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Metformin and Weight Loss
I am a 66 y/o newly diagnosed diabetic. Went to hospital with chest pains and found out I was diabetic. Miraculously no damage done to eyes, feet, kidneys but discovered a heart anomaly. I started out at 254 lbs and I dieted all last year and was unsuccessful with losing weight. On Dec 5 my doctor prescribed Metformin 1500 mg at night, but I have been taking in the morning. I was extremely nauseated and had diarrhea the first two weeks, but now I'm only have nausea very occasionally and getting better. The most amazing thing (I thought) was that the weight started peeling off me 2 weeks ago. I now weigh 238 lbs. That's 16 lbs since Dec 5. I got very anxious about the weight loss and thought I had cancer and then went to the pharmacy and started research and found out it was the met that was doing it. One morning I woke up and had shed 4 lbs overnight. I generally have very little appetite - use to lick my plate and now I don't finish even the smallest meal. I do seem to crave sweets late in the evening. (Maybe I SHOULD take it in the evening! I try to drink more water and eat a lot of yougurt but I'm not on any particular diet. My blood sugars are running 120 to 150. My problem is starch. I'm sure if I had stayed on a strict diet I would have lost 20 lbs. I haven't had diabetic counseling so I've been hunting here and there trying to figure out what to eat. I will say this - I'm not severely out of breath as I was before I lost these 14 lbs. It's 27 degrees F. out right now and I'm sweating at the nape of my neck. I had to turn heat off in the house and don't feel cold at all. Has anyone else had sweating? I know I need to start exercising more and get a better diet, so I'll be working on that after the holidays. What I'm amazed at are the people I've met who have had diabetes II a long time and have never really got into trying to figure out how to eat, etc., etc. I would not be nerveous about taking met.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yes, zoela is right.
Type 1.5 is often discovered when patients don't respond to oral meds, and/or the diabetes progresses very quickly. Type 1.5 is autoimmune and may occur in thin people. losing weight doesn't help much or for very long.
Type 1.5 is usually treated with insulin fairly early in the course.
Here's some more information:-
Type 1.5 Diabetes
aka Slow Onset Type 1 and LADA
Type 1.5 is one of several names now applied to those who are diagnosed with diabetes as adults, but who do not immediately require insulin for treatment, are often not overweight, and have little or no resistance to insulin. When special lab tests are done, they are found to have antibodies, especially GAD65 antibodies, that attack their beta cells. This sort of diabetes is sometimes called Slow Onset Type 1 or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults or LADA.
About 15% to 20% of people diagnosed as "Type 2" actually have this type. They are often diagnosed as Type 2 because they are older and will initially respond to diabetes medications because they have adequate insulin production. The treatment the person is first put on may be diet, exercise, and standard Type 2 medications.
Since insulin resistance is minimal or non-existent, medications designed to reduce insulin resistance such as Avandia and Actos are not effective. Other meds that stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin, slow digestion of carbs, or reduce excess glucose production by the liver are often effective in controlling the blood sugar for a few years.
A misdiagnosis is easy to make when the person is older and responds well at first to treatment with oral medications. If someone does not clearly fit the model for Type 1, they may be mistakenly placed on oral agents even though limited capacity for insulin production remains. The immune system's slower and more selective attack on the beta cells allows these cells to function to a high degree for a few years. On average, insulin is required in half of those with Type 1.5 diabetes within four years of diagnosis, compared to over ten years in those with true Type 2 .
Type 1.5 is often discovered when patients don't respond to oral meds, and/or the diabetes progresses very quickly. Type 1.5 is autoimmune and may occur in thin people. losing weight doesn't help much or for very long.
Type 1.5 is usually treated with insulin fairly early in the course.
Here's some more information:-
Type 1.5 Diabetes
aka Slow Onset Type 1 and LADA
Type 1.5 is one of several names now applied to those who are diagnosed with diabetes as adults, but who do not immediately require insulin for treatment, are often not overweight, and have little or no resistance to insulin. When special lab tests are done, they are found to have antibodies, especially GAD65 antibodies, that attack their beta cells. This sort of diabetes is sometimes called Slow Onset Type 1 or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults or LADA.
About 15% to 20% of people diagnosed as "Type 2" actually have this type. They are often diagnosed as Type 2 because they are older and will initially respond to diabetes medications because they have adequate insulin production. The treatment the person is first put on may be diet, exercise, and standard Type 2 medications.
