What great advice you are getting, I will just echo some that worked for me. The Metformin does take time to take full effect so be patient. I struggled for a few years until I took control and started not listening to the dietician and cut my carbs down. I still eat fruits and veg but minimize the starches. The last year I have taken full control and want to wean myself from the metformin. Remember, YOU are in charge. Use the professionals as advisors but make sure you make your own sound decisions based on your experience. Cheers.
I was told to eat no more than 30 carbs per meal and a 15 carb snack at night. I have slowly lost 20lbs since my diagnosis in March. To be honest, I don’t exercise the way I should so the weight I’ve lost is all due to the low carb eating. I’m also on Metformin but 500mg twice a day. You may need a med increase.
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice from more experienced people than myself, but I did want to share my experience.
Good luck and keep us posted!
I’ve been on metformin and actos for over 10 years now. Everybody has an opinion but they aren’t doctors, not saying each doctor has a better opinion. So, in my opinion, I think that I was wasting time and money on pills instead of getting on insulin ASAP. Now, this is not to say that you should though. Time has to be given for pills to show their effectiveness. I will say this though, it does seem that you may fit the profile as a candidate for Byetta. (just quit smoking=weight gains)Much depends on what your A1c results are and they probably would want two tests (6 months) before making drastic changes in your medication.
If you are being treated by anyone other than an internist specializing in diabetes or an endocrinologist, you may want to consider that.
I don’t think you are eating enough. But that’s my opinion. I am trying to do both, lose weight and get my BS’s down…it is possible. But after surgery, your body goes into heal mode, and it can’t be doing two things at once…definitely NOT a multi-tasker. Check in with your doc, that’s the best line of offense or your nurse, they are the ones who know your body best, not us. 40 carbs in one day seems like a very little to me, and maybe your body needs more like the 100 suggested to heal and to work on sugars. As an example, I get between 150 - 175 carbs and 1200 - 1500 calories a day. If I don’t eat that much, my body goes into starvation mode, and I gain weight, and my sugars go up to make up for the deficiet. So check with the doc and nurse as soon as you can, and work out a plan on paper for you…we are all so different, and this disease treats us as individuals, not as a group…what works for you, maybe the definitely wrong thing for me, and vice versa. If you are far enough in your healing, exercise is vital, as was stated by another poster…even just walking 10 minutes 6 times a day is a major big help.
I agree with Gerri about the complex carbs, and I’m a promoter or lower-carb if your current treatment isn’t working. BUT in my humble opinion, the right amount of carbs is the lowest amount you can cope with, have energy with, not put on weight with, and not spike your BGs with. That’s a tall order, right? And that may change over time and with your experimenting with what foods work for YOU. If the carbs you’re eating are still spiking your blood glucose, then you may need extra help.
Whether that’s extra exercise (and never exercise with high blood sugar - much evidence about that) and/or slowly adding medication, and/or reducing carbs a little further, only you will be able to judge what works for you and what doesn’t give you unwanted side-effects.
I think it takes a lot of learning and even more importantly to me, finding a medical team that suits you. Any medico ever talks to me about high-complex-carb I run for the hills. I can’t manage BG or insulin on that amount of carbs. Plenty of others can. We’re all different. You could experiment with the type of exercise that will change your metabolism - not all exercise is the same. Not all carbs have the same effect on different people.
I will never agree with anyone saying, “you should”. They are not your medical team and don’t know you or your history. What works for someone else, may work differently for you. We can only relate things that work for us, as information for you to digest (excuse the pun).
The most important thing, I think, is that you’re here, you’re asking questions and you care about yourself to do something. Welcome to the crazy world of diabetes!