bbybrd,
How long have you been taking the avandamet? And are your blood sugars high all the time...how often do you test? Blood sugar levels of 275 are way too high, even after a high carb meal. This indicates that the medication is not controlling your blood sugars, and you need to add either more of the same medication, another medication in addition, or insulin.

A good testing schedule is as follows:

3-4 times per week am fasting

2 times per week, two hours after lunch

2 times per week, two hours after dinner

1 time per week, two hours after breakfast.

Count the two hours from when you start eating, not when you finish. This schedule would have you testing twice a day most days, but it is important to determine where your problem is...fasting levels too high, thereby starting your day off behind the 8-ball, so to speak? Fasting levels okay, but body isn't metabolising your meals properly? And, all meals or just some? These are all clues as to what should be done in addition to the Avandamet. Test like that for a couple of weeks, keep a chart, and then call your doctor with the results.

It's important for you to get your blood sugar levels down significantly from where they are.

Ruth

Bbybird,

Lindiana is right...there IS a blood test that can determine if you're a T1 or a T2. It's called a C-peptide test. These peptides bind to insulin, so by testing for C-peptide, they can determine how much insulin your body is producing.

But even if you're a T2, there are all kinds of degrees of T2. T2 is actually a more complicated illness than T1, in that more than one thing can go wrong. In T2, the body may be just insulin resistant, or the pancreas may not produce quite enough insulin, or the pancreas may produce extra insulin for a while to cover the insulin resistance but then wear itself out (beta cells dying) due to the extra strain. Every T2 is a unique case insofar as how much the pancreas has worn out, how much insulin resistance is present, etc.

If the avandamet alone isn't enough to control your blood sugars, you may need to add something. In the past, the "something" would have been medications that cause your pancreas to secrete even more insuolin. In recent years, it's been discovered that doing that actually hastens the destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas, and a more effective (and beta-cell preserving) method is to add insulin earlier.

If you're not seeing an endocrinologist, I would suggest that you do so. They are specialists in dealing with diabetes, and you definitely at this point need someone who will look at your individual situation and be able to prescribe/treat your particular case. I don't believe most gp's or general internists have the expertise to do so.

Also, please do NOT look at the possibilty of having to take insulin as a failure...the important thing is to get your blood sugar levels controlled by WHATEVER means it takes!!!

Ruth