new diagnosed type 2 diabetes straight to metformin

hi all i can say about you being put stait on metformin before the diet controll is that maybe you reading was so high they decided to put you right on the medication instesd of waiting months to see if it got better with diet because lets face it we all end up on the medication eventually anyway good luck.

hello. i agree with the last comment. just wanted to say. you will be given a diabetic nurse at your surgery, who will help and advice you, you will be seen by a podiatrst, and a dietician, again they will give you advice, you will get information from 'nhs choices' and the daibetic association. on the internet. it will all sound daunting at first, but take your time and it will become clear what you are supposed to be doing. hopefully by npow this has all happened. i have been type 2 daibetic since 2003, and take metformin and three insulin injections a day. margaret e.

Changing your diet will have a bigger impact on your bg levels than any medication. all drugs have side effects.

the plus side of metformin, you will now get free prescriptions for everything, it is also cardio protective, some people report weight loss as a side effect too.

one major drawback is, some people experience severe diahorrea. this usually caused by excessive consumption of carbohydrate whilst taking the metformin. the effects can be reduced by carefully increasing the doseage and reducing carbs. if this fails then a 'slow release' or ' modified release' is available.

as for going straight onto metformin, diet is usually tried first. the problem is, which diet should you be on? i know which one i would go for!

Hi I was diagnosed about 2 1/2 years ago but I always new I was diabetic I kept asking the doctor if I was diabetic and he said nothing has shown up in your blood tests but never gave me a glucos tolerance test the when I move to another doctors they gave me a blood test for rumertoid arthritis and up it popped the diabetes

So I was write the doctor said your levels are so high we have to put you straight on to metformin he said you must of had this for a long long time so if he has put you on tablets after just six days I would say your levels must be high.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 9 months ago. I take sitigliptin in the morning and the highest dose of sr metformin. I have changed my diet drastically and have lost 2 stone 3lbs in total. My problem is I can't get my blood sugar below 25mmols. Everyone Iv spoken to says I should be on insulin, is this the case? My diabetic nurse is hopeless, I see her every 3 months and all she does is take a blood test. I'm in her office all of 3 minutes if I'm lucky. They won't prescribe me a blood glucose monitor (I use my friends) and I still feel extremely unwell. Any advice?

Hi,

I have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes possibly triggered by steroid treatment for PMR.

This was picked up by my optometrist when I went to her with a very severe deterioration in my eyesight.I had no symptoms of GCA and since being on Metformin my eyesight is now almost back to normal within about a month.

My reading was extremely high and I was given Metformin immediately but only once a day for 10 days to reduce the likelihood of diarrhoea and now twice daily.

I was extremely ill in the first 2 weeks after diagnosis but have seem to have got everything under control now.

Initially I worried a lot about my diet but with help from my diabetic nurseand advice from my sisters who are also diabetic I'm in a much better place now. My advice is make sure you have a good diabetic nurse and insist on a monitor if only to give you peace of mind.

Believe me, losing one's eyesight and the ability to drive sure concentrates the mind. I'm very glad I haven't had to rely on diet alone.

There's a lot of good advice on Diabetes UK.

Good Luck.Blodwyn

Here's an informative video about Type 2 Diabetes :

patient.info/health/media/videos/type-2-diabetes---what-do-i-need-to-know

Hi, many thanks for your reply.

All of the points in the video have been stressed to me by my GP and diabetic nurse.

I've been taking medication to control my blood pressure such as a beta blocker,ace inhibitor and calcium channel blocker for many years and have now also been prescribed a statin for cholestrol and Metformin.I tend to have problems with my stomach so also have had my medication for that increased .

My nurse has looked at my feet and explained how to look after them and my GP has told me never to walk about in bare feet!! I have an appointment with the eye clinic and nutritionist.I have a monitor and have managed to maintain a fasting gloucose level of between 4.1 and 5,1 within 2 to 3 weeks of my diagnosis and my eyesight has almost returned to normal.

Unfortunately I also have PMR for which I also take steroids and calcium and vitamin D, and osteoarthritis for which I take regular paracetamol so it's not been easy.

( I felt fine during Christmas 2013 with no sign I would develop either PMR or diabetes and no pain from my osteoarthritis either)

It just shows how life can change in a very short time and I'm grateful fora very helpful GP,diabetic nurse and my optometrist who alerted me to possible diabetes when I consulted her about an obvious rapid deterioration in my eyesight.