Worried

[Noreen60]

I'm waiting to have pump fitted in April but I've had to go out of my area because of funding. My worry is that the consultant (who i met for the first time) told me to stop taking the metformin 500mg 3 x day altogether and stop taking asprin but increase simvastatin from 10mg to 40mg. I've been taking Metformin for over 5yrs and been type 1 diabetic since 1986. I know it's all going to be different when i start the pump but thought i'd still be taking metformin. Has anyone had to do this before going on the pump.

 

[Adrienne]

Hi

This is the bit I don't understand at all. Type 1 diabetic don't need the tablets, they do a different thing, they are for type 2 people. However someone mentioned Lada or something they other day which I hadn't heard of where a type 1 person has to take the tablets as it is different to normal type 1's. Is that right? If you are a type 2 but go on to insulin you are still a type 2, you don't change to type 1.

I do know about pumps though. If you go on a pump you won't need anything else at all. However I suggest you contact the consultant or DSN you are with for the pump on Monday and ask him or her to explain it clearer and confirm you definitely need to stop the medication. You need to be sure and can't guess this seeing as how you have been on them for years.

Don't worry, just ring them. They get phone calls about all sorts of things all the time. What I can say is that if you are having a pump then the consultant you are going to in theory is a really switched on, proactive doctor as will the DSN be. There are so many clinics out there who still don't do carb counting for MDI and won't consider pumps so when you find a hospital who does it really is refreshing.

Good luck, a pump is the way to go, you are doing the right thing. I understand the nerves. I was nervous for a different reason as it was my little daughter but nervous all the same.

Take care
Adrienne

 

[aymes]

Hi

This is the bit I don't understand at all. Type 1 diabetic don't need the tablets, they do a different thing, they are for type 2 people. However someone mentioned Lada or something they other day which I hadn't heard of where a type 1 person has to take the tablets as it is different to normal type 1's. Is that right? If you are a type 2 but go on to insulin you are still a type 2, you don't change to type 1.

QUOTE]

Some type 1s will be prescribed tablets like metformin alongside their insulin as insulin resistance can also be present in type 1.

Can't help on the pump issue I'm afraid, I really want one but sadly don't currently fall into any of the guidelines. Good luck for yours, hope it works out really well.

A

 

[Northerner]

I'm waiting to have pump fitted in April but I've had to go out of my area because of funding. My worry is that the consultant (who i met for the first time) told me to stop taking the metformin 500mg 3 x day altogether and stop taking asprin but increase simvastatin from 10mg to 40mg. I've been taking Metformin for over 5yrs and been type 1 diabetic since 1986. I know it's all going to be different when i start the pump but thought i'd still be taking metformin. Has anyone had to do this before going on the pump.

Hi Noreen, do you currently inject a lot of insulin? I imagine that the metformin is because (as aymes suggests) you have some level of insulin resistance, and taking the tablets means that you don't have to inject huge amounts. I don't know about pumps, but perhaps the fact that you can release a constant amount over a longer period of time, rather than all in one go like an injection, means that the pills are no longer needed.

How long have you been taking the simvastatin for? I think the 'standard dose' for this is 40mg - I started on 10mg and then worked up slowly to 40mg. As for the aspirin, is it perhaps causing you gastric problems? I think a recent study said that there was no discernible benefit in taking it unless you'd already had a heart attack.

I'd ask for the reasoning behind changing the meds, just to put your mind at ease. Good luck, and do let us know, I'd be very interested

 

[Adrienne]

Aymes

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that. It's different for children with type 1 than adults.

There is insulin resistence in the morning with most children and insulin sensitivity in the evenings but it's managed by insulin, maybe because they need far less than adults.

With pumping if is so different, you need less insulin anyway and you can adjust the basal (background) rate on an hourly basis so when you are more resistent you have a higher basal than when you are sensitive.

Thanks again
Adrienne

 

[Noreen60]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I've made app to go see Dr tomorrow just to put my mind at rest. I'm currently taking 17units of Glargine and 13 - 20 units of Novarapid depending on what I have to eat. Only been on Simvastatin for 6mths and Asprin well i take it some days but not others. My cholesterol was 4 before i started to take simvastatin and now it's 3, my gp said it's best for diabetics to have cholesterol below 4 hence me taking 10mg. Metformin well i think i can remember having it to help with my weight but it's that long ago im not sure. It came as a shock to me the other day when consultant said to stop metformin i thought i'd still have to take it but hey all the better if i dont. Let's see what my gp says tomorrow. maybe tell me something totally different altogether. ha.