Pre-Diabetes Question
Is this something (BYETTA) I could take for weight loss/pre-diabetes
with my Metformin?
And has anyone been on a brand of Metformin that made them nauseated and
he/she had to throw up? My Dr. has changed my brand of Met.
Is Byetta easy to use?
Vicki
March 8th, 2006 at 4:29 am
Listen I was really strident in my last reply. I apologize. I’m pretty emotional
about this whole diabetes thing right now. I have a friend I’ve loved for 25
years who is today in the hospital with staph from a wound in his foot. They’ve
been carving up his leg for two weeks trying to stop the spread. He’s in partial
kidney failure, and today they’re talking about just chopping his whole leg off
to stop the infection. He’s been diabetic for 35 years, and he never took care
of himself. He’s had no feeling in his feet for about 7 years, and now he’s in
serious serious trouble. Sorry for the hard line. Thanks -Carol
Is this something (BYETTA) I could take for weight loss/pre-diabetes
with my Metformin?
And has anyone been on a brand of Metformin that made them nauseated and
he/she had to throw up? My Dr. has changed my brand of Met.
Is Byetta easy to use?
Vicki
March 8th, 2006 at 8:47 am
This is something that always gets to me - there is no such thing as
"pre-diabetes" or "borderline diabetes". The current standard of care is you
either are diabetic or you aren’t. And in almost all cases, once you’ve been
diagnosed, you’ve been diabetic for at least a few years without knowing it. My
sister has a friend whos doctor put her on Metformin but gave her no diet
information or orders to check blood sugar. Just told her that her "sugar is a
little high". My sister tried to explain to her the hard truth about diabetes
but her friend got very angry, refused to talk with her for days. It makes us so
sad because she’s just damaging her kidneys and blood vessels by taking this
outdated medical advise from her 65 year old doctor. If you’re on Metformin
you’re certainly diabetic. Diet, exercise, blood sugar monitoring, and in most
cases medication are medically necessary. Also, all diabetics should be on an
anti-hypertensive (even if they don’t have high bp), a low dose daily aspirin
(unless there is a clotting disorder), and many need a cholesterol lowering
drug, too.
Also - I couldn’t take Metformin regardless of the brand - horrible nausea and
even worse diarrhea. I changed to Actos and have done great for five years -
A1c’s are never above 5.2. My sister does Byetta and Metformin. Had some weight
loss at first but that tapered off quickly. I think the weight loss is different
for everyone. She does have the ongoing problem of nausea/vomiting if she waits
too long to eat after her shot, or eats too much. BUT her A1c’s have inched
downin the last year into the 6 range (from 10!!) and keep getting better. She
says Byetta is a breeze to use, that the only hassle is figuring out what works
with your lifestyle as far as keeping it cool when away from home. She LOVES her
Byetta. -Carol
Is this something (BYETTA) I could take for weight loss/pre-diabetes
with my Metformin?
And has anyone been on a brand of Metformin that made them nauseated and
he/she had to throw up? My Dr. has changed my brand of Met.
Is Byetta easy to use?
Vicki
March 8th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Hi Vicki,
I’m not real sure I understand what you are asking as Metformin is the
generic of Glucophage so there is no BRAND of metformin, metformin is the
brand. Do you know what he changed you to? Also, the byetta manufacturer
recommends that you be on a oral diabetic drug (usually metformin) at the
same time you are taking byetta.
Metformin is notorious for causing gastric upset. Mostly Diarrhea but it
can cause nausea as well. Believe me….lol…
Byetta is moderately easy to use as far as the actual injection goes. But
there is also blood glucose testing that needs to be done, as well as
adjustments to diet. These vary from person to person. I hope this answers
your questions. If you have more don’t hesitate to ask.
Demetria-Beth
Is this something (BYETTA) I could take for weight loss/pre-diabetes
with my Metformin?
And has anyone been on a brand of Metformin that made them nauseated and
he/she had to throw up? My Dr. has changed my brand of Met.
Is Byetta easy to use?
Vicki
March 9th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
As you can see there are some pretty strong ideas here about what is and
isn’t diabetes.
I too don’t buy the "pre-diabetes" stuff, and I don’t care what the
marketing company ADA has to say about it. I have no faith in that
association.
Just curious as to what you accept as "never high: "I’ve always had my
A1c done and it was never high".
