I also reported hair loss to my dr, and was quickly told that I had an underactive thyroid. I was issued yet another pill to take care of that. I take metformin, avandia, and glucotrol for my diabetes. Not long ago i read that avandia was not good for us either. When I asked my dr about it, she said that I’d either have to continue taking it or go on insulin. My numbers are under pretty good control and I’m a little nervous about taking insulin. If you go on it, can you ever stop taking it? So what to do? I’m not a big fan of meds, but I keep taking them because that’s one way of feeling like i’m doing what i can to take care of me. In the past I’ve tried to stop taking everything, and i usually find out that i do need them. I have multiple sclerosis, with a bad case of fatifue right now, the thyroid problem, and a few other conditions. I’m glad you found some relief! If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. I made an appt. with my dr next week, and i want to be prepared to ask the questions that i need answers to.
Hi Joan,
It seems that all is not as it seems. You have good reason to not be a big fan of meds. None are without their baggage. Very few cure anything. Most are symptom reducers. Few doctors are going to divulge the full story, if they even know what the story is to begin with. My recommendation to you is to read my posts and my webpage. From them, you will begin to clearly see that your diet is crucial in fighting off not only diabetes, but MS, fibromyalgia, you name it. It’s a huge undertaking, but one that is well worth your investment in time and effort. Since you are an MS patient, I want you to read this article. It dovetails nicely with the diet theme I’m presenting here.
Now then, you asked a very important question… “If you go on it, can you ever stop taking it?” That all depends on two variables, how insulin resistant you are, and how far gone the beta cells in your pancreas are. With you taking Avandia and Glucotrol, that’s a pretty big ‘if’. I have tremendous hope for you, though. There’s a lot you can do. Speaking of being prepared to ask questions of your doctor, don’t be disappointed if he/she doesn’t have the answers you wanted to hear. Their job is to prescribe medicine. Very few doctors are interested in curing anything… there’s no money in it.
The whole secret to good health, is good nutrition. Unfortunately, not even nutritionists and dietitians know all that much about good nutrition. Whether you’re a creationist or are into natural selection, the answer is simple… what foods are our bodies optimized for? The ones we evolved eating, or the ones that were created for us. Natural foods, of course. It all has to do with high natural nutrient content verses the crap that man produces.
Now, your homework assignment is to see how quickly you can come over to my way of thinking before you go see your doctor. The answers are out there, you just have to approach them with an open mind and be determined to do what it takes. I did, and boy am I glad. Since I quit the Metformin, my energy is like it was 20 years ago when I was in my mid thirties. My fibromyalgia is almost gone, the diabetes is negligible, sleep apnea gone, indigestion gone, you name it.
Most sincerely,
Craig
Dear Joan.
I was taking avandia and glucotrol and it did not prevent my pancreas from dying completely. I think these drugs are bad news and it is preferable to take a small dose of insulin to help keep your pancreas alive. You can tell your doctor once your pancreas dies the disease becomes your worst nightmare. The more so if you are insulin resistant. Definitely drop the avandia and go for insulin it is safer.
It may be possible to stop the insulin once you get your thyroid straitened out and get a low carb nutritious diet and a lot of exercise but in the meanwhile if you let your pancreas die you WILL be on insulin for EVER.
Anthony…In reply to what you told Bjay about the pancreas and taking insulin - is that a universal thing? Does going on insulin always kill the pancreas and I suppose that stops natural insulin production? My problem is multiple but I am having a specific problem that would negate what you are saying. Please understand that I am not trying to argue your point but instead would love to know more about this. Any info about this is appreciated…thanks, Karla
Hi Karla,
You said, “The worst time for me is in the evenings. I exercise late in the afternoons and my sugars will soar afterwards. Is this normal??” No, it’s not normal. Either you aren’t exercising long enough, or your insulin resistance is very high. Based on your post, I would say that it’s probably a combination of the two. I exercise at least two times a day. Morning and noon everyday, and evening… if time permits. You should read more of my posts (no, I’m not into self promotion, I just want to help). Here are a couple of links: Tudiabetes posts and my website.
Controlling this disease (or even getting off the meds) is more about learning for yourself from as wide a variety of sources as possible, than it is about asking your doctor for help. It’s also about making a commitment of your time into research… like your life depends on it. I think you know what I mean.
To your health,
Craig
You should strive to get five.
Wow, this is some drug hating thread. Firstly, let me say that I’m no fan of drugs which is why I have spent more time than you care to imagine researching them. I think a lot of things being said are not true, not quite accurate or slightly wrong.
