Frustrated Diabetic

[Lpickett]

Type II diabetic having issues with controlling my BS readings. I take Metformin & Glipizide daily and also workout 4/5 times a week. Recently my BS have been high and I just read an article that recent studies indicate Metformin & exercise can be counter active and BS can go high if done together. I will be 72 on Monday and been diabetic for 8 years. 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and was put on statins, which I have been reading can cause type II diabetes, is this correct? Just to let you know, I am the only person in my family that has ever had diabetes and I just wonder if anyone else is going through the same issues I am. Very frustrating!

[clivealive]

Happy birthday for tomorrow Lpickett.

I was diagnosed with type 2 last spring but am completely ignorant of what by blood sugar levels are as my GP never told me how to test them, he simply put me on 4 x 500mg of Metformin, told me to diet and exercise and sent me on a 4 times 2 hour NHS course which was a "classroom" situation with a dozen or so people with long term and both types of diabetes and with my deafness I was really unable to hear what was being said by the presenters nor the questions and answers between "teachers and pupils" so I came away more flummoxed than before.

My first hba1c three months later showed a good improvement and my Metformin was (only at my suggestion) reduced to 2 x 500mg per day and I was told to have another test in six months - this February.

I had bought myself a mini power assisted exercise bike which I can use sitting down for 25 minutes a day and I think this has helped. However as I've had Pernicious Anaemia for 44 years that and exercise don't really go together and I'm finding myself more tired and exhausted as the months go by.

As I have to have b12 injections for the P.A. every four weeks I asked both the practice nurses who have over time given them whether they could help me with questions about my Type 2 and they both said "we don't do diabetes".

Now I read in your post that you are TESTING your Type 2 levels and that "Metformin & exercise can be counter active and BS can go high if done together" and my GP has said nothing to me about either. I too have been on Statins for many years so I join you in your frustrations.

I'm reminded of a little poem I came across in my Dad's paperwork:

"To my deafness I'm accustomed,

And my dentures are just fine.

I can cope with my bi-focals,

but how I miss my mind!"

I hope you get some answers and wish you well.

"clivealive" at coming up to 75 years of age.

[Lpickett in reply to clivealive]

Clivealive, I only mentioned the article on Metformin because it was really the only negative thing I have ever read about that med. I also know if you read every article on the Internet about a subject there will be so many opinions it will drive you crazy. I am contacting my doctor tomorrow and see what she recommends. It is just so frustrating not to be able to control BS levels by doing what your supposed to be doing.

[clivealive in reply to Lpickett]

Thanks Lpickett,

I do appreciate that you can't always have implicit trust with what can be read online. My main beef about Metformin is that (on the manufacturer's own leaflet) is a warning that the medication will adversely affect absorption of vitamin b12 which is (as in my case) essential for P.A.

Any suggestion of a link with that and exercise immediately put me on an alert because P.A leaves one with very little energy to spare.

Perhaps this article by the American Diabetes Association is the one you referred to?

google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j...

Correct me if I'm wrong as I'm no medical scholar but it seems to me that taking both Metformin and exercising are not necessarily beneficial - which is more or less what you said in your original post.

[Andyman]

What are you calling high and what are they normally?

What is your diet?

Reading things on the internet is a dangerous thing especially if you take specific points and make them suit your situation.

Have you asked your doctor?

[Lpickett in reply to Andyman]

Andyman, the majority of time or over the past month, my readings in the morning are a little over 200 and between 165 and 225 in the afternoon around 4:00pm. Not on any specific diet but try and keep carbs low and very low sugar intake. I can go to gym for two hours in the am or pm (early afternoon) and my readings are still around 200 or higher. I do not believe everything I read because for every article I do read there are two more that say the total opposite. When I first went on Metformin & Glipizide my BS's were around 125 to 150 and but everything changed over the past few months. I did talk to my Encronoligist and she has suggested switching to Byetta or another injection type med to see if they will work. I just decided to go to Unhealthlock and see if anyone else is having the same issues which I find, there are.

[Andyman in reply to Lpickett]

Yes your readings are high and so as you mentioned a visit to the Doctor should be your first port of call. Its interesting that you mention that Statins can cause diabetes. But you already have it. I have never heard whether it makes it worse though. Maybe I missed that.

[Lpickett in reply to Andyman]

Andyman, I went on Statins 10 years ago and then was diagnosed with diabetes 2 years later, after going on Statiins. I didn't have diabetes before I went on statins.

[Andyman in reply to Lpickett]

Don't get me wrong I am just saying what I see peoples reactions to internet stuff is. I can believe that it can give you diabetes. I have seen no evidence that it raises your blood sugar. Which is what the thread is about.

