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Avatar universal

So Lost

I just learned that I have diabetes from being admitted to the hospital for numbness and soreness in my upper thighs and also chest pains and shortness of breath with excessive sweating. My question is the doctor said it was a low case of diabetes so i thought nothing of it now i am doing my reading and am on metformin and my bs levels are almost always above 300 i just did one and it is now at 397 and it is starting to scare me. I am tryinfg to eat right and i started walking but am not sure about how high this is it is really scaring me now.
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Avatar universal
I have had my "awakening" so to say and am ready to lose the weight but just wanted to know what to do when my bs spikes like this. I get kinda light headed and start sweating real bad so I dont know if i need to go back to the doctor immediately or er or just work through it.
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Avatar universal
Me again. I just took a look at your profile and got the answer to my first question. You are overweight and you were told it is Type 2. Ok, that is good to know. Being Type 2 makes it less likely you have to worry about the DKA I mentioned above, but it is not impossible. The advice to see an endo is still very much true. Your doctor prescribed Metformin and sent you on your way, but it may not be enough to get your numbers down. Your weight is a serious factor in giving you what is called insulin resistance. Meaning your body produces enough insulin but you are unable to use it. You might need some more help right now in getting those numbers down, either additional oral meds or possibly insulin. I know the thought of insulin is scary to many people, but it is very effective in lowering blood sugar and you will be surprised how much better you feel how quickly. The good news is that then you can work on improving your blood sugar with a combination of weight loss, exercise and improved diet. Many people carrying a lot of extra weight find that when they lose a good amount, they are able to reduce or even get completely off meds. Many people like you on the websites I'll share with you have spoken about being actually glad they got diagnosed with type 2 because it gave them the push they needed to improve their health. You are only 35 (I'm 61 so that seems young to me!) and you will greatly improve the quality of the rest of your life if you improve your health. So hang in there, see the endo for the right medication combination, work with a dietician or diabetes educator to learn how to control your blood sugar with a combination of meds, diet, exercise and weight loss. And things will improve.
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Avatar universal
Hi
I know you are overwhelmed right now, but I want to reassure you that diabetes is a manageable disease. There is a lot to learn at first, and it sounds like your doctor hasn't given you very much information. My first advice would be to get a referral to an endocrinologist as well as a diabetic educator. Between those two you will learn a lot, and get on the right path of treatment. After that, there is a lot to learn on your own and if you send me a private message I'll give you the websites where there are a lot more diabetics you can learn from.

There is no such thing as a " low case of diabetes"  first of all; there is pre-diabetes but that is not what you have with your blood sugar. You have diabetes. What you need to find out right away is which type of diabetes you have, type 1 or type 2. They are quite different. Some people think type 1 is for kids and type 2 is for grownups but that is not the case. If you are, in fact, type 1 the metformin is going to do you no good. A couple questions: How old are you? Are you thin, normal or overweight? Do you have any other autoimmune conditions such as thyroid? But, the bottom line is you need an endo to correctly determine your type which is done by testing for antibodies which would mean you are type 1, and no antibodies you are type 2.

Ok, so make the appointment with an endo, and meanwhile do the best you can to reduce those numbers. When you are above 300 you should drink a lot of water. Also, you should try and reduce your carb intake; it is not just sugar that raises blood sugar it is all carbs such as bread, pasta, cereal, rice. Whatever you can do to reduce carbs, by eating protein and vegetables is good. Yes, as you suspect, your numbers are quite high. What you need to look out for is flulike symptoms, nausea, vomiting, etc. If that happens go to the ER because you could be having something called DKA.

Bottom line: I don't know how long you have been on the metformin, but obviously it is not lowering your numbers. So make that endo appointment right away.

Next, take a deep breath. I know you are scared, but as you will see when I give you the websites (I am not allowed to post them to the board), thousands of us have been where you are and are now living healthy happy lives, of which managing our diabetes is only a part. You'll get there too.
Zoe
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