On metformin, firstly you have to look at it’s history. It actually comes from French Lilac which has been used for hundreds of years for treating diabetes. However, the downside to it is that it had a high occurrence of lactic acidosis. Then came phenformin which was the drug companies first attempt at engineering out the lactic acidosis. It wasn’t such a good attempt so it was withdrawn and metformin was developed. It’s been available in Europe since the 70s but only in the US since the early 90s. Now, because French lilac and phenformin had the very real side effect of lactic acidosis they tagged metformin with it. There have been many, many studies on it and the risk for lactic acidosis is so small it’s not even funny and it’s really not that different to people who don’t take metformin. I’ve not heard of a case of lactic acidosis in a patient that didn’t have severe risk factors to start with. Chances are, and I will pretty much guarantee this, if you take metformin, think you have had lactic acidosis and weren’t treated in the ER, you didn’t have it. Lactic acidosis from what I understand is the most debilitating pain you have ever felt, like eating glass, and is accompanied by a whole bunch of other symptoms. It’s also about 50% fatal and 100% fatal if not treated quickly in a hospital. As for the other side effects noted, they are side effects but not as common as has been made out. GI distress is very common, B12 deficiency is not uncommon but not common and the same goes for the other things. Metformin is kind of a wonder drug really and has been shown in many studies to reduce the general mortality rate in diabetics. It’s been around for a very long time, is the most tested diabetic medication is the most used diabetic medication and, for what it’s worth, is on the world health organizations list of essential medications which is a very short list and a drug needs to really prove itself to get on there. Now, everyone is different and what happens for the masses may not happen for the individual and you may be the unlucky one where everything goes wrong when taking it.
I won’t write as much about sulfonylureas but they also have been tagged with warnings because of predecessors. I read a lot about cardiac issues with them but none of the currently prescribed ones have ever been associated with the risks, just the previous generations. They do serve a very good purpose, especially fpr those people who can produce insulin but have problems producing enough. MODY is a prime example. They do have limitations as mentioned though.
HI Duncan,
I think you’re exaggerating. It’s not a drug hating thread at all. I suppose it could be construed that way if you were employed by a pharmaceutical company or were a doctor prescribing drugs. In fact, like most threads in Tudiabetes, we’re just sharing concerns and ideas. Clearly, I’m not particularly fond of drugs as few have ever cured anything in anyone. My intent here is not to get type two diabetics to hate drugs, though, but to raise awareness that there are much healthier alternatives and to learn all you can about what your doctor is prescribing.
I can appreciate your: “I’m no fan of drugs which is why I have spent more time than you care to imagine researching them” because, after realizing drugs weren’t getting me where I wanted to go, I spent countless hours over several years researching alternatives to drugs. I’ve learned that drugs cure nothing, and if you give the body what it needs, it can cure almost anything… so, I think my time was well spent. Thanks to alternatives, my depression is gone, I no longer need Metformin, and my fibromyalgia rarely raises its ugly head. Plus, I feel much better now than I ever did on Metformin during all those years.
It’s about knowledge and awareness, not hate. And, hopefully to help end blind faith in pharmaceuticals.
Sincerely,
Craig
Karla,
Going on insulin does not kill the pancreas. It does the opposite by helping to preserve your beta cells. What Anthony said is that high BG harms & burns out the pancreas.
When diet, exercise & meds don’t help Type 2s have control, small doses of insulin can help & safer than oral meds. Some Type 2s just take basal insulin. Others take bolus doses before meals. Most important is keep your BG in control, whatever method is successful.
Well, I’m not a doctor or employed by anyone who makes money of medications, just a diabetic that wants to keep in control and keep as drug free as possible. Like you I have spend many an hour researching alternative treatments from foods, herbs, mineral, experimental treatments and the like. I have alternative/herbal healing going back 4 generations on my mothers side so I grew up with that sort of attitude and picked up all sorts. I’ve also personally experimented with various different herbs, supplements and foods. Unfortunately diabetes is based in genetics, which you also need to spend countless hours researching to find out what to target, and mine is not going to be helped with the natural way, other than good old fashioned low carb and exercise but even then I will still need some external help since my insulin production is whacked. No matter what you give your body, if the problem is caused by genetics then you aren’t going to fix it. Drugs won’t either but they can sometimes get round it and
Some people can benefit from alternatives to drugs, I won’t question that, but they are not the majority and the benefit of the treatments is not going to be consistent for everybody it works for. For people who alternative treatments work I say good for you and keep on rocking but every drug, herb, mineral, vitamin, food has it’s place in managing diabetes and you have to find the right set of tools to do that. I do agree that blind faith in pharmaceuticals is not good and people do need to be far more aware of what they are being prescribed, why they are being prescribed it and what it actually does before they even go and fill the prescription.
Amen to most of that.
