Uh-oh, this can't be good...

[minkydog]

Last week I got some lab results from my weight loss doctor that were concerning. She felt that I was at least pre-diabetic and insulin resistant, and put me on 500mg Metformin. She sent the labs over to my regular doctor, who was also alarmed. The family doc had me come in for an A1c and 2hr GTT, plus all the usual suspects. I have to say, the Metformin is not doing a thing for me.

So I whipped out my trusty meter and did my FBS--101. Not bad. Except that the lab value was 116. What??

Hour 1, my meter reads 212. Okay. But the lab value is 256.:mad:

Hour 2. By now i can no longer read, I have double vision, I feel somewhat drunk and I'm incredibly sleepy. My meter reads 179. The lab? 221. :eek:

I'm just guessing here, but I'd say that's diabetes. With my serum insulin at 74 it will be interesting so see how this plays out.

[Granny Shanny]

Give the metformin a coupla more weeks to get to its full blood levels. But even then . . . I agree with your assessment. Sounds like D to me.

[Josselyn]

Methinks we'll be seeing you here sooner rather than later...but, hey, you're in good company and we're all striving to be healthy. Not the best news, but it's good to be informed.

BTW, the metformin can take a month to help out...AND meters can be off by 10-20%. Plus, the labs deal with veinous blood, which will have a different reading than blood from your finger tip. Which did you use with your meter that day?

At two hours, I was 288 (from a fasting of 99)...my system overreacted to the glucose drink because I'd been low-carbing for a couple of weeks prior to the test. Fool (former) MD didn't know enough to realize that set me up for failing the test. It made my results artificially high. Should have told me to ingest 100-150 carbs per day for the few days before the test, but...he was looking to prove himself right, more than he was trying to diagnose me. Ergo, he is no longer my MD.

Regardless of all of that, I am, in fact, diabetic (some would call it "pre" at my level)...but it's very real. I am controlling it with lower carb eating, walking, and 1000 mg of Met XR daily (2x500mg tabs)...which I hope to eliminate once I get my IR down a bit. Hopefully, that'll happen while I continue to s-l-o-w-l-y lose weight. :o

Best of luck to you. I hope this helps a bit. Stay with us here; you'll learn a lot.

Oh, and WELCOME to the club you never wanted to join. You're smart to be researching at this stage. You'll be okay.

[minkydog]

Give the metformin a coupla more weeks to get to its full blood levels. But even then . . . I agree with your assessment. Sounds like D to me.

She said she would likely be bumping up the Metformin to 1500.

Methinks we'll be seeing you here sooner rather than later...but, hey, you're in good company and we're all striving to be healthy. Not the best news, but it's good to be informed.

BTW, the metformin can take a month to help out...AND meters can be off by 10-20%. Plus, the labs deal with veinous blood, which will have a different reading than blood from your finger tip. Which did you use with your meter that day?

At two hours, I was 288 (from a fasting of 99)...my system overreacted to the glucose drink because I'd been low-carbing for a couple of weeks prior to the test. Fool (former) MD didn't know enough to realize that set me up for failing the test. It made my results artificially high. Should have told me to ingest 100-150 carbs per day for the few days before the test, but...he was looking to prove himself right, more than he was trying to diagnose me. Ergo, he is no longer my MD.

Regardless of all of that, I am, in fact, diabetic (some would call it "pre" at my level)...but it's very real. I am controlling it with lower carb eating, walking, and 1000 mg of Met XR daily (2x500mg tabs)...which I hope to eliminate once I get my IR down a bit. Hopefully, that'll happen while I continue to s-l-o-w-l-y lose weight. :o

Best of luck to you. I hope this helps a bit. Stay with us here; you'll learn a lot.

Oh, and WELCOME to the club you never wanted to join. You're smart to be researching at this stage. You'll be okay.

Well, that makes sense about the meter. I used capillary blood and he used venous blood. Stll, not reassuring.

I had been low carbing, but for the past 4 days i've actually gone over my limit (:T Mmm, cake...) That orange drink has hit me like a ton of bricks. My eyes are still crossed 4 hours after the dose. I was going to go to the Y to work out, but I don't think I can do that until I feel better.

I am very committed to getting this thing under control. I have abused my body for far too long, despite knowing my multiple risk factors. Hopefully, the Metformin will kick in and help me. My eyes, heart, feet, and kidneys are good and i am very scared of complications. I'm an RN so I've seen plenty of people who didn't take their DM seriously, people with no legs, no vision, on dialysis. I do not wanna "be in that number" when the the saints go marching in....

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum, minkydog!

Be sure to test your blood sugar often, cut back on your carbohydrates, and get in some form of exercise if you're able and not already doing so.

Karen

[jer.lawrence]

Welcome to the forums! Sorry to hear about your numbers. I'm on 500mg of Metformin myself, and able to control with that and the diet and exercise routine (diet much more than exercise at this point). Consider, if you find the increased dose of Metformin is hard on you, that there are other options. :)

Have an awesome day!