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New meds

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Rosiecarmel

Rosiecarmel

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1.5 LADA
Soo went BACK to the doctors today. Had bloods taken again (not entirely sure what for) but she's also started me on Gliclazide. 40mg at first but increasing it up to 160mg at breakfast alongside 1g Metformin and 1g Metformin at night.

Slightly gutted this means more meds but hopefully it will work. My GP happily gave me more test strips (she's pro T2 testing) but also said these new meds can cause hypos so I definitely need to test more and never miss meals.

She also took me off Propranolol for my anxiety as apparently she's been reading and found out that beta blockers and T2 diabetes are a bad combination. Put me on Sertraline instead so we'll see how that goes.

Feel like I'm going to be rattling soon with all these drugs! Fingers crossed they work

My GP never said but what's the best thing to eat if you're hypo? I'm trying to cut out sugar and carbohydrates so struggling to think of something? Any help is appreciated 🙂
 
Sounds good Rosie 🙂 Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas to produce more insulin, and this is why there is a potential for a hypo as you don't have a lot of control over how much insulin is produced. Don't worry, it's not totally uncontrolled, but will lower your levels. Testing should show you what's happening so you should become familiar with its effect on you and what dose you might need.

If it works and does start bringing your levels down you might experience hypo symptoms without actually being hypo - this is because your body has been used to high levels for a while and will take a little while to adjust, which it should after a short while. If this happens, small biscuit should be enough to raise your levels just a bit and the symptoms should go 🙂

Regarding what to have as a hypo treatment - this can be anything sweet and sugary really, but avoid things like chocolate as it contains fat which will slow the action of the treatment. I like jelly babies, but anything you can chew quickly and get into your system will do. Sugary drinks, like Coke, usually act faster than sweets. The general rule is to have 15g carbs then test again after 15 minutes, having another 15g is still low. A hypo is defined as anything below 4.0 mmol/l. It's unlikely this will happen to you for a while though, as you are starting from quite a high level.

Unfortunately, there's no escaping from the fact that, if you are hypo, you must eat/drink something sugary - there's no substitute!
 
Fruit juice (pure juice, not juice drinks) is good for hypos - and although sugary, it is at least good for you in other ways! You just need 15g carbs (I use grape juice and it's 100ml or 100g of this altogether), not a whole glassful.

I hope the Gliclazide works better for you than the Metformin alone.
 
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Hope it works out Rosie.

As others have said for hypos, to bring your blood glucose levels back up quickly well it has to be sugar. Try one of the usual suspects - dextrose gel, tablets, lucozade, jelly babies or my favourites veggie percy pigs (or you can have ordinary percy pigs)! In the overall scheme of things it's not a lot of sugar but is essential in that situation.
 
Well thank goodness they're doing something I was starting to get quite worried. Hope it helps and you don't get too many hypos, here's to some nice single figures in the near future 🙂
 
Excellent advice on the hypo front from everyone! Good luck with the new medication and the testing.

If you do find you're having a hypo I find that the hardest thing is to have the patience to only eat a moderate amount of carbs (I don't think I stick to the 15g rule) and then wait 15 minutes. Don't be surprised if your glucose levels spike after you've corrected the hypo too, that's normal.
 
Glad to hear you are getting some better ongoing help Rosie as living with high levels does make you feel wretched.

I try to use something I actually like for treating hypos as it's generally the only time I have sweets, veggie Percy Pigs sort gentle hypos for me and also Thorntons Dairy butter tablet, a sort of crumbly fudge stuff a bit like Kendal mint cake, it's pretty sweet and handy to carry a few squares around in my bag. The carb breakdown is on the back of the packet but 2 squares usually gets me above 4 again.

Good luck I hope things start to improve for you soon🙂
 
Thanks everyone! I honestly don't know what I'd do without this site ha ha it's rather scary hearing that I might have possible hypos... It all feels a lot more real now! I'm not sure if that makes sense but I guess I've got used to seeing such high numbers and although it's making me feel absolutely dreadful, that became normal. Now there's the possibility of them being all over the place and it's worrying me. It's only early days though and I refuse to let this get on top of me!!
 
Good luck with the new meds. My dr mentioned to me last time that they may look at giving me those aswell if my levels arent coming down. But the concern is with the weight gain side of things. I have managed to lose almost 7 stone by myself over the past 20 months but I am still classed as obese (almost in the overweight ategory now). We shall see what happens. Im gonna give the higher dosage of metformin a few weeks to kick in and see what happens.
 
