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Posted 5/10/2007 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all!  I usually am over at the Ulcerative Colitis board.  I suffer from that lovely ailment.

However, 3 months ago, I was diagnosed with Type II.  I had Gestational with my daughter 3 years ago and went away after her birth.  I have a great GP who checks cholesterol, etc every 6 months.  My fasting sugar was 119 6 months ago and then 3 months ago it was 138.  I had lost 35 pounds last year, I excercise religiously 5 days a week.  I watch my diet (sought a dietician for help, too) but I did eat treats in moderation.  So, she put me on Metformin and I ramped up to 1500 mgs per day, continued the excercise (actually bumped it more up a notch) and watched my diet.  At 1500 mgs for a couple weeks, my fastings were still in the 120-140 range.  After exercise, before meals 80-120.  So, I bumped the Metformin up to the full 2000 mgs thinking that would help my fasting.  I did this last week.  For the past 4 days, my fastings have been between 140-180 and after exercise (heavy cardio for 45 minutes) it is ionly like 120-140.  I am 5'5" and 129 lbs.

My question is could an infection change my readings?  I have a scheduled appt with my GP tomorrow for a blood draw for A1C and I am concerned that she will change my meds.  I am OK with that- I want to prevent any complications.  I just do understand why it has jumped up so suddenly.  I ate a snack last night around 9pm- cottage cheese and jello/peaches 12 carbs total and my fasting was 171 this morning.

I try to do everything by the book with exercise and nutrition but that doesn't seem to help.  I am bummed.

Thanks for any advice.  I wonder if the UC has any effect on readings?

Posted 5/10/2007 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
G'Day and hello! (Love your name BTW ;-)
I have to tell ya...the one thing that jumped out at me from your post was,
"...So, I bumped the Metformin up to the full 2000 mgs thinking that would help my fasting."
My concern is that you shouldn't be making those decisions about that med (unless you are a medical professional yourself?). You could be playing with fire and I wouldn't want that for you. I'm glad you have an appointment with your GP tomorrow - you need to tell her about the changes. It could be that you may need another drug added to your regimen (not uncommon for Type2's to be on 2 or even 3 different meds to acheive the best control possible), a different dose, or even a different med entirely. While Metformin is a great drug, sometimes it's not enough to control blood sugars. Avandia, glyburide, Avandamet (combo Avandia and Metformin) are some of the other common drugs prescribed.
An infection can definitely elevate your blood sugars, too. Anytime your body is fighting something, your blood sugars can be elevated. Your UC can also have an effect on your sugar levels, especially when you get flare-ups/ episodes. Let your doc know if there's something going on there too, so she can better piece things together to better assess you.
Good luck with the A1C test. It'll give you a good average of your sugars over the past 3 months. too.

Cheers,
Kristin
Posted 5/11/2007 3:09 PM (GMT 0)

Phish is right- it's never a good idea to change your meds without your doctor's ok. There may be reasons why you shouldn't take the max dose. A snack of 12 grams of carb is unlikely to jack up your fasting number. Many people eat a bedtime snack with 15 or 30 grams of carb to help control their dawn phenomenon.

I recently had a kidney/sinus/bladder infection. Getting sick raised my numbers by 20-30 and the antibiotic kept them up there. Today ( about 3 weeks later) my numbers are finally coming down to where they were before the infection, but my doctor warned me that they might not ever go back to what they were.

Good luck with your appointment!

sandy

Posted 5/15/2007 6:57 PM (GMT 0)

Thanks for your advice/support.  The doctor called today and my A1C is 7.0 (down from 7.1, 3 months ago) I am shocked.  I work out 45 minutes a day- hard cardio, watch what I eat (most days).  Anyway, she wants to add Januvia.  I know it is new.  Any experiences with it.

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