RE: Overnight Sugar control

[Guest guest]

So far I've never had any of the side effects you mentinoed, using

metformin. Very, very occasionally a short bout of diarrhea like two times

in the last 4 years, and I cannot say with certainty it was even from the

metformin.

Each of the drugs I take must have some side effects, but I am on low

dosages of each. My ideal situation would be to be off any of these pills

and get better control with insulin, since it's not a " drug. " Whether I get

to do that remains to be seen. Worse case scenario is if my doc won't go for

this, I'd have to change docs. I hope I don't have to get that drastic

though, but it is MY health I'm dealing with.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Pat,

I've been under the impression that glyburide is a fast acting drug as

opposed to long-acting. If it takes 8-9 hours to peak, with my typical bed

time between 11 and 11:30 at night, that would mean 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., which

is well after I usually wake up. On days that I sleep in a bit more, the BS

is on the rise by, say, 8 a.m. If the notion that it takes awhile to act is

true, I would peg it at anywhere between 2 to 4 a.m. On the days I awake at

around 4 a.m., when my wife has to get ready for work, my sugars are in the

low 70s, yet on days when I go to bed at the same time and awake later, the

sugars are a bit higher, maybe 10 points higher. There is a progression

going on, just not sure where the absolute bottom is. But I would have

figured glyburide to be fast-acting, as in, say, 1-2 hours. I will do some

more reading on the subject though, per your suggestion, to gain a better

udnerstanding of what it does.

Thanks for the info.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

nne,

I'm one of those who doesn't subscribe to taking orange juice to treat a low

sugar. Using glucose tablets is much more controllable than OJ, as the

glucose tablets won't send you on a roller-coaster to aim way high only to

make you then bottom-out later. The glucose tablets will merely get you up

to a safe dose at which you hopefully plateau and not overshoot. OJ will

take you way over limits unless you just take 1-2 small sips. I've heard

more often than not you'd overshoot your target sugar then have to come off

that high level.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

I drink a few ounces of grape juice when I am low, or sometimes I use a glucose

tablet, and sometimes I do both. As long as you don't " over shoot " with the

juice, it can work ok.

Dave

Victim of a crime? Know someone who was?

http://victimsheart.blogspot.com

RE: Overnight Sugar control

nne,

I'm one of those who doesn't subscribe to taking orange juice to treat a low

sugar. Using glucose tablets is much more controllable than OJ, as the

glucose tablets won't send you on a roller-coaster to aim way high only to

make you then bottom-out later. The glucose tablets will merely get you up

to a safe dose at which you hopefully plateau and not overshoot. OJ will

take you way over limits unless you just take 1-2 small sips. I've heard

more often than not you'd overshoot your target sugar then have to come off

that high level.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Another good site for looking up drugs and side effects is www.rxlist.com.

Becky

_____

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of LaFrance-Wolf

Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 11:11 PM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: RE: Overnight Sugar control

Bill,

Look up gliberide on Google and see what the side effects are-and how long

the gliberade acts. It might very well being peaking about 8 or 9 hours

after taking it.

RE: Overnight Sugar control

Just to clarify, I do take glyburide at dinnertime but not at bedtime. I

could well imagine taking that before bed would lower my b.s. too much, but

all I take at bedtime is metformin. It might be though that maybe the

metformin dose is too much for the night time dose and needs to be halved.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Luckily, I have no serious side effects on Metformin. But I think I am

taking less than some of you. I take 800mg in the morning and again before

dinner. I also take 5mg of Glyburide in the morning.

Becky

_____

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of Larry Naessens

Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 11:10 PM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: Re: Overnight Sugar control

Hi Becky. That's a logical deduction, but in this case we're dealing with a

drug that doesn't bring on lows. Metformin side effects can include

diarrhea, severe gas, vomitting etc, But no lows. I want off of it because

I'd like to have my life back as I knew it before starting on Metformin. My

argument for my endochronologist will be that I can never reliably leave the

house with my dog and count on feeling ok until I get back home. I do work

at home, but I do like to leave the house now and again. Any drug that

limits my mobility is unacceptable, as I'm sure everyone here would agree.

Insulin will not burden me with such issues, so I'd like to order up some to

go. That will be my case to the endo, presented respectfully but firmly.

Larry

[Guest guest]

Wow, years ago, before I was diagnosed with type 2 and before I knew much

about diabetes, I used to work in an office with a type 1. When she had a

low, she put a few packets of sugar in a glass of orange juice. Sounds like

maybe she was overshooting, huh?

