Medications & My Experience

[etm1109]

Facts: Type 2 diabetic, known for 2 years.

Began with Metformin / Starlicz to get under control for knee surgery.

Metformin caused me a lot of problems with pain and moodiness. Moved to Byetta/Advandia for 1 month, lost job and insurance. Off all drugs for 3 months.

Blood sugars run 160-190 w/o medications.

Was placed on Actos after getting new job, numbers dropped to 120 - 140 on wakeup. I almost never got below 120.
Actos caused a severe amount of pain in the liver region and extreme moodiness in my behaviours. After 3 months, I was often on the floor writhing in pain towards the end.

I finally had to tell doctor, I'm not taking medication when I almost went to the emergency room in pain. Doctor said, Actos can't be causing this. 4 days after stopping medication, all symptons of pain stopped. Moodiness disappeared.

Was placed on Glimperal/Glypzide? Was not thrilled that this drug goosed the pancreas and once my pancreas gave up whatever it has left, I'd be left with insulin or death. After 3 months of this drug, similiar symptons to Actos and the fact it was accelerating the destruction of my pancreas ( though when it would go no one knew or could tell me ), I decided to stop that too.

So, I'm on Byetta and exercise...until recently.

Over the last 3 months, I got planer facitis in my foot, tendonitis in my left arm ( may be carpal tunnel syndrome ). I also have been waking up with achy joints. I'm in my mid 40s and overweight. And you just don't know is this normal part of growing old or diabetes related or a combination.

Blood sugars on rise are between 160-190. Usually closer to 160.

Here is an interesting twist. If I have a small amount of carbohydrates ( usually low carb breakfast cereals ) before I go to bed around midnight - 1:00, I can sometimes wake up in the 140 - 160 range. Therefore, I'm deducing part of my problem is my liver and the 'dawn affect' is a major part of my diabetes. This doesn't mean that I don't think insulin sensitivity is non-existent, but I'm thinking my liver is contributing to this quite a bit.

And yes, I struggle with my diet; however, I am moving to an Atkins like diet. Lots of chickens, beans, nuts, etc.

My ATC is still under 7.00, so that is a good thing.

What I found was the current regimine of diabetic drugs had terrible side affects for me that made me feel worse than the disease.

I'm slowly losing weight ( about 1 to .5 lb a week. ) I'm still using Byetta as I understand that helps the appetite. Exercise is limited for me since I have had two major knee surgeries and can barely walk on my right leg let along contemplate jogging. Even mild bending and stretching ( i.e. yoga / tai chi ) causes pain in the knee. Do a lot of swimming in the summer time or try to anyways.

I do have days when I don't watch what I eat and I climb above 200 or I'm tired; however, I'm no longer having the intense pains or moodiness that some of these drugs were causing me. For me these drugs were a nightmare and usually only brought me down 20-30 points on average.

I'm going to see my doctor in October. We're discussing insulin in inhaled form to help control. I'm not resisting insulin, since I'm already giving myself shots for Byetta.

What I have realized is we are all different in many ways. I'm doing the best I can with diet and limited exercise.

We'll see. . .

[MJB]

Having a bad knee I sympathize with your pain. Can you ride a stationary or regular bike?

Losing weight will almost definitely help you a lot, do what you need to do.

I'm guessing your doc is going to put you on insulin.

Best of luck to you.

[Dawn]

We are all doing the best we can and you are right...it is all different for everyone. Metformin gave me terrible pains although I've heard from some that the pain will diminish over time...for me I couldn't wait and stopped taking it. I eat a restricted carb diet and was able to lose 100 pounds. So...keep up the good work with dieting. Do you have a gym or a rec center with an indoor pool? Since swimming is something you can do then you should consider looking for an indoor pool. Exercise is essential. Also, at the YWCA where I work out they have chair exercises and also 2 neat pieces of exercise equipment for those with problems with exercises where they can get their heart rate up by using their arms. So, maybe you could check into that. Good luck. Dawn

[slipperyelm]

Good to hear you are doing what you can for exercise. Have you tried getting a few dumbbells to lift with what ever arm is up to it, at what ever weights you are able? There are actually quite a few dumbbell exercises you can do other than just the curl that people typically think of. You can brace your bad wrist. You can do a lot for the back and abdominals without bringing your bad knees into it, too. For that matter, there are leg exercises that won't much involve your bad knees. Look around the internet for some good exercise ideas. (I was on crutches last summer and was afraid about losing my usual exercises, but took the opportunity to start some weight lifting and yoga-like workouts. It helped surprisingly much. Oh, I have carpel tunnel syndrome in both wrists, too, and just a little arthritis in the hips.

You might look into supplements, too. The one that works for me is brand name "Insulow," and it consists of 100 mg r-alpha lipoic acid plus 750 mcg biotin. You take it just before meals. I do not even take it right before my lowest carb meals, or it will actually make me go too low. There are numerous threads here discussing various supplements; you could look into those.

By the way, regarding the Atkins like diet--you do know beans contain a lot of carbohydrate, right? So go easy on those if you are trying limit carbs.

Is there anything you do to try and get your various pains under control? It sounds like pain gets in your way a lot.

That's interesting that you are considering inhaled insulin. Have you looked into the price? I've wondered about price. Personally I'd do the injected. You can take larger doses injected (t-2s often need fairly large doses to make a diff.). There is no risk of lung damage with injected. The supplies to inject are less bulky to carry around than are the supplies to inhale. You can get a more tailored dose if you inject. You can inject a basal insulin, but I' have no idea how long acting the inhaled insulin is.

Well, hang in there. Keep making whatever small changes you can. Some times making one or two small changes adds up and you become able to make other changes that really help. For instance, if you could cut just a few calories per day, maybe over some months you could lose just a little weight, then maybe after a while, you might be able to add in a bit of walking exercise. That kind of thing. I know how it is, though, when one problem gets in the way of addressing another problem. Just do what ever little things you can and look to a future of being able to do more.