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Looks like I'm about to have to go onto meds for diabetes. I've heard that once your on them, you never come off. Any particular meds with little to no side effects ?

I came off Metformin after being on it for 10 years. I think they all have side effects myself. But Metformin wasn't bad until it was.

I was right at the bottom level of being diabetic. My A1C was 6.5 a year ago. I was on a small performing dose. I changed my diet to basically a carnivore diet 90% of the time. I will cheat a few meals a month and around holidays. My A1C is right below a 6 now.

What type are you? Type 2 I’m assuming?

I tried metformin for five days. Wrecked me. Started Januvia. So much better. Type two for about two months now.

Yes type 2. A1C was 6.5, my glucose levels were around 140150 over the weekend but down to 124 this morning. Definitely changed my eating habits over the last few days.

Diet, exercise, and weight loss are the three best ways to get off metformin. Once you start using insulin, you're pretty much going to be using it the rest of your life.

This!

My wife went to see a new Dr last week. She's been diabetic since our son was born in 2005. The new doc said there was better meds than what she was taking and changed hers. He gave her a weeks worth of samples. Her sugar count had stayed steady between 100-125 and that's great for her. She went to get refills for the new prescription and it was $965 WITH INSURANCE!!
So we will not be able to do that. She can not spend an entire paycheck on paying the Copay for her meds.

When you start metformin eat at a buc ees for the first week. Yes metformin will cure constipation real quick.

Same. Couldn’t tolerate it. Jardiance has done well for me, as well as weight loss (70# over last year and a half) and better diet. Down to around 5.5A1C from 6.5.

I've been on metformin (2000mgs) for years and a few more different pills here and there ..I also take 2 different insulins and mounjaro now for a few weeks....my blood sugar is still hardly ever below 200+...sadly its been between 400-500 many times😕

Metformin has been known to cause diarrhea. Especially when first starting it. As others have said. Diet and exercise can help decrease your dependence on oral hyperglycemics. If you take your meds just make sure you eat! They are like any other medication, they all have side effects. It just depends on which one you can live with. I’d try the keto or carnivore diet to help with your blood sugar, obviously at the direction of your doctor but that will definitely decrease your carb consumption which is where a lot of fluctuation in your blood sugar comes from.

If she was an illegal immigrant, it would be free.

I came off metformin. You can beat this. But it's harder with the meds, to me.

Metformin will actually contribute to neuropathy. I didn't realize that until too late.

You can reverse it with discipline. Cut out bad carbs, pasta, bread, rice, etc.. You can have some, but not every day and not in large quantities.

Walk a few miles a day. Cut out soft drinks and sugars of any kind (that's the hardest to me).

It will take a few months, but as you lose weight and cut those carbs out, you'll feel better and the A1C will come down on it's own.

This. Don’t believe the lies that you cannot get off meds. Been fine all my life and then was diagnosed as a very bad type two one year ago. All kinds of meds were prescribed and then I asked my doctor what I had to do to not take the meds. She sat down and started making a list and gave me plenty of research. She said I want you to start the meds and if you can get it under control we will take you off. I did exactly what she said with no deviation. No cheat days, nothing. She removed the meds as my A1c is normal now. Is it easy? No. is it doable? Absolutely. In the process I lost 40 pounds have not had a soft drink, whether diet or not since then. Unsweet tea is good now. Eliminate bad carbs. Get your carbs from fruit. I eat meat, veggies, and fruit primarily. Very little grain and no bread, pasta. Evidently my genetics suck, but that doesn’t have to be the excuse for me.

I’ve done low carb in the past, unsweet tea is no problem. Pasta and potatoes are probably the items I’ll have the hardest time with

I went to the doctor in august of 2022 knowing my blood sugar was going to be thru the roof.. My A1C was 12.6 and my fasting glucose was 306.. He put me on Glipizide (10mg twice a day) and Mounjaro.. I told him I could bring it down.. 3 Months later I had it checked and my A1C went down to 4.6... Since then I have lost 100lbs and have all my numbers is check.. I am down to 1 extended release Glipizide (5mg once a day).. I go back next month for my 3 month A1C check.. I have gotten off the Mounjaro so I curious to see what my A1C is going to be this time.. I tried metformin and hated it.. It never done anything for me when I had to take it years ago..

K ....... I heard some people praising metformin and then I hear it's bad stuff...a friend I didn't know was on metformin said she's been on it since it first came onto the market ...says she hasn't experienced any problems with it...getting our diets under control is easy for some and not so easy for many people , we sometimes need pharmaceutical help.... this isn't always the answer but can be a start to get our internal engine a tune up....

My primary doc put me on jardiance and added ozempic and then prescribed me metformin too....my cardiologist told me don't do the metformin,,, so I'm only doing jardiance and ozempic ... my A1C down from 7.0 to 6.5 ... I'm dropping weight and still dropping .... my next primary doc appointment is about a month away... I hope to see my A1C has fallen even further and have lost even more fat... I was told by my primary doc that depending on how things develop I could be taken off the dbetic meds and see how I fare with regular checkups and maybe just maybe be through with it .... my pancreas is still active and producing insulin and that's partly a key to it...

I've been Type II for about a decade. Everyone is different, but I started on Metformin as most with no real side effect, I recently stopped as I am now on Insulin and glimeprirde (oral). I'm still pretty young (45) and I recently got on T-therapy which helped my physical activity and exercise tremendously. I'd feel so tired and unmotivated when walking, or lifting in the gym, but now I feel more like pushing it, and consequently, my insulin and meds are more effective. I stopped Metformin last year against doctor's advice because I didn't feel like it was really helping and long-term use does effect B absorption and mitochondria function that regulates energy.

My position is anything that give me more energy and motivation to exercise is good and any glucose-lowering meds need to be congruent with that strategy. My problem along with most Type II is my body doesn't produce enough Insulin which is needed to absorb glucose for energy. If you take insulin yes it will lower your blood sugar, but you still need to burn that energy or it gets stored as fat and makes insulin sensitivity worse.

I was not happy about going on insulin, but I should have done it years ago. It would have given me a lot more energy to spend in the gym when I was younger and trying to just lower the gluclose with oral. That being said, I really like Glimepiride. It's the one oral that has really worked for me. Probably brings glucose down 25% and is cheap.

My biggest goal now that my weight is stable and I can keep muscle is to lose weight the sad truth is it comes to diet which is my weakeness. I tried Ozempic but it was too expensive and experimental for me. I did read that it works by basically triggering the same hormone eating a salad does. So my goal is to start eating one salad a day. I've noticed I do eat less calories over all when I do that.

Good luck to you, and remember Type II management is like saving for retirement, it's important but it doesn't have to take over your life. While I have seen someone die from Type II diabetic ketoacidosis he refused to believe diabetes even existed. At some point you are looking at only a difference of 2-4 years of life by doing a great job to an average job of managing it. It's like everything else, they keep lowering the levels of what is "dangerous" like they do with everything else to sell more meds. You got to educate yourself and work with your doctor to figure out what you want.

You don’t need medication unless you just can’t change your eating habits. Cut out sugar and seed oils completely, keep your carbs less than 25, and make them count like salad or broccoli. Get out and move, make sure you get your steps in every day. I like using time restricted eating as well, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a big change, but you can do it if you want to! PM me if you want to talk about it. I’ve been managing it about 4 years now.