I need advice from those who've been there

[Lori Lynn]

Hello,
New here. Glad I found these boards.
Here's my question.
I have high Bp and visit the doctor every six months. About 5 years a go, after a fast my BS was 126. Doctor said he wasn't too worried because my cholesterol was great.
So he'd check my BS once a year and one year he checked it and I hadn't fasted. It was 110 that day.
A year ago it was 109.
In Feb, 2008 it was 126 and now my cholesterol is 220 but my good cholesterol is good and my bad is 154. He says when it hits 160 then it's med time. He also scheduled me for an AC1 test and I got the results Friday. It was a 6.2. He says that 5.8 is normal and wants me to take meds. I didn't pick them up. But should I? I am already changing the way I eat--less carbs. I never was a big sweet eater so that's not a problem.
I went to Applebees tonight and had a small steak, salad and some veggies. My BS is now 126.
I need to lose 50 lbs and start walking the dog once it gets nice. I feel, that I can bring that number down without meds.
My main question is if I start the meds and lose 50lbs, and get off the meds, will my body be used to those meds and make it harder for my own body to do what it should because it'd been dependant on the meds. My doctor likes to medicate. Likes to give scripts for whatever ails someone. I have 2 other people in my office that agree, because they use him too. I feel my doctor is jumping the gun in medicating this and I also feel I should have been told to drop some weight, change the way I eat and exercise.
So....should I take the meds or try this on my own first? The only other person in my family that had diabetes was my grandmother and she wasn't on shots. She was really overweight.

[matingara]

I went to Applebees tonight and had a small steak, salad and some veggies. My BS is now 126.

I feel, that I can bring that number down without meds.

My main question is if I start the meds and lose 50lbs, and get off the meds, will my body be used to those meds and make it harder for my own body to do what it should because it'd been dependant on the meds.

That is a very low carb dinner (depending on what the veggies were of course).

It is hard to comment on the meds unless you tell us what meds and how much etc.

-- Joel.

[Lori Lynn]

That is a very low carb dinner (depending on what the veggies were of course).

It is hard to comment on the meds unless you tell us what meds and how much etc.

-- Joel.

Piddle. I don't know what meds or dose because I didn't pick them up. The nurse called them into the pharmacy I use. She did mention a name but I don't remember it. I will call the pharmacy tomorrow and get it. LOL
The veggies were broccoli, squash and carrots.
Oh and I just took my BS again and it's now 118.
Thanks Joel.

[mortis505]

after meal testing should be done at 2 hours after the first bite. Secondly, are you seeing a GP or an endocrinologist? Let us know about the types of meds.

[Ronin]

Hi Lori Lynn!

First of all, welcome to DF!

After re-reading your post a few times, my reaction is that your best course of action would be to find another MD if you can. My reason for saying that is because you have symptoms of what is now being called "The Metabolic Syndrome" (High BP, High Cholestol, Overweight, and High Blood Glucose [BG] levels) this is a recipie for serious problems.

The one thing I recommend is that you get and read Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes by Jackson & Tendrich. This book not only desrcibes the syndrome but makes concrete suggestions of how to reverse them.

As to your question on medications -- from what I have learned if you manage to reduce your BG levels by diet and exercise while taking medications you can get yourself off the medications.

You should purchase and use a Blood Glucose meter to determine how your BG levels are moving through the day and to understand the coorealtion between what you eat, how you exercise and the resulting BG levels. Once-a-year testing is not sufficient to deal with the problem as it does not give you the information you need to make changes to your diet and exercise regimine.

If you can, find an Endocrinologist to work with you.

You have your wake-up-call now it is time to take action. As with everyone here on DF, you now have an international support group who have all been through various phases of dealing with elevated BG, and in some cases, all of the other health issues you have. We are heer to listen to you and offer advice -- the action belongs to you. Please keep in touch -- we want to hear about your successes!

[Lori Lynn]

Okay, for the first question the medication is Metformin and it's 500 mg er. Don't know why the pharmacist added the 'er' to it? Since I haven't picked it up I was surprised at the high dosage. Is that normal?? Yikes!
I am seeing a GP.
I did get a monitor.
My BS was 118 -2 hours after the meal last night.
So I should be seeing an Endocrinologist? Always better to go to someone who specializes.
So if I start taking this drug and lose weight, I will be able to get off it? I just don't want to take something that my body gets used to and then I have to take it forever. Thanks for all the help everyone. I am taking this very seriously.

[patricia52]

I tried to get my numbers down with diet and exercise but couldn't. This was partially because I did not know enough about counting Carbs and what foods to avoid. Also it is hard for some of us to deprive ourselves of so many foods. By taking metformin ER 500 mg one per day I am able to keep my #'s close to normal and enjoy life.

