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Posted 11/1/2006 10:47 PM (GMT 0)

I need some help please.  I had a recent blood test and my glucose level was 145.  Based on that my doctor had me do a glucose tolerance test.  I did the 2 hour version, and my results were:  first draw was 125, drank the glucose and the second draw at one hour was 258, third draw at second hour was 225.  My doctor said that I am diabetic and wants me to take glucophage 500mg.  Also, had an A1C test and that percentage was 5.4%.

I have no common symptoms.  I am 5'11", 160 pounds, in great health.  I first went to the doctor for help with claustrophobia attacks.  He put me on Lexapro, 10 mg.  My glucose at that time was 104.  The blood draw I mentioned at the beginning of this was the result of the doctor wanting to see how the Lexapro was doing.  I did some reading and found a few articles about people taking SSRIs and being pushed into diabetes because they were pre-diabetic before the SSRI.  Maybe I have always been pre-diabetic, I don't know.  My mother and brother are diabetic but they have all of the symptoms.  I have none.  Anyway, based on this article I decided to see if the Lexapro was the culprit before I begin a regimen of glucophage.  I weened myself off of the Lexapro and have been without it for 2 weeks now.  I test my blood before each meal and 2 hours after for a history to give the doctor.  After 3 weeks of testing here are my ranges:  before breakfast (104-118), 2 hours after (108-114); before lunch (94-115), 2 hours after (not measured regularly); before evening meal (94-104), 2 hours after (114-125).  Based on these numbers numerous friends who are diabetic say that I should monitor my blood but I don't need the medication.  I agree.  I go back to my doctor in 10 days.  Any thoughts?

Thanks for listening.

Posted 11/2/2006 10:37 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there Drew,

The best thing to do is discuss this with your doctor.  If you do have diabetes don't be afraid of using medicines as these will keep you healthy.  To me, though, the 5.4 on the A1C is an excellent score!! 

Claire x

Posted 11/2/2006 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Claire-Bear. I am hoping that the Lexapro was my culprit but time will tell. I don't want to take meds now if I don't absolutely have to. I know that Glucophage loses its punch in about 7 years and then there will be another drug(s) to deal with. Soooo...

Bless us all,

CD
Posted 11/2/2006 4:47 PM (GMT 0)

Curious Drew said...
I know that Glucophage loses its punch in about 7 years

Really???  I've been on the max dose for over 3 years already.  Am finally settling into a routine after being gived insulin in the hospital following surgery last February - those few days messed up my numbers for months!

Am curious to know if you identify the Lexapro and how long it takes to stabalize afterwards.

:-)  

Posted 11/2/2006 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Hi WMNAK,

I don't know if Lexapro is my enemy, but I am betting money that it is. From what I can gather, withdrawal from any SSRI is different for everyone and can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month or so. I have a few lingering but I know that they are almost over, so I don't dwell on them.

From my mother's mouth who has been a diabetic for over ten years, she told me about the glucophage losing its punch. She is taking other meds along with the glucophage and they work fine. Your doctor can provide more info. All the best!
Posted 11/10/2006 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
Curious Drew,

It always best to follow the diagnosis of your doctor I have been on insulin injections now for well over fifty years and I have seen many who have asked if their doctors opinion is correct or not because they don't feel bad! Diabetes is sneaky disease in the old days I heard many MD tell patients that they were boarder line diabetics. I tell you that is nonsense either you are or you are not diabetic!

With lots of assurance I can tell you that if your glucose tolerance tests jumped that much I hate to tell you this but their is something wrong in the old pancreas and only a good doctor can tell! I am real impressed with your A1C that is pretty normal for normal folks which doesn't change the doctors concerns for you but still tells me that following your doctors recommendations are a good idea.

Note: Diabetes is also a progressive condition untreated and the side affects can be very harmful. Diabetes affects every, nerve, organic aspect, circulatory part of the human body. To take a pill to keep sugars under control is the probably the best route to go! If your still curious then get another opinion from someone in internal medicine or specializes in Endocrinology!

My first thought is take the pills if its wrong and sugars drop too far you will do a little hypoglycemic thing and if that happens they will know to make changes in prescriptions! Your doctor is aware of all that and I'm sure will monitor your progress. Heck a pill is better than insulin hypoglycemic reactions to that drug is real sever and can kill! the pill is not that risky but check with your MD!

Prayer going your way believe me I have experienced almost every aspect of the disease over the past 50 or 55 years! And I'm still kicking because I followed the rules of being diabetic! I hope I took away some of your curiosity?

