Metformin

[goodcelt]

Well, I got myself some metformin. I'm taking 500mg w/breakfast and 500mg w/dinner. We'll see if this helps my insulin resistance. My rising sugar was 89 this morning. Had a little gastro event yesterday but none today. I really hope this stuff goes in there and does its thing.

[BillB]

Originally Posted by goodcelt

Well, I got myself some metformin. I'm taking 500mg w/breakfast and 500mg w/dinner. We'll see if this helps my insulin resistance. My rising sugar was 89 this morning. Had a little gastro event yesterday but none today. I really hope this stuff goes in there and does its thing.

My A1c is down from 9.9 to 6.7 after 10 weeks on Metformin, and I have lost at least 30 pounds.

I hope you got the Metformin extended release.

Good luck!

--bill

[texastigerlily]

My doctor just put me on it yesterday. He said to take two a day with meals, so I took one with breakfast, and one with lunch. About half an hour after lunch I started to feel really sick - major nausea. I checked my BS - 245 (that's the lowest it's been since Sat. when it nearly hit 500). I finally had my blood pressure checked - it dropped low. Since you mentioned (the OP) that you take it at breakfast and dinner, I am now wondering if I made a mistake taking it at lunch.

[goodcelt]

I have the regular, not the ER. And I was fine today. I definitely wasn't hungry, which was cool. I just hope that this stuff helps my cells to start receiving the sugar...working out and lowcarbing, if I was normal, I would be a stringbean by now but I'm not. I just am trying this to see if it makes a difference.

[BillB]

The regular causes lots of people er, bathroom issues, and the ER does not so much. It's more of an issue when they increase the doses.

My doctor neglected to tell me that it takes 6-8 weeks to make a real impact on blood sugar. I eat LC / VLC all the time too, which may make a difference.

--bill

[Jewels]

Does Metformin help you lose weight?

[goodcelt]

Some say yes, some say no. I work out 5 days a week (cardio for 5, weights for 3) and I eat a low carb diet. I am also older. I have insulin resistance, too. I am prediabetic. So...supposedly, the Metformin will help that sugar go into my cells instead of staying in my bloodstream. I am hoping that I will see a change this week. I lose weight very slowly and it is because of my insulin resistance. I hope this will change things for me. Will keep you posted.

[amphigory]

Originally Posted by texastigerlily

My doctor just put me on it yesterday. He said to take two a day with meals, so I took one with breakfast, and one with lunch. About half an hour after lunch I started to feel really sick - major nausea. I checked my BS - 245 (that's the lowest it's been since Sat. when it nearly hit 500). I finally had my blood pressure checked - it dropped low. Since you mentioned (the OP) that you take it at breakfast and dinner, I am now wondering if I made a mistake taking it at lunch.

I don't want to be nosy, so feel free to tell me to buzz off, but what are you eating to get those numbers? OUCH! I'd be scared to death to get 245!

Since starting low-carb, my typical blood sugar is between 100 and 110 (and I've started Metformin hoping to get that down to the 85-100 range.)

[texastigerlily]

Originally Posted by amphigory

I don't want to be nosy, so feel free to tell me to buzz off, but what are you eating to get those numbers? OUCH! I'd be scared to death to get 245!

Since starting low-carb, my typical blood sugar is between 100 and 110 (and I've started Metformin hoping to get that down to the 85-100 range.)

The highest carbs I've had since Saturday is green beans...less than 7. My vision is off the charts. I've been dizzy and nauseaus. My blood pressure went DOWN. I've had a headache that won't quit. My BG dropped to 198 yesterday for a little while (finally), but then went back up. It's making me nuts.

[amphigory]

Originally Posted by texastigerlily

The highest carbs I've had since Saturday is green beans...less than 7. My vision is off the charts. I've been dizzy and nauseaus. My blood pressure went DOWN. I've had a headache that won't quit. My BG dropped to 198 yesterday for a little while (finally), but then went back up. It's making me nuts.

Okay, so I wrote a long post with a lot of unsolicited advice... but I decided that that's a bad idea. IANAD, and certainly not your doctor. But I would strongly urge you to read Richard Bernstein's book. There are free excerpts available online:

Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Official Web Site

This is the "diabetes bible"--it is unbelievably comprehensive, and should give you a lot of information that will help you deal with your blood sugars.

The key point here is that, by getting to normal blood sugars (85-100) you can avoid all the consequences of diabetes. And you CAN do this. I know it's tough--it's tough for me and it seems like my diabetes is relatively mild compared to yours. But it CAN be done if you treat this as an engineering problem and "do it by the numbers." That's what Dr. Bernstein's book will teach you how to do.

[goodcelt]

I've stopped taking my metformin today. The aches, pains and fatigue were too much for me. It lowered my rising blood sugar to 85, but it just isn't worth it to feel like that. I felt so bad that I thought seriously about eating all kinds of things that none of us on this thread have any business eating.

