Gliclazide, how long before it works?

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello
I’ve started taking 40 Gliclazide with breakfast, once a day. Since Monday this week, every morning I’ve had an upset stomach! Anyone else on Gliclazide experienced this? (Couldn’t take metformin or SR met due to gastric side effects!)
I was expecting to see my numbers drop, but so far they haven’t? I’m still teens and 20+.
I have to take for 4 weeks and review at drs. Any ideas when it might start to reduce numbers?
I’m 35, bmi 27 and eat low carb mostly, Mediterranean diet past few years since being told was prediabetic. Now type 2 waiting see diabetes team end sept.
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello
I’ve started taking 40 Gliclazide with breakfast, once a day. Since Monday this week, every morning I’ve had an upset stomach! Anyone else on Gliclazide experienced this? (Couldn’t take metformin or SR met due to gastric side effects!)
I was expecting to see my numbers drop, but so far they haven’t? I’m still teens and 20+.
I have to take for 4 weeks and review at drs. Any ideas when it might start to reduce numbers?
I’m 35, bmi 27 and eat low carb mostly, Mediterranean diet past few years since being told was prediabetic. Now type 2 waiting see diabetes team end sept.
Can I ask what you're eating? Not the type of diet, but literally what you eat in a typical day. You shouldn't be seeing numbers that high on a low carb diet, and the glic's not doing much it seems... So it's either not that low carb in practice, or something else is up... In which case you might want to get additional testing done (C-peptide and GAD tests to check for other types of diabetes).
 

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Can I ask what you're eating? Not the type of diet, but literally what you eat in a typical day. You shouldn't be seeing numbers that high on a low carb diet, and the glic's not doing much it seems... So it's either not that low carb in practice, or something else is up... In which case you might want to get additional testing done (C-peptide and GAD tests to check for other types of diabetes).
I have egg, spinach or Greek yoghurt nuts, sometimes porridge if hungry and know going be cycling/long walk/busy. I have salads, fish, ratoulle, soup, all homemade. Halloumi and grilled veg. Bacon and egg spinach tomatoes. I swapped to med diet few years ago and more veggies in place of potatoes etc. I do still have carbs and don’t carb count. Don’t eat bread/pasta anyways as it upsets my stomach.
Sometimes out with my daughter I’ll have bit of her cake over a cuppa, so I know that’ll rise them. Eat strawberries (low gi) and pear, apple with peanut butter on, few nuts for a snack if really hungry. I drink tea but no sugar, don’t drink fizzy drinks. I try to be as good as possible, but don’t see it making huge difference which is annoying! Don’t have big appetite last few days as my stomachs upset from breakfast time. Today I’ve eaten, Greek yoghurt with apple purée and seeds. Ginger tea, and lunch was bit of chicken soup.
I have asked the drs (3 in my surgery and diabetes nurse) for the tests you mention and every time they say no. I see diabetes team end sept so I’m really hopeful they are willing to do the tests for me.
I suspect I’ll go for 4 week review and dr will just want to up the Gliclazide!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoKalsbeek

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have egg, spinach or Greek yoghurt nuts, sometimes porridge if hungry and know going be cycling/long walk/busy. I have salads, fish, ratoulle, soup, all homemade. Halloumi and grilled veg. Bacon and egg spinach tomatoes. I swapped to med diet few years ago and more veggies in place of potatoes etc. I do still have carbs and don’t carb count. Don’t eat bread/pasta anyways as it upsets my stomach.
Sometimes out with my daughter I’ll have bit of her cake over a cuppa, so I know that’ll rise them. Eat strawberries (low gi) and pear, apple with peanut butter on, few nuts for a snack if really hungry. I drink tea but no sugar, don’t drink fizzy drinks. I try to be as good as possible, but don’t see it making huge difference which is annoying! Don’t have big appetite last few days as my stomachs upset from breakfast time. Today I’ve eaten, Greek yoghurt with apple purée and seeds. Ginger tea, and lunch was bit of chicken soup.
I have asked the drs (3 in my surgery and diabetes nurse) for the tests you mention and every time they say no. I see diabetes team end sept so I’m really hopeful they are willing to do the tests for me.
I suspect I’ll go for 4 week review and dr will just want to up the Gliclazide!
The only clear culprits I see are the apples, pears (both about 21 grams of carbs) and porridge (11 grams per 100, and we usually have a multiple amount of that in one bowl), those'd all make me skyrocket... Strawberries (6 grams per 100) are okay, though preferably mixed with something fatty like the full fat greek yoghurt or heavy cream... Otherwise in large amounts they'll spike you, so don't eat an entire box in one go, especially if there's nothing to slow down the uptake like fats. ( https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fruits ) And I don't know what kind of peanut butter you use, but a lot of brands put sugar in, in some form or other. Not all nuts are created equal, so for instance pecans and walnuts are fine, pistachio's and cashews can get a little problematic. (https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts).

