High BG - can Metformin cause high results? Also Liquid Metform causing tummy problems.

[RiojaQueen]

I've been Type 2 since 2010 was considered obese working full-time etc. Never been able to significantly reduce Hba1C, meds have now continued to 3 types including highest doseage Metformin. Now retired and 3 1/2 stone lighter but BG still a daily problem and Hba1C 10.8 last year now 10.2. Told I should go on Insulin but would rather challenge my diet and reduce tablets eventually. Have read that Metformin is best go-to med for Diabetes but it can also give high BG! Don't know where to go with this and feeling that I'm failing myself. Try to eat sensibly but am hungry nearly all the time and think its the meds making this happen. Anyone had similar probs. or can give advice? Thank you.

 

[grovesy]

I have not heard it can give high Blood Sugars. It is the first line of treatment as it is cheap, it also supposed to help with weight loss and appetite.
Tummy problems are quite a common side effect. Not many get prescribed liquid Metformin as that is much more expensive.
Many find reducing the portion size of what they eat and or amount of Carbohydrates may help.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @RiojaQueen . Welcome to the forum.
You have certainly done very well with your weight loss, and that should be a big help.
However not all diets that achieve weight loss are successful in lowering blood sugars.

Quite often Diabetics have a lower tolerance to carbohydrates, and reducing these can have a beneficial effect on reducing blood sugars. Not sure if you have already tried this?

As well as cutting out all the sugary things, I cut down on the carbs particularly the ‘white’ ones (white bread and flour,rice,pasta,etc ) and mainly eat fresh fish and poultry, nuts. yoghurts and some cheese and have learned to love vegetables. I also try to avoid too much processed food, and to include plenty of fibre some from the veg, plus seeds and pulses. Even fruit needs to be kept to a minimum, I limit to one portion of berries per day.
A good place to start if you want to know more about this way of eating is by reading Maggie Davey's letter, which shows how this lady went about it.
If you browse around the forum, you will also find a lot of related information and discussion.

Hope you are successful in finding a good solution soon.

 

[Drummer]

If you are still producing insulin of your own then you don't need any more. Many type twos are actually producing more than required, but their ability to deal with carbohydrate is broken, so it has little effect. It is usually carbohydrate which makes you hungry once you have been able to get it out of your bloodstream, so if you are an ordinary type two and lucky, by cutting down the carbs you can put things back in order.
There is no need to be hungry - a steak with a stir fry is almost always an option - I have meat most mornings in cold weather. Mushrooms, beansprouts sweet pepper courgette, the outside stalks of celery cut up and tossed into the pan - it is all low carb, filling and it keeps me going all day.
Low carb eating is a powerful tool to keep blood glucose under control, often weightloss is effortless, and it tastes great.

 

[RiojaQueen]

Thanks for your reply, very interesting. Not heard of producing too much insulin - how would I know? Not mentioned by diabetes team. Also ability to deal with carbohydrate being broken. This resonates with me as a possibility, keep feeling my nurse is missing an obvious reason as to why I don't respond very well to medication and now put on insulin. Been diagnosed 9 years now and it gets worse to deal with each year, frightened how far its going to go. Carbs are my love in life, especially pasta and potatoes. I have taken to crumpets, toast or porridge with fruit for breakfast. Eggs or beans on toast for lunch and 'normal' dinners with plenty of veg and rarely have dessert. Odd apple or berries & nuts inbetween with nil sugar biscuit. Asked to see a Dietician again as since going on insulin my BG has veered from a hypo level 4.4 which I had to treat quickly after a walk to levels of 25-30 not uncommon. Much higher all round than when I was on 4 x Metformin 500, 4 x Gliclazide and 2 x Cannigflozin. Not sure how to take this forward with diabetic team, any suggestions?

 

[SB2015]

Thanks for your reply, very interesting. Not heard of producing too much insulin - how would I know? Not mentioned by diabetes team. Also ability to deal with carbohydrate being broken. This resonates with me as a possibility, keep feeling my nurse is missing an obvious reason as to why I don't respond very well to medication and now put on insulin. Been diagnosed 9 years now and it gets worse to deal with each year, frightened how far its going to go. Carbs are my love in life, especially pasta and potatoes. I have taken to crumpets, toast or porridge with fruit for breakfast. Eggs or beans on toast for lunch and 'normal' dinners with plenty of veg and rarely have dessert. Odd apple or berries & nuts inbetween with nil sugar biscuit. Asked to see a Dietician again as since going on insulin my BG has veered from a hypo level 4.4 which I had to treat quickly after a walk to levels of 25-30 not uncommon. Much higher all round than when I was on 4 x Metformin 500, 4 x Gliclazide and 2 x Cannigflozin. Not sure how to take this forward with diabetic team, any suggestions?

Welcome to the forum @RiojaQueen

Just reading through your normal routine for what you eat, I wonder whether it would be useful to start to calculate the amount of carbohydrates you are eating at each meal. You have said that carbs are the love of your life, and it is all of those that are changing into glucose once inside you.

At the start we just calculated the carbs we had at each meal and were surprised by how many there were. We then set ourselves a target for each meal and now work to that. At the start it didn’t look like much to eat but now we are used to it. Portion size as well as the content of each meal has such an impact.

 

[Drummer]

I am astonished that you have not had your situation explained to you.
Diabetes IS the inability to deal with carbohydrate - that is the problem in a nutshell.
Type ones need to inject insulin in order to cope with their lack of an internal supply.
Type twos have an unfortunate metabolism which stores carbs as fat, various processes suffer and their pancreas works overtime to try to cope.
All the starches and sugars you are eating are the source of the glucose in your blood. If you were to cut right back on them you would be put into hypos by the medication you are on, so be careful.
Many type twos control their diabetes by eating a few carb for variety but their main foods are those high in protein and fat - which can result not only in normal numbers for blood tests but considerable weightloss as their metabolism gets itself right again.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @RiojaQueen

Im a little confused from your posts as to which medication(s) you are currently on.

It does seem though, that whichever meds you are currently taking are struggling to keep your blood glucose relatively stable and ‘in range’ when metabolising the carbs you are including in your diet.

I think the ideas of a food diary, noting total carbohydrate (not just sugars), and perhaps a period of ’test review adjust’ examination of your current way of eating might be helpful for you?

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com