Becky

_____

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of dave Bond

Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 8:14 AM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: Re: Overnight Sugar control

I drink a few ounces of grape juice when I am low, or sometimes I use a

glucose tablet, and sometimes I do both. As long as you don't " over shoot "

with the juice, it can work ok.

Dave

Victim of a crime? Know someone who was?

http://victimsheart <http://victimsheart.blogspot.com> .blogspot.com

RE: Overnight Sugar control

nne,

I'm one of those who doesn't subscribe to taking orange juice to treat a low

sugar. Using glucose tablets is much more controllable than OJ, as the

glucose tablets won't send you on a roller-coaster to aim way high only to

make you then bottom-out later. The glucose tablets will merely get you up

to a safe dose at which you hopefully plateau and not overshoot. OJ will

take you way over limits unless you just take 1-2 small sips. I've heard

more often than not you'd overshoot your target sugar then have to come off

that high level.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

I was browsing the Dr. Mirkin.com site yesterday. There is some pretty

interesting stuff there. And, he doesn't seem to be too out there, like

some others we know of around here.

Just one of the things I read on a few occasions was he emphasized that

fasting blood glucose was really not the most important testing people can

do. He did not specifically say don't do it, but that sure was the

implication I got. He emphasized the post prandial testing and A1c and

fructosamine, which I guess gives sugar average over the past two weeks.

That is not one I've read much about and never had done, as far as I know.

He also indicated A1C be done monthly, which is much more often than I have

ever read. As interesting was him saying on more than one occasion (so I

didn't just misunderstand) that post prandial testing should be 20 to 30

minutes after eating. Now that is contrary to everything I have read

everywhere, which says it should be 75 to 120 minutes after eating.

Overall, though, I highly recommend the site. There is a lot of written

information and quite a few sound clips.

www.drmirkin.com

Re: Overnight Sugar control

Hi Becky. That's a logical deduction, but in this case we're dealing with a

drug that doesn't bring on lows. Metformin side effects can include

diarrhea, severe gas, vomitting etc, But no lows. I want off of it because

I'd like to have my life back as I knew it before starting on Metformin. My

argument for my endochronologist will be that I can never reliably leave the

house with my dog and count on feeling ok until I get back home. I do work

at home, but I do like to leave the house now and again. Any drug that

limits my mobility is unacceptable, as I'm sure everyone here would agree.

Insulin will not burden me with such issues, so I'd like to order up some to

go. That will be my case to the endo, presented respectfully but firmly.

Larry

[Guest guest]

I've experienced the devastating effect of lows which have landed me in the

hospital a couple of times. I have type 1 for what it's worth. It's a scary

thing. As a result, I do tend to over compensate.

 

It doesn't happen very often to me, but when I feel the crash coming, I do

switch into a compulsive overeating behaviour, which of course, isn't good. It's

a fear factor kind of thing. I do know what I'm *supposed* to do. But it is

better than passing out, or the state of mental confusion (and rather arbitrary

behavour *L*), and leaving my poor husband to deal with me. Being rational isn't

a strong suit for me when I'm into that state. I do tend to start taking a handy

glucose tab, and then just move on from there. It's harder if I wake up with a

low, because the confusion mixes in with the sleepiness, another hurdle to

covercome.

 

I do feel dreadful after a devastating low, for a few hours I'm a mess, and I am

left to deal with the roller coaster later. Yup. Not good, but that's how I

handle it.

 

[Guest guest]

For many years, long before meters were available, not to mention the wealth of

knowledge we have today, I used to eat until I felt better. That was soooo

wrong, but I didn't know any better. It took a long time to re-program, but

eventually I learned that when I am low, it's a pretty straight forward issue to

deal with. The bg reading, in essence, how low I am, determines how much I need

to eat to raise the bg to the desired level. then, it's a matter of being

patient until the feeling of normal returns. For me, this isn't all that long.

Dave

Victim of a crime? Know someone who was?

http://victimsheart.blogspot.com

Re: Overnight Sugar control

I've experienced the devastating effect of lows which have landed me in the

hospital a couple of times. I have type 1 for what it's worth. It's a scary

thing. As a result, I do tend to over compensate.

