Hello everyone I was diagnosed on 22nd December 2016 with type2 diabetes. I've been pre diabetic for years and have suffered only with low blood sugar no other symptoms recently loss of appetite. Practice nurse prescribed metformin but unsure weather to take it due to poor appetite and liver disease. I'm just looking for information and came up on this website.
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Newly diagnosed Type2
- Thread starter nicole46
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Robin
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hello Nicole, and welcome, but sorry you have to be here. I would query the Metformin with your GP. When I was first diagnosed, I was thought to be type 2, but my GP avoided putting me on Metformin because my liver function tests threw up an anomaly - she rang the Hospital and spoke to a consultant to check, and they said, avoid Metformin til you've investigated the liver, so I was put straight on to Gliclazide, which works in a different way by helping the pancreas produce more insulin..( didn't help in my case, because I actually turned out of be Thpe 1, but that's another story!)
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Nicole, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis
Do you know what your test results were?The first thing to say is that, although it is a serious condition, diabetes is something that can be managed well - in fact, learning how to manage it well will more than likely lead to an improvement in your general health, and you may start feeling much better in many ways, so there is a lot of hope involved - doesn't have to be all doom and gloom! 🙂
I'd suggest starting off by trying to get a firm understanding of what it's all about - away from all the myths and sensationalist headlines. To that end, have a read of Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter. These will give you a good, comprehensive introduction of what to expect and how to tackle it. I'd also highly recommend getting a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, which many of our members have found invaluable over the years 🙂
If you've been struggling for years with pre-diabetes, the chances are that your diet hasn't been reflective of your own tolerances, so this is the best place to start looking for where to make improvements. Have you been given a blood glucose monitor and a prescription for test strips? If not (and many surgeries do not prescribe, saying you don't need to test, but how else will you learn your personal tolerances for different things? Really, they're doing it to save money, short-term
) then it really is worth buying your own so you can establish the most suitable diet for you. If you do have to buy your own, the cheapest option we have come across is the SD Codefree Meter which has test strips at around £8 for 50.Diabetes is, esentially, all about carbohydrates, which will raise your blood sugar levels the most. However, people do have individual tolerances for things. Have a read of Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S which explains the rationale behind testing. Recording your carb consumption in a food diary (in grams) for everything you eat and drink, alongside your meter readings will help you determine what things suit you well and what things you might need to reduce or avoid entirely - the generalised advice often given to 'just eat a healthy diet' is not very useful in the context of diabetes, you have to find out what is healthy for you! 🙂 However, a good general principle is to choose food that has a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels, such as the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet - The GL Diet for Dummies is a very good introduction 🙂
Exercise, whatever you can manage on a regular basis, is also very helpful as it makes your body more sensitive to the insulin you are producing, and therefore helps to keep blood glucose levels under control.
As others have suggested, it might be a good idea to seek further advice before taking the metformin given your liver problems - perhaps ask your pharmacist. Are you on any other medications? If you can improve things by making your diet more 'diabetes-friendly', there may not be a need for it - many doctors give a three month period before starting it after diagnosis to see if the changes you make bring an improvement 🙂
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, there are lots of friendly, experienced people here who will be happy to help - no question is considered 'silly', so if it confuses or concerns you, please ask! 🙂
Hi Ive only spoke with the nurse she told me I was diabetic my gp hasn't said anything. After she prescribed metformin I looked the tablets up and it says not to be taken with liver problems but she said she wasn't aware you could not take metformin if you have severe liver disease. I need to discuss it with my gp I also have chronic pancreatitis.
eggyg
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 3c
Welcome @nicole46. I'm not a medic but am one of a handful of what we call on here "weird" diabetics. That is our diabetes was caused by pancreatic trauma/illness. Mine was caused by acute pancreatitis followed by a tumour resulting in a distal pancreatectomy. I was initially put in the type 2 box and treat as such. I am now on MDI ( multiple daily injections) and doing well, I also take shed loads of Creon to help with the fact that us "weirdos" have problems with our digestion due to the pancreas damage. I would speak to the GP and ask him/her to refer you to a specialist as usually GPs and DSNs ( diabetic specialist nurse) don't really have a clue about pancreatic diabetes. Oh by the way we are type 3c! Have a Google, don't let them put you in the type 2 box and be forgotten about. Elaine.
john pardo
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hi and welcome
Hi Elaine my nurse did mention my damaged pancreas could of brought on diabetes but that's interesting information thankyou. I take creon also I'm going to talk to my gp about it all its like I've been told I have diabetes given medication without looking into my medical records.
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