[BillB]

I wish you would talk to your doc and try the Metformin ER before you totally give up. It definitely takes weeks (or months) to really work, and many of the side effects diminish over time. Not to mention, the ER is much easier on the system to begin with.

Best wishes, whatever you choose!

Bill

[amphigory]

Originally Posted by BillB

I wish you would talk to your doc and try the Metformin ER before you totally give up. It definitely takes weeks (or months) to really work, and many of the side effects diminish over time. Not to mention, the ER is much easier on the system to begin with.

Best wishes, whatever you choose!

Bill

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what advantage, if any, there is to the non-ER Metformin?

[That Girl]

i agree w/bill, talk to your doctor...maybe your numbers were so high before, you need time to adjust being that low now...i told my doctor i actually feel better when i am carbed up and eating regular food, bs in the 130 ranges and he told me that was because i was too used to functioning at that level..i think he was right, it took a couple of weeks of feeling kinda jittery and crummy,in the lower ranges, but i feel better now in the normal ranges than i did at first....hth.

[goodcelt]

I was in pain. It was not good. But I went to my gyn today, and I am going for bloodwork in the morning. Thyroid stuff and A1C and insulin, etc. She's having them test EVERYTHING. I am really thrilled. My regular MD is with the best practice in town, but he has let me down and I am at a crossroads. He was willing to let my fasting 106 stay and told me to "keep doing what you're doing" until my next check-up in March. Don't freak, and don't flame me, but I was on a mini-vacation in Mexico and bought my metformin there. It's real, it's just that you don't need a prescription for it there, and I have been feeling like I am on my own for several months now. I started testing myself in August...not at my doctor's recommendation. I have done things for myself that he should have ordered me to do. Thank God for this website and a few individuals (you know who you are). I wish my gyn could handle ALL of my medical needs. She's wonderful. She also referred me to another MD, who has a great PA as well. The problem is, they don't practice at the hospital; I would be at the mercy of a hospitalist if I ever had to go in for anything and that kind of freaks me out.

So...will post my results when I get them. Thanks for listening...

[CookinsForMe]

Goodcelt, I've had to do a lot of things for myself over the years. I basically diagnosed myself then got to a physician. Then I found out that LC eating worked better than meds for a lot of Type 2s and I learned all I could about it. When that ceased to work, I ended up putting myself on insulin that didn't require a prescription. Now I get some meds from Canada since they don't require a prescription and are a lot cheaper there. Anyway, I would never flame you for that. BTDT and still have the freakin' tee shirt! You go, and do whatever you have to!

Let us know what happens.

[txtapper]

goodcelt I see nothing wrong with going to mexico for drugs as long as one is educated in what they are getting. I know a lot of people that do that.

[goodcelt]

Thank you so, so much, Denise. It's all so unbelievable. I've been low carbing on and off, but on since June. I was counting calories for awhile before that. My sugar was 92 last October and in June, it was 106 -- two points below what it was when I was first diagnosed with the following in 2007: Metabolic Syndrome, Impaired Fasting Glucose, Pre-diabetic. All of that, and I self-learned about it, online. I am so thankful for my gyn. And honestly, it's hard enough to find a decent doctor where I live -- believe me, I know what's out there. I am just sort of really let down that this doctor just sort of wasn't doing anything for me, even though he knew how consciencious I was about my diet and exercise. He even recommended Atkins at one point but also told me, in the same breath, that calorie counting was good, too -- that I could do either to get the weight off. So...I just really can't wait until the morning. I love my gyn....

[goodcelt]

Originally Posted by txtapper

goodcelt I see nothing wrong with going to mexico for drugs as long as one is educated in what they are getting. I know a lot of people that do that.

Thank you, Becky. Thank you.

[shunsweets]

Goodcelt - I think it is great that you are proactive in caring for yourself. I've ordered meds online when I didn't have a prescription. Sometimes we just have to take care of ourselves.

Your gyn sounds great. So glad you've found a Dr to help. They are hard to find.

[goodcelt]

Originally Posted by shunsweets

Goodcelt - I think it is great that you are proactive in caring for yourself. I've ordered meds online when I didn't have a prescription. Sometimes we just have to take care of ourselves.

Your gyn sounds great. So glad you've found a Dr to help. They are hard to find.

They really are.

I just feel so perturbed that I have been working so hard only to be at a standstill. My MD's nurse even said, "you're building muscle." Well, yes, that's true. But with no college education, even I know what is happening to my body, even though I have had to really research. As many years as I've been on here, too, I even think some people may have even thought that I really wasn't trying, as in, if she's eating low carb and has started exercising, why isn't she losing? Well, I think I've got the ticket now.

