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I Have Failed. How did that happen?

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Bubbsie said:
Whether anyone takes medication or not is a matter of personal choice...no explanation is necessary...if I do not need the medication then I will not take it...that's not a status decision...that's my decision.
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I prefer it, still, who am I to disagree with the doctor, if they don't prescribe.
It is good you don't see it as making any difference to how you are perceived, as you say.
 
Bubbsie said:
Whether anyone takes medication or not is a matter of personal choice...no explanation is necessary...if I do not need the medication then I will not take it...that's not a status decision...that's my decision.
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I totally agree with you Bubbsie. I personally would not want to take meds unless I had to but it is a decision between patient and GP and what is right for them.

When I was at work a colleague of mine was on statins and having a terrible time with them. Thankfully, they have found one to suit her now. She is battling with a weight problem (not diabetic or pre) but has thyroid trouble which makes it doubly hard. One of my other colleagues who knew the problems this lady was having said she would never take statins. That is up to her but it is also up to my other ex colleague as to what she feels is best for her.
 
Maz2 said:
I totally agree with you Bubbsie. I personally would not want to take meds unless I had to but it is a decision between patient and GP and what is right for them.

When I was at work a colleague of mine was on statins and having a terrible time with them. Thankfully, they have found one to suit her now. She is battling with a weight problem (not diabetic or pre) but has thyroid trouble which makes it doubly hard. One of my other colleagues who knew the problems this lady was having said she would never take statins. That is up to her but it is also up to my other ex colleague as to what she feels is best for her.
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Possibly part of the problem is there is often no discussion between the patients & their health care team about treatment & medications...I have discussed statins with my GP...for now they are not for me...I have told him I want to be as involved in the decision making as much as I can be...he is fine with that.
 
I must admit Bubbsie I said to my hubby when I found out my "normal" results had gone back to pre-diabetic that I wish the GP had given me Metformin for a few weeks to get it down and hopefully it would then stay down, although no guarantee of that. I did not ask as I knew what the answer would be. I think it could possibly send it too low and I could end up ill. Since then I have decided to battle on as I don't want to take meds unless I have to.
 
Just got home from my review. My diabetes nurse is lovely and she thinks my diet is brilliant. She wishes other patients would take as much care. My cholestrerol levels are amazing, really good. And my blood pressure is ideal. But I do need the slow release Metformin, I am happy with that.

Also she prescribed another batch of testing strips, even though she "shouldn't really"

I feel better already 🙂
 
Glad you are feeling better Jean. Did you have problems with your cholesterol previously? If so, what do you think has improved them? I have a couple of friends who have high cholesterol (not diabetic, or pre-diabetic)and cannot seem to get it down no matter what they do. Neither of them are overweight and their diets are not terrible. I think in both cases they have family issues. I am talking about the overall cholesterol so not sure what it is when broken down, but one of them has an overall of 8.2 starved. My overall went up but not to problem levels but the good had increased and the bad deceased, ratio good to bad increased in favour of good.
 
Jeandp said:
Just got home from my review. My diabetes nurse is lovely and she thinks my diet is brilliant. She wishes other patients would take as much care. My cholestrerol levels are amazing, really good. And my blood pressure is ideal. But I do need the slow release Metformin, I am happy with that.

Also she prescribed another batch of testing strips, even though she "shouldn't really"

I feel better already 🙂
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That sounds positive Jean...and you're happy with your review...wow...a DSN who does prescribe testing strips...who despite the comments to the contrary knows she should.😉
 
Maz2 said:
Glad you are feeling better Jean. Did you have problems with your cholesterol previously? If so, what do you think has improved them? I have a couple of friends who have high cholesterol (not diabetic, or pre-diabetic)and cannot seem to get it down no matter what they do. Neither of them are overweight and their diets are not terrible. I think in both cases they have family issues. I am talking about the overall cholesterol so not sure what it is when broken down, but one of them has an overall of 8.2 starved. My overall went up but not to problem levels but the good had increased and the bad deceased, ratio good to bad increased in favour of good.
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I believe it is the ratio of good to bad that matters, not the overall figure. The doctor had put me on statins, Atrovastatin, just as a matter of course I think, but I persuaded him that I didn't need them. They need to ask for the broken down figures.
 