Stitch147 said:
Good luck with the new meds. My dr mentioned to me last time that they may look at giving me those aswell if my levels arent coming down. But the concern is with the weight gain side of things. I have managed to lose almost 7 stone by myself over the past 20 months but I am still classed as obese (almost in the overweight ategory now). We shall see what happens. Im gonna give the higher dosage of metformin a few weeks to kick in and see what happens.
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Wow congratulations on your weight loss - that is fantastic!! How did you do it? My GP said that these meds don't have many side effects apart from hypos - she never mentioned weight gain! I'm going to have to do some research I think! I'm still on 2g of Metformin but it didn't work for me on its own. Hopefully it will work for you and your levels will start to come down soon 🙂
 
Rosiecarmel said:
Soo went BACK to the doctors today. Had bloods taken again (not entirely sure what for) but she's also started me on Gliclazide. 40mg at first but increasing it up to 160mg at breakfast alongside 1g Metformin and 1g Metformin at night.
Slightly gutted this means more meds but hopefully it will work. My GP happily gave me more test strips (she's pro T2 testing) but also said these new meds can cause hypos so I definitely need to test more and never miss meals.
She also took me off Propranolol for my anxiety as apparently she's been reading and found out that beta blockers and T2 diabetes are a bad combination. Put me on Sertraline instead so we'll see how that goes.
Feel like I'm going to be rattling soon with all these drugs! Fingers crossed they work
My GP never said but what's the best thing to eat if you're hypo? I'm trying to cut out sugar and carbohydrates so struggling to think of something? Any help is appreciated 🙂
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It has to be carbohydrate to deal with a hypo.

With Type 2 the hypo is a much gentler curve because glicazide (and gliflozins which I also take) take you to shaky and light-headed rather than all-out hypo. So I use low GI cereal bars; shouldn't be more than 80 cals and full of nuts and seeds rather than sweet coatings. Backup plan is an apple.

Orange juice, sweets or chocolate act fast but leave me with a headache.
 
Oh I should have thought, if it's not a very low or plummeting hypo, something like a dried apricot should work too. I often use those if my BGL's between 3-4.
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
Oh I should have thought, if it's not a very low or plummeting hypo, something like a dried apricot should work too. I often use those if my BGL's between 3-4.
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Exactly right. It is just that a dried apricot is not so easy to keep in my jacket pocket.
 
I joined weight watchers to help me lose weight. I'm not sure what the other medication was that the doctor mentioned, but she did mention it could cause weight gain.
 
bill hopkinson said:
Exactly right. It is just that a dried apricot is not so easy to keep in my jacket pocket.
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:D I always carry one round with me in a little plastic bag. I just need to remember to use it up and replace it now and again, if I haven't needed one for a while!
 
I keep a few jelly babies, or little bits of dried pineapple, in an old strip pot. It's air tight, easy to clean and fits in a pocket or bag easily too. Mind you, apart from the hypo day I haven't been below 4.0 since I started on MDI a few weeks ago. Things seem a lot more even now, though I still want to come down a bit more, more fives and fewer nines would be good.
 
You can get 'snack packs' of dried fruit, individually packaged 15 g carbs. I get them in Tescos, sure other supermarkets sell them. Sure, they're a bit sugary (dried pineapple, mango, apple etc) but work fab in a time of need where you don't want to be getting out medical looking glucose (I don't like jelly babies!) and can be kept in a pocket/bag for months and months.
(Not sure on their citric acid content though - that was you TCwD? I'd guess they're full of it.)
 
Hi. Gliclazide like insulin only causes weight gain if you have too many carbs so you need to continue with that low-carb diet and you may even be able to come off the meds at some point in the future.
 
Annette Anderson said:
(Not sure on their citric acid content though - that was you TCwD? I'd guess they're full of it.)
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Yes, it was I - and yes, they are quite likely to contain citric acid, as well as sulphur, which I can't tolerate either, but I buy unsulphured apricots from health food shops. They sound ideal for most people though!

Annette Anderson said:
a time of need where you don't want to be getting out medical looking glucose
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I also travel with glucose powder and am always a bit dubious about getting out packets of white powder in public places ... 😉
 
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