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I found out I was a diabetic in Sept of 2011 with a fasting sugar of 215 and A1c of 7.3. My last test A1c was 6.2, down from the 7.3 three months ago. I'm taking 500mg of metformin once in the morning and once at night. I have lost over 60 lbs. I now just received a letter from my doctor that said my blood sugar from my A1C test I took last week is now 5.3. While I was there the doctor said prior to the test that if it came back good he wanted to take me off of the metformin. I felt happy about that when he told me but now I'm really concerned if this is the right thing to do. Has anyone here been in this situation?? I'm really concerned that stopping the medication that is helping me will raise those numbers back up. I know I'm not going to have a problem with keeping up the exercise and my new diet. But this medication thing is really throwing me a curve ball. I'm going to set up another appointment with him next week or so to talk to him about this.
i was put on 500 mg of metf when my a1c was 6.0 in 2007. by the end of 2008 i was taken off metf when my a 1c dropped first to 5.6 then went slightly up to 5.9
by the beginning of 2010 i was up to 6.3(included exercise at the time) so i was put on 1000 mg per day. after a stressful period, my a1c climbed to 6.7 so they included amaryl but later took me off it
recently i had been holding at 6.3 but suddenly climbed to 6.6 so i am now on 850 mg 3 times per day
so it is possible to go a year doing OK without meds but your a1c can still go up, you just have to keep monitoring every 3 months
you are doing well.
i often have issues following the diet and exercise routine it is very difficult
I found out I was a diabetic in Sept of 2011 with a fasting sugar of 215 and A1c of 7.3. My last test A1c was 6.2, down from the 7.3 three months ago. I'm taking 500mg of metformin once in the morning and once at night. I have lost over 60 lbs. I now just received a letter from my doctor that said my blood sugar from my A1C test I took last week is now 5.3. While I was there the doctor said prior to the test that if it came back good he wanted to take me off of the metformin. I felt happy about that when he told me but now I'm really concerned if this is the right thing to do. Has anyone here been in this situation?? I'm really concerned that stopping the medication that is helping me will raise those numbers back up. I know I'm not going to have a problem with keeping up the exercise and my new diet. But this medication thing is really throwing me a curve ball. I'm going to set up another appointment with him next week or so to talk to him about this.
As long as you stay on course watch what you eat like a hawk it'll be all good!!
I found out I was a diabetic in Sept of 2011 with a fasting sugar of 215 and A1c of 7.3. My last test A1c was 6.2, down from the 7.3 three months ago. I'm taking 500mg of metformin once in the morning and once at night. I have lost over 60 lbs. I now just received a letter from my doctor that said my blood sugar from my A1C test I took last week is now 5.3. While I was there the doctor said prior to the test that if it came back good he wanted to take me off of the metformin. I felt happy about that when he told me but now I'm really concerned if this is the right thing to do. Has anyone here been in this situation?? I'm really concerned that stopping the medication that is helping me will raise those numbers back up. I know I'm not going to have a problem with keeping up the exercise and my new diet. But this medication thing is really throwing me a curve ball. I'm going to set up another appointment with him next week or so to talk to him about this.
I don't see any issues with ceasing the metformin if you monitor your blood sugar daily. Just keep your doctor informed if your blood sugars go above acceptable levels.
I still take metformin but at one point I was on insulin as well. After changing my diet and losing weight I was able to get off the insulin with no ill effects. I'm hoping that I can eventually eliminate the metformin as well.
My mom was on one of the oral-anti-diabetic medications, very very well controlled diet and very well controlled blood sugar. She lost about 40 lbs, due to a totally different condition (actually caring for my father during a health scare).
She has now been totally off all diabetes medicines for about 2 years. Still controls her diet rigorously.
There is a decent amount of evidence that for some people, weight loss is enough to take them out of diabetic (type II) state, and back into "normal" or "pre-diabetes" - with no need for medicine.
Of course, that means you have to maintain the weight loss and new eating habits.
While metfomin has helped you, going off of it - if you are monitored regularly - will probably be okay if your doctor advises it. You should be able to stay ahead of any changes and not run into trouble, with proper monitoring.
Personally, I think the less medicines you have to take, the better.... as even the very safest have the potential for side effects.
For my mother, we were checking her blood sugar in the morning and it was scary low - though she always felt fine - she was on the very lowest does of the medicine (1/2 tablet of lowest doseage) - and the doctor said - just stop it all together.
Its been 2+ years (3, I think - actually) - and her A1C is still in the 5's.
You should be happy to be free from the pills. That was the primary reason for me to go the surgery route. You seem like you have it under control the way it should be done (watch your food intake/exercise), so I would say go for it. Of course you'll need to pay extra attention to everything, but I don't think that will be a problem in this case. Situation seems well under control and you're doing a great job of it. Congrats!
My husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2008 he was 35 then. He was on metformin 1000 mg 2 times a day. He has lost 85 lbs over the last year and his most recent A1C was 5.3 and his sugars have been between 90-105. He asked to be taken off and his doctor agreed. He's been of meds for 6 months. he still has more weight to loose but thankfully he's doing better. Since I cook low fat, low salt, low carbs anyway we are both loosing weight. He was always good about controlling his diabetes from the start but we had a fewmnoths where is sugars were in the hight 200's because of illness and meds he was taking. Prednisone will spike your sugar and he was on that 2 different time when he had pneumonia.
Prednisone is some evil stuff, especially for a diabetic. I'm actually surprised a doctor would prescribe it for a diabetic. One of my dogs was on it for most of her life because of this health issue she had and it ended up giving her pancreatitis, which killed her. Still hard to think about how I didn't see the signs right in front of my eyes (I am diabetic) and I'll always consider myself guilty of her death, but it was definitely the Prednisone that caused it. I looked it up after she died (really bad time to look something up BTW) and pancreatitis/diabetes are two of the potential side effects. I know I shouldn't beat myself up about it because it was literally the only thing that kept her going for the short time I got to enjoy her presence, but it was still really hard and still is several years after she was taken away from me..
For most people, the A1c goal is less than 7. You are well under that, most likely due to the excellent efforts you made in losing all that weight. If your doctor wants to take you off the metformin, that should be fine provided you two continue to monitor your A1c's. I say congrats.
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