It doesn't happen very often to me, but when I feel the crash coming, I do

switch into a compulsive overeating behaviour, which of course, isn't good. It's

a fear factor kind of thing. I do know what I'm *supposed* to do. But it is

better than passing out, or the state of mental confusion (and rather arbitrary

behavour *L*), and leaving my poor husband to deal with me. Being rational isn't

a strong suit for me when I'm into that state. I do tend to start taking a handy

glucose tab, and then just move on from there. It's harder if I wake up with a

low, because the confusion mixes in with the sleepiness, another hurdle to

covercome.

I do feel dreadful after a devastating low, for a few hours I'm a mess, and I

am left to deal with the roller coaster later. Yup. Not good, but that's how I

handle it.

[Guest guest]

I'd love to be able to re-program, that makes sense. I even remember thinking at

the time of a recent low - just one, maybe two, glucose tabs and just see what

happens. But so far it hasn't worked. I can be standing in the middle of a food

court, with a fiver in my hand, and not can't make a decision of what to eat or

where to go. Decisions in this case are not my strong suit at that point. With

the sense of utter confusion and panic when in the midst of the low, I just

don't deal well. Later I always will say, I wish I hadn't done that.

 

[Guest guest]

I've noticed as I grow older (notice, I didn't say old!), I tend to lose some

mental function when I am low. My father was a t1, and his favorite saying was,

diabetes is a nuisance disease. Perhaps quite an understatement, but it is

quite true. I tend to put off eating a meal or snack if I am engrossed in

something, only to end up low. The passage of time however is helping me work

at disciplining myself to be more pre-emptive, and not wait until symptoms begin

to affect me.

Dave

Victim of a crime? Know someone who was?

http://victimsheart.blogspot.com

Re: Overnight Sugar control

I'd love to be able to re-program, that makes sense. I even remember thinking

at the time of a recent low - just one, maybe two, glucose tabs and just see

what happens. But so far it hasn't worked. I can be standing in the middle of a

food court, with a fiver in my hand, and not can't make a decision of what to

eat or where to go. Decisions in this case are not my strong suit at that point.

With the sense of utter confusion and panic when in the midst of the low, I just

don't deal well. Later I always will say, I wish I hadn't done that.

[Guest guest]

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Becky, Oh yeah putting sugar packets in water was really overdoing the sugar

boost. Good way to spike 200-250 or even higher, very quickly.

Unfortunately, this is in line with what docs used to be taught. They used

to say " give 'em crackers and orange juice " and yes, I've even heard of some

who said " sugar water and crackers. " That's crazy. It may have worked in

some people, but not many, but even then I'll bet that for those with whom

it worked, their sugars soared just a little too high so as to be above

normal, but no one ever thought to check to see HOW HIGH it actually went.

I sure would not want a bunch of sugar packets in water. I'd feel like I was

drinking syrup and I would react to it in a funny way. If something's way

too sweet or syrupy, I tend to feel as though I'm suffocating if I swallow

such junk. I noticed that even as a kid. I notice that if I'm ever getting a

regular soda by mistake. Obviously, then, it's best for me to stay away from

things that are overly sweet, including sugar-laden water.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

I've never heard anybody say a post prandial reading should be done that

quickly after a meal. I take mine 2-1/2 hours after eating because I've

found that perhaps my body digests slower than average, or perhaps there's

some other reason I don't know, but it seems I can get a fairly normal

reading only after that much time. At two hours it would still be a little

high but it would still be falling.

It may be true that FBS might not be the most important measure of your

diabetes, but for myself it gives me an instant idea of how my day is going

to be. If I start out well, I will usually end that way. If I start out

high, I spend the day dealing with getting my readings back in check.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

I've never heard anybody say a post prandial reading should be done that

quickly after a meal. I take mine 2-1/2 hours after eating because I've

found that perhaps my body digests slower than average, or perhaps there's

some other reason I don't know, but it seems I can get a fairly normal

reading only after that much time. At two hours it would still be a little

high but it would still be falling.

It may be true that FBS might not be the most important measure of your

diabetes, but for myself it gives me an instant idea of how my day is going

to be. If I start out well, I will usually end that way. If I start out

high, I spend the day dealing with getting my readings back in check.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

I've never heard anybody say a post prandial reading should be done that

quickly after a meal. I take mine 2-1/2 hours after eating because I've

found that perhaps my body digests slower than average, or perhaps there's

some other reason I don't know, but it seems I can get a fairly normal

reading only after that much time. At two hours it would still be a little

high but it would still be falling.

