This is my first post. I'm a newly diagnosed diabetic (about 3 weeks). I'm on Metformin and Lisinopril (for my kidneys), but no insulin.
For some reason my fasting numbers are a bit higher than I'd like. Nothing insanely off the charts, but I'm trying very hard to manage as well as I can so I can be medication free, that's my goal for 2013 (to lose weight and be medication free)
I'll give you a quick history to give you more information:
When I was first diagnosed, I went on as close to a NO carb diet as humanly possible. I just took a diabetes education class here in Austin, and they told me I was probably eating too little carbs, and that it might be causing my liver to release more sugar overnight.
I started monitoring just this Monday (right after the class), because that's when my monitor finally came in.
I've started trying to sprinkle in about 10-16 grams of carbs per a meal. Nothing too crazy.
Here's some of my numbers:
Tuesday before Breakfast: 117 Tuesday 2 hrs after meal: 118
Wednesday before Breakfast: 116
Wednesday 2 hrs after meal: 118
Today (Thursday) before breakfast: 142
Any advice on how to bring my fasting numbers down?
I agree with your assessment, not "off the charts" but not "normal" either. There's quite a few people here who were dx'ed with T2 (what I'd guess w/ the rx?) but went on for a while and it changed to T1 as stuff wore out or whatever. I dunno anything about T2 or Metformin but, while struggling with dawn phenomenony issues before I got my pump, I'd just walk a mile or two in the AM before I ate. It sort of sucks to get tied to that but I know there's people here (BadmoonT2 and 'LilMama come to mind...) who have exercised like 3x/ day to keep their BG pounded down. I have sort of gotten into exercise and don't do it 3x/ day, as I don't want to blow a gasket, but walks are very useful. My dog likes it when my BG suxx...
OK, 142 as a fasting is not terrible, but could be better.
The other numbers and their consistency would make me rejoice.
AR is right on--for Type 2 with no insulin, exercise is key. If you are adding carbs, you need to work them off to maintain good levels. However, overnight is more difficult. Try some different exercise routines (different times of day, for example) but keep good records so you can go back and see a real picture of your blood glucose readings.
Ive had problems with my FBS 2 years ago. Im also taking Metformin ER (500 mg once daily). My endo and I "worked" on it for several weeks by "tweaking" some of my activities, carb intake: - Though 142 is relatively high, mine then ranged from 170 to 200...Not good at all. I have a ratio now of 30, 30, 10, 10 (meals and snacks) carb intake a day. Check with you dietitian...carb intake recommendation varies per person. The largest is in the morning since most of my activities and exercises are done in the morning.
- At first my endo thought the dawn phenomenon I was having was due to carb taken in the evening so she recommended a 10-15 minute exercise in the evening. At that time, it made matters worst. She found out that due to the "lack" of food intake at night...my liver was dumping sugar in the middle of the night...thus the high FBS. She recommended some snacks (about 5-10 g) before going to bed.
- She moved my metformin intake from breakfast to taking it with lunch.
Wallah..it worked! My FBS range now from 100 to 130.But again, you have to check with your medical team first. The program I had was designed for my situation and it varies from one T2 diabetic to another.
This is pretty common with T2. It can be a case of dawn phenomenon where your liver dumps glucose in the morning to give energy to start your day. For PWD that don't have the capability to process the extra glucose effectively it causes a bs spike. Metformin is the treatment of choice and should help. One of the ways that Metformin works is by controlling how you liver releases glucose.
You didn't say how much Met you are taking but I suspect it's a low dose since you're three weeks past diagnosis. A tweaking of dosage might be of help.
I will also second what Acidrock said. Exercise is the best way to lower bs after diet. Muscles are the number one burner of glucose.
A good book to read is Dr. Bernsteins "The Diabetic Solution" most people find his methods extreme if followed completely but it is good advice that will help even if followed only in part.
Your goal of being medication free is obtained by plenty of T2's so I say go for it.
I struggle with high morning numbers (DP) as well and always have. Like Teena, when bad, my morning fastings are more exagerated. I have tried lots of things over the years to tame the DP. I stack my metformin at night, I've tried all kinds of snacks, carbs, protein, fat in various mixtures. I drink red wine in the evening which seems to help some, but requires far top much red wine to be a solution.
One thing I discovered along the way was that disturbed sleep really aggravates my DP. I had a sleep study, was diagnosed with apnea and treated, which helps. But still, if I wake up early and have trouble getting back to sleep, I will have a bad case of DP.
In the end, I had to move to insulin, but even that is not sufficient most of the time and morning numbers remain troublesome, worse than yours. Bernstein suggests that you not exercise in the morning as it can often make your numbers worse (mine react that way). I also found that if I don't eat, my morning numbers get even worse, so I eat something as soon as I arise.
Thank you everyone! your suggestions would explain a lot. I was exercising regularly the first two weeks, but haven't been able to this past week, because I'm on vacation all next week, I'm working late every single night.
Could that explain the rise in my FBS BG? This morning my FBS was 121. I had a very small snack closer to bed time, and drank a lot more water yesterday. Could this have helped, or would that not be the explanation?
Right now I only see my primary doctor. I don't have an Endocrinologist yet, but I guess I need to find one, and maybe they can give me a better game plan on how how to manage this better.
I am obese, so I think the biggest step is going to be to lose weight :)
Good news is that I'm down 30 pounds! ( a lot of that is from being sick right before I was diagnosed, but 15 of that is just hard work )
I should also say that when I was diagnosed my FBS was 350, so obviously we're doing something right here! :)
30 pounds is a great start. I know its sounds like a broken record sometimes (and I use to hate hearing it) but they really are the best things you can do for T2.