[CookinsForMe]

Yeah, you're blessed to have such a great gyn. My doctor is okay - she understands that I'm proactive and won't change that but sometimes it bites her in the butt! All in all she's good and understanding though so I feel blessed to have her. She's also a member of the gym we go to which is good. I was diagnosed in 2000 and have done almost everything on my own. It aint easy but the doctors before her were... well, insufficient. You just keep doing what you know to do is all! We're supportive of that.

You know, your story might be good in the diabetes october thread!

[goodcelt]

We'll see. I'll do it after I get my tests back. I also remembered reading somewhere to load up on carbs for 3 days before your tests, otherwise, they'll look too good (if you're a good low carb eater like I am). So...what did I do tonight? I had to pick up meds for my dog and they weren't ready, so, I went to the McDonald's there and had two double cheeseburgers -- one without the bun and then, I remembered what I read, so, I ate half the bun of the other one. Then, what did I do? I came home and ate a slice of the pumpkin pie that I bought for my husband. hahaha ONLY because of what I read once upon a time. But wow...just think...that MD of mine was really going to dismiss me until March 2010. I wonder if he would treat his wife or children or mother like that?

[amphigory]

Originally Posted by goodcelt

We'll see. I'll do it after I get my tests back. I also remembered reading somewhere to load up on carbs for 3 days before your tests, otherwise, they'll look too good (if you're a good low carb eater like I am). So...what did I do tonight? I had to pick up meds for my dog and they weren't ready, so, I went to the McDonald's there and had two double cheeseburgers -- one without the bun and then, I remembered what I read, so, I ate half the bun of the other one. Then, what did I do? I came home and ate a slice of the pumpkin pie that I bought for my husband. hahaha ONLY because of what I read once upon a time. But wow...just think...that MD of mine was really going to dismiss me until March 2010. I wonder if he would treat his wife or children or mother like that?

Well, loading carbs might muck up your BG, but your A1c is a 7-8 week rolling average reading, so I don't think it will do you much good. What happens is that, depending on your blood sugar, a certain percentage of red blood cells get "glycated" (i.e. glucose attaches to them) and they stay that way until they die, approximately 7-8 weeks later. And A1c is what most doctors pay the most attention to nowadays, based on the current ADA guidelines.

Personally, I think carb loading before blood work is bum advice. It's just not work the risk of relapse. I'd just get a different doctor if your doctor can't understand the effect of LC diets on the blood work.

[goodcelt]

No chance of relapse here. I am an oak. If that thought hadn't popped into my head, I'd have never done it. I'm doing the best I can and after tomorrow, things will only get better. You saw where I am trying to rectify my doctor situation, right? But I thank you very much for your thoughts.

[CookinsForMe]

Yeah, I don't get the carb loading before tests thing, myself. I've never had a Dr even suggest it and the one I asked about it said there was no reason to do it since the A1c is what they really care about. As I said, though... if a Dr says it, I take it with a grain of salt.

[goodcelt]

Well, something stayed in my head about how if you are already a good eater (low carb eater, that is), your results will say, "Oh, Johnny, your numbers aren't bad." I don't want that to happen. It probably won't affect jack squat but I did it, and it's done. I truly do remember reading it somewhere, and after all, I also read that I should buy a glucose meter. I also realize that not everything we read is gospel, but I've been sailing pretty much on my own for two years, so, what the heck? I'm more informed than my internist is. How dare he allow me to walk around like this. It really upsets me. I have been working VERY hard and I could have been much healthier by now if he had helped me. I did as much as I could on my own, believing that he was "the good doctor" at first. I still think it is the best practice in town and I have to have one in town. I can't drive an hour away if I have an emergency... But there is much room for improvement there. I mean, they even have their own lab; your results are done right then and there. But he didn't test everything. And he left me out to dry.

[CookinsForMe]

A lot of them are so misinformed its sad and scary and it sounds as though he's one of those. The internist who officially diagnosed me was one of those, too. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think of some of the things she told me to do. You're definitely on the right path, though!

[goodcelt]

I guess I'm just trying really hard to straighten this body of mine out. I'm very frustrated and let down at the moment; yet, my gyn seems to have saved the day in that she has ordered those tests for me tomorrow. She was so right on. I guess you could say I've been wading alone...but you guys are here for support, and I really, really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for talking to me about this.

[goodcelt]

Originally Posted by CookinsForMe

A lot of them are so misinformed its sad and scary and it sounds as though he's one of those. The internist who officially diagnosed me was one of those, too. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think of some of the things she told me to do. You're definitely on the right path, though!

I'm glad you understand. This guy just really rubs me the wrong way...looks like he isn't quit as great as he thinks he is, either. I managed to make him smile once or twice, too, when I showed a little weight loss. But you don't lose and gain the same 5 lbs. over and over again for no reason.