Tiredness

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Meadsar

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Type 2
Hi I was diagnosed with Type 2 last September and I am taking SR Metformin. I have lost a bit of weight since diagnosis and exercise regularly anyway.
This week I have felt so tired and just wondering if it could be that my blood sugar levels are high. I am not due a blood test until end of Jan so have no way of testing it!
Just wondering if anyone else has struggled with this.
 
If you were to get a low cost blood glucose meter you could not only check when you felt unwell but also after eating and so ensure that you did not eat things which elevate your blood glucose. Meters are available mail order with low cost strips.
 
I was diagnosed in July. Went to Doctor because of extreme tiredness.
Got my blood to 46 within 6weeks but have to say I’ve not been as strict over Christmas and
I am feeling sluggish past few days.
I’m trying to stay off medication.
Feel I need to learn more about this......
 
There are a lot of links to useful information on this thread - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/useful-links-for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/ (you'll need to scroll down past all the type 1 stuff to get to the type 2 and general stuff)

The only way to really know what your blood sugar is doing, and whether it's that causing the tiredness, is to get a meter and test for yourself, as Drummer says - this is well worth it, because different foods effect different people in different ways. You'll never know whether you might be able to eat (say) porridge without a spike in your blood sugar, or whether (for instance) bananas send your blood sugar way up into the teens and need to be avoided, without testing before and then a couple of hours after eating them.

If you want to get a meter, this is the cheapest people here have found - https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-monitor-sd-codefree-meter-diabetic-monitoring-device/ and these are the test strips for it - https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/

You can also get them from Amazon, but if you get them directly from the supplier, you can get a discount if you buy 5 or 10 pots of test strips using these codes, I believe:
5 pots: 264086
10 pots: 975833

Hopefully some more type 2s will be along soon with more advice for you, but learning more is definitely a good idea 🙂
 
Hi,
I had my 3 monthly HBAC1 test brought forward a couple of weeks due to the tiredness and got my results yesterday. My levels at the beginning of my diagnosis was 88 and now it is 64 so that is a good improvement but obviously still not the right level. I have been given Jardiance 25mg (Empagliflozin) to take alongside my Metformin which is a fairly new drug apparently and works by drawing the sugar into your Kidneys and then you excrete the sugar through your urine. Apparently this should really help get my levels down.Has anyone got any experience of these and how did they feel? Thanks
 
Meadsar said:
Hi,
I had my 3 monthly HBAC1 test brought forward a couple of weeks due to the tiredness and got my results yesterday. My levels at the beginning of my diagnosis was 88 and now it is 64 so that is a good improvement but obviously still not the right level. I have been given Jardiance 25mg (Empagliflozin) to take alongside my Metformin which is a fairly new drug apparently and works by drawing the sugar into your Kidneys and then you excrete the sugar through your urine. Apparently this should really help get my levels down.Has anyone got any experience of these and how did they feel? Thanks
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Hi, Meadsar, I think @Stitch147 is on Empagliflozin, which I think is working well for her.
 
Hi, Im on empagliflozin. It has helped to bring my levels down. I take metformin, empagliflozin and gliclazide. Ive only had one UTI since starting it, which is a common side effect. But a course of antibiotics soon dealt with that.
 
Hi meadsare, I was on empagliflozin, but now discontinued, I piddled for Scotland and lost weight.o low dose BG came down a wee bit but not any better on high dose. Never had any uti’s or Thrush
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Good luck with it and good that HbA1c has come down. Well done
 
Thanks for the replies really useful and positive, just got to try different medication and see what works also will continue losing weight and exercising which will help. Xx
 
Well done on getting the levels down, it's the right direction!
 
I just wonder if you are still eating carbohydrates - the glucose has to come from somewhere, and so eating them and then trying to fight the consequences is always an uphill battle.
 
Good point ref carbs but I only eat wholemeal versions and small portions, I was told not to cut out any food groups but to eat a balanced diet and eat wholegrain versions where I can
 
It doesn't matter what colour they are - carbs are still carbs and increase our blood glucose. Each person can only tolerate as much as he or she can tolerate and if they eat more than that then their BG will then increase and remain too high for too long. You have a BG meter now, so please read this http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html - and do it !
 
I will take a look I am making a note anyway of what is spiking my bg and making a list so I can avoid
 
Just to echo and agree with what Jenny said: Test, adjust, test again, repeat! You do end up looking like a used pincushion (although compared to what T1s and insulin dependent T2s have to go through, it's nothing really, so small mercies and all that), but the information is invaluable - literally, life-saving.

The other side effect of cutting carbs is, you'll almost certainly lose weight - whether you need to or not. In my experience, "green" carbs (those found in leafy green vegetables, including the decidedly not-green Cauliflower) have almost no effect on my glucose levels - so I can scoff as much of them as I like. You may find the same; but since we all seem to have subtly different triggers, you may not. The blood sugar meter will tell you this for sure.
 
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