Type 2 diabetes treatment

When someone that doesn’t have diabetes eats, a few things happen:

1. Glucose (sugar) from the food gets into your bloodstream
2. A hormone called insulin is created in your pancreas
3. Insulin makes the glucose that’s in your bloodstream enter your body’s cells
4. Your body gets energy from the food you ate.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that affects the way your body deals with sugar. If you have type 2 diabetes then your body is still producing insulin, but it doesn’t respond to sugar in a normal way. Because of this, glucose has a harder time entering your cells and supplying energy. Instead, the glucose stays in your blood and makes your blood sugar levels rise.

There is currently no cure for type 2 diabetes, but it can be managed with lifestyle changes and medication. The doctor that diagnoses your diabetes will tell you how best to manage your condition in your case.

It takes some time for someone to notice the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. This is because the early symptoms are generally mild. The most common are:

• wanting to drink more
• needing to pee more
• being hungry even after eating
• dry mouth
• losing weight unexpectedly
• getting more infections such as thrush or urinary tract infections (UTI)
• cuts/wounds take longer to heal
• feeling tired
• headaches
• eyesight problems such as blurred vision
• sweet smelling urine

If you don’t get treatment over a long period of time, the high sugar levels in your blood can cause serious damage to your heart, eyes, feet, and kidneys.

A few things can increase your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. These include:

• Lifestyle - Being overweight and not exercising enough makes you build up a lot of fatty tissue which can make your cells react to insulin differently.
• Family history - Your risk of type 2 diabetes increases if any of your direct relatives have the condition.
• Age - Your risk increases as you get older, but this might also be because as you get older you tend to exercise less and gain weight.
• Blood pressure and cholesterol levels - If you have low levels of HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), high levels of triglycerides (a type of fat), or high blood pressure, it increases your risk of getting type 2 diabetes.

To start your treatment for type 2 diabetes, you must first visit your GP so that they can diagnose you with the condition.

Once you’ve started getting treatment then you can reorder your prescription for Metformin from Superdrug Online Doctor.

To reorder a prescription for diabetes treatment from Superdrug Online Doctor, you need to:

• be over 18
• Have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by a doctor
• have been taking the same dosage of Metformin for at least 6 months
• You also need to have had the following:
• A blood sugar test (HbA1c)
• A diabetic check with a GP/nurse
• A kidney function test

If you meet those requirements, you’ll just need to fill out a short questionnaire about your health and current condition.

There are 2 types of treatment that are most commonly prescribed by doctors: medication and lifestyle changes.

There are a number of different medications in the market that treat type 2 diabetes in different ways. The most common of these is Metformin. Metformin helps you process glucose in 2 ways:

• It reduces the amount of new glucose that is being produced by the liver
• It helps insulin to carry glucose into muscle cells more effectively.

The first recommendation, in most cases, will be to adopt a healthy diet and start doing regular physical activity. There are even cases where diabetes type 2 can be put into remission thanks to lifestyle changes.

If not managed, type 2 diabetes can cause severe complications. It can lead to:

• Heart problems and stroke
• Loss of feeling or pain that can lead to problems with sex
• Foot problems - sores and infections
• Losing eyesight
• Miscarriage and stillbirth
• Kidney problems

Because of the complications, and how dangerous they can be, it’s important that you get regular check-ups and control your blood sugar levels.

Like any medication, Metformin can cause side effects. These can include:

• Stomach problems like bloating, pain, heartburn, diarrhoea, vomiting, feeling sick, gas and constipation
• Headaches
• Weight loss
• A metallic taste in the mouth

Talk to your GP if you do experience any side effects. They will be able to help you manage them or find an alternative treatment if necessary.