I would take issue with your position on genetics, however. Sure it plays a role. But, in my opinion (and thousands of others) it’s a minor one. There are plenty of genetically predisposed folks who simply don’t get the disease. It’s about proper nutrition and moderate daily activity. Keep in mind that type two diabetes is a relatively modern disease. Many folks, myself included, watched in horror as the disease progressed. Once embarking on a natural foods based diet, along with plenty of daily exercise, I watched in amazement as my numbers plummeted. Into the 50s and 60s during the first week. Watch this: Dr. Joel Fuhrman video
Craig
Dear Karla.
I agree with what Gerri has said. I would think that adding external insulin would relieve the stress on anyone’s pancreas. But I would hesitate to call it a unerversal since joining this web site I have been astonished at the great variability in diabetics. Please tells us more why you would be led to believe that insulin harms the pancreas?
Actually, it’s the complete opposite. In identical twin studies if one has type 2, the other has an 80% chance of getting it. In fraternal twin studies the % chance of getting it is not even close to that, I forget what it is but it’s around 25%. Plus, there are waaay more people with bad diet and nutrition that don’t get diabetes than do. Without the genetic markers, you don’t get diabetes. That’s what it looks like with the current research. However, even that is in it’s infancy. Type 2 really doesn’t exist. It’s a bucket group to put people in who don’t fit into other categories. If you don’t show antibodies like a type 1, you aren’t pregnant, you’re type 2. That’s essentially the world wide official diagnosing criteria for type 2. It doesn’t mean everyone has the same disease. As time goes by there will be more and more subtypes that come out.
I’m all for diet an exercise, of course they will lower you numbers, but they cannot cure you. If you drop the exercise back or break the diet you will see your blood sugar go up. Even for one meal, drink a 20oz regular coke at dinner and see what happens. Management is one thing, cure is something very different and not available yet.
When you sleep your liver releases sugar into the blood. Everytime I skip dinner or I am too tired to cook and eat, I wake up with unusually high blood sugar levels for me. The Metformin controls the amount of sugar the liver releases, if I forget to eat I also forget to take a metformin. I am guessing that my liver just goes crazy when there is no metformin to control it.
So what about the type 2’s who know no one else in their family who has Diabetes? Where’s the genetics in that. The only other one,besides myself, who has Diabetes, was my Uncle from my Dad’s side, and he was the only one on that side.
Genetics is vastly complicated, a lot of it goes right over my head. I do know that just because people are carrying a certain gene doesn’t mean that whatever it;s linked to will happen. However, when you get genes from two people, genes that each person carries that are not a big deal on their own can be a big deal when combined. Kind of like if you have a bucket of gas and I have a lit match they are nothing on their own but when you put them together you get an explosion. Then you have gene mutations which can be inherited and would be included in the mixing of two gene pools issue, can occur after fertilization and during gestation or throughout a persons life. I’m the only one in my family ever to have diabetes, although 2 of my cousins share 3 autoimmune diseases. Coincidence? I think not.
Even more complex there appears to be an epigenome that turns the genes on or off. There was a study in very northern Sweden and the history of parents and grandparents did influence the development of diabetes.
I’m going to try and dig into our family tree a little more. I have no contact with any of my cousins and all my Aunt and Uncles have passed away, but I’m going to try and see if any cousins have developed Diabetes. I know none of my sibs. have, including my one sister who is 68 and fits the body profile. Now my husband’s family on the other hand is different. His Mom and Uncle had Diabetes and he and his 2 brothers all have it.
I am the only one in my family as well. I have a brother and a sister, both with kids and none of them have it, neither of my parents and none of my mom’s sibs or their kids. My Dad was an only child. None of my grandparents.
Michelle
Michelle and Irene… it would be instructive here for us to go back and look at our diets and lifestyle. For those who contend that it’s mostly genetic, I say nonsense. I would venture to say that the vast majority of us are victims of the Standard American Diet (SAD) and lifestyle. Yes, we have a genetic predisposition, but once we stop taking in empty calories and start taking in raw, natural foods with their abundance of nutrients, add in some moderate daily exercise, the results are substantial.
No one in my family history, except my mother, was diabetic. Both of my brothers and I are diabetic. Connection? Yes, we ate like my mom and led a sedate lifestyle like my mom. After five years of worsening symptoms, I became desperate enough to learn the truth. I looked at the widest possible variety of sources and it became clear. Looking around the globe at various civilizations… those who don’t become diabetic tend to be those who are, more or less, living the way our ancestors lived. Rich lifestyles with lots of outdoor activities and healthy natural foods based diets. Those who do, tend to resort to convenience oriented, packaged, processed, refined, preserved junk food and sedate lifestyles.
Watch this: Youtube video