Help please!

[HillyAnneG]

Hi. I’m recently diagnosed with Type 2 and struggling! The meds are making me feel nauseous a lot of the time. I didn’t have much weight to lose and gave pretty well. Managed that by making lifestyle changes to my diet and also walking for 40 mins each day
Any advice would be very much appreciated. I was on 500mg Metformin once a day and this was changed to 50g of Januvia once a day this week
Can anyone help me please!

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂

 

[HillyAnneG]

Hi. Welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear that you're struggling. Is there anything in particular that you need help with? Diet, for example? We've all been where you are at the moment so we know exactly how you're feeling. It's a perfectly normal reaction to a diabetes diagnosis.

Martin

Hi Martin. I can manage the diet ok. It’s the side effects of medication that I struggle with - nausea!!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Were you changed to Januvia because the Metformin was making you nauseous or is the Januvia making you sick or both?
The important thing with Metformin is to take it with a substantial amount of food and take it mid meal to limit the digestive upset. I don't know anything about Januvia but if it is not agreeing with you either, there is a slow release form of Metformin which is much less likely to upset your stomach.
Can I ask what your HbA1c reading was at diagnosis? It is usually expressed as a number 48 or more. It is the blood test result used to diagnose diabetes. Under 42 is normal, 42-47 is pre diabetic and 48+ is diabetic. This number gives us an idea of where on the diabetic scale you are, so a reading in the low 50s suggests you probably just need to make minor adjustments to your diet to bring it back into the normal range. If it is up in the 80s, 90s or 100+ then you may need to make quite radical changes.
If you don't need to lose weight then following a low carb. high fat diet may be the best option for you. I really enjoy my LCHF diet which makes it sustainable long term. Fats have been given bad press for the past 70 years and there is a school of thought that the basis for the low fat advice we have been given all our lives may have been based on incorrect data and it may even be why we are now seeing such a diabetic epidemic, because our diet shifted more towards carbohydrates and sugars as a result of that advice.

Cutting back not just on sweet stuff like cakes and biscuits and sweets and chocolate, but also fruit and most importantly starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice will help to bring your blood glucose levels down.

 

[Martin9]

Metformin , never gave me nausea, lucky I suppose, but in the early days it used to give me diarrhoea ..
I’m sorry you are having so much nausea , with Metformin , symptoms usually decrease. Xx

 

[Drummer]

Metformin and Atorvastatin made me very ill indeed - so I threw them away and got better.
I do need to stick to under 40 gm of carbs a day, but I would live off frogspawn if it was that or tablets again.
(sorry frogs)
Maybe ask to try a period without medication and see how you do just on diet and exercise?

 

[Jodee]

Hi. I’m recently diagnosed with Type 2 and struggling! The meds are making me feel nauseous a lot of the time. I didn’t have much weight to lose and gave pretty well. Managed that by making lifestyle changes to my diet and also walking for 40 mins each day
Any advice would be very much appreciated. I was on 500mg Metformin once a day and this was changed to 50g of Januvia once a day this week
Can anyone help me please!

Hi HillyAnneG, welcome to Diabetes UK

It depends when the icky started really. Could it be the Januvia that is causing nausea - were you ok on the Metformin?

I take Metformin, I've not had any nausea with the drug. It is helpful in bringing down the blood glucose as does low carbs, but if you are lightweight you don't want to be going too low carbs I think, but lower carbs will help bring blood glucose and weight down, depending on what else you are eating of course.

Check back with your doctor if symptoms persist.

 

[HillyAnneG]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Were you changed to Januvia because the Metformin was making you nauseous or is the Januvia making you sick or both?
The important thing with Metformin is to take it with a substantial amount of food and take it mid meal to limit the digestive upset. I don't know anything about Januvia but if it is not agreeing with you either, there is a slow release form of Metformin which is much less likely to upset your stomach.
Can I ask what your HbA1c reading was at diagnosis? It is usually expressed as a number 48 or more. It is the blood test result used to diagnose diabetes. Under 42 is normal, 42-47 is pre diabetic and 48+ is diabetic. This number gives us an idea of where on the diabetic scale you are, so a reading in the low 50s suggests you probably just need to make minor adjustments to your diet to bring it back into the normal range. If it is up in the 80s, 90s or 100+ then you may need to make quite radical changes.
If you don't need to lose weight then following a low carb. high fat diet may be the best option for you. I really enjoy my LCHF diet which makes it sustainable long term. Fats have been given bad press for the past 70 years and there is a school of thought that the basis for the low fat advice we have been given all our lives may have been based on incorrect data and it may even be why we are now seeing such a diabetic epidemic, because our diet shifted more towards carbohydrates and sugars as a result of that advice.

Cutting back not just on sweet stuff like cakes and biscuits and sweets and chocolate, but also fruit and most importantly starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice will help to bring your blood glucose levels down.

Hi there
GP put me on Januvia as Metformin making me feel so nauseous! I will certainly ask about the slow release form of Metformin and perhaps that might help. I am eating a very healthy diet now, changing to cauliflower rice instead of potatoes, rice and pasta
I. Am hoping to try no meds for a while and see how things go as my HbA1c reading was 53. My pharmacist tells me that things do settle down - this is just so tough at the moment especially as I have a kidney infection.
Thank you for your replies - all very much appreciated. Nice to know I’m it alone in this!