March 9th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Due respect to differing interpretations. But I fall on the side with DaveO. I
didn’t mean to imply that anyone here particularly has a "old" doctor - it just
happens that the friend who we know who is getting bad information does have
one. Not only old, but old school!
The ADA may be one of the biggest dangers there is out there for diabetics! I
had ADA based "diabetes education classes" when I was first diagnosed. Their
recommendation for carbs was outrageous! I don’t remember the exact numbers but
it was somewhere in the range of 65 breakfast, 50 lunch, 60 supper, 15 nighttime
snack. I told them that if I ate that many carbs a day I would be unable to wake
up. They said NO NO you MUST have this many carbs to feed your brain! What a
load of hooey. Also, they tell me my a1c goal should be less than 7. Are they
KIDDING? I always felt my goal should be ‘normal’. As in what non-diabetics
have. And that sure isn’t 7. So I always worked toward less than 6, and my goal
now is to always be as close to 5 as possible. The ADA is indeed a marketing
organization - a trade group - and while I don’t want to go all world conspiracy
of you folks, their goals are no necessarily what your goals should be.
Think of it like public schools. Their goal is to address the needs of the
lowest common denominator. But as a student, wouldn’t your personal goal be to
graduate first in the class? I guess it has to do with working for an A+ or
settling for a C. And I define A+ as keeping my feet til I die, along with my
vision, my kidneys, and hopefully, never having to shoot insulin.
As you can see there are some pretty strong ideas here about what is and
isn’t diabetes.
I too don’t buy the "pre-diabetes" stuff, and I don’t care what the
marketing company ADA has to say about it. I have no faith in that
association.
Just curious as to what you accept as "never high: "I’ve always had my
A1c done and it was never high".
The AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) have, in
the time that I’ve been diabetic gone from a recommendation of <7.0 to
(I think) 6.0 or under. I know it was 6.5 but I think it is even lower now.
This is a disease that many times the patient has to do most of the
doctoring/research as many doctors are just not up on latest treatments.
How often do you test? You just might be missing a lot of higher readings.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 9th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
I would just like to comment on taking Metformin regardless of having
diabetes…I have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome which is an androgen disorder.
After 12 years of never having regular menstrual cycles but mind you normal BS
and A1C’s, I went to yet a different DR who immediately put me on Metformin
(with no BS testing etc) and low and behold I had normal cycles for the 1st time
in over 12 years. It’s unfortunate that with PCOS we are predisposed to Type II
diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Sounds like your sisters friend just needs some time to realize what is
happening to her. I am sure there is a number of us here, myself included that
were in denial for a period of time. But I do believe at least in my case that
I was pre diabetic due to PCOS. It took years for my A1C to rise above 7, 7.1
being the highest it ever got which was this summer. But that is just my
opinion.
Tami
Also - I couldn’t take Metformin regardless of the brand - horrible nausea and
even worse diarrhea. I changed to Actos and have done great for five years -
A1c’s are never above 5.2. My sister does Byetta and Metformin. Had some weight
loss at first but that tapered off quickly. I think the weight loss is different
for everyone. She does have the ongoing problem of nausea/vomiting if she waits
too long to eat after her shot, or eats too much. BUT her A1c’s have inched
downin the last year into the 6 range (from 10!!) and keep getting better. She
says Byetta is a breeze to use, that the only hassle is figuring out what works
with your lifestyle as far as keeping it cool when away from home. She LOVES her
Byetta. -Carol
Is this something (BYETTA) I could take for weight loss/pre-diabetes
with my Metformin?
And has anyone been on a brand of Metformin that made them nauseated and
he/she had to throw up? My Dr. has changed my brand of Met.
Is Byetta easy to use?
Vicki
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 11th, 2006 at 2:02 am
Vicki,
I experienced several of the listed side effects of metformin:
- metallic taste in the mouth
- mild diarrhea
- lose of appetite
For me, these were manageable and tapered off in a couple of weeks. But if
anything I’ve learned on this track toward type-2 management… "your milage
will vary".
Without Byetta, on metformin alone, I lost 30# in about 4 months!
But, like common table salt, I can’t imagine one brand of metformin being
different from another. It is also availabe as a generic drug.
Perhaps you could ease into your prescribed dose by taking 1/2 of it for the
first week or so, before moving to the full dose?
