After a week of taking placebos in the prescribed manner, making the blood sugar meter pricks at the correct time twice daily, I was accepted as a suitable test subject. The initial meeting included a 22 page agreement with several signatures and admonitions and detailed description of the drug trial process.
Each morning I take the provided medication consisting of one small tan tablets, 6 larger tan tablets and one orange capsule. I make a blood finger prick with an Activa meter. In the evening, two hours after eating I take another sugar check and two orange capsules. On the morning I visit the clinic, I provide a first morning urine sample and take the pills at the site. The visit is after fasting, nothing but coffee till they are finished with their work.
Participants in the double blind trial will take drugs in the prescribed manner not knowing what they are taking
• A Placebo will be given to 1/6 of participants
• The tried and true, well known diabetes drug metformin will be given to 1/6 of the group
• Specific but different amounts of the trial drug will be given to 4/6 of participants
I am provided with a printout of all the finger prick data and have plotted it in excel. It is obvious that both the morning fasting level and the evening levels are trending down. That indicates to me that I am not on straight placebo.
Of interest might be the definition of diabetes mellitus. When you review the internet sites there is some difference of the point at which it is diagnosed.
My interpretation of what I have read and what I have been told/ instructed follows
There are 5 numbers involved with the diagnosis. The diagnosis is made purely on test values.
The first is A1C level. A positive diagnosis is for A1 C > 7.0.
There are 4 blood sugar test values of interest. Normal is defined as >70 to <110. A value of 140 is apparently the final diagnosis. Fasting Blood Sugar > 140 on two occasions is the certain diagnosis for Type II. I have been unable to get a firm handle on the gray area between 110 and 140. The number of 126 was used by my doctor and the diabetes specialists as the level at which diagnosis for diabetes mellitus is made.
However, as long as the A1C value is lower than 7.0 there is not much concern, no medication, no fussing with a meter, watch the diet, lose weight, be sure to exercise .
As a matter of passing, 126 is 14 points less than 140. That is, it is an arbitrary 10% points lower than the 140 line at which you are definitely diabetic. At 126 concern begins. Some call it pre diabetes. Others say there is no such condition, you either have it or you don’t at 126.
In modern medicine, numbers are everything. Determining and interpreting members and their variance from established norms is the name of the game. Blood tests are a primary, perhaps the primary source of numbers. On each of my visits, numerous blood samples are taken and will be split into 22 test samples.
This post is being written in the Clinic room known as the PK unit. PK is Pharma Kinetics. It is a regular examining room except it has two recliners, a TV set, a large collection of books and magazines, lots of crayons and and coloring books, a deck of cards and a wifi connection. The PK procedure consists of taking this morning’s pills and then submitting blood samples at two hour intervals for a total of 4 samples over 6 hours. The procedure tracks the drug level in the blood over time. There were also two urine samples, one at the beginning and one at the end.
I think this post might be of interest to the diabetic ping list and will be followed up with comments.
Later read. Thanks for the post.
By the way, the lowest number I have recorded is 108 after hiking 5 miles in the rain. The highest was my personal test after drinking a mug of very sweet coca and was 262. There are only a few tests >200 or < 110.
I am told that as my body adjusts to the lower blood sugar level induced my some medication, it will accept the lower level as normal and energy level will normalize.
Additionally, I have lost approximately 9 pounds in 6 weeks. The weight loss might be attribute to the drugs, but I have also been exercising and watching sweets.
I have experienced none of the possible side effects noted in the trial literature.
I hope this is not boring the group
Please just in terms of "a normal days pay" or perhaps "twice my regular hourly rate"... Something along those line.
I have always wondered. Some years ago,, my brother got an 'exprimental' treatment - which cured him. Before he took the treatment, he was told there would be no cost if he chose to 'participate'. One month after he got home, he got socked with a 12K bill - which the center refused to detail.
Was wondering what your experiance turned out to be...
thx
I just completed a one year test of a different diabetes drug called Taspoglutide. It amounts to a shot in the stomach fat, much like an insulin shot, once per week and a brown capsul once per day. They’re also giving me free Metformin, 2g/day. And of course the $40 per visit to “help with parking expenses.” Hell, parking’s free, but it sure helps with the gas!
I can’t even remember when I was first diagnosed but it’s been ten or twelve years. I remember going to a dental surgeon for some work and when he took my blood pressure it was 450 over 350. He got quite excited. “Calm down Doc! I didn’t do it on purpose!”
That led to the diagnosis. I take a hand full of pills every day, now, and it was pretty much under control for a while. Just after I turned 65 I started having the same problem you did. My ‘magic number’ was 150. “If it goes over 150,” they said, “cells are dieing.” My feet were numb by then, and the circulation in my legs is very bad. I can’t walk more than a block without sitting down, and I have no stamina at all. So when my a1c reading went over 7.0, they asked if I wanted to join the research group.
A friend of mine’s wife was a GP (Guinni Pig) for the drug Byetta. Taspoglutide is similar to that. She lost 30 pounds during the testing. I lost 20 pounds in the first two months and I still believe it was because of the nausia. Who wants to eat when you’re pretty sure you’re just going to chuck it all up again? It looks good going in, but....
I have a hiatal hernia, and so I am sensitive to excess stomach acid. When I started the Taspoglutide, I could hear stomach acid sloshing when I rolled over at night! I spoke to the research Doc and while he denied that the drug would do that, he prescribed an acid blocker anyway. 90% of the nausia went away and so did the weight loss. I’m still holding pretty steady at 15 pounds less than before.
Sure way to lose weight is to eat something that makes you sick to your stomach, I guess.
We’ve set up an exercise room in the basement, and during the winter we work out while watching Glen Beck. It’s all I can do to stay on the treadmill from the beginning to his first break. Not enough blood getting to my legs. The exercise still wasn’t enough to prepare me for Spring chores. But like you say, it’s hard to tell whether it’s the diabetes or just plain old age. I just learned that my thyroid has gone hyper on me, and could be the source of some of the symptoms I’ve been blaming on the diabetes.
But you are right about the “interesting experience”. I never realized how interesting the workings of the human body could be. It’s all interconnected, and the individual parts communicate with chemistry. I’m told that even white blood cells can be seen stopping at nerve ‘nexis’ for a moment in capilaries. Why the Hell do you suppose they do that?
When you eat something, the gut creates a chemical signal informing the entire body that food is on the way and that the cells can eat all they want. But the chemical only lasts a few seconds. What Taspoglutide does is simulate that chemical for longer periods, making the cells take in the excess sugars from the blood longer.
Seems to be working so far. My numbers have dropped from >150 to an average of 115 to 120. I guess I can live with that!
“In modern medicine, numbers are everything. Determining and interpreting members and their variance from established norms is the name of the game. Blood tests are a primary, perhaps the primary source of numbers.”
Unless it does something other than just lower the numbers, then I am not interested. This obsession with numbers has not proven to affect the long term complications of diabetes. People are treating the symptoms and not the undelying disease. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security.
About a year ago, I decided to see an endocrinologist because I felt that I needed the accountability. Having the other health problems leaves me severely fatigued sometimes and I tend to go with what is easy (ie, eat whatever is easiest). I am happy to report that I have been able to get my H1C from 8.0 to 6.8. Would like to see that even lower. I take Janumet and Actos, eat almost no sugar, potatoes, rice, or flour products.