God Bless,
David aka rabbin

Posted 11/10/2006 8:19 PM (GMT 0)

Thank you David for your note of concern and support.  I have a dr appointment on Tuesday and I will address my concerns with him then.  I am all for taking drugs but all of my blood tests over the past month have been below 120, so I can't understand the GTT results.  I will ask him for another GTT and see if the results are the same.  We'll see then.

CD

Posted 11/11/2006 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
Even lap techs can error! or something else was going on that may of caused the results not to be good! I pray you do not have the disease. As a life longer with it, it has always been my prayer that no other child would have to live the life I had growing up and trying to make it as a brittle insulin dependent diabetic. Things are a lot better today then back when I was growing up they didn't have all the stuff they have today. Some of it for life longers like me who were and still are uninsurable due to costs its a bit harder for us to keep up! But heck I was told I'd be lucky to see 40 years of age but now I am fast approaching 65 years young! God kept me here all these years for a reason maybe it was just to give you hope and tell you the truth about the disease?

Oh God if I am all this man has to look forward to for hope? LOL don't pay any attention to me just pay attention to your doctor and if you do have it just take the pills and be thankful your not a kid and you can control it today and live a real normal life just have to watch what you eat, take a pill and live happy and prosper!

God has Blessed You don't worry be happy and smile
David aka rabbin
Posted 11/19/2006 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
Dear Curious Drew,

I am pasting the testimonial about the guy, whose condition was considered as per-diabetic.

(Sorry, but duplicate posts and quoted material are against the guidlines.  Commercial messages must be approved by the administrator and paid for as ads.)

Post Edited By Moderator (eljay1066) : 11/19/2006 3:22:28 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/19/2006 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Drew,
Those 120 readings may be a bit of a problem over time. Be sure to stay on your low glycemic, high veggie diet and go easy on the fatty meats. I know it's a bit scary to consider taking meds for diabetes but the insidious creep of retinal scarring or the slow failure of kidney function is a whole lot scarier. In the long run it's better to have excellent readings and be on meds than to have so-so readings and be med free. Damage caused by high or moderate high numbers is cumulative.

Sorry to be such a party pooper but I'm trying to let you know all of the facts so you can make good choices for the long haul. My first doctor was not too worried about my 180 readings after a meal and my present doctor (his wife! LOL!) is a screaming meammie if I even flirt with 150's. She was hard on me at first but I learned a lot from her and am doing much better with my food plan and my numbers.
All the best to you.
Posted 11/22/2006 11:14 PM (GMT 0)
hi curious drew . I,m with you check every avenue before starting a life long medication . ive just learned recently that my bp meds can cause diabeties actully all kinds of side affects.anyway it was was nice to see someone else out there that thinks like i do when it comes to just taking another pill before they stop and think about is there something they can change in there life or if how there feeling might be do to a side affect of a medication.
Posted Yesterday 12:42 AM (GMT 0)

Thank you Jeanne and Cindybells for your reply.  After much fuss on my part, I started taking the Metformin 3 days ago.  The driving force was a reading I had after a meal.  Before the meal I was 110, two hours after I was 176.  The meal was a peanut butter sandwich on pumpernickle bread with about 20 Fritos. 

My readings since on the Metformin haven't changed much.  Does it take a while for the medicine to kick in?  For the most part, I eat very healthy and rarely eat the high glycemic carbs.  I do like cereal on occasion in the mornings but gave that up about 3 weeks ago.  My before-a-meal readings are still low compared to many folks, mornings around 108-113, lunch around 90-100 and dinner around 113-118.

Curious, are there any people out there reading this who are approaching diabetes with herbs?  I've heard cinnamon in low dose helps curb the numbers and there is a homeopathic concoction called Diamaxol that guarantees low numbers after 30 days of use?  Would love to hear from anyone who is going alternative.

Thanks for your thoughts and advise.  Blessings to all!!

CD

Posted Yesterday 6:02 AM (GMT 0)
Have to let you know, Drew, that as fast as the homeopathic 'non-drugs' drugs come out on the market the FDA shuts them down. Yes, there are things out there that can help lower blood sugar and cinnamon is one of them. So is bitter melon and a host of other things including real gila monster saliva...

The problem with herbals is quality control. Where was it grown, how was the rainfall that season? Is there a major highway nearby that's sending car fumes all thru the field? Is it being irrigated from a clean water supply? Do they even wash their hands when they pick it? How much is too much? What is the proper dosage?

I can buy bitter melon and cinnamon bark at my local farmer's market but I certainly don't want to mix up my own diabetes meds. As soon as you start using a substance to treat your diabetes it becomes an over the counter medicine and should be reported to your doctor as such. Some peeps use cinnamon capsules that they buy or fill themselves. But if that's something you plan to do clear it with your doctor first.