Steve
March 11th, 2006 at 2:50 am
Hi CB
Just wanted to let you know that you shouldn’t believe everthing the ADA
tells you, especially regarding nutrition.
Demetria-Beth
I’m thrown off by the statement that there is no such thing as
"pre-diabetes." My doctor isn’t old or out-of-date on his treatment
methods and he
described my condition as "pre-diabetic." I’m very overweight, but I have
excellent blood pressure (108/70) and only slightly high cholesterol. My
weight has
messed up my thyroid though, and so I have blood work done every three
months. With this blood work I’ve always had my A1c done and it was never
high–not until the last blood test I had in August. So I haven’t been
diabetic for
years without knowing it. I’m in the beginning stages of developing
diabetes. If I don’t change my lifestyle I will have full-blown diabetes
in the
very near future. This is why my doctor put me on Byetta at the end of
November, to help promote healthy weight loss and regulate my BG, which has
very
rarely tested high at home (only one or twice).
Anyway, the Byetta has been working out great for me. I’m losing weight,
which motivates me to push harder at the gym. I understand that the term
"pre-diabetes" might seem like it’s shrugging off the issue, but I took it
very
seriously. I don’t want to kill myself with food or with medication to
balance
out the damage I do to my body with food. I’m just glad I can reverse the
damage I’ve done and hopefully when I go for my blood work in the coming
months these changes will show.
I don’t know. Just a different point of view on the issue.
-CB
05 Byetta
50 Synthroid
This is something that always gets to me - there is no such thing as
"pre-diabetes" or "borderline diabetes". The current standard of care is you
either
are diabetic or you aren’t. And in almost all cases, once you’ve been
diagnosed, you’ve been diabetic for at least a few years without knowing it.
My
sister has a friend whos doctor put her on Metformin but gave her no diet
information or orders to check blood sugar. Just told her that her "sugar is
a
little high". My sister tried to explain to her the hard truth about
diabetes but
her friend got very angry, refused to talk with her for days. It makes us
so
sad because she’s just damaging her kidneys and blood vessels by taking
this
outdated medical advise from her 65 year old doctor. If you’re on Metformin
you’re certainly diabetic. Diet, exercise, blood sugar monitoring, and in
most
cases medication are medically necessary. Also, all diabetics should be on
an anti-hypertensive (even if they don’t have high bp), a low dose daily
aspirin (unless there is a clotting disorder), and many need a cholesterol
lowering drug, too.
Also - I couldn’t take Metformin regardless of the brand - horrible nausea
and even worse diarrhea. I changed to Actos and have done great for five
years
- A1c’s are never above 5.2. My sister does Byetta and Metformin. Had some
weight loss at first but that tapered off quickly. I think the weight loss
is
different for everyone. She does have the ongoing problem of
nausea/vomiting
if she waits too long to eat after her shot, or eats too much. BUT her
A1c’s
have inched downin the last year into the 6 range (from 10!!) and keep
getting better. She says Byetta is a breeze to use, that the only hassle is
figuring out what works with your lifestyle as far as keeping it cool when
away from
home. She LOVES her Byetta. -Carol
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 11th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Hi CB
I don’t want to let any of the air out of your balloon, but I would really
advise you to be testing MORE not less. Until you know what foods you can
eat, you really need to test, test test. Then you will have a better handle
on your health. You want to make sure that what you are eating allows you
to return to your pre-meal bg#’s within 2 hours. Some say 1 hour. But I go
for 2. Here is an ideal schedule for testing
Upon Awaking (this allows you to see if you have that pesky "Dawn Syndrome"
1 hours after breakfast
2 hours after breakfast
Before lunch
1 hour after lunch
2 hours after lunch
Before Supper
1 hour after supper
2 hours after supper
Before bedtime
This will let you know what your post prandial #’s are and how rapidly you
return to your pre-meal readings. Doing this for a week or so, will show
you a broader picture of your blood glucose picture. I would recommend also
keeping a food journal with carb counts so you can see what foods raise you
bg too much, and you can avoid those.
I want to say that I feel for you. Getting the news that you are
diabetic…or even on your way to becoming diabetic can seem kinda unreal.
