have been having Blood Sugar readings of less than 5mmol/l on a daily basis; also some less than 4. I wonder if I am over-medicated. my last HA1c test was 43 and I am on Metformin 500mg, sitagliptin 100mg and gliclazide 40 mg - one of each daily. I am having to eat glucose tablets to bring my readings up to a sensible level. I can't get to see (or even speak to) the diabetic nurse for another two weeks, and getting a doctor's appointment is impossible. what should I do? i have recently lost 3 stone, and have started walking 20 minutes daily.
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That's a lot of weight to lose. Could you get in as an emergency at your surgery? It's just a thought. Please take care of yourself. Love and hugs Lynne xxxx
Has your medication been altered since you lost all of that weight? It seems to me - from my experiences only since I am not medically trained at all - that that is a lot of medication!
Have you got a walk in centre near you? You might have to wait but it may well be worth it. Alternatively stand outside your GPs in the morning so that you are first in the door when it opens and get one of the very few emergency slots(as Lynne has said) - that works for me!
I think you need to see your diabetic nurse but mine dropped my gliclazide when my sugars dropped like that. The gliclazide can give you hypos. I stopped taking it as my hba1c was 39 and was on no ther meds. That was 2 years ago. I had been on a LCHF diet and lost about 3 stones.
that's really helpful, Koalajane, we share several similarities! i have now found an email template where i can contact the med centre and get a reply 'within two days' (Wow) I know they are always fully booked and under pressure, but that doesn't help me.
i have my fingers crossed. so far today, i have not taken any of my diabetic pills.
Today I didn't take my diabetic pills and the readings have been:-
6.5, 5.8, 7.9, and 5.4 just now.
I was on 2 Januvia a day till about 3 months ago, but i ditched one of them for the same reason. I will see what they have to say on the phone tomorrow.
No appointments till 20th February! but they are phoning me tomorrow morning. Hope it's someone who knows what he or she is talking about; not the cleaner.
Update: The message said that someone from the med centre would ring me 'from 8 am' so i sat here at my computer playing cards until 11 am, and then checked my mobile's battery: i never use it, so it is always in my bag, switched off. Guess what? the idiot doctor had phoned me on my mobile and left a message. The message said 'I tried to phone you,' wow! So I put my coat on and drove through the fog to the med centre and joined the queue at reception. eventually I was called to the counter where I made it quite clear that I was getting irritable at these turns of events; I told the girl that I had brought my flask and sandwiches and intended to stay sitting in the waiting room until something was done. She informed me that the doctor who tried to phone me was only going to say that I really needed to see a diabetic nurse. She then trotted off to see the practice manager and came back after quite some time and told me he had suggested that I should cut my pills in half. But she did give me an appointment with the diabetic nurse for Monday next week which is a bit earlier than my appointment on Friday. I shan't cancel Friday just in case Monday doesn't work out. Then i realised I was still in time for my swim at 12 noon - but i had forgotten my swimming kit. It has been one of those weeks, folks.
Hope you can get it sorted. I think dropping the gliclazide would work but let us see what your diabetic nurse says. I hope she is as wonderful as mine is.
It's a good idea to not cancel the appointment until you see what happens. I'm sorry to hear that it was a very stressful day with the med center. Some doctor offices are like that when I try to get in touch with them, too. I hope everything works out for you very soon.
I looked at my details online (we can do that) and under appointments it said 'Monday, nurse Wendy, reason HYPERTENSION REVIEW'. Well it's enough to put your blood pressure up!!!
well i went for my 'hypertension' appointment and found to my delight that the nurse had trained in diabetics and was perfectly capable of answering my questions. She was appalled by the 'cut the pills in half' advice, and told me that my weight loss and exercise regime meant that i didn't need so much med, and i could give up the gliclaside straight away. Brilliant! Koalajane was right. Also she told me the best time of day to take each of the pills (januvia and metformin) to gain the most advantage from them. I went for my swim today (twice a week) and will do my walk tomorrow.
As you are eating the glucose pills to bring up your blood sugar levels, Yes you are taking too many meds.
43 is a number we'd all love to see, well done for losing so much weight.
Out of all of those drugs you take, the only one you should continue with is the Metformin. ONLY because its the safe one, but if I was a qualified Dr, I would check your HBA1c level since losing your weight and lose all the drugs altogether depending on its outcome.
The Gliclazide is only if you are insulin intolerant, you are clearly not, now you've lost the weight. The more exercise you do, the less you have to take those drugs.
The gliptin drug is to help the Metformin work better.
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Does heat increase blood glucose levels?
My liquid intake same most days
Uncontrolled Diabetes 