It may be true that FBS might not be the most important measure of your

diabetes, but for myself it gives me an instant idea of how my day is going

to be. If I start out well, I will usually end that way. If I start out

high, I spend the day dealing with getting my readings back in check.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Dave,

Boy talk about feeling a low, last night while I was reading and answering

posts on the board here, I was beginning to feel a low coming on, for no

particular reason, which is highly unusual for me. At first I just felt

tired and sleepy, but then when I got to bed I just felt icky, so got up and

checked my sugar again which was 54. Gave myself a glucose tablet and went

back to bed. The feeling subsided within 10 minutes and I could finally feel

comfortable enough to fall asleep. At least I was able to catch myself in

this instance, but this is just one of those annoyances that is always going

to rear its ugly head from time to time. For me, the key is first listening

to what my body is telling me and not trying to ignore it. Then I can act to

do something about it, even though I'm fighting confusion in the process.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

The glucose tabs are far better, but I keep 4 ounce bottles of baby juices

on hand in case my sugar is really low. Four ounces of juice (usually

apple) gets my BG up from a 50 to about 90 in a shorter time than does

glucose tabs and since it is premeasured I don't over drink.

RE: Overnight Sugar control

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

The glucose tabs are far better, but I keep 4 ounce bottles of baby juices

on hand in case my sugar is really low. Four ounces of juice (usually

apple) gets my BG up from a 50 to about 90 in a shorter time than does

glucose tabs and since it is premeasured I don't over drink.

RE: Overnight Sugar control

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

The glucose tabs are far better, but I keep 4 ounce bottles of baby juices

on hand in case my sugar is really low. Four ounces of juice (usually

apple) gets my BG up from a 50 to about 90 in a shorter time than does

glucose tabs and since it is premeasured I don't over drink.

RE: Overnight Sugar control

Dave,

The main reason I never recommend juice of any kind to someone to quickly

raise their sugar is that the juice usually has too much sugar and I find

that most people, especially msyelf, would tend to take in too much juice to

get the jump start and then the overshooting problem has to play out.

I would not do it myself now knowing that OJ or grape juice or grapefruit

juice can make you overshoot, because I am a big gulper. I would definitely

gulp down too much before I would stop. The glucose tabs are a lot more

controlling in this situation.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Bill,

Let us know what you find about gliberide. Also, if your BG goes up later in

the morning (say 7 or 8 AM) it may be due to the dawn phenominen, which

everybody gets-it is your body putting out more glucose to " jump stat " you

in the moring. The problem with many diagaetics, unless you have medication

or insulin that covers that, it may get too high. My pum gives me much more

insulin between 4 AM and 7Am than during any other time of day in order to

cover the dawn phenominen.

RE: Overnight Sugar control

Pat,

I've been under the impression that glyburide is a fast acting drug as

opposed to long-acting. If it takes 8-9 hours to peak, with my typical bed

time between 11 and 11:30 at night, that would mean 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., which

is well after I usually wake up. On days that I sleep in a bit more, the BS

is on the rise by, say, 8 a.m. If the notion that it takes awhile to act is

true, I would peg it at anywhere between 2 to 4 a.m. On the days I awake at

around 4 a.m., when my wife has to get ready for work, my sugars are in the

low 70s, yet on days when I go to bed at the same time and awake later, the

sugars are a bit higher, maybe 10 points higher. There is a progression

going on, just not sure where the absolute bottom is. But I would have

figured glyburide to be fast-acting, as in, say, 1-2 hours. I will do some

more reading on the subject though, per your suggestion, to gain a better

udnerstanding of what it does.

Thanks for the info.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

GBest of luck Ann. Carbs are a hard thing to cut down when you are used

to them most of your life!

Re: Overnight Sugar control

Hi Becky. That's a logical deduction, but in this case we're dealing with a

drug that doesn't bring on lows. Metformin side effects can include

diarrhea, severe gas, vomitting etc, But no lows. I want off of it because

I'd like to have my life back as I knew it before starting on Metformin. My

argument for my endochronologist will be that I can never reliably leave the

house with my dog and count on feeling ok until I get back home. I do work

at home, but I do like to leave the house now and again. Any drug that

limits my mobility is unacceptable, as I'm sure everyone here would agree.

Insulin will not burden me with such issues, so I'd like to order up some to

go. That will be my case to the endo, presented respectfully but firmly.

Larry