It’s not fair and it’s not fun. But hey….we’re still upright and sucking
air, so we have to take care to do what we can to keep the damage to our
bodies to a minimum. And there are those that have reversed type 2 and no
longer have to take any meds at all. It is hard work. It takes Time, and
it takes a commitment to your health. My brother died at the age of 36
because he felt it was "too much trouble" to test, and to follow a diet
plan, and to exercise. There are days when I’m mad as hell that I can’t
have exactly what I want to eat, or that I have to carry around that blasted
meter, or fix the thermos for my byetta, but HEY….It’s a lot better than
the consequences! I want you to know that you are in my thoughts and if I
can do anything to help, just let me know.
Fencible39–
Hey.
Before I started the Byetta I tested in the morning before and after eating
and then again before bed 5 days a week. Since starting the Byetta in late
November I test before injecting myself in the morning, then again around
lunchtime, and before bed 5 days a week. When I first started the Byetta I
tested
my levels like crazy, just out of curiosity to see the changes. Hell, if
diabetes didn’t scare me enough as it is … just the thought of pricking
my
finger three times a day for the rest of my life would! =D I do hope to
start
testing only three days out of the week after I see my doctor/endo in a
couple of months. With my luck they’ll tell me to test 7 instead of 5!
lol
As for the professional blood test, my A1C was 6.2 in November when I was
tested, and the August before that it was 6.0 (or possibly 5.8/5.9 I’d have
to
look it up). Before last August I typically tested between 4.5 - 5.5.
This
is going back to my freshman year of college 5 years ago.
When I saw my endo in November, she mentioned that 7.0 was the old standard
for the a1c, but that 6.5 was currently the accepted number, and of course
the lower the better. I have read a lot online about 6.0 coming up as a
standard, especially with the newish terminology (pre-diabetes, etc).
Anyway, I’m very "on top" of my health situation, mostly because of my
control-freak tenancies. =D I honestly think that the term pre-diabetes
was
coined merely to make a distinction between the varying levels of diabetes.
It’s an arbitrary line in the sand for many people. For me, however, it’s
what
I am. Pre-diabetic is the term I’m using right now and it fits my condition
for the time being. I mean … I’d rather my doctor tell me that with a
reading of 6.2 I’m "slightly" diabetic, "pre-diabetic" or just out right
diabetic than have him wait for my A1C to reach 6.5+.
- CB
As you can see there are some pretty strong ideas here about what is and
isn’t diabetes.
I too don’t buy the "pre-diabetes" stuff, and I don’t care what the
marketing company ADA has to say about it. I have no faith in that
association.
Just curious as to what you accept as "never high: "I’ve always had my
A1c done and it was never high".
The AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) have, in
the time that I’ve been diabetic gone from a recommendation of <7.0 to
(I think) 6.0 or under. I know it was 6.5 but I think it is even lower now.
This is a disease that many times the patient has to do most of the
doctoring/research as many doctors are just not up on latest treatments.
How often do you test? You just might be missing a lot of higher readings.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 12th, 2006 at 5:23 am
I was on a certain generic of Metformin and I must have changed drugstores
and/or manufacturers because I started throwing-up now and then. We don’t know
if this was from the Met really or my generic of the BP drug Zestoretic got
changed to another man. the same time. My Dr. already knew I got the "Ace Cough"
from that drug.
Anyway, he gave me several bottles of GLUMETZA Metformin. He said certain kinds
are rougher on the system. That’s what he switched me to. (And BP med was
switched to Hyzaar).
Vicki
March 14th, 2006 at 4:41 am
Carol,
I don’t know the opinion of most in the medical community itself, but my
former Dr. and others do seem to think there is a condition called pre-diabetes
and that if if treated you won’t develop full-blown diabetes.
He runs a Diabetes and Lipids clinic.
Why do ypu feel so strongly about this? What happened?
Vicki
March 14th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Carol,
I don’t know the opinion of most in the medical community itself, but my
former Dr. and others do seem to think there is a condition called pre-diabetes
and that if if treated you won’t develop full-blown diabetes.
He runs a Diabetes and Lipids clinic.
Why do ypu feel so strongly about this? What happened?
Vicki
March 14th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Good, solid comments. Thanks. Kathy, MN
The ADA is not the only organization that gives a definition for
pre-diabetes, and they are by far not the only source for the term. I first
heard it
from my doctor. In regard to the ADA itself, I haven’t had any personal
experiences with them, but I take everything I read online with a grain of salt.
