Erk!

Blood glucose 15.4..

Looks like the (increased dose) of gliclazide isn't working! Time to go
back to the quack..

Phil.

 

Insulin. YKIMS. I fought it for a couple of years but it (really) was
the best thing I did agreeing to it. Contact me off-list if you like,
the addy in the headers is valid.

 

Err. no. I'd rather not. Especially when there are other treatments
(Metformin for one) that are much much better than gliclazide.

Insulin (for a t2) is *very* much the last port of call.

Phil.

 

Metformin should be use /with/ rather than /instead/ of sulphonylureas
or insulin. It gives me the shits - badly. Some are more tolerant of it
than others. YMMV but I can tolerate only 500mg per day, when my GP
tried to get me up to 2g a day I could never go more than 50ft from a
toilet.

That's what I used to think and why I fought it for so long. Modern,
genetically-engineered insulins are incredibly convenient and *much*
better at getting good control, mostly because they can be titrated
against food intake and exercise in a way that oral medications can't.
That way you fit your diabetes round your life rather than vice versa.
For the average, middle-aged, insulin-resistant t2 (e.g. me) insulin is
inevitable eventually and the sooner it's started the fewer the
side-effects. Some of the side-effects even go into reverse: my retinas
are a lot better now and I even wake up with a stiffy occasionally.
Honestly, I've never looked back.

What's your HbA1c?

 

For most t2's I know it's used on its own (and this is what the NICE
guidlines say - the only reason that I'm on gliclazide is because I'm
not overweight and (up to now) had good glucose control..)

Like my mother - she is on it exclusively and has no ill effects on her
digestion.

Last HB1aC was 7.1 (3 months ago - this is when the GP put my
gliclazide dose up to 80mg in the morning and 40mg at night -
previously it had been 40/40).

Phil

 

NICE would, metformin is dirt-cheap. It doesn't stimulate insulin
production though, just helps you better use what you've got. If that's
very little then it's not much good on its own. You're t2 and not
overweight? ****, that's unlucky. Stressed?

As I said, YMMV, a lot of us don't tolerate it well.

Hmmm... it took insulin to get me /down/ to 7.1. Prolly some years
before you need insulin, then, good luck.

 

And as a T2, you're already VERY likely to be producing more insulin than is
good for you, so adding more of the same does one or two things.

One is it reduces massively the body's ability to burn fat and 2, high
levels of insulin in the system are NOT good for the cardio vascular system
in the long term.

Ask Boyd Coddington.

I wonder how long this question will be asked in light of recent reports
that maintaining a near normal A1c hasn't proved to be anything but an
exercise in number crunching? And in Phil's case, he may still have an
excellent A1c because a single BG reading isn't an indication of anything
bad happening. It could've been a feral spike or even a bad test.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

None of which is news to me but it's a life-sentence anyway so the fewer
side-effects and the better quality of life I manage for my remaining
years the better, as far as I'm concerned. Going blind and losing my
legs versus a quick death from a heart attack? I don't get to choose but
I can help my odds.

Which is why I asked, of course it may simply be a bad test, HbA1c is
alleged to give a ten-week average. I was trying to reassure.

 

Not much good though, if you're a type II with severe insulin
resistance issues.

 

The alternative being?

 

Give me 12 years to get to PhD in endocrinology, a few years' research
on top of that and the requisite funding and I'll get back to you.

 

Meds that address the resistance. Metformin for a start. Of course, a
massive oversupply of insulin will have its effect, but unfortunately, it's
not all good.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Not particularly. The quack increased my gliclazide dose and basically
said "lets see if that works".

Which was reassuring.

Phil.