Gliclazide

[clairebear13]

I was diagnosed in September 2011 as type 2 diabetic (early stages), I was put on a diet and weightloss measure to see if it would improve my levels. I lost 2 stone in 3 months and levels were average 8-10. Unfortunately in December I got flu which pushed my bloods to 12-17.
I was passed over from my GP to a Diabetic Nurse. He instantly stuck me on Metformin 1 a day and then 2 a day. These got me down again between 8-10, but couldn't handle the stomach upsets (severe diarreha) so he tried me on Glucophage, 2 a day. These got me down to 7-9. But again bad on the stomach upsets. I have a tender stomach and did say this was the reason I thought I would have problems if I had to go on tablets.
Now he has stuck me on Gliclazide 2 a day. I was on 40mg x 2, and now on 80mg and 40mg - but I don't know whats going on????
My levels are constantly between 11-17. And when I do eat something bad WOW!!! I got to 25 the other day!
I went straight to the Diabetic nurse and he said he wanted to put me straight on insulin?
This surprised me alot, as it seems only since I have been on these tabs, my levels have been through the roof?
I thought I would be dropping down to about 5 because they are meant to make you pancreas work.... has anyone else had issues with them? As I don't think I am at the point of insulin, as my levels drop by nearly half given a hours difference and exercise:

Example only: 12pm eat lunch, 2pm levels are 14, 3pm with a few times up the stairs 8

Can anyone provide advice? As my diabetic nurse I have found out is not really fully fledged diabetic nurse, and I would like to know some more before being asked to get referred to see an endo doctor. As currently only see the nurse and GP.

My concern too is I am only 27 years old.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. At your relatively young age there is a strong chance that you are Type 1 LADA or MODY not Type 2 in which case tablets will have little effect and insulin is the right solution. There are two tests that can be done i.e. c-peptide to check the level of insulin you produce and GAD which looks for anti-bodies which would confirm Type 1. I would suggest you might ask your DN to do the two tests to confirm whether your are T2 or a late onset T1 (LADA etc). My comments assume you are trying low-carb diet? If you have yet to try keeping the carbs low then do try this first. The standard NHS diet is often bad advice as it recommends far too high carb levels in the opinion of most on this forum. Note that illness can cause a large rise in BS so be aware of that.

 

[xyzzy]

Yes agree with Daibells excellent advice. Many of us adopt a lowish carb diet and get great permanent results so that means cutting down on rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, cereals and anything else made with flour. Obviously cutting drastically or better still removing things which are full of sugar (pure fruit juices, non diet fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits etc.) is taken for granted. Try halving the amounts you eat and replace with more meat, fish, cheese and vegetables, especially vegetables that grow above ground. Small amounts of fruit are fine as are things like yoghurt.

If you do not see a pretty quick (few days) improvement in your sugar levels do as Daibell suggests and get the tests done for Type 1 LADA. If they were to come back positive your best course of action may well be insulin. You should not worry too much about that so long as you also adopt a good healthy diet and lose weight. It's overweight people on insulin who get high risk factors for heart attacks and strokes. If you do see an improvement by reducing carbs come back and ask more questions about how to adjust your carbs more accurately.

 

[clairebear13]

Thanks for your advice.
My main concern is how can I go from 7-9 on glucophage to such high numbers on the gliclazide?
I am overweight and my exercise is non-exsistent. Since being on the tabs I haven't been following the healthy diet to the letter, so I am hoping that the lack in low blood levels are due to my diet and exercise.

Is there any key differences between type 1 and 2 for me to tell? As my levels do drop, just not as quick as they should, usually 3 hours rather than 2 after eating. But on these gliclazide, very little changes.

 

[desidiabulum]

I switched from glipizide (which was sending me into hypos) to gliclazide two months ago. Like you I noticed that gliclazide seems to take longer to get sugars down after a meal, gets higher spikes than other tablets, and it can take a few days to work down from higher levels. But over a few days, with careful diet and exercise, I find it can still keep levels quite low for sustained periods of time (but of course my next hba1cis the real test). Your levels do seem very high, though -- do follow diabell on this. Anyone else out there find that gliclazide seems less efficient than other drugs in this group?

 

[milliejane]

When testing my sugar levels they have always ranged from 7 to 10 and maybe even as low as 5 through to 7 on occasions when I have walked a lot. However, since last September when I started to go to the gym twice a week my sugar levels have been much higher. I admit my diet has not been perfect even though I do eat a lot of good foods, but I do like chocolate! But in saying that I have been able to eat chocolate with nuts and still have a reading around 6. I have since been started on gliclazide and went from 80mg a day to 240 mg a day plus glucophage x 4 sachets per day. Still not much difference, still going to the gym, still getting readings of 17 and below. At the gym they wont let me do the weight training as that is dangerous and can cause high blood pressure and thats when your organs are being attacked. But they will let me use the treadmill (very good for lowering BS) the exercise bike and the treadmill. I am totally at a loss with these meds, I thought I was going to experience a hypo taking gliclazide but it appears it seems to make my BS higher not lower. So Im very confused and get very depressed especially when some days I harldy eat much at all...a toddler would eat more! I end up thinking bring on the chocolate!

 

[Daibell]

Hi Milliejane. First when you say you eat chocolate what sort is it? If it's the popular milk brands then it is absolutely loaded with sugar and little chocolate. The fat in the chocolate will slow the carb absorption so any peak will be delayed. Go for 85% Dark Chocolate. When you say you eat a lot of good foods are those foods low in carb and also low-GI carb? Do you read the labels when shopping; perhaps you do. I found Gliclazide didn't have much effect and now has none. It can only work well if you have enough islet cells left in the pancreas. If your pancreas has seen better days then it will only have minimal effect. I must admit I don't understand why eating chocolate doesn't push your blood sugar up but exercise does; strange.