I am 54 years old. Female. I believe I am relatively healthy. I am overweight, and I am starting to work on that. I weight 290 and I am 5'6' tall. I do have high blood pressure and take medicine for it, and I take medicine for triglycerides. That is the only medicine I am currently on.
A few months ago my doctor says I am borderline diabetic (type 2). That we will keep watching it. He sends me home with a testing kit, and tells me to keep track of it on a daily basis. I did this, took the results back to him 2 weeks later. He looks at it, says I am still borderline. I could take medicine, or not. He leaves it up to me. So, of course I opt not to take medicine, that I may or may not need. So, a month goes by, and I go back to my doctor, and show him a months wok of glucose testing readings. He says, still borderline, but prescribes me Metformin, which is a drug I'm sure a lot here are aware of.
I asked him, if I start taking this, will I ever be able to stop? He said not really, there have been some cases that if the person lost a significant amount of weight, they can come off the drug, but most likely not.
I have a fear of taking medicines for diabetes. Can I ever stop taking it if my weight does change enough? Will prolonged use of diabetes medication cause my organs to fail later in life? I have heard that people that take diabetes medicines gain even more weight? If I miss a dose can I go into diabetic shock or have a seizure? If I start taking the medicine can I NOT eat certain foods? What happens if I don't take it? I have tried to question my doctor about this, and he just doesn't seem to have enough time. I can't switch doctors on my plan until April 2012.
Is there someplace here that I can go to that will answer these questions for me, any help would be appreciated.
A few months ago my doctor says I am borderline diabetic (type 2). That we will keep watching it. He sends me home with a testing kit, and tells me to keep track of it on a daily basis. I did this, took the results back to him 2 weeks later. He looks at it, says I am still borderline. I could take medicine, or not. He leaves it up to me. So, of course I opt not to take medicine, that I may or may not need. So, a month goes by, and I go back to my doctor, and show him a months wok of glucose testing readings. He says, still borderline, but prescribes me Metformin, which is a drug I'm sure a lot here are aware of.
I asked him, if I start taking this, will I ever be able to stop? He said not really, there have been some cases that if the person lost a significant amount of weight, they can come off the drug, but most likely not.
I have a fear of taking medicines for diabetes. Can I ever stop taking it if my weight does change enough? Will prolonged use of diabetes medication cause my organs to fail later in life? I have heard that people that take diabetes medicines gain even more weight? If I miss a dose can I go into diabetic shock or have a seizure? If I start taking the medicine can I NOT eat certain foods? What happens if I don't take it? I have tried to question my doctor about this, and he just doesn't seem to have enough time. I can't switch doctors on my plan until April 2012.
Is there someplace here that I can go to that will answer these questions for me, any help would be appreciated.