Since insulin resistance is minimal or non-existent, medications designed to reduce insulin resistance such as Avandia and Actos are not effective. Other meds that stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin, slow digestion of carbs, or reduce excess glucose production by the liver are often effective in controlling the blood sugar for a few years.
A misdiagnosis is easy to make when the person is older and responds well at first to treatment with oral medications. If someone does not clearly fit the model for Type 1, they may be mistakenly placed on oral agents even though limited capacity for insulin production remains. The immune system's slower and more selective attack on the beta cells allows these cells to function to a high degree for a few years. On average, insulin is required in half of those with Type 1.5 diabetes within four years of diagnosis, compared to over ten years in those with true Type 2 .
Not to make your life more complicated, but you also want to get checked to make certain you are in fact Type II. Unexplained weight loss is more a symptom of Type 1 and LADA/1.5. 20% of people diagnosed Type 2 are in fact Type 1.5. I was 58 when diagnosed, not a lot younger than you and they just assumed Type 2 by my age; the treatments are quite different.
I am reading here on this forum to help myself ,I found your posts very helpful for me aswell thank you
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi,
I've been away on holidays so didn't get back to you.
results that are way out always need to be rechecked. It may be that your meter is not very accurate. Some meters are much more variable than others. I use a horizon meter, which seems fairly consistent (and my Endocrinologist said it was one of the better ones). My previous meter always gave me high readings......
Can your meter be checked somehow? With a standard solution.
Another possibility is that your fingers had touched something with sugar in it and some of that got into the test sample. So always wash your hands before testing.
I've been away on holidays so didn't get back to you.
results that are way out always need to be rechecked. It may be that your meter is not very accurate. Some meters are much more variable than others. I use a horizon meter, which seems fairly consistent (and my Endocrinologist said it was one of the better ones). My previous meter always gave me high readings......
Can your meter be checked somehow? With a standard solution.
Another possibility is that your fingers had touched something with sugar in it and some of that got into the test sample. So always wash your hands before testing.
Sally, I have one more question. I have a Freestyle glucometer. Yesterday I took b/s and it was 277 before eating and I was stunned. Then I retook it and it was 127. Since I've done closely repeated checks and they have a fairlly wide variance, but not quite as wide as this one was. Any suggestions?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi,
Congrats on the weight loss. YOu don't need to diet to lose weight, but you do need a diet that will help control blood sugars. Your levels of 120 - 150 are still too high. Can your doctor refer you to a nutritionist?
ANyway, you need to control how much carbohydrate you eat at each meal. Following an atkins type diet (maintenance phase) / lower carb diet is the way to go. Best way to work out what you can and can't eat is to test 2 hours after eating and to see what your blood sugar levels are.
For example some people can't handle carbs well in the morning and need to have a protein breakfast (ie. fried or boiled eggs / a piece of fish, some mushrooms, sauted onions, a little tomato), rather than the traditional toast or cereal. But then may find that can eat more carbs later in the day with blood sugar still ok.
Try eating small snacks between meals, that combine carb/ protein / fat also. These will help keep blood sugar levles stable.
Cut off above which damage starts occurring is 140. So ideally you'd keep your blood sugar below this level at all times.
Get educated. It's well worth it for long term health and well being.
Limit anything white (sugar, bread, rice, pasta). Try wtih say just 1/2 cup of rice / pasta, small potato, then the rest of your meal would be green and orange veges, meat / protein, salad.
Congrats on the weight loss. YOu don't need to diet to lose weight, but you do need a diet that will help control blood sugars. Your levels of 120 - 150 are still too high. Can your doctor refer you to a nutritionist?
ANyway, you need to control how much carbohydrate you eat at each meal. Following an atkins type diet (maintenance phase) / lower carb diet is the way to go. Best way to work out what you can and can't eat is to test 2 hours after eating and to see what your blood sugar levels are.
For example some people can't handle carbs well in the morning and need to have a protein breakfast (ie. fried or boiled eggs / a piece of fish, some mushrooms, sauted onions, a little tomato), rather than the traditional toast or cereal. But then may find that can eat more carbs later in the day with blood sugar still ok.
Try eating small snacks between meals, that combine carb/ protein / fat also. These will help keep blood sugar levles stable.
Cut off above which damage starts occurring is 140. So ideally you'd keep your blood sugar below this level at all times.
Get educated. It's well worth it for long term health and well being.
Limit anything white (sugar, bread, rice, pasta). Try wtih say just 1/2 cup of rice / pasta, small potato, then the rest of your meal would be green and orange veges, meat / protein, salad.
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