No
one cares about my health as much as I do (except my mother, of course …
haha). =D
And, yeah, I do think that everyone should strive for their own personal
best. Work for the A+, don’t settle for the C. However, that A+ is different
things to different people. Even the "lowest common denominator" have goals.
Some people work just as hard for their C’s as other’s do for their A+’s.
I’d rather people take the ADA’s advice and fight to keep their A1C under 7
than not do anything at all.
I’d also like to point out that the official ADA statement back in August
said:
"Our consensus is that an A1C of 7% should serve as a call to action to
initiate or change therapy with the goal of achieving an A1C level as close to
the nondiabetic range as possible or, ****at a minimum,**** decreasing the A1C
to less than 7%."
Less really is more!
I agree with you about the carb issue, though. I don’t want to sound all
world conspiracy either, but it is suspicious that in their report they
advocated eating more carbs and taking more drugs earlier. I’m biased though
because
I’m not comfortable with the amount of drugs prescribed in America. I
"suffer from depression/anxiety" and when I spoke to my doctor about it within
the
first five minutes of the conversation he’d already written me a
prescription for Paxil and Xanax. Neither helped me. The paxil actually made the
depression worse. I’m by no means anti-drug. My good friend takes Paxil and it
sincerely helps him and my brother takes Zoloft with the same results. It’s
just that drugs aren’t a cure-all. You can take all the drugs in the world,
but if you don’t change the behavior that is hurting you (such as over eating)
nothing is going to help. This of course doesn’t apply to people who are
born diabetic or who develop it for non-behavior-based reasons.
I’m going to stop rambling now.
- CB
Due respect to differing interpretations. But I fall on the side with DaveO.
I didn’t mean to imply that anyone here particularly has a "old" doctor - it
just happens that the friend who we know who is getting bad information does
have one. Not only old, but old school!
The ADA may be one of the biggest dangers there is out there for diabetics!
I had ADA based "diabetes education classes" when I was first diagnosed.
Their recommendation for carbs was outrageous! I don’t remember the exact
numbers
but it was somewhere in the range of 65 breakfast, 50 lunch, 60 supper, 15
nighttime snack. I told them that if I ate that many carbs a day I would be
unable to wake up. They said NO NO you MUST have this many carbs to feed your
brain! What a load of hooey. Also, they tell me my a1c goal should be less
than 7. Are they KIDDING? I always felt my goal should be ‘normal’. As in what
non-diabetics have. And that sure isn’t 7. So I always worked toward less than
6, and my goal now is to always be as close to 5 as possible. The ADA is
indeed a marketing organization - a trade group - and while I don’t want to go
all world conspiracy of you folks, their goals are no necessarily what your
goals should be.
Think of it like public schools. Their goal is to address the needs of the
lowest common denominator. But as a student, wouldn’t your personal goal be to
graduate first in the class? I guess it has to do with working for an A+ or
settling for a C. And I define A+ as keeping my feet til I die, along with my
vision, my kidneys, and hopefully, never having to shoot insulin.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 15th, 2006 at 3:10 am
If you’re on Metformin you’re certainly diabetic. Diet, exercise, blood sugar
monitoring, and in most cases medication are medically necessary. Also, all
diabetics should be on an anti-hypertensive (even if they don’t have high bp), a
low dose daily aspirin (unless there is a clotting disorder), and many need a
cholesterol lowering drug, too.
I agree that pre-diabetes is probably an uninformed doctor. However not
everyone needs blood preasure medications. I am 40. I do not have blood
pressure issues. I was diet and exercise controlled for years. I would like to
avoid extra meds until needed. My cholesterol is fine. I do take a low dose
aspirin since I am over 40. When I read something I go in and ask him if it is
something I should be doing. I think it is important to find a doctor that you
March 15th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
If you’re diagnosed with "pre-diabetes" do most insurance companies
pay the same as if your diagnosis is "diabetes?" I know doctors have
to code everything meticulously for insurance submittal. I wonder if
you are first diagnosed with "pre-diabetes" and if you eventually
develop full "diabetes" if insurance companies will treat this as a
condition you brought upon yourself. Just something to think about. I
don’t trust insurance companies.