[Rosabeth]

Hi Lpicket, it's like reading a carbon copy of my life. I was 74 last week and have had type 2 for about nine years i am also on statins and like you the only person in my family to have diabetes I was also on metformin I struggled to keep my .bS down and eventually went onto insulin then my kidneys started to decline until I was down to 25 I was living in Spain at the time and on returning to the UK I read that you should not be on metformin when you have kidney problems so on my next visit to the doc I was going to ask about this but before I could he said I am taking you of metformin because of your kidneys my kidneys have gone back to 31 and are stable.i have a back problem which limits my exercise my BS is still on the high side but the doctors say it's well controlled. If I don't have a snack between meals or am late in eating I have a hypo I eat a very heathy diet always have done I don't have a sweet tooth I don't smoke or drink I am also slim when younger really skinny but I am the heaviest now I have ever been which is still well within normal weight for height. I was also very energetic walking cycling swimming How I ever became diabetic in the first place is a mystery I go against everything they tell you are reasons for diabetes. I had Ben diabetic for a few years before I went on statins so that's not a cause in my case. I agree on the frustrating with a capital F the people I know who very overweight. Smoke, drink eat all the wrong stuff and never have a thing wrong.

[Lpickett]

Thanks bigleg, I really appreciate the information you have provided and I will definitely read those and watch the doctor from Canada. I had read info on Statins causing type II diabetes and also about Statins causing high BS readings. As I stated, no one in my family (ever) had diabetes and I did not get diabetes until being on Statins for two years, that is why I am researching and really frustrated with this whole thing. I will be seeing or talking to each of my doctors this coming week and hope they have answers and a plan.

[Hidden]

I'm tired of hearing that people have cured "or reversed" their diabetes by cutting out all starches and sugar from their diet. That does not cure diabetes. All that does is control it, or help stop it from progressing. If that doctor ever started eating starches again, his diabetes would return. Normal people can eat sugar, bread, potatoes, in any amount and it will not significantly raise their blood sugar. There are people I know who have been heavy for years and they eat more than I do and they do not have diabetes. They just don't have the bad genes that cause diabetes. It runs deep in my family. My family has a mix of type one and type two diabetics. I have it too. I can keep all of my numbers in perfect range if all I eat is meat and vegetables. I simply can't live like that. I like my food. I just manage to keep my blood sugar under 130 in the morning and under 160 two hours after a meal. I will never be cured because diabetes cannot be cured. It can only be controlled. I also take 2500 milligrams of Metformin daily!

I do apologize for being so blunt, but this is a genetic disease. It has nothing to do with eating carbs. Man has been eating bread and sugar since the beginning of time and it does not cause everyone to get diabetes. We are just the lucky ones who have a genetic predisposition to getting this disease. Also, some research has come out showing that even type two diabetes is cause by an abnormal immune system response just like type 1 is. And for those of you who are worried that Statins are causing your diabetes "or causing you to have unstable blood sugar" stop using your statins for a few weeks and see if that causes your blood sugar to normalize. That will answer your question right there. I am also on statins, but I continue to take them because they help reduce the risk of blood clots, and I have three genetic blood clotting disorders. I hope this helps!

J

[Andyman in reply to Hidden]

Well said sirclotsalot . Yes diabetes cannot be reversed but as you point out put into some sort of remission. Which I think is happening to mine. Too many big claims that go as good advice. Shoddy work really.

[Hidden]

I also wanted to say that all of those people who reversed their diabetes by removing all carbs from their diet. All they have done is significantly slowed down the progression of the disease. Even those people will eventually need to go onto oral medication. The Beta cells will still stop functioning in those individuals over time. I also know people who had to go on metformin after controlling their blood sugar through diet for many years. All we can do is control this disease. And for those of us who are getting by on oral medication, we will more than likely be on a long acting insulin if we live long enough. That is just how this disease works.

[dhannusch]

I observe the same with me. I do lots of tennis and BS values as well as blood pressure values fluctuate widely, although never to extremes. I guess one has to live with imperfections - unless science proves us to be "normal".

[Gary805]

For the diabetic people you know and to help manage weight and prevent yourselves from getting diabetes.

This dropped my blood glucose levels by 90 points when I ate a 1/5 cup AFTER a meal (--didn't do much before a meal). Be careful if you are taking meds or insulin --too much could throw you too low and into hypoglycemia.

IT CAN HELP WITH WEIGHT MANAGEMENT BY DIVERTING AND PREVENTING SUGARS FROM BECOMING FAT STORED

naturalnews.com/021626_nopa...

m.care.diabetesjournals.org...

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