I think it'd really pay off if you check the nutritional values of the things you eat. Because a lot of what you're eating is perfectly spot-on, and then especially the fruit and porridge really nullify everything you're doing, it seems...

I'm kind of hoping the solution really is that simple. Just have some cheese, olives, pork scratchings or a square or two of extra dark chocolate (with a mouth full of cream maybe? Yum!) instead of fruit, and Bob's your uncle. If that doesn't work then I don't know what will, and you'll really have to push for additional tests.
 

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
The only clear culprits I see are the apples, pears (both about 21 grams of carbs) and porridge (11 grams per 100, and we usually have a multiple amount of that in one bowl), those'd all make me skyrocket... Strawberries (6 grams per 100) are okay, though preferably mixed with something fatty like the full fat greek yoghurt or heavy cream... Otherwise in large amounts they'll spike you, so don't eat an entire box in one go, especially if there's nothing to slow down the uptake like fats. ( https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fruits ) And I don't know what kind of peanut butter you use, but a lot of brands put sugar in, in some form or other. Not all nuts are created equal, so for instance pecans and walnuts are fine, pistachio's and cashews can get a little problematic. (https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts).

I think it'd really pay off if you check the nutritional values of the things you eat. Because a lot of what you're eating is perfectly spot-on, and then especially the fruit and porridge really nullify everything you're doing, it seems...

I'm kind of hoping the solution really is that simple. Just have some cheese, olives, pork scratchings or a square or two of extra dark chocolate (with a mouth full of cream maybe? Yum!) instead of fruit, and Bob's your uncle. If that doesn't work then I don't know what will, and you'll really have to push for additional tests.
Many thanks for your help. I will try and ditch the porridge totally and stick to more fats, square of dark chocolate sounds good!
I think I need be stricter then. Do you find if you wander off low carb even a little bit your numbers reflect it?
I still have to get my head around the fact I can’t eat like I could ten years ago! Everyone in the house can munch just about anything hehe. But I do feel drained with high numbers. Was hoping the Gliclazide would help in addition to diet. Is the fifth med they’re trying me on in a year!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoKalsbeek

xfieldok

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,182
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I definitely don't like glicazide. They put me on steroids for another condition and glic to try and counteract the rise in bg they would cause. Wearing a freestyle libre sensor, I found bg was rising to the 20s but was going hypo in the early hours.

Your diet looks pretty good especially if you lose the fruit and porridge.

I wonder if quantity might be an issue. I found homemade mushroom soup served in a lovely deep bowl spiked me. Next night, same soup in a cereal bowl, not so much as a blip.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rose22

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I'm not as insulin resistant as I was 3 years ago, but I still won't go near bread, fruit and such, because I start to feel bad when I hit a 7 these days. But yeah, get stricter for a bit and see whether it makes a difference, it should show soon enough. If nothing changes, C-pep and GAD really are the best options.
Many thanks for your help. I will try and ditch the porridge totally and stick to more fats, square of dark chocolate sounds good!
I think I need be stricter then. Do you find if you wander off low carb even a little bit your numbers reflect it?
I still have to get my head around the fact I can’t eat like I could ten years ago! Everyone in the house can munch just about anything hehe. But I do feel drained with high numbers. Was hoping the Gliclazide would help in addition to diet. Is the fifth med they’re trying me on in a year!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rose22

