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Diabetics (type 2) - what do you take?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by makikiboy, Sep 21, 2016.

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  1. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Her dr. (GP type) wants her to go on actos but everyone I know usually starts off taking metformin for their diabetes. She read that there may be some problems with females taking Actos but I was wondering what other people are taking for their diabetes.

    Recently because of weight gain my numbers are also going up so I was looking at other things to take to keep my numbers down


    I am taking:

    Metformin ER
    Actos
    Victoza (once a day injectable but not insulin).


    I was also wondering, are you seeing a specialist (like an endocrinologist) or is your regular GP doctor taking care of your diabetes? The reason I asked is because I changed dr's about 5 years ago because my GP wanted me to start taking insulin to handle my diabetes. I didn't think I needed to take insulin yet so I switched to an endocrinologist and he confirmed that there are other new medicine nowadays that can be taken for diabetes. So far so good.

    So what are you diabetics taking and how do you like them and are they keeping your numbers under control? Thanks for your replies!
     
  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    If she is newly diabetic and not having symptoms or horribly high numbers, I would be careful of a doctor who doesn't want to start with the tried & true metformin which is cheaper and has fewer side effects. I'd question whether or not the doc was getting perks or paid to push the new stuff.

    In the last few years I have gotten off 3 diabetes drugs, in addition to one for blood pressure and my statin with the help of a nutritionist. And not the "Diabetes Educator" the doctor will send her to. I was really skeptical at first having been to so many diabetes classes and groups. It's still a work in progress but I've seen real change. My last A1C was 6.0.

    I talked about going to an endocrinologist but I'd have to go to Seattle and I really hate taking the ferry. ;) If one is available it might be a good option. They can do some testing the gp won't to help narrow down the issues and are more likely to spend time with you to explore all the options instead of just resorting to insulin, as you said.
     
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  3. SH0CK

    SH0CK Stylin' and Profilin' Quasi Tech Admin

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    I highly suggest having an endocrinologist. When my GP told me that I needed to start meds for mine, He changed my meds like some people change underwear. He really had no idea how to treat this. But then again, I feel like most GPs want to run test after test and keep you coming back into their office to keep the money train a flowing.

    As for meds, I was quickly taken off Metformin after my labs showed elevated liver enzymes, then put on tradjenta for about 6 months. My number didn't really change with the tradjenta, so I felt like I needed to see someone that knows all about this sort of thing. My endocrinologist put me on invokana and the numbers I was tracking dropped about 80-100 points and my A1C came down considerably. They would drop to a more manageable level if I'd do that diet an exercise thing people talk about. My numbers crept up a bit a few months back and she's added glimepiride to knock things back to where they were. I think I could stop that one if I'd just move more though.

    The one thing I will say about invokana is to be mindful of it's side effects. If you have any existing kidney issues, that may not be the best thing to take.
     
  4. LucyR.

    LucyR. VIP Whale

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    I have been diabetic for 3 years now. I take metformin 500 mg. I always have to take it with food. It doesn't have any bad side effects on me. I take it twice per day. I have an internist doctor that is willing to have me do a blood test on every thing every year. I also have other doctor specialists like a foot doctor that is presently giving Vita B-12 shots and also wants me to take Vita D3. I took a blood test that showed I was low in those vitamins. Do you all know that if you lack vitamins in your body it can affect your nervous system. I am now taking vitamins that I need to take.

    My main doctor is not always available so I have a second doctor.

    I have a second doctor that had me do a ultra sound on my stomach to check for any problems in my body like my liver, kidneys, spleen, etc. I was having a pain in my stomach.
    I also have an emergency clinic where they have great doctors when ever I have any small problem. I can just walk in and see a doctor.

    I have great insurance that pays for all of the doctors I see. It is my choice to see doctors every time I feel sick.

    I know the metformin I take is okay for me based on the fact that I don't have any serious side affects that can damage my liver.

    I don't feel normal if my number is 100 which is supposed to me normal. I start to feel like I need to get some sugar into my system in order to feel better. I think that 120 seems to be a better number for me.
    I don't test myself all the time.

    I use Stevia extract sweetener which is natural leaves. I don't believe in using the fake sweeteners.

    I am planning to see a diabetic specialist so I can do better in planning my diet and exercise. I am being bad in not following a better diet.

