GP is halving my Metformin.

Hi Josephine, thankyou for replying. Just wish I had your faith in the medics. Unfortunately, due to mis diagnoses and previous medical blunders at the hands of the NHS, I have learnt to question everything.

Hi Jane, thankyou for replying. I thought so too. I shall do as I'm told and stick with the half dose and see what has happened at my next blood test in June. Then, I might be having a conversation with the GP if the level has gone badly wrong!

Ruth, the other thing to keep in mind is that some GPs are remarkably uninformed about T2. Further, some GPs are more likely to prescribe meds than others.

Self testing daily can give you an indicator of how you are doing while you are waiting for an A1C. Although self testing is not as accurate as an A1C test, it does provide directional value. Something to consider if you are not already doing so.

Just to be clear, I expect Jane is talking about daily (or more frequent) self-testing of the blood glucose (BG) number.

It is also possible to self-test A1C, but it's much more expensive. A blood glucose test is under fifty cents, I think the home A1C tests are like twenty dollars.

You can usually get a fair estimate of A1C from the BG test, especially from a series of them over days. For that matter sometimes the BG number is more significant than the A1C, and for full cases both are needed to guide treatment.

Hi Jane, no I never have self tested with the strips. You are so right about some GPs being uninformed about type 2. Mine is one of them. It was me who first spotted that my A1c was 60 and pointed it out to him, when I got results of a routine blood test! If not, he probably wouldn't have noticed at all. The advice I have received has been negligable and the diabetic nurse at the practice is pretty useless too. They have never advised me/taught me about self testing with the monitor and strips. I have learned what little I know from reading and from forums like this. I do get blood tests done privately from time to time but generally I just wing it, keep carbs to a minimum and hope I'm doing ok. I will see what June's blood test shows and if there is no significant increase, maybe I'll try and wean myself off Metformin completely. Thankyou for your advice and sharing your knowledge. x

Hi Jx, thankyou for your advice. I never have tested with the monitor and strips, just tend to wing it and hope I'm doing the right thing. My GP hasn't given me much information and the diabetic nurse at the practice isn't much use either. I'm in the UK and the NHS is a bit hit and miss. Revered by some but in my experience, you get a cut price service. I'd rather pay for a service and get a decent one.

I will see what my blood test shows in June and them maybe try and come off Metformin altogether if there is no significant increase.

Thankyou for all your help.x

Ruth, I suggest self testing with strips. Here is why. Self testing (fasting in the morning, before and after meals, and at night) is extremely useful to learn how your body processes carbs. You can learn what foods are triggers, how your BG trends over time of day, etc. Everyone is different and everyone responds to food differently. At the beginning you test quite alot but after you get to know yourself you can back off the frequency. I also use self testing as a general barometer on how I am doing, at least in terms of trends. I record my numbers in a log and have found it to be a fairly accurate assessment of my A1C. It is not very hard to do and not very expensive. I am needle phobic and did not like it at first but got used to it very fast. If you are borderline or "pre-diabetic" now is the time to manage it. Anyway thats just my 2 cents worth. 😃

HI Jane, thankyou for your continued help. SO much better than the medicos! I'm needle phobic too but i guess you get used to it. I will definitely take your advice on board and look into getting all the kit.x

Most medical literature suggests than any Metformin dose under 2000 mg/day has little to no effect. Personally I disagree with this because 500 mg/day has a positive impact when administered with diet and exercise. Yet, 250 mg is a very small change one way or the other.

Jane, had not heard that about the dosing. But the max dose is only about 2500 per day. Hmm.

Well, if I have a slow week, I'm even more eager to try reducing to 500 per day, or even zero.

Thanks.

Hi JX, thankyou for replying. I agree, with you, it does seem a bit petty to reduce the dose and by such a small amount that it could have negligible effect.

I will definitely try your green tea suggestion and see what my blood test in June reveals.

Ruth, it sounds like you don't do blood glucose tests at home? Maybe your numbers were never so high that you started doing that?

You can get the kit yourself - or if you know somebody who has one, you can use theirs, there's no contamination with the disposable strips. Then you could tell the same day how things are going.

You can buy the kit for cash, my local chain had a special - buy 100 strips, get the meter free, though you probably also want the spring-loaded finger-sticker and the "lances", but about $40 cash would buy the whole thing and enough tests for 3x a day for a month.

If you've already learned to count carbs, and knocked your diet down to the keto range, I'd be surprised to hear you weren't also doing this, but just in case, it is something you can do on your own.

In general, I agree that the less meds the better. No meds is my preference. Yet, Metformin seems to have some positive effects beyond impact on diabetes. 500 mg of Metformin is a minimal dose. It is unlikely that a 250 mg dosage change (+ or -) would have a significant impact.