Hi there,

Thanks for writing in.

It is not just enough to take oral anti diabetic agents like glimifix to reduce blood sugars. Other things that need to be done to reduce blood sugars are:

1. Regular exercise 30-45 minutes a day 5 days a week.(Please do not exercise while you are fasting as you might go into hypoglycemia) . Once the holy month of Ramadan is over, I would advise you to exercise on a regular basis.

2. Avoid oily, fatty, deep fried foods. Avoid refined foods like white rice ,maida etc.
Have whole grain foods like brown rice, wholewheat chappathis, atta bread , Oats as a porridge with skimmed milk etc.

3. Avoid red meat like mutton, beef etc.
Chicken with fat removed , Egg whites may be consumed .

4. Have sprouted pulses daily .

5. Soak 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds in half a glass of water and soak it overnight. In the morning drink the fenugreek seed soaked water as well as eat the soaked seeds.

6.Avoid sugary foods,sweets,cakes etc.

You might want to consult a dietician who will be able to prepare a diet chart for you.

Try the above mentioned measures for 1 month and still if the blood sugars are high, the dosage of oral anti diabetic agents may be increased after consulting your doctor.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Dr. Divya Kuttikrishnan

Hi, welcome to healthcare magic

Diabetes tends to be a progressive disease and so treatment often may start from lifestyle and one mediacation and eventually progress to needing insulin.
The rate at which this occurs varies in different persons and may depend on previous blood sugar control (the harder the pancreas which is the organ that releases your body's insulin, has to work the faster it burns out and the earlier insulin treatment is needed).

Your blood sugar goals may vary according to your national guidelines. In the US the goals are as follows:
HbA1c of less than 7% ( some institutions in the US want it to be lower than 6.5%).... every diabetic should have this test done at least every 3 months, it allows the doctor to determine what the blood sugars have been over the previous 3 months

Before meals blood sugar between 70 to 130 mg/dl
After meals : less than 180mg/dl

To acheive these levels you would need to adopt lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity and change in diet with reduced consumption of refined carbohydrates ( sodas, juices, cakes , pastries, white flour, white bread, white rice, white pasta) and increased use of water, vegetables, fruits, brown grains , wheat, non refined oats.
In addition , as you suggested, eventually the mediation has to be altered with increased dose or adding another medication to acheive control.

You should consider speaking to your doctor, do readings at different points in the day to assess overall control and to determine which part of the day may have the worse or best readings, take these readings to your doctor who may then decide that the medication may need to be augmented.

Remember in diabetes it is not just important for the blood sugar to be in control, but you need to acheive blood pressure and cholesterol control as well, there are certain targets for persons with diabetes.

I hope this information is helpful to you and I hope that you acheive blood sugar control