    When ever I feel sick for any reason I drink a lot of water that makes me feel better.
    Water is very healing. Try it.
     
  5. justdeb

    justdeb hey look!

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    I'm type 2 and have been since 1997. I was non-compliant for 10 yrs. Drank soda, ate what i wanted, took my meds when i remembered.
    so it was no wonder that i went into Diabetic Keto Acidosis in 2007. my A1c was 14.7. Almost died, and i can honestly say after that i was scared
    straight.

    i take Metformin 800 mg (1 pill 3x a day). glipizide 5mg (1 pill twice a day) Also take Humalog for daytime and Humilin at night. In the beginning my doctor prescribed Actos.
    but apparently there was some sort of warning about it, so she took me off of it.

    i see an Endo now. Back in the day i dr shopped. If someone said i needed to get bloodwork done, i changed doctors. I've been with my GP and Endo since 2008 now.

    also, because i was a bad diabetic i have stage 3 kidney disease. and i am going for a visit
    to a nutritionist to relearn how to eat. Refresher course.
     
  6. bignig135

    bignig135 Low-Roller

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    I live in Scotland and have only ever taken Metformin, 500mg, 2x twice a day, no side effects. Had type 2 for about 10 years, clinic nurse said that if my levels rise, higher dose of metformin would probably be prescribed.
     
  7. sarah9nascar

    sarah9nascar VIP Whale

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    My endocrinologist took me off Metformin and put me on Xioduo. It's the generic Farsiga that is on a commercial all the time. I have actually lost weight since then.
     
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  8. mona

    mona Low-Roller

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    My A1C has gone up in the past 2 years to 7.4, had it down to 6.8 at one time. Was on Metformin 1000mg 2x day, glimepiride (generic) but was switched to Actos (generic) and still has not changed (still take Metformin). Had to switch clinics due to insurance this year. Was just seeing a NP but now have an appt with endo NP next month. Also a dietician. If I could lose some weight I know the numbers will come down and have been trying but have only lost about 4 lbs. I average about 8000 steps a day (3 days a week it's about 14000 or more, so the other days can be pretty slim usually about 5000, but I hurt) and could definitely use to get a bit more exercise, though I also have feet issues (plantar fas. , stress fractures) so after being on my feet working with one of my jobs that I'm constantly moving (plant nursery, 15 greenhouses full of perennial plants) my feet really hurt. I don't eat a lot and no meat during the week, which may be an issue of not enough protein for trying to lose weight. Being I have individual insurance and high deductible all appts and meds are out of pocket (somewhat of a break on meds with insurance) so I can not afford to take any meds that are not generic (I don't go to the dr unless I absolutely have to) so it can be tough finding oral generics for type 2.
     
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  9. gguerra

    gguerra High-Roller

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    I had a 5.2 A1C on my most recent test as high as 7.3 at one point. I take 1000mg of metformin and 2mg glimepiride in the AM, 500mg Metformin in the PM. I could just take 500 twice a day and still be OK. I don't see the need for injections if you are already on the meds. I mainly control my condition through diet. Diet is key. Low Carb High Fat is the way to go for me. If you are on insulin than you cannot go on a low carb diet as well. There are many variables here. In the end you need to use your glucose meter to see how meds and foods affect you. There are key times you should test. Fasting and 2hrs post meal. I can go on and on. Education is very important. Mis-education is rampant even among MD's. MD's don't know or give dietary advice and if they do it is usually flawed. All they know is medications. You have to help the meds with proper diet.
     
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  10. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    Thanks for all your input. Wow, wish I could have my A1c at 5.2 Even with meds I think I'm still in the mid 6's range. I was diagnosed about 15 years ago (yup, that year sucked for me, first my dad died, then I was diagnosed with diabetes and then 9/11 came along - it wasn't a good year for me).

    I probably had diabetes a year earlier because I already had some symptoms. I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted, I even went to vegas and pigged out at the buffets and when I got home I found that I lost 5 lbs. I probably lost about 25 lbs that year without even trying (no exercise or dieting). I thought "wow, this is great", but then I started to get some not too good side effects too. Always thirsty but the worst was when my vision started to get bad. Everything started to get real blurry and one morning I could only see shapes, no details so I made my appointment to visit my gp dr. and after getting a blood test and I found I diabetes and had ketoacidosis so I started to take pills. My vision got much better too. Unfortunately after that I started bloating up and gaining weight so I had to start exercising and change my diet.