If you are really committed to the diet and exercise program. You may be able to get by without meds for many years. Talk to your doctor. Let him know that you plan to try diet and exercise first, but don't be upset with yourself if it doesn't work and don't be to stubborn to take the meds when you can no longer control D with diet and exercise.

Also educate yourself about D. Knowledge is your best weapon against this disease. We are here for you no matter which path you choose. I chose the one that was easiest for me.

Best of luck.

[jacobsam622]

I wish I knew about pre-diabetes back in 2002. I had a glucose tolerance test done and under todays standard I would been classified as pre-diabetes. Unfortunately It was not defined as a condition until 2003.

[Lori Lynn]

Okay last night before eating supper my BG reading was 101. I had some boiled cabbage, a diet Mountain Dew and a breaded chicken plank. 2 hours later my BG was 118.
This morning upon waking it's 124.
Why are my readings always better after eating? Doesn't that say my insulin is kicking in?
I lost 30 lbs in 4 months 5 years ago when my Dr first said my BG was high, but then when he told me he wasn't too concerned because my cholesterol was good I gained it back. LOL
It's going to be interesting to see what it'll do when I lose the weight this time.
Thanks to all here for responding. I know you aren't doctors and are hesitant about telling me what I should do, but I know it's only an opinion.
I'd rather hear from people who've been there than a doctor sometimes. LOL

[sandmcd]

I was given 500mg of metformin to take 2x daily. After 5 weeks of stomach issues, I have stopped on my own. I don't think that my dr. will be upset...will probably order another medication to take. I go for my blood work on Saturday.

[Ronin]

Hi Lori Lynn!

It is not unusual to have post-prandial levels better than fasting levels. This is usually due to the Dawn Effect. The Dawn Effect is a result of your liver pumping glucose into your blood stream when you wake up because you need the additional energy.

The Post-Prandial drop levels you note are very good and do indicate that your body insulin is working. The issue is how low your body returns to as a post-prandial level. Some studies assert that a "normal person" has a return to BG levels in the 70 - 80 mg/dL range and anything above that is not normal. Others have a less strict assessment. It is important to note that the study most often cited was with a group of very active 20 - 30 year old Scandianavian men and women with no indication of diabetes. Their BG levels consitently dropped back into the 70-80 range within two-hours of eating. Is that a fair assessment? I don't know and I haven't seen any other study that confirms that result or a similar study with older people.

For your particular case, it sounds as though you already know what to do and how to do it. The problem is maintaining the results over a long period of time. Hence the Pre-D diagnosis is being used as a "Wake-Up-Call" to get people to make permanent life-style changes and not simply "go on a diet."

As I mentioned in my earlier post, you should read Know Your Numbers,... I found it answered a lot of my questions and provided specific advice on life-style changes to address each specific test number as well as recommending additional testing to rule out other problems.

We all find a benefit in talking to our fellows with the same problem. Many of us have more day-to-day knowledge than any MD will have, and that is just because we have to live with it. Hence, the reason that DF is such a great resource. In time you will be dispensing advice as well.

[jakesfnm]

I still feel new to this, but just wanted to say that I had very similar BS readings including the A1C test last November (6.1). I'm a 58 yr. old female and needed to lose 25-30 lbs. And, although I have always had excellent cholesterol readings, my BP has been creeping up and crossed over to "high" a few times. I've lost 20 lbs. Got the meter. Greatly reduced carbs. And tried a few of the suggestions re minimizing "dawn effect" So glad I found this forum. The suggestions have helped greatly. No meds - although I'll take them if I ever need them. Everything's looking good now. Now I think I'm finding that exercise - getting more every day - is really helping. This morning, I had a small bowl of cereal and blueberries, went for a vigorous uphill walk and my BG was 96 2 hours later. That never happened after the cereal. Good luck.

[Lori Lynn]

Wednesday night I deliberately ate a high carb meal. I had two whole potatoes and baked beans with some prime rib. My number was 118 two hours after eating. Last night I deliberately ate chicken and noodles (with no potatoes) and it was 122 two hours later.
I'm beginning to think that 125 is about normal for me, since I was running at that 5 yrs ago too. Maybe I don't have too much of a spike with carbs, so I am going to see if sweets with spike me up there.
Won't be until tomorrow before I try that though. I will post my findings.
Oh, and I took my husbands BS--he ate the same as me Wednesday night and his was 197 two hours when mine was 118. That was eye opening. I called his doctor (my husband see the Dr every three months) and on 3-5-08 his BS was 101 with the Doctor's office after fasting. They said all of his fasting levels have always been good and they asked if he was having diabetic symptoms (I told them about his reading) and I said no. They aren't worried about him. hmmph
Me thinks my Doctor is jumping the gun just as I had suspected.
Anyway....I am going to see if sweets causes a large spike and if so then I won't eat them and hope my AC1 test is better in 3 months.
I will get that book, thank you. :)

[Ronin]

Hi Lori Lynn!

