/Glucophage

[Guest guest]

,

Reading at RxList.com, it appears that Glucophage is not really a

problem as far as lactic acidosis, but just that it becomes ineffective

due to stress, trauma, infection, and thus the reason for going on

insulin temporarily:

Loss of Control of Blood Glucose: When a patient stabilized on any

diabetic regimen is

exposed to stress such as fever, trauma, infection, or surgery, a

temporary loss of glycemic

control may occur. At such times, it may be necessary to withhold

metformin HCl and

temporarily administer insulin. Metformin HCl may be reinstituted after

the acute episode is

resolved.

--

Dave - 6:10:20 PM

T2 - 8/98 Glucophage, Precose

-

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Very funny, y. Now beam down my clothes.

--

Visit my HomePage:

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[Guest guest]

> ... it appears that Glucophage is not

> really a problem as far as lactic acidosis,

> but just that it becomes ineffective due to

> stress, trauma, infection, and thus the

> reason for going on insulin temporarily ...

OK, but how do we just " go on insulin temporarily " ? Is that strictly

for hospital use or does that apply at home, too?

The way they are doing it in the clinic is to take BG readings every

2 hours. So they start off at 380 and they inject 8 units. At the

next reading they get 275 and say: " That's OK for now " . Then before

they wheel her away for an examination somewhere (e.g. the eye

clinic) they take another blood sample and when the result comes back

10 minutes later it is 50 so they send someone across to the eye

clinic to find her and inject some glucose solution. Two hours later,

back in the ward, they check the BG again and find 395. So another 8

units. Two hours later, she is at 195. OK for now. And so it goes on.

I have seen this procedure described by patients on a German diabetes

list so I know that is the way it is done here. This is known here

as " diabetes full employment " because you don't get to do much else

all day.

They say they will go back to Glucophage some time after she comes

off the cortisone. I asked if this means that any time at home that

she gets a fever, we will have to come straight to the hospital again

and the chief doctor shrugged his shoulders and

replied: " Effectively, yes " .

There must be millions taking Glucophage in the US. I was wondering

if there is a recommended procedure for getting through a bad cold or

urinary path infection, for example, without heading straight for the

diabetes clinic?

[Guest guest]

, what kind of insulin is your wife using? Because although there's a

general rule about the absorption rates, this doesn't apply 100%. For

instance, although I take lispro (the fast-acting stuff) that's supposed to

be in your system in 15 minutes and out in 3 to 4 hours, for me it doesn't

start working until 25 minutes and isn't out of my system until 6-1/2 hours

later. We determined this by Very Frequent Testing. So remember, " typical "

is only an average. Vicki