    My dr. prescribed metformin, actos and glyburide at the time. Later he changed me to glypizide but I started to gain weight real fast. I gained about 32 lbs in 8 months. I told my gp about the weight gain and he told me to "exercise more and eat less" (I was at the gym 3 times a week doing cardio, golfing with a push cart one day and walking another day). I gained another 6 lbs in the next 2 months and he gave me the same response. The glyp pills were great for me, I actually kept my glucose numbers down, some nights I had the jitters because my glucose was so low (once it came in at 45, I had to eat a candy bar many nights because I had the jitters real bad) but it also made me gain weight. I decided to get off the glypizide and found that I lost 20 lbs in 2 months. I visited my dr. again and he said that the weight loss wasn't because of the pills so told me to go back on it again. In 1 month I gained back 10 lbs so the next time I visited the dr. I told him that I wasn't going to go back on the glypizide. That's when he told me that I would have to start taking insulin for my diabetes.

    I immediately started looking for an endocrinologist for a second opinion but most of them had a big backlog (guess there were a lot of diabetics). I was lucky and found a former military dr. who just started a endocrinology practice so he wasn't busy and was into the new medicines and told me that only a quack would put me on insulin without trying all the other diabetes medications before turning to insulin. I agreed and never went back to my gp again (he was ready to retire within 5 years anyway).

    (sorry for the long story).



    Hmmm, I wonder if I would suffer the same weight gain side effects with glimepiride. Do any of you on glimepiride have any weight gain issues or problems with your weight? It may be because of glimepiride.

    I also heard from friends who like taking Invokana. Others are taking janumet, a mixture of Januvia and metformin.

    anyway thanks for the responses. Always good to see what other people are taking for their diabetes.
     
  11. SH0CK

    SH0CK Stylin' and Profilin' Quasi Tech Admin

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    I'm not seen any weight gain from the glimepiride, but had some weight loss from the Invokana when I first started taking it. It's to be expected with Invokana since it pulls sugar from your blood stream and keeps it in your kidneys until you can piss it out. That's also one of it's downsides since all that extra is being pissed out, you become more prone to UTIs.

    I had a little trouble in the beginning getting my insurance to pay for the Invokana since it was so new. I'm not sure what my RX or endo did, but they got it approved for me. My co-pay for it was $25 for the first 30 days of pills, but I went on their website and signed up for their program and got those waved or paid by the manufacturer for the first year. Luckily, for your 2, they sent me a letter to re-up me in that program. I highly suggest signing up with them if you can take Invokana. :thumbsup:
     
  12. LucyR.

    LucyR. VIP Whale

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    I have always been on Metformin only. I lost 8 lbs. recently just because I have changed my diet. I have gotten into the habit of just eating small meals or healthy snacks. I am not into big meals anymore. I cut out candies and sodas. But love to drink banana smoothies.
    I think I was diabetic for many years but didn't know it. I was always needing to drink water and had to carry water with me every where I went. My throat gets really dry and needs some sugar to coat my throat. I carry a tiny bottle of apple juice just to coat my throat to feel better.
    I am a mature lady that has been on a diet all my life to keep my weight down. But now I don't care if I am some extra pounds on me. The photo I have posted of me is from last year on a cruise ship. It is fun eating healthy on a cruise ship. I don't over eat or order large meals on the ships. I don't like to eat at restaurants that serve lots of food either.
    I prefer to just eat what I feel like eating when I feel I need to eat something. I eat to live now. Lucy
     