Actually, the result of you experiment are not unusual. The difference between a meter reding of 118 versus 122 is within the tolerance range of most meters so it really isn't significant.

As to your MD: a lot of MD's today are practicing "legal medicine" so when you get that FBG reading over 100 they hand you a prescription for diabetic meds to make sure you cannot sue them later for not treating your diabetes. Considering that the work "Epidemic" is being associated with the diagnosis of diabetes, it isn't hard to understand their actions. That being said, a lot of the MD's don't have a clue as to how to do a full work-up which includes a lot more testing than a single FBG and an occasional HbA1c.

On the topic of HbA1c's: if you notice my signature block, I do an A1c monthly. That is becuase the reality of the test is that it is a weighted average skewed towards the last four to six weeks. You will note, that mine moves pretty significantly from month-to-month. I use a Biosafe home test kit which I have checked against a laboratory test and found to be dead-on-accurate. You can get them from Amazon for around $20 plus S&H (I now purchase them in dozzens to lower the S&H factor). For me this is the best indicator of how I'm doing because I can't spend all day long testing-testing-testing because, despite being retired, I do have a life!

[Lori Lynn]

Okay...my sweets test. Ate a 3x3 inch piece of cheesecake yesterday. 2 hours later BG reading was 178.
I am sooo glad I'm not much of a sweet eater. Now I will need to stay away from them for good.
Thanks for the advice. I ordered that book, Ronin. I will get it this week.

[jerryn]

Hey Lori,

If I had two baked potatoes and baked beans man my BG would be around 200 2hrs after I ate. Just excercise, drink lots of water.. I mean at least 8 - 10 glasses/day.

Your numbers sound great to me, eat healthy, and man.. your chloresterol is high.. that means don't make it a habit to eat prime rib!!!!! You need to eat better!
salmon is good for you.

[matingara]

I mean at least 8 - 10 glasses/day.

WHY???

and man.. your chloresterol is high.. that means don't make it a habit to eat prime rib!!!!! You need to eat better!

It is possible that it is excess Carbohydrate consumption that is causing the high cholesterol.

Please no not tell people that eat meat that they are NOT eating well.

[BlueSky]

Wednesday night I deliberately ate a high carb meal. I had two whole potatoes and baked beans with some prime rib. My number was 118 two hours after eating. Last night I deliberately ate chicken and noodles (with no potatoes) and it was 122 two hours later.
I'm beginning to think that 125 is about normal for me, since I was running at that 5 yrs ago too. Maybe I don't have too much of a spike with carbs, so I am going to see if sweets with spike me up there. ...
You are missing the spike with a 2 hour test. If you want to see it, you need to test at 30 - 60 minutes, depending on what you have eaten. Go to this post http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/diabetes/26366-question-about-postprandial-readings.html#post310456 to see a graph of normal blood glucose after a meal (the blue line).

[Lori Lynn]

Your numbers sound great to me, eat healthy, and man.. your chloresterol is high.. that means don't make it a habit to eat prime rib!!!!! You need to eat better!

LOL I actually do. It was Hubby's idea to go to this restaurant because of their excellent smoked prime rib. I'd never had it. Half of mine went to my German Shepherd. She's a lucky dawg.
Just took my BG and it's 103.

Next carb meal, Blue Sky, I will take my reading a few times afterwards at different intervals to see where my spike hits. Maybe that will give me more to go on, thanks a lot.

[Ronin]

Hi Lori Lynn!

A large part of what you are doing now can be called learning by experimentation. We have all done it, and it is important becuase this is how we all learn how our bodies respond to various foods. Eventually, you will get to know what does, and does not work for you. It takes time, and there will be frustrating times when you try to replicate a specific reading and you can't do it. However, we do learn how to manage our BG levels.

We're all here to help each other.

[Larry H.]

Lori,

I personally would try the reduction in carbs, exercise and loosing weight to see where you level out to. You may be like some of us and are catching the situation while some diet changes and exercise can help at least for the present.

You don't have to give up desert, just look for the things that are low in carbs. Instant no fat, no sugar puddings made with Hoods low fat milk. only 2 carbs a cup compared to 12 for skim milk. Low carb ice creams where the total actual carbs amount to "4" is a good choice for me and don't seem to bother my numbers much. There are lots of things you can enjoy, you just have to do some research.. Be aware that many things though that are called diabetic recipes would be considered very high by the standards of many here, so you need to know what you goal in carbs is.

I have posted on the thread by Ronin today about the high fiber I have been introducing to my meals again and finding a good result in keeping the numbers down, at least for now.

I would avoid the medicine until you have a really good reason to take it. Your husband obviously has some issues and needs to watch what he is doing too. You can both benefit by a new way of eating and exercise.