Issues with medication

[deanesales]

hey all

Just looking for some support in terms with issues with medication. I ave had issues with trying to find the right medication that works for me, my doctors and so called diabetic nurse are not much help.

I am prescribed to take 4 x sukkarto 500mg long release metaformin and 2 x 20mg of insulin per day and still my blood sugers barely get below 7.

The worst bit is they make me feel like c**p, i have sore feet all the time, issues wirh stomach cramp, issues with balinitis and other and just general fatigue fullnstop.

So when covod kicked in i stopped taking medication, started taking vitamins and drinking a lot more water and so on and all of a sudden I end up feeling so much better, feet dont hurt, no stomach issues and other issues start to disappear but my blood sugars are between 10 and 18, depending ob the time if day.

I eat healthy, dont really exercise as much as i want to as I work a lot and some long hours so appreciate i need to make a change there but I am getting no help from my so called support network, hell i cant even get a face to face appointment without claining I am dying.

So are there others with similar issues that can help, talked about going vegan but my wife wont do it and diet wise is not too bad.

Appreciate any help

D

 

[Kaylz]

Sorry I cant help on the medication front but diet wise why does your wife have to follow the same diet as you? Surely you could go vegan yourself? Although a meat diet is probably lower carb and seen as low carb intake would suit better if you've stopped your medication then I don't see why you imagine going vegan would make a difference xx

 

[leonS]

An unimportant point: insulin come as units. There are usually 100 units in a mL so 20 mg is just not on. I assume that you intended to say 20 units.

More important: your BG figures are too high. Numbers like these will cause damage to your health. Metaformin causes most of the problems that you have encountered, so not taking that is probably best. Insulin does not often cause problems.

A vegan diet is difficult for a diabetic as you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet - meat and fats are good instead of spuds and rice for example.

Please do contact your health care team!

 

[DaveB]

Hi and welcome. Can you define what you mean by a healthy diet? Can you let us know what your BMI is. T2s will often have excess weight and this does not work well with insulin due to insulin resistance. if you do have excess weight you must reduce the carbs. If you do this you should find your insulin needs reduce and BS comes under better control. If you are slim then suspect you may be mis-diagnosed and be T1. If this is the case you need to move from twice-a-day mixed insulin to Basal/Bolus which means 4 to 5 times day with two insulins.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear you are having such a tough time @deanesales

Could you call NHS111 for their advice? While some of the unpleasant side-effects you were experiencing have stopped, your raised BG will most likely make you feel really grim before long, tired, lethargic, increased need for the toilet, blurred vision... and in the long run those elevated BGs could begin to cause real damage

Perhaps you could ask NHS111 if it would be possible to keep taking any of the meds which didn’t cause you side effects (eg metformin has a reputation for causing gastric issues).

It certainly sounds like your BGs need some help.

Is there another GP surgery you could try locally?

 

[Drummer]

Vegan foods, being plant based tend to be high in carbs whilst meat, fish eggs cheese and yoghurt are low carb - so I don't really see the logic in going vegan when trying to lower blood glucose. Eating a low carb diet means I can refuse medication - I was started off with tablets but was very ill with them and have refused to even think about taking them again.
Do you test before and after eating to assess the suitability of foods? We all seem to have different tolerances for carbs - I react to everything, but some can eat porridge or beans and not spike.