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  13. gguerra

    gguerra High-Roller

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    Glimepiride and Glipizide (which I used to take) are in a class of drugs called Sulfonylureas. They act by increasing insulin release from the beta cells in the pancreas. Over time they are known to burn out your beta cells, so there is a drawback to using these type drugs. When this happens then guess what? You will have to be on insulin. With T2's there are at least two major problems, insulin resistance and insulin production. The Metformin treats the former and the Sulfonylureas treats the latter. I happen to need both. I know this because I have done tests on my own. I will take a reading with my meter when I wake up, take just the metformin without food and a few hours later take another reading and find that my numbers have hardly changed.I do this without food because the test has to be controlled. I do the same test with both drugs and my numbers are down to target where I want them. It could be you only need the metformin. You have to test yourself to see. So the idea is to reduce the dosage of the drugs to the bare minimum. In order to do this i restrict carb intake. The drugs have to work less so I take less. The metformin I take is not the ER type so I need to spread out the dose. Other than the GI side effects some people get (I hardly ever do), there are no long term effects from the metformin. It has been in use for many years with no reports of anything. That is not the case with a lot of the newer drugs especially the Actos you mention. I see all kinds of commercials about lawsuits and lawyers involving that drug. I would steer clear, but that's me. There are better alternatives. It is known to cause bladder cancer.

    https://www.drugwatch.com/actos/lawsuit.php
     
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  14. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    Metformin (twice daily) & in the past 90 days, Invokana (once daily).

    One of the side effect of Invokana is increased (and I do mean increased not far removed from the horse track) urination, as it removes sugar through urine. My diet is not the ideal Type-II diet, as I still eat a lot of what I want and just avoid the chronic offenders (taters, pie, cake, candy, soda, sweets, white bread & pasta). There's other stuff I should cut out, and I'm sure me and the good doctor will have this pow-wow in few days. I can feel it coming.

    Bottom line being, I chewed Metformin alone for the better part of fifteen years. The numbers didn't budge, and I took it upon myself to stop for a year. Doc wanted to know why, and I pointed out that there was no differentiation in numbers between when I was taking Metformin and when I stopped...and as such...no motivation to take a pill if the needle ain't moving. Soooo...I pointed the index finger to the advertisement hanging on the wall and said we should do something like this. I'm not as fat as I once was (all time world record of 230 (at 5'8") ...down to 185, but still need to shave off the gut. That comes from diet. I hit the gym at least twice or thrice per week, but still dig my cuisine.

    We'll see what the numbers are like in a week or so.
     
  15. phantomfj

    phantomfj High-Roller

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    There is a new type of treatment now that you may want to consider called Afrezza, it is an inhalable insulin developed by Alfred Mann, who also created MiniMed (insulin pump company).......see http://www.mannkindcorp.com/ ................... not many doctors really know much about it yet, but some of the results being posted on social media by users are very, very encouraging......do yourself a favor and at least look into it.
     
  16. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    I take Glipizide. I told my doctor if this makes me gain weight because it did. She said no. I said I think it does. I even read the specs on the internet. She said no. I said yes. She said NO.

    If she wasn't so good looking I would go to another doctor. :wink2: (just kidding).
     
  17. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    Take it from me, Glipizide does cause weight gain. I didn't make any changes to my diet but I gained weight when I was on the thing and I lost the weight when I stopped taking it. I wish that it didn't cause my weight gain because it was the only thing that kept my blood sugar down. I never had to worry about my blood sugar because it was always low when I was on the thing.
     
  18. cokeboy99

    cokeboy99 Low-Roller

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    I take 1000MG of Metformin twice a day, 40MG of Atorvastatin once a day, 2.5Mg Lisinopril, 2-2.5MG tablets of Gyburide, 10MG of Farxiga, and 1.8MG of Victoza (injectable) daily. If I were to lose weight I know I could decrease the amount of meds I take, The glyburide is similar to the glypizide, and I suspect it is causing weight similar to the glypizide when I was taking that medication. My last A1C was 7.0. My wife is type 1 and uses an insulin pump.
     
  19. LucyR.

    LucyR. VIP Whale

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    Hi Cokeboy, have you ever tasted your urine to check if it is sweet. I have and it never taste sweet. I read the reason it is called diabetic is because there was found sugar in the urine. I wonder if urine can only be tested by a lab to find the sugar.
    I also wonder if there is really nothing we can do about it but just lose weight by watching how much and what type of foods we eat and exercise.

    My doctor gave metformin 850 mg. and I took it and I vomited the med. I went back to 500 mg. twice per day.

    Does anybody ever feel the bottom of your feed skin feels like paper think. As if you have a piece of paper stuck under your feet? Sometimes my toes feel numb. But I still have lots of feelings under my feet.
     
  20. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    Wow. Is this an old ancient way to test for diabetes? You know, before there were Doctors and Lab tests.
     
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