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Hello everyone. I started taking Metformin once a day for T2 a month ago. Had bad side effects so I've now got the slow release Metformin. Took first one last night with dinner and now feel like I did when I first began treatment. I wasn't expecting that! Should this happen?
Hello everyone. I started taking Metformin once a day for T2 a month ago. Had bad side effects so I've now got the slow release Metformin. Took first one last night with dinner and now feel like I did when I first began treatment. I wasn't expecting that! Should this happen?
Although for some people it helps but for others they are still not tolerated well. Taking mid meal can help but if not then depending on what your HbA1C is then you may be able to have just as much improvement by dietary measures. Otherwise there are other medications available.
Even with medication you need to be looking at reducing carbohydrates in your diet, the suggested amount is no more than 130g per day. Keeping a food diary of everything you eat and drink with an estimate of the total carbs not just sugar to see how far you are from that will give you an idea of where to make some savings, reducing portion size of some of the big hitters would be a start.
Have a look at this link for some ideas on a way forward. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
I'm surprised (and a bit annoyed) you were put on medication, and not given the opportunity to reduce your blood glucose levels by lifestyle changes. I'm also a Devon girl of 73, and was given this chance. I did OK but then became ill with something different which caused blood glucose problems which has needed medication. There are other medications which can be given if Metformin doesn't suit, but I would ask your diabetic nurse about lifestyle changes first.
Doctors are often rather hasty as reaching for the prescription pad without giving people the chance for 3 months to make some lifestyle changes which the need to do anyway even with medication which makes people think that taking the pills is all that is needed rather than re-educating themselves on a new way of eating.
Fair enough if people engage with lifestyle changes and they do not work in reducing blood glucose then try meds.
In your position I would certainly try that option as it is your choice.
Some folks who get a bit of digestive upset with Metformin find it settles down after a while, but other members find it just doesn’t suit them.
Hopefully with your HbA1c being relatively close to the diagnosis line of 48, you’ll find some menu changes and tweaks an effective strategy to help your body manage glucose levels.
Some folks who get a bit of digestive upset with Metformin find it settles down after a while, but other members find it just doesn’t suit them.
Hopefully with your HbA1c being relatively close to the diagnosis line of 48, you’ll find some menu changes and tweaks an effective strategy to help your body manage glucose levels.
Thank you for responding. I just thought that having taken the standard tablet for a month and, that simply changing to the slow release version wouldn't affect me. I'll persevere for a bit longer and hope things settles down. I would like the nurse to check my levels, just to give me an indication as to whether or not my glucose level has dropped. However she says I have to wait until the 3 months is up. Frustrating!
Yes this can seem like a frustration, but it is mostly to do with what the HbA1c measures - which is general glucose in circulation over the lifespan of your current crop of red blood cells (about 120 days - 3 or 4 months). And how many of them have been affected by glucose - the higher the glucose concentration, the more cells are affected, but once they have ‘glycosylated’ they don’t switch back.
If you recheck more frequently than 3-monthly you’d be remeasuring many of the red blood cells you have already checked (because they are still in circulation from the previous time).
You’ll get a much clearer picture of changes by waiting longer, so that more of the red blood cells have cycled through reabsorption and the making of a fresh crop 🙂
Yes this can seem like a frustration, but it is mostly to do with what the HbA1c measures - which is general glucose in circulation over the lifespan of your current crop of red blood cells (about 120 days - 3 or 4 months). And how many of them have been affected by glucose - the higher the glucose concentration, the more cells are affected, but once they have ‘glycosylated’ they don’t switch back.
If you recheck more frequently than 3-monthly you’d be remeasuring many of the red blood cells you have already checked (because they are still in circulation from the previous time).
You’ll get a much clearer picture of changes by waiting longer, so that more of the red blood cells have cycled through reabsorption and the making of a fresh crop 🙂
Reading back, I see no mention of whether you have a BG spot check testing meter from finger pricking. In theory you could get this on prescription, in practice with your HbA1c of 54 this would be pretty unlikely. But if you could self-fund such a device then, while that would not give you a direct equivalent of your current HbA1c, it would give you a real sense of initial progress and subsequently a good feeling about daily control.
By testing immediately before a main meal and 2 hrs later you would not only know the momentary snapshot of your BG but equally importantly how your body is coping with that particular meal. Ideally you'd want to see a start between 4-7 mmol/L and a rise of no more than 2-3 mmol/L after the 2 hrs. This would give you the visibility and thus opportunity to avoid foods that specifically not only cause a spike in your BG but subsequently aren't well managed by your body.
There are lots of different meters on the market. The SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 both have pretty affordable strips (about £10 for a pot of 50), and are reasonably consistent in performance. The strips quickly become the main expense, but once you've identified a particular food that isn't ideal for you and excluded that food, testing for that is no longer necessary. Each meter type uses its unique strips, so are not interchangeable with other machines. Although the lancets for finger pricking are recommended to be replaced each prick - in practice most of us use the same lancet for lengthy periods until that lancet is noticeably less sharp.
I suggest this thought, since it could help your patience and I think could give you a real feeling that you are going in the right direction by steadily avoiding foods that aren't ideal for you. Of course there is a risk that too much information can worry you and even cause distress. Some people prefer to not know too much; I'm not one of those.
It can be tempting to constantly test and I suggest that is neither helpful or very comfortable for your fingers.
Thank you for responding. I just thought that having taken the standard tablet for a month and, that simply changing to the slow release version wouldn't affect me. I'll persevere for a bit longer and hope things settles down. I would like the nurse to check my levels, just to give me an indication as to whether or not my glucose level has dropped. However she says I have to wait until the 3 months is up. Frustrating!
I started with 1 500mg tablet, and got all the usual side-effects, which went away after a few months. When I changed the tablets for the sachets, the side effects did not return, nor did they do so when I had to increase the sachets to 2 a day. However, the inability to obtain sachets, albeit temporarily, has meant that I have had to return to tablets, which I am dissolving in water. Unfortunately, the side-effects have returned with a vengeance, and I do not understand why.
I started with 1 500mg tablet, and got all the usual side-effects, which went away after a few months. When I changed the tablets for the sachets, the side effects did not return, nor did they do so when I had to increase the sachets to 2 a day. However, the inability to obtain sachets, albeit temporarily, has meant that I have had to return to tablets, which I am dissolving in water. Unfortunately, the side-effects have returned with a vengeance, and I do not understand why.
if they were slow release version of metformin which are supposed to cause less stomach issues then by dissolving them you are negating the slow release nature of the tablet.
It could be a reaction to the coating on the tablets which will still be present of you dissolve them.
I'm very gradually becoming less bothered by the slow release tablets but still getting tummy upsets.
Sorry to hear how you're having problems with swallowing the tablets. I'm even more sorry to learn that your GP won't prescribe the liquid form!! Perhaps it would be helpful to see another doctor who is more sympathetic to your need. Good luck.
The GPs are guided by financial restraints and not medical ones, the liquid form being much more expensive than the tablets.I believe that they are all in the same position, and that no GP will break ranks. I just have to hope that the supply is reinstated in the next few days. As this is the second time in as many years that the contamination has occurred, I also have to hope that there will not be a third. Thanks fo your thoughts.
