I am prediabetic or Metabolic syndrome, not sure which one or if they are the same.My fastings run about 96 to 118 depending on what I eat before bedtime. I love Kellogs chocolate cereal, I thought since it is dark chocolate it would be ok but this a.m. my fasting was 127!!!! never had a reading that high fasting in my whole life!!!!! I also have a new meter and I think it is testing waaaay too high!!!
So my Dr. wants me to try Metformin 500 once a day regular release to see if my numbers come down. I do fairly well keeping them down but I do enjoy carbs, not sweets, and chips and them kind of carbs but whole grain carbs, good for you carbs and I rarely eat sweets.
So my question is if I take Metformin would I be able to eat carbs with out such spikes? I'm not looking for a free carb ride and i will continue to eat the way i'm eating even on Metformin but i'm wondering if I can worry less when I do eat carbs. I can eat a double hamburger and some fries and a diet coke at burgerking with bacon and some yummy sauce and two hours later my BS is about 127 average....i dont do that very often but when I do I feel horribly guilty.
So any other things you can tell me about Metformin (besides gas) i've read all that but I want to hear frist hand not some literature from the pharmacy.
today I decided to have my cereal treat in the afternoon so i would hope that it wont be so high int he morning fasting but two hours later I tested and I was at 171 with one meter and 159 with the other meter and I dont which one anymore to use cause they are so far apart normally that I dont know what is what now...I know both numbers are not good!!!!! so that is what brought me to wondering if I take the Metformin would that lower that number if I ate the cereal? My hbaic is 6.3 if that helps anything..I do have high cholesterol/high blood pressure and high triglycerides as well and I do take blood pressure meds...well.thanks for comments and looking forward to them from the experts!
TheOrange Evil - Dark chocolate that's low in sugar can be good for you, but the chocolate can't work magic. You still ate all those grains and presumably you ate your cereal with milk. Milk is very high in sugar. If you want dark chocolate, just buy a Lindt 85% bar. Four squares have around 5 grams of sugar, if I recall correctly. That should satisfy your chocolate craving without the blood sugar spike.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Metformin is that carbohydrate tolerance improves only a little. If I binge, I pay for it.
Metformin has two main functions: suppresses some of your liver's glucose production (Type 2 diabetics produce more glucose than non-diabetics) and improves insulin sensitivity. Metformin does not stimulate your pancreas to make more insulin or reduce the impact of carbohydrates you digest. Rather, Metformin facilitates your body's own natural processes. Thus, Metformin works best on a low-carbohydrate diet.
With blood sugar spikes into the 170s, I don't think any amount of Metformin is going to make cereal possible. I know that's incredibly disheartening, but you're learning quickly what some diabetics and even doctors never learn: foods high in carbohydrates have a detrimental effect on blood sugar! I gave up cereal and bread a long time ago because even lower-carbohydrate versions still raised my blood sugar more than I liked.
Your A1c is right on the cusp of what's considered diabetic and your one fasting reading would've been diabetic if conducted in a laboratory. I'm glad you're going to take Metformin, but I think now is the time to start saying goodbye to some of your carby friends. I was a carb-oholic who rarely ate sweets, too, and the transition was very painful, but I got my A1c down to 5.0% and my triglycerides fell to 70. It's worth it to go low carb.
Ralph T - Please read the information sheet that came with your Metformin prescription.
ReplyDeleteI started out on Metformin 500 and went to 850.
I had diarrhea so bad,it was not funny.
My Dr. took me off it.
Metformin is used to help control cholesterol.
I have the same reading problem with 2 meters using from the same blood sample.
The next time you go in for blood work take a reading with both meters and ask for a copy of the lab work and see how your meters compare to the lab results.
Tabea - Metformin is a great, safe, effective pill but it can't work wonders.
ReplyDeleteMetformin isn't insulin. It doesn't lower your blood sugar. Metformin does two things. Firstly it reduces glucose dumping by your liver - this is stored glucose, so has little to do with what you eat. Secondly, it improves your insulin sensitivity, i.e., it helps you to use insulin more effectively. Again, this has no direct impact on what you put in your mouth.
Metformin works best on a low carb diet. Metformin can't do anything to deal with the carbs you consume, only insulin can do that. Trying to do so is like using a piece of tissue paper to soak up a gallon's worth of spilled water. Or like trying to use an ice cube to put out a house fire.
500 mg of Metformin is a very very tiny dose and in many people, does not much at all.
BTW I thought I should also debunk a couple of other misconceptions along the way. For someone with a glucose metabolism problem, a carb is a carb is a carb. A piece of wholegrain bread is going to raise your blood sugar just as much as white toast sprinkled with sugar. There is really no such thing as a 'good for you' carb if you have a glucose metabolism problem. Putting any carb in your mouth is the same as putting sweets in your mouth, because it all becomes sugar in the end anyway.
Finally, both 171 and 159 two hours after eating are 100% diabetic numbers. I know you have been having trouble with conflicting readings from meters, but both of them are saying the same thing in this case. Anything over 140 two hours after eating = diabetes, clear and simple. A non-diabetic would be under 140 at that point, and most would be back to 80-100. You asked if Metformin would lower that number if you ate the cereal? Absolutely not. The only way to lower the number is not to eat the cereal. Or to admit to yourself what you actually already know but are denying flat out, that you have diabetes, then go on insulin, and that's the only way you will be able to eat cereal and have normal-ish numbers afterwards.