March 16th, 2006 at 3:12 am
LOL…Yep…Good Ole Mama’s! CB….I agree with you completely! You have
to be in charge of your health care because only YOU know how things work
for you. I take 6 different meds. Byetta and Metformin for the diabetes,
Lisinopril for kidney health, Yasmine (birth control) and Lexapro for
depression. I take so much that I really need that I will hardly take an
Advil for a headache. I’d rather hurt a little bit then introduce another
chemical into my body. And when I go to the Dr.. she pulls her prescription
pad out before I’m even through talking to her. It’s unbelievable. I am
not totally against the ADA but their Nutrition advice is totally out of
whack. If I ate as many carbs as they recommended, I would never get below
a 7 A1c without insulin therapy. And I want to avoid that if at all
possible. Why would I want to add a medicine just so I could eat more
carbs? Doesn’t make sense. It would be wonderful if I could eat all the
cake and Ice Cream and Fruit that I wanted, but I can’t without adding more
meds. It’s just not worth it. So, All that to say….Amen….LOL
Demetria-Beth
The ADA is not the only organization that gives a definition for
pre-diabetes, and they are by far not the only source for the term. I
first heard it
from my doctor. In regard to the ADA itself, I haven’t had any personal
experiences with them, but I take everything I read online with a grain of
salt. No
one cares about my health as much as I do (except my mother, of course …
haha). =D
And, yeah, I do think that everyone should strive for their own personal
best. Work for the A+, don’t settle for the C. However, that A+ is
different
things to different people. Even the "lowest common denominator" have
goals.
Some people work just as hard for their C’s as other’s do for their A+’s.
I’d rather people take the ADA’s advice and fight to keep their A1C under 7
than not do anything at all.
I’d also like to point out that the official ADA statement back in August
said:
"Our consensus is that an A1C of 7% should serve as a call to action to
initiate or change therapy with the goal of achieving an A1C level as close
to
the nondiabetic range as possible or, ****at a minimum,**** decreasing the
A1C
to less than 7%."
Less really is more!
I agree with you about the carb issue, though. I don’t want to sound all
world conspiracy either, but it is suspicious that in their report they
advocated eating more carbs and taking more drugs earlier. I’m biased
though because
I’m not comfortable with the amount of drugs prescribed in America. I
"suffer from depression/anxiety" and when I spoke to my doctor about it
within the
first five minutes of the conversation he’d already written me a
prescription for Paxil and Xanax. Neither helped me. The paxil actually
made the
depression worse. I’m by no means anti-drug. My good friend takes Paxil
and it
sincerely helps him and my brother takes Zoloft with the same results.
It’s
just that drugs aren’t a cure-all. You can take all the drugs in the
world,
but if you don’t change the behavior that is hurting you (such as over
eating)
nothing is going to help. This of course doesn’t apply to people who are
born diabetic or who develop it for non-behavior-based reasons.
I’m going to stop rambling now.
- CB
Due respect to differing interpretations. But I fall on the side with
DaveO.
I didn’t mean to imply that anyone here particularly has a "old" doctor -
it
just happens that the friend who we know who is getting bad information
does
have one. Not only old, but old school!
The ADA may be one of the biggest dangers there is out there for diabetics!
I had ADA based "diabetes education classes" when I was first diagnosed.
Their recommendation for carbs was outrageous! I don’t remember the exact
numbers
but it was somewhere in the range of 65 breakfast, 50 lunch, 60 supper, 15
nighttime snack. I told them that if I ate that many carbs a day I would be
unable to wake up. They said NO NO you MUST have this many carbs to feed
your
brain! What a load of hooey. Also, they tell me my a1c goal should be less
than 7. Are they KIDDING? I always felt my goal should be ‘normal’. As in
what
non-diabetics have. And that sure isn’t 7. So I always worked toward less
than
6, and my goal now is to always be as close to 5 as possible. The ADA is
indeed a marketing organization - a trade group - and while I don’t want to
go
all world conspiracy of you folks, their goals are no necessarily what your
goals should be.
Think of it like public schools. Their goal is to address the needs of the
lowest common denominator. But as a student, wouldn’t your personal goal be
to
graduate first in the class? I guess it has to do with working for an A+ or
settling for a C. And I define A+ as keeping my feet til I die, along with
my
vision, my kidneys, and hopefully, never having to shoot insulin.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 16th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Pam wrote: If you’re on Metformin you’re certainly diabetic.