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
*Edited to add: Ahh! I see @xfieldok beat me to it.*

If the T2 meds are consistently failing, and your blood glucose is not responding to low carb, then I strongly urge you to go back to your healthcare team and ask them to run further tests to see if you could be type 1, and/or assess your insulin production. If you aren’t producing enough to bring your blood glucose down, then T2 meds may not help, because they usually try to boost your own insulin production, and if you ain’t able to produce more...

There are an unfortunate number of people who are mis diagnosed, T1 for T2, and vice versa. It would be sad if you are one of the unlucky ones who are not treated as needed, because of a misdiagnosis.

I will tag in both @xfieldok and @Oldvatr because i know they have both got experience of Gliclazide, and can hopefully answer your queries based on their own experience.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Rose22

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I definitely don't like glicazide. They put me on steroids for another condition and glic to try and counteract the rise in bg they would cause. Wearing a freestyle libre sensor, I found bg was rising to the 20s but was going hypo in the early hours.

Your diet looks pretty good especially if you lose the fruit and porridge.

I wonder if quantity might be an issue. I found homemade mushroom soup served in a lovely deep bowl spiked me. Next night, same soup in a cereal bowl, not so much as a blip.
Ah interesting, ok so same meal but reducing amount made a great difference to your blood sugars. I’ll try reduce too, although I tend to try keep portions small, as I’m conscious of putting on any weight. But worth a try, if a little less in size helps it’ll be great.
Seems like the Gliclazide didn’t really reduce your rises then either? I think it’s the surges up and down makes me feel ill. Wasn’t expecting stomach issues on it though, deep sigh! My husband keeps saying I need to get one of those snazzy all singing all dancing Japanese loos as I spend 1/2 my life there hehe! Don’t think he’s joking either! Thanks for your reply, it’s interesting to hear what works ☺️
 

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
*Edited to add: Ahh! I see @xfielduk beat me to it.*

If the T2 meds are consistently failing, and your blood glucose is not responding to low carb, then I strongly urge you to go back to your healthcare team and ask them to run further tests to see if you could be type 1, and/or assess your insulin production. If you aren’t producing enough to bring your blood glucose down, then T2 meds may not help, because they usually try to boost your own insulin production, and if you ain’t able to produce more...

There are an unfortunate number of people who are mis diagnosed, T1 for T2, and vice versa. It would be sad if you are one of the unlucky ones who are not treated as needed, because of a misdiagnosis.

I will tag in both @xfieldok and @Oldvatr because i know they have both got experience of Gliclazide, and can hopefully answer your queries based on their own experience.
Thankyou for this info, very helpful. That’s what I’m slightly suspicious of now, that there isn’t much insulin to push out, hence the Gliclazide not really doing anything yet? I was first told had diabetes 10 years ago in pregnancy. Then same 5 years ago insulin pregnancy. After I stayed pre diabetic for 3 years, then I’d felt numbers rise and went drs asking to test. The diabetes nurse said I didn’t match type 2 as relatively young and not hugely overweight, prob about 8kg more than before had my daughter. Blood pressure fine, cholesterol fine etc. But they won’t do the tests, I find it bizarre?! I said I’d rather know how much insulin I produce and then treat rather than try all these meds like a guinea pig... took alogliptin for 2 months and numbers where average 18. I went back to the drs saying help it’s not working! Then she said she would refer to diabetes team, but that I’m type 2 so they may not help.
 

Oldvatr

Expert
Messages
8,470
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
4 years ago I was in the 20's and 30's and facing insulin treatment. But I started low carbing and Glic + Met (2g/day) at the same time. I started on 4x80mg a day, and it didn't have much effect, but as the LC started to work, I did start going low and started having minor hypo's. So I dropped my glic tabs and some Met until I reached a plateau with bgl in the normal range, and only 500 mg Met and 80mg Glic This was fairly stable, and I was not getting too low.

