Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rebecca on April 11, 2011 at 12:17pm

I was put on metformin in January, and it was helpful. I began to feel like my insulin was actually working. Although I didn't have insulin resistance when first diagnosed, the weight gain that accompanied insulin use brought it on bigtime. So I find it has helped (interestingly, it didn't help at all while I was misdiagnosed as a type 2 and that was all I was using - had very little impact on anything at that point).
In March I started symlin and I have been able to cut my TDD by about 40%. Some weight coming off, but it's slow. I'm not working really hard at it right now, so I am pleased that it's happening anyway. The trick with symlin (for me) was taking it right before eating and then NOT taking insulin until about 15-20 minutes after I finished eating. I had trouble with lows in the beginning, but have adjusted my basal and my ratios and don't have them much at all anymore!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark on April 11, 2011 at 3:57pm

I was initially diagnosed with T2, and perscribed Metformin, in July 2010. Now I am a scientist by training, and comfortable taking data, plotting curves, hypothesis testing, etc. I saw that the Metformin had some effect, in that it lowered the monthly average, but the daily/weekly swings in AM (fasting) glucose were quite erratic. My dose was raised, which further lowered the monthly baseline, but the swings kept up. Further blood tests revealed the antibodies necessary to confirm a T1 diagnosis. I am currently transitioning to injection insulin, so I do not have further data to compare to Metformin. My Endocrinologist says that if you have any beta cells active, Metformin can have an effect, but with an inactive pancreas, it should have no effect. (My specialty is not medicine, so I have to defer to his knowledge and experience in interpreting the effectiveness of the drug given the state of functional efficiency of the patient's pancreas.)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Billy Athens on April 15, 2011 at 3:05pm

Mark... you may be on to something... as it turns out I mentioned to my doc that I never have had ketones.... I use the ketone test strips whenever my blood sugar is high and even if I'm over 400 mg/dl I still have never had more than "trace" ketones.

My doc thinks this may be a rare form of diabetes known as MODY and we will look into it further... perhaps I can get off the insulin altogether after 20 years and just take pills! We shall see... thanks for your input

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page