I'm not anti-herbal or anti-homeopathic. I use flower extracts and bark extracts for mood leveling. I use peppermint for upset stomach. But the long term effects of using 'sort of helpful' herbals in place of real meds can be catastrophic. Just my 2ยข.
Posted Yesterday 6:19 AM (GMT 0)
Cindybells,
I've noticed in some of your posts you believe your medication have been causing your health conditions. Could you please give me the source of your information because I've been on one of the meds you take for over 30 years and never heard of it causing diabetes.
Posted 12/8/2006 2:11 AM (GMT 0)

I am a newbie to this board and a newbie diabetic, just getting diagnosed a few days ago. I am a young 57 and I hope I can live with this disease til I reach a very ripe old age. I have many questions to ask but I'll start out with just 1 for now.

It was Curious Drew's post that caught my attention, as I too, want to doubt the doctors diagnosis! I was in too much of a shock on Tuesday when the lab results came back and didn't think to get the figures on the results, so I called his office today and these are the reading his nurse gave me. Hemoglobin: 5.5, Glucose at the beginning of the test:
6.2 and at the end of the 2 hour tolerance test: 11.6. What I don't know or understand is, how does that compare to the readings I've read in other posts? Are the figures calculated differently because I am in Canada? Is 11.6 considered high?

Please forgive me if this has already been posted in another thread...I know I didn't take the time to read all of the posts before I posted here. I have many more questions, but I'll pour over old posts and see if my questions have been answered before.

Thanks for the help

Post Edited (Rose118) : 12/7/2006 8:14:56 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/8/2006 3:01 PM (GMT 0)
Rose,

Welcome to HealingWell. I'm happy to make a new friend but not for the reason. I'm 55 and I've been diabetic for about 12 years. I started on diet and exercise treatment, ignored my doctor's best advice and am now on metformin, avandia, and Lantus insulin, about 12 units at bedtime.

I don't have the conversion chart for Canadian to US numbers but I would say that 11.6 is high. Don't be shocked if you are started on a few different meds as well as possibly a long acting insulin like Lantus. I will seem frightening at first to take lots of medication but the reward will be the new GREAT numbers on your meter and that is what helps give you long life.

Good numbers become your friends and high numbers become your teachers because they show you your mistakes and help you learn to take better care of yourself. I'll try to find a conversion chart and get it posted for all out members. I should have done it before this but your note just reminded me. Take care. We will help you get thru this.
Posted 12/9/2006 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for replying and I hope you can find that conversion chart.

Just to let you know, the Dr started me immediately on metformin. 500mg 2X a day. But I cut the pill in half and talk 2 halves with my meals. Funny, this is the first time in years I've eaten breakfas so I could take a pill with food, and it really seemed strange to sit down with a bowl of cereal. That is the only meds he has me on

Physically, I feel fine. Same as I did before the diagnosis, but mentally, I'm a mess. I can't seem to stop crying, thinking that this is
a "life sentence" of hell, that I won't be able to enjoy eating the way I did, and never having chocolate or desserts ever again. Oh I know, there is diabetic food out there, and eventually I will come to understand that I will be leading a more healthy lifestyle, but for now, I just can't see beyond this hopelessness. Is this normal? How long does it take to see things in a different light and accept that this is the way it is.

I feel like I am in a fog, or a dream, that this isn't really happening. Then I blame myself for letting myself gain weight over the years and becoming lazy. Right now I weigh 185 lbs. but 10 years ago, I was 130. How could I let myself do this to ME! I am so scared!
Posted 12/9/2006 5:33 AM (GMT 0)
Rose,
It's ok. You didn't do this to you... Diabetes did this. Diabetes makes your body process carbohydrates differently from normals. (It's a hereditary defense mechanism against famine. In case the entire wheat/corn/rice crop of the world is wiped out next season you're all set!) Right now you will start on a new food plan and soon start to lose weight. Then you will see that you can eat all the same foods you could always eat, just not all at one time. For example, tonight I had a mondo huge salad for dinner with lots of green peppers, raw spinach, purple cabbage, some turkey, cheese, olives and dressing... It was delicious! For my bedtime snack I had a scoop of ice cream (real, not diatetic) on a cone and enjoyed it so slowly and wonderfully, lick by lick. I've had my meds and in the morning my sugar will be about 89-100. I traded my bread/potato/pasta part of my meal for ice cream as a bedtime snack. See?