Recently had a stay in hospital for an operation, and it totally upset my bgl - back uo to the 20's. They stopped my Met, and started me on 20 mg Glic, which did absolutely sweet nothing for my bgl. I managed to get them to up it to 160 mg a day and that showed a moderate lowering. Then I Ieft hospital and re-started my low carb diet again. My bgl is back round 7 mmol/l and I am on only 40 mg Glic and 500 mg Met a day This seems to be working for me, and I am not needing to be too strict on the carbs.

As Brunneria says, if LC is not bringing things down then maybe Glic is not helping. You may need to consider something like Victoza since Glic works by trying to squeeze more insulin from the pancreas so needs your pancreas to be producing some at least. I did note that the food list in your OP was still a highish intake of foods that would spike me, such as nuts and porridge, so you might benefit from being a bit stricter on that, Also LC can take a while to settle into a routine, so it may need longer till you benefit fully. I am not doing keto diet so it took me a bit longer to lose the weight and the midriff fat
 

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
4 years ago I was in the 20's and 30's and facing insulin treatment. But I started low carbing and Glic + Met (2g/day) at the same time. I started on 4x80mg a day, and it didn't have much effect, but as the LC started to work, I did start going low and started having minor hypo's. So I dropped my glic tabs and some Met until I reached a plateau with bgl in the normal range, and only 500 mg Met and 80mg Glic This was fairly stable, and I was not getting too low.

Recently had a stay in hospital for an operation, and it totally upset my bgl - back uo to the 20's. They stopped my Met, and started me on 20 mg Glic, which did absolutely sweet nothing for my bgl. I managed to get them to up it to 160 mg a day and that showed a moderate lowering. Then I Ieft hospital and re-started my low carb diet again. My bgl is back round 7 mmol/l and I am on only 40 mg Glic and 500 mg Met a day This seems to be working for me, and I am not needing to be too strict on the carbs.

As Brunneria says, if LC is not bringing things down then maybe Glic is not helping. You may need to consider something like Victoza since Glic works by trying to squeeze more insulin from the pancreas so needs your pancreas to be producing some at least. I did note that the food list in your OP was still a highish intake of foods that would spike me, such as nuts and porridge, so you might benefit from being a bit stricter on that, Also LC can take a while to settle into a routine, so it may need longer till you benefit fully. I am not doing keto diet so it took me a bit longer to lose the weight and the midriff fat

That’s great info thankyou so much, I will try and reduce further on the carb side of things and maybe give it longer to start to work. I dont think I have the willpower to do keto (plus would be only me whilst cooking for the family)
I would love to see reading a of 7! Sometimes my waking blood sugar is 7-9 then it just goes up and up as the day goes on. At the moment my readings are no different to the whole of the month med free. I want to loose about 6kg so I am trying to up exercise and eat healthy, however all this week every day without exception I’ve had stomach issues which must be the Gliclazide.
It’s really good you’ve found a combo and level of med that seems to be working for you alongside low carb. That’s what I would love now, as feel like it’s been a whole year of feeling pretty rubbish and it going up and down, mostly up! Thanks for all the advice.
 

Oldvatr

Expert
Messages
8,470
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
That’s great info thankyou so much, I will try and reduce further on the carb side of things and maybe give it longer to start to work. I dont think I have the willpower to do keto (plus would be only me whilst cooking for the family)
I would love to see reading a of 7! Sometimes my waking blood sugar is 7-9 then it just goes up and up as the day goes on. At the moment my readings are no different to the whole of the month med free. I want to loose about 6kg so I am trying to up exercise and eat healthy, however all this week every day without exception I’ve had stomach issues which must be the Gliclazide.
It’s really good you’ve found a combo and level of med that seems to be working for you alongside low carb. That’s what I would love now, as feel like it’s been a whole year of feeling pretty rubbish and it going up and down, mostly up! Thanks for all the advice.
Reading between the lines of your posