! I've taken the last few days to get to grips with reading as much as I can (thanks for the recommendations!) I'm learning despite what my doctor apparently thinks, that Metformin is very definitely upsetting my guts. He says there's no evidence for it, but not what I've heard, read or indeed experienced so I'm having to wait another 8 days before I can see him to try to persuade him to give me the modified version. Not hopeful though . I've still not seen a specialised diabetic nurse but do have an eye appointment at the hospital on the 23rd. He doesn't think testing my glucose ( average is 10.2 mmol ) is a good idea according to his receptionist either, and when I asked if the testing strips were available on prescription I was told he said "what are they?"….. I KNOW testing is the only way I can learn what to avoid and what's okay for me. It's working for me, but costing me a fortune. Is anyone elses gp like this?

Oh my goodness, where do I start? Metformin has no gastric side-effects and there is no evidence for it? I'm afraid I would be looking for another GP if he truly believes that, and if he doesn't believe it then he is not a very good GP because he is not listening to his patients and making things up - the leaflet with the pills explains the side-effects, maybe take it along next time and make him read it in front of you, then get him to explain why you shouldn't have the modified release version 😱

He also clearly does not understand the benefits of testing for a highly-motivated person such as yourself, and the receptionist should not be conveying this information The logic of understanding the effect of different food choices on your blood sugar levels so you can tailor your diet to one which is helpful in managing your diabetes is undeniable, you don't need to be Socrates to see that. How else does he suggest you manage your diabetes, guesswork? It really is nonsense and it irritates me more when it appears there is little effort to even understand the process

Could you change GP or even (if necessary) surgery? There's no guarantee, of course, that another would be any better, but this one appears to be a non-starter

Are you using the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50? It's the cheapest one I am aware of, in terms of ongoing strip costs. You shouldn't have to buy them anyway, the doctor should listen to the patient and not make blanket decisions about the worth of testing. If you are recording your results then you can show him how they are helping you - often when presented with the evidence many will concur and prescribe - it's hard to argue with clear evidence. You should also explain that intensive testing is only necessary whilst you learn about your food tolerances, once you have established the fundamentals you only need to test when trying new things, or for 'confidence' checks that things are staying on track and not changing 🙂

Good luck! 🙂

 

[Jakki098]

Hi Northerner, I'm very much considering changing surgeries. I've long since had a big issue with receptionists conveying so called GP's words, especially in front of the people in the waiting room for all to hear. Very unprofessional imo. I do have an app that clearly shows how I've gone from all days in the red, to days with green, amber and red readings to mainly amber and green now, but it's a long learning process. It's not just what to eat but how much of each good type is right for me. Aiming for all green each day is the optimum I know but I also know not to expect it all the time, that's an impossible situation to try to maintain and I'm happy with that.
Yes, I have the information leaflet with the tablets and have highlighted the text which clearly states they can and do upset the tum. Diarrhoea between 6 & 12 times a day I'd say is more than reason enough to switch to the modified release version.
If he still says no, thatll be it for me! I'll walk, well my hubby will push my wheelchair straight to the new GP surgery!
I'm using safe accu meter atm, because it was only £3 more to get a whole new kit as the strips for safe AQ was £12 for 50 but this kit... £15 for lancets, strips, meter pain free pricker and case. However, I can't afford to keep doing this and my GP is reluctant to give me one and the strips as he's all about saving money it seems, not lives.
I'm trying hard to do my part and keep myself as healthy as I can, but with severe arthritis in all joints excercise is mostly impossible so testing is the only way I have to take control.
The more I say all this, the more I'm wondering why I'm still with this GP. Just because I've been there 20 plus years does not mean I have to be for the next 20!
Just a little help and support from him is all I ask.,

 

[Northerner]

Maybe the scales will fall from his eyes, we can but hope (or leave!). It sounds to me like you are doing very well with essentially no support from your healthcare professionals. This is, I'm afraid, something that I and many others learned soon after diagnosis - diabetes is 99.999% managed by you, not the HCP's. You're not asking much from them, but when they can't even provide that 0.001% they are failing in their duty without justification One of the arguments against testing is that high numbers may cause anxiety or you might become obsessive, which may apply to some people, but for others it negatively affects their quality of life if they feel they are given no means of control - it's down to the doctor to assess his patient and act accordingly. No motivated person should ever be denied the ability to take control as you wish to do.

 

[Jakki098]

Totally agree! For me personally, testing is merely a means of understanding the process and as we all know, everybody's body works in a very individualistic way. This is why I'm so set against this one size fits all society GP's would have us all abide by. I'm sure, after reading a lot of people's posts that one can count oneself very lucky if you're given the news and then whilst there, given a good explanation on what comes next, who you will see and what appointments to expect. After all you wouldn't give someone the news they have cancer and hold out a script and tell them to just get on with it themselves, so why should we as patients tolerate this when this pops it's head up? For some, the news is no less devastating. You feel like you've been blindfolded, dumped in a forest and told to find your way out oh and change your whole lifestyle while you're at it but nah.... No help will be there.
Is it just me but... Wouldn't you think since diabetes in one form or another is almost an epidemic at the moment, the NHS would put more into helping patients manage it better andaquicker in order to prevent many very long term debilitating and life crippling conditions that will drain the NHS even more in the long run? Or is that too easy?
Anyway, I'm sorry, rant over. How's everyone managing in the heat?
Oh btw... Changing to the meter everone recommends