Opinions wanted re: diabetes

[redhenfarm]

I was diagnosed to be diabetic last January. I did well with diet and exercise until April when I had my gall bladder removed. Sort of took the wind out of my sails. Now I'm getting it together again. I saw my doctor in January and she wrote a prescription for thyroid meds, diabetic test strips and Lotensin which is a blood pressure medicine (my bp is normal) but has been found to "protect the kidneys in diabetics". I have very mixed feelings about this. She first mentioned it a year ago but now wants me to start them. I think that's because I gained some weight back, but my blood glucose numbers have been okay (a1c was 6.5). I understand where she is coming from but I dread starting another med like this.

Any input?

Jan

[gardnmom]

I am not familiar with ths drug, so can not comment. Here is a site where you can learn more about it and the cautions and precautions.

http://www.healthsquare.com/pdrfg/pd/monos/lotensin.htm

Using cinninamon daily can help to regulate your blood

glucose levels.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994413

[Linda]

my DH is diabetes and has had for a long time now. and never had we heard of such a thing as taking blood pressure med for the kidney's. I would check into that to make sure. He also has high blood pressure and his blood pressure has been getting a lot better to where he has got to cut down on the amount and we are in hopes of being able to get off.

but do check it out first maybe contact another doctor.

your main goal will be to try and keep your blood sugar under control, that will protect your kidney's the best.

good luck dear.

[logcabinmama]

Old PIne and I both have type 2 diabetes now and we are NOT on anything like that. We just take medication to help control, along with diet, the sugar.

 

I've never heard of using cinnamon to help either. Sounds like something to really look into.

 

 

[redhenfarm]

Thanks for the input. I would try cinnamon but will research before I take the Lotensin.

Jan

[Snowmom]

Jan,

 

What type of thyroid meds are you on? Are you Hypo- or Hyperthyroid?

 

Diabetes and hypothyroidism frequently go together. You might try out the chat forum at http://thyroid.about.com. Post questions or search the old messages for diabetes or the name of the drug you've been asked to take. They are very knowledgeable and very helpful at that site.

 

Having your thyroid condition treated at the OPTIMUM levels, improves any other health condition you may also be dealing with. Most of the people in this country with thyroid disease are undertreated or are being treated with inappropriate meds.

[redhenfarm]

I am Hypo. When I first started on thyroid meds I lived in a large city with a lot of alternatives. I was seeing a naturopathic doctor so when my MD prescribed Synthroid, the ND gave me a natural thyroid which worked fine up to last year when my levels were increased; however, my current doctor (and all doctors in the small city I live in now) do not know how to work with alternative medicine so I am back to Synthroid or the generic.

[Snowmom]

I was on Synthroid for the first two years after I was diagnosed. I was a walking zombie. I've been on Armour Thyroid for the last two years and feel much better. Now I'm on the generic version of Armour and watching to see how it works out......

 

The thyroid site at about.com has a "Top Docs" list. You can search for doctors in your area and I think you can even search by types of meds they prescribe. Maybe you can actually find one not too far away that will treat you with something besides synthroid.

 

I've also seen it suggested on that site that you call the pharmaceutical company that makes Armour directly and they will tell you which doctors in your area are prescribing Armour. It's an older drug, made from dessicated pig thyroid, and many, many older patients are still on it.

 

Synthroid is much newer and the drug companies are still able to charge high prices for it. My Armour prescription cost me $9 a month, the generic costs about a dollar a month. Obviously, the drug companies aren't making a bundle off of Armour Thyroid, so they push the docs to prescribe Synthroid (which IMO, is totally useless)

[redhenfarm]

I switched from the natural to the Synthroid generic about last March, the month before gall bladder surgery. After the surgery I told my doctor I didn't feel well, low energy and she insisted my thyroid "numbers" were right. I will have to pursue this. Thanks for the input. I know the stuff I was taking was very cheap, too.

Jan

[Snowmom]

Most doctors don't know that the "normal" range for TSH has actually been lowered. Besides, those ranges were set for men, not women.

 

I had a major disagreement with my ob-gyn a couple of years ago when I was still on Synthroid. My T4 (the main thyroid hormone) was actually high, my TSH (which causes the body to secrete thyroid hormone) was 3 in a range where normal was .5 - 5.5. By the numbers I should have been fine, but I wasn't.

 

She wouldn't even discuss that my menstrual problems might be due to my thyroid. Instead she wanted to put me on birth control pills just to stop the symptons. (after subjecting me to an excruciating and unnecessary biopsy) Then I switched to the Armour thyroid, my T4 dropped down into the normal range and my TSH dropped to around 1. My periods went back to normal and I stopped having irregular pap smears. All in a matter of a couple of months.

 

I started sleeping through the night again-without getting up every hour to pee, I stopped having urinary "leaks" (I was only 39!!), my sense of humour came back, I stopped being so short tempered, I had fewer aches & pains, I lost 27 lbs.----I can't even remember all the symptoms that disappeared. I told my doctor he gave me my life back!

 

The new range for normal for TSH is around 1. Ask your doctor for copies of your test results. TSH isn't the only one that's important but it's a good place to start.