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Loss of appetite

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Trisha66

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 11.03.2016 with a Hb1ac of 71. My last Hb1ac 03.2021 was 65. My weight has gone from 13st 3 in 2016 to 10st 2 today. In the last few weeks I've no appetite and I'm tired all the time. I test my BS regularly and it never goes below 7. My morning BS is usually between 9 and 11. I am still losing weight and am a bit worried. Sorry for the long post. Just wanted a bit of advice as I have trouble contacting my GP.
 
I'm not a Dr but as a Diabetic with your changing symptoms I would be making an appointment to see my Dr for a check up. Apart from your Hba1c still being a little high other Diabetic info is not too bad.
When you have your annual Diabetic review what did they report back to you, did they comment on your weight change?
Good luck.
 
Thanks for your reply Mark. I have lost almost a stone since my last Diabetic review in March. My medication was increased in December with the addition of 25mg of Linagliptin. I also take 4x500mg of Metformin. Nothing was mentioned regarding my weight. I will take your advice and contact my GP.
 
Welcome to the forum @Trisha66

Was your weight loss planned? Or did it just happen?

There are lots of potential causes for unintended weight loss, so it would be well worth getting checked out.

Some of the other ‘gliptins’ (eg sitagliptin) seem to be associated with a reduction in appetite, so that may have been a factor - though it’s not mentioned here for Linagliptin.

Hope you can get some answers. Do you have a target weight that you were aiming for? How do you feel about the weight loss?
 
Good morning. Thank you for your reply. My weight loss wasn't planned. However I'm quite happy to have lost weight as I am still overweight. I intend to contact my GP for advice.
 
Metformin can act as an appetite suppressant too for some people.

Do you just not feel hungry or do you feel nauseous when you sit down to eat, or do you get half way through a meal and just feel stuffed and can't finish it or a combination of all of those.
Do you have any abdominal pain or discomfort?

What type of things do you normally eat? Ie a typical breakfast lunch and dinner if you used to eat 3 meals a day?
 
I just don't feel hungry and when I do eat I can't finish the meal. I usually have 1 slice of toast for breakfast. Yoghurt with berries or a mushroom omelette for lunch and Chicken Steak or Pork with veg or salad for tea. Just lately I have just been having 2 meals a day.
 
So the weight loss is likely because you are just not eating enough, so that does need investigating before you get into negative equity, so to speak. It also doesn't look like you are eating many carbs that would account for your Hba1c level, just a slice of bread at breakfast which makes me wonder if, coupled with the weight loss, you might actually be a slow onset Type 1 (LADA) rather than Type 2. It might be worth asking if you can be referred to a diabetes specialist clinic since you are doing everything which could be expected of you and your levels are not coming down.

I know some GP surgeries can be very busy and/or difficult to get appointments. My GP surgery operate an "Ask my GP" online facility. I think some others have "E-Consult" or whatever. This is a really efficient way of contacting your doctor and giving them all the information they need without sitting in front of them and getting flummoxed or distracted by something they say or ask you. I would explain what is happening, the sort of daily food intake you are consuming and the amount of carbs, the medication you are taking and how fatigued you feel. Ask if it might be LADA and would it be possible to be referred to the diabetes clinic or tested for GAD antibodies and C-peptide. Your GP may not understand LADA or those tests but it then gives them an opportunity to look into it and make some enquiries rather than being put on the spot in person and perhaps becoming defensive. Anyway, hopefully your surgery operates a similar online referral system and you can get some help soon. They can then arrange whatever blood tests they need and just give you an appointment to see a nurse to get the blood taken although one of those tests in more specialized and the sample needs to be frozen and so needs appropriate transport. I had to go to my main hospital to have it taken for that reason.

Good luck with getting it investigated further. There are lots of us here who were initially misdiagnosed as Type 2 when we were Type 1 or LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) so don't be fobbed off with "only children get Type 1" as that is old hat and shows how out of date your GP's knowledge is.

Let us know how you get on but don't just ignore it because it could soon get significantly worse if you are a kind of Type 1. But the weight loss could be something else entirely but I still think your HbA1c should be responding better to dietary changes and medication, so something isn't quite right.
 
Thank you for your reply. I will be taking y advice and getting in touch with my GP although this is easier said than done. Thanks again to everyone for all the advice I've been given. I'll be in touch to let you know how I get on.
 
Hope you manage to get through and book some sort of appointment without too much difficulty @Trisha66
 
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