That is what I think too and have told them so. Maybe the statins helped you initially. A friend of mine was on them but had to come off them as he was one of those having horrendous problems with them. His cholesterol is now lower than mine. I am pleased for him.

I hope this all continues to be good for you and you get on OK with your blood sugars too.

I know people who have no probs with statins at all but others who cannot take them. I know one guy who told his GP to stop the statins as he would rather be dead than put up with the side effects. He may have fared better on a change of statin but that is his decision as is anything to do with meds. It is for the patient and his/her GP to decide.
 
I can sympathise with the rather be dead attitude.
I am a singer and fortunately - after a prompt from my daughter had written down a lot of the songs I sang, as a few weeks after starting to take Metformin and a statin I could not remember the words. I am going through and relearning some songs, but with the forgetfulness lack of concentration, incontinence and the aches and pains plus the all over itching, particularly at night, and there were dreadful nightmares - no matter what the benefits of taking the tablets, I would not be persuaded to restart them.
My husband has stopped taking the statins he was on as he was rather shocked at my reaction, and he is a much nicer person, back to the way he was, and my sister wishes her husband would stop taking them too, as he too is not the same man she knew before.
 
Bubbsie said:
Whether anyone takes medication or not is a matter of personal choice...no explanation is necessary...if I do not need the medication then I will not take it...that's not a status decision...that's my decision.
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Bubbsie I get what you are sayin, I guess my question is more about how do you know if you need it or not, if you have made radical diet & lifestyle changes and are taking metformin, how does the doctor/ nurse/ you know if it’s the diet + meds that resulted in a drop in bg, therefore if you take the meds away, how can you be sure things won’t go pear shaped?
 
CathyB said:
Bubbsie I get what you are sayin, I guess my question is more about how do you know if you need it or not, if you have made radical diet & lifestyle changes and are taking metformin, how does the doctor/ nurse/ you know if it’s the diet + meds that resulted in a drop in bg, therefore if you take the meds away, how can you be sure things won’t go pear shaped?
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Try with, try without.
Resist the people who label "med free" as a status symbol, it really isn't.
We evolved from med free, and dying young a long time ago.

Personally, I would prefer to be on Metformin.
My doctor won't prescribe it now though, so I am afraid I have to live med free, which isn't some thong I like, having looked at the benefits Metformin gives.
But, if I do go pear shaped, they will always prescribe again.
 
travellor said:
Resist the people who label "med free" as a status symbol, it really isn'
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I hardly call being "Med Free" as a Status it's my choice what medications I take or not take... As it is I chose a route of Diet & Exercise, worked hard to get to the point of being a very well controlled T2 with the added benefit that I'm in so much better shape than I have been for years. I hope that my journey inspires people or gives people hope rather than bestowing some kind of status on myself.
 
Martin Canty said:
I hardly call being "Med Free" as a Status it's my choice what medications I take or not take... As it is I chose a route of Diet & Exercise, worked hard to get to the point of being a very well controlled T2 with the added benefit that I'm in so much better shape than I have been for years. I hope that my journey inspires people or gives people hope rather than bestowing some kind of status on myself.
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I wouldn't disagree.
Med free is so facile.
I appreciate you realise that.
 
For me there were no benefits to taking the tablets as the side effects were dreadful.
If there was a tablet I needed to take and it had no horrible side effect, so I could go on with life as normal then I would take it, but I don't, there isn't - and I have life as normal anyway.
 
I'm not a big fan of taking the tablets, but at the moment I can cope with the side effects while I work on the rest of what I need to do. I think my plan is to carry on with them for a bit, improve my weight, HbA1c for a bit and then try dropping the tablets in stages, but I won't know how much they help me until I've stopped so it's a bit of experimenting. I was a bit scared of what would happen to my levels when I stopped taking my Glyclazide after 4 months, but it didn't make things worse!
 
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