[aja91]

Hi ,


I my blood sugare level at the age of 34 was
Fasting- 160
Random 2 hr After lunch- 190

HBA1C- 6.5

I took 1 month glimperide then stoped .now I am doing excersise(30 min walk everyday), and controlling food. not taking any medicine

I am regularly checking my sugare level

Now I am 36

My blood result(Average) are

Fasting- 125

Random 2hr After Lunch - 160

HBA1C- 6.1




Now many advises are comming to take medicine like metformin

1)Is there any after effects for metformin in long run.

2)What is it's action
3) How many year a diabetic person like me can survive with medicine ie without injectying insulin (may be this question is childish, excuse me)

Thanks

 

[cathyy]

For the first two years I was diabetic I was able to control it with diet and exercise, too. I have been taking Metformin for about 8 years now, and insulin isn't in my near future. After Metformin they have more oral medication they can add before going to insulin. Remember that diabetes IS a progressive disease, and you will get worse over time. Good control slows that.

Metformin works by making your cells less insulin resistant. More sugar can then get out of your bloodstream and into the cells where it belongs.

Metformin is pretty safe stuff; it's been prescribed to non-diabetics purely to assist weight loss. You should lose weight when first taking it. It has a long list of other drugs that interact with it, meaning they work more or less well than without Metformin, or even can't be taken with Metformin. It has only one serious side effect, lactic acidosis. PubMed Health - Metformin

 

[Shanny]

Yep, that's the picture on metformin, Aja . . . pretty safe long term, and very inexpensive besides all that. It can cause gastric discomfort in some patients, and that normally subsides in a few days or weeks. It does not hammer the pancreas to produce more insulin - it simply helps the cells accept the insulin that is already available.

You could do a lot worse than going on metformin. And how soon you might need additional insulin depends on how much you are willing to modify your diet and get your exercise. Metformin is not a magic pill - you can practice even better control by eliminating fast-acting carbs like rice & other grain products from your diet.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

To add to what Cathyy said, please remember that going on insulin does not necessarily mean you did anything wrong. Diabetes is a progressive disease and there are many good ways to control it.
Good luck.