[EeyoreButterfly]

Originally Posted by Kanga

I wanted to control my Bg levels with low carb diet and increasing my exercise, but my levels were very high at dx so I am on Metaformin but plan very, very, soon to come off it. I have brought my Bg down to within the almost normal range in 4 weeks. Without any help from dieticians etc as I am still waiting to see them.

I think if you can do it without meds all the better....... as it shows determination and commitment to control this beast called Diabetes. Also, as no two people are the same it goes to show that treatment will also differ from one person to another.

The bolded statement makes me uncomfortable. I don't think that needing meds means that a person does not have determination and commitment. It seems like a lot of people have this attitude that meds or insulin= failure. Some people do great controlling with diet and exercise, and some need another treatment. It doesn't mean that one group works harder than the other.

[Kanga]

No, no that was not what I was implying. But, to at least try doing it without meds if you can does give one a feeling of accomplishment. (I was trying to encourage the OP who asked why they were not given meds)

Gosh I am on meds, and I do not feel a failure I am just too happy to have gotten my readings down..... that is the important thing after all.

[ErikaA]

Originally Posted by EeyoreButterfly

I don't think that needing meds means that a person does not have determination and commitment.

lol well I levelled mine out quite impressively with sheer will power... I stripped my diet completely of anything that gave me so much as a peep on the meter.... the endo, GP and dietitian called it starvation and rightly slapped me up the back of the head once he worked out how i did it....
I don't think that self control has anything to do with the picture and i sincerely doubt that any slur was intended.

[jillybean]

Yup, different for everyone. My mother was diagnosed type 2 last year, and she was not prescribed any medications at all and has improved her levels through diet and exercise alone. I was diagnosed in May, and since I also had slightly high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and high uric acid (?), my doc put me on metformin to help lower my levels faster and said we could discuss going off the medication in the future (as it turns out, 30 pounds lost, more exercise, and controlled diet later, my levels are still sometimes wacky, so I'll probably not be off metformin anytime soon, if ever).

[Patient254]

Originally Posted by EeyoreButterfly

Do you mind if I ask what your levels were at diagnosis?

If you're talking to me, mine were 495 and I had Pancreatitis and dka when dx.

[cyberus]

Personally I would have more faith in a doctor that didn't automatically prescribe meds, presuming of course the test results weren't already in and med were NEEDED.
IMHO there are too few doctors and too many pharma-corp prescription writing machines posing as doctors.

[Lloyd]

IMHO:

Ideally lifestyle changes are far better than oral meds at the beginning, soon enough you will need both, usually.

The problem doctors are up against is compliance. The number of patients they can get to take a pill, is much much larger than the number of patients they can get to exercise and modify their diet, though many will do SOME modification of diet and SOME exercise.

In many cases there is a long delay while the patient tries diet and exercise, and finds that it is not enough help in their situation, or that they cannot do it on a regular enough basis. Sometimes years can go by, and during this time things are getting worse.

I think getting patients on metformin and encouraging lifestyle changes at the same time is a very good approach, for those who have a1c's not worse than the 9's at most. Higher than that, insulin is appropriate. The patient should be made aware that likely oral meds alone will not do as good a job as both meds and lifestyle changes, and that if they are successful in reaching reasonable goals, oral medications can often be stopped.

I also think too often, insulin is used as a threat to gain compliance. A major problem here is that if insulin is needed at a later date, it is seen as a badge of failure. Often, it is simply a case of reduced insulin production by your pancreas and increased resistance, and despite a person's best efforts oral meds will no longer bridge the gap between the insulin you have and what you need.

-Lloyd