1 September 2007

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a question rather than a comment. I saw no link on your site for questions, so I am using this one.

I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic less than one year ago, and first saw an endocrinologist two months ago--my internist suggested this after trying to control my diabetes herself without success.

At the direction of my endo, I am testing my glucose four times daily to see if I can bring it down below 100 in the mornings and below 140 after meals. At first, while bringing the numbers down, I seldom hit the target after meals, and never in the morning. However, I was doing better than before. I have also lost six pounds. However, three weeks ago, a crown fell off one of my upper back teeth, leaving too little tooth to work with, and so it was recommended that I have it pulled.

A week and a half later, still in severe intractible pain, my oral surgeon prescribed penicillin and darvacet, neither of which had relieved the situation. After cleaning out the socket, she changed the prescriptions to amoxocillin, with hydrocodone as the sedative. I will be seeing her in a couple of days because the pain has not subsided, though the sedative does take the edge off.
During these two weeks of medications, my glucose numbers have gone up 20-40 points, even though I have stayed on my strict low-GI diet. My question is this: Does an infection plus the meds I have been taking affect those readings? I hope that's what it is because I am not eager to go on insulin; up until now, I have been on 500mg of Metformin twice daily.I'd appreciate an answer to this question, as I am not only still in pain but becoming demoralized.

Thank you,
Davida Rosenblum

Anonymous said...

P.S. I don't know if this is relevant, but I am a woman 80 years of age.

Anonymous said...

From our diabetes dietitian:
"Infection will certainly increase BGLs so I would reassure Davida that this is the most likely explanation and should improve once the infection has been treated. But it is probably a good idea for her to contact her endocrinologist to see if they want to change her medication in the short term as having high blood glucose levels may slow down her recovery from the infection."

Anonymous said...

From our other diabetes dietitian:
Briefly, sounds like her blood glucose targets, and approach, are very good. Yes – it is most likely the infection that has increased her levels and possibly even the medications she’s taking to treat it. She hasn’t given her exact levels but the increase sounds surprisingly modest. I imagine she will have to ride out the storm of slightly higher bgls and reassess her control once she has fully recovered.

Anonymous said...

I have put GI News into my Favourites list and click on the link whenever I want to access it. I have been reading the newsletters from the first one and they are extremely useful and informative. I particularly like the way you provide sound scientific backing for your recommendations. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Daniela. It's interesting and useful to hear how people use the resource. We are delighted you find it informative and will do our best to keep up the good work. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you think our standards are slipping!