I eat chocolate when I need it for my sanity, make real food and the only diabetic things I do is to use splenda in my coffee or drink diet pop. I still have small servings of special desserts at times, eat a few french fries, 1/2 a donut on Sunday morning... The amounts have changed but the foods are still there.

Click on the colored words for some basic info about the forum and adjusting to diabetes as a diagnosis. You are right on track for feeling the way you do. It is normal and healthy to feel lost and afraid. It will pass and you will get back on track. We will help you and pretty soon you will be the one helping the newbies who come here. Hang in there, girlfriend. You can do this.
Posted 12/9/2006 10:15 AM (GMT 0)
Dear Curious Drew
I'm a diabetic but never had any symptons either. I was on a roller coaster ride for the first couple of years, my environment didn't help until I took a year off and recovered. My blood sugar levels were over 200. I'm now only around 60-70 and I take half of 1 pill a day. My blood sugar levels for the last year have been in this range but it doesn't mean I'm no longer a diabetic. In a fact there are many surveys say that people who might be on the border should take something to avoid it in the future and apparently there has been success about it.
The biggest misconception about diabetes is that only obese people get it. I've 40years old and lived a sporting life going to the gym regularly and always watching my food. I have keeping a balance of organic food and normal food has helped a lot because preservatives and additives seem to play on me a bit.

However, areas where I know I should continue the tablets is that I have a balance problem. Once I stopped the tablets and for 2 months I kept on falling down. When I went back on the tablet I was fine. I get afraid of walking down stairs also because I often miss a step.

I continue the tablet because I know that when you get older it's harder to control the diabetes. My father died from it 5 years ago. He didn't take care of himself.

I don't want to have a eye trouble, kidney trouble, feet problems or any kind ofproblem whenI'm older so as many of the members have suggested, just listen to your doctor. I think 500 might be too strong for an on the border diabetic but really the doctor knows best.
Posted 12/10/2006 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
Rose wrote:

"Physically, I feel fine. Same as I did before the diagnosis, but mentally, I'm a mess. I can't seem to stop crying, thinking that this is
a "life sentence" of hell, that I won't be able to enjoy eating the way I did, and never having chocolate or desserts ever again. Oh I know, there is diabetic food out there, and eventually I will come to understand that I will be leading a more healthy lifestyle, but for now, I just can't see beyond this hopelessness. Is this normal? How long does it take to see things in a different light and accept that this is the way it is.

I feel like I am in a fog, or a dream, that this isn't really happening. Then I blame myself for letting myself gain weight over the years and becoming lazy. Right now I weigh 185 lbs. but 10 years ago, I was 130. How could I let myself do this to ME! I am so scared!"

Ruth says:

Hi Rose, I know JUST how you feel. I feel fine physically as well (had no symptoms, just a lousy bs reading at my 50th annual checkup!!!) but emotionally I feel as if I'm on a roller coaster. No kidding. Some days I feel all confident and positive, and other days I feel so SORRY for myself!!! I have another chronic medical issue (and have since 5th grade!) but never had ridden the waves emotionally like this before ... I think, in part, because for the other I took a pill and didn't hang out with strobe lights!!! This is TOTALLY different. It's with me 24/7 and I feel like I can't ever let it rest. Right now I'm mostly working at looking at food in a different light. Instead of looking at holiday treats and telling myself how FABULOUS they are I'm trying to tell myself how unhealthy they are. I think the battle for most things is in my mind ...

Good LUCK and welcome!!!!! The people here are wonderful and have helped me to realize my ups and downs are normal as well as my being "good" and then crashing. I'm in this for the long haul and am trying to pace myself now.
Posted 12/10/2006 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
I am so so glad I found this site and the people that have replied to me are so amazingly upbeat and postive. I hope that I will feel that way soon. and start to feel myself again.

My family and friends try to provide comfort, but I really need to speak to people who have "been there, done that" and not just from people poo pooing that "you'll be alright, this isn't as bad as you think, its not such a horrible thing"  Maybe they are right but right now, right here, I am still devastated, still scared, and still mad and their words are falling on deaf ears. Thats not what I want to hear. What I really want is someone to say "it was all a mistake, you don't have diabetes after all". I know that won't happen though, so I'll have to try and get over this emotional

3 ring circus.

Tomorrow, I will be checking out to see if there is a diabetic support group in my city. I think/hope that is what I need. Our hospital provides a 5 hour Diabetic Clinic, along with seeing a dietician but there is a long waiting list, can't get in til early March! My drs office is trying to get me in early as I really really need diet counselling.

God bless you all, you have been my savior's in the past few days.

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