Pam, that’s not true. When I first saw an endocrinologist, it was to be
diagnosed with PCOS.(Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) The treatment of choice
for PCOS is has been Metformin. It starts women with PCOS ovulating. I had
my first regular cycles in my life at age 45 after starting on it. It seems
that it doesn’t cause low blood sugars in non-diabetics.
March 16th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Actualy I tried to cut and paste and it was not
March 16th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Actually I tried to cut and paste and it was not clear what I wrote and what
the other person wrote. I am sorry for that. I was trying to disagree wtih
the premise that everyone with diabetes needs bloodpressure medicine even if
they don’t have high blood pressure or cholesterol medicine without high
cholesterol.
I think that we al need to find a dr that can be a partner with us to
discuss what we need to do to inprove our health.
Pam
March 17th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Now, I don’t know why that person said we need high blood pressure medicine
even if we don’t have high blood pressure, but when I told my Dr. about my
brother dying from Kidney Failure from diabetes, she put me on lisinopril to
protect my kidneys. It’s a high blood pressure medicine. Well, at first we
tried Diovan, but it gave me headaches, and it is a blood pressure med too.
Maybe that is what they mean.
Demetria-Beth
Actually I tried to cut and paste and it was not clear what I wrote and what
the other person wrote. I am sorry for that. I was trying to disagree wtih
the premise that everyone with diabetes needs bloodpressure medicine even if
they don’t have high blood pressure or cholesterol medicine without high
cholesterol.
I think that we al need to find a dr that can be a partner with us to
discuss what we need to do to inprove our health.
Pam
March 17th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
I agree Pam - trusting your doctor but also having a doctor who is current on
evidence based medicine. I also am over 40 and have no blood pressure problems.
I take Avapro and aspirin not because I have high blood pressure but as
prophylactics to help protects my cardiovascular system. I am lucky that I
inherited my cholesterol tendencies from my father - no problems! My sister on
the other had got hers from our mother and has to take RX and work hard to keep
hers down. My a1c’s test in the low 5 range with just Actos, but my sister has
to take Metformin and Byetta just to stay in th 6 range. -Carol
—– Original Message —–
From: Pam William
To: Diabetes_And_Byetta
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 1:40 PM
Subject: [Diabetes_And_Byetta] Pre-Diabetes Question
If you’re on Metformin you’re certainly diabetic. Diet, exercise, blood sugar
monitoring, and in most cases medication are medically necessary. Also, all
diabetics should be on an anti-hypertensive (even if they don’t have high bp), a
low dose daily aspirin (unless there is a clotting disorder), and many need a
cholesterol lowering drug, too.
I agree that pre-diabetes is probably an uninformed doctor. However not
everyone needs blood preasure medications. I am 40. I do not have blood pressure
issues. I was diet and exercise controlled for years. I would like to avoid
extra meds until needed. My cholesterol is fine. I do take a low dose aspirin
since I am over 40. When I read something I go in and ask him if it is something
I should be doing. I think it is important to find a doctor that you can trust.
Pam
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
March 25th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
If you’re diagnosed with "pre-diabetes" do most insurance companies
pay the same as if your diagnosis is "diabetes?" I know doctors have
to code everything meticulously for insurance submittal. I wonder if
you are first diagnosed with "pre-diabetes" and if you eventually
develop full "diabetes" if insurance companies will treat this as a
condition you brought upon yourself. Just something to think about. I
don’t trust insurance companies.
Stefanie
March 26th, 2006 at 4:42 am
My meds are still the same co-pay as regular Diabetes.
V.
March 26th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Pam, that is a very good point. Last year I was "pre" diabetic according to
my doctor (and had been for some time). I got serious last February. I
lost 18 pounds over the next year and ate a low glycemic diet. I joined
Curves and was exercising daily. My FBS and A1C only increased. We cannot
control everything.
March 26th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Demetria, you don’t say it but I suspect your Lisinopril and Diovan have a
diuretic (for the "kidneys") and this helps you urinate. Mine both have had that
too in them, same drugs.
Vicki
March 27th, 2006 at 5:44 am
Ah!!!!! So that’s why!!!! LOL…..I couldn’t figure out why I was "going" so
much lately.
Demetria-Beth
Demetria, you don’t say it but I suspect your Lisinopril and Diovan have a
diuretic (for the "kidneys") and this helps you urinate. Mine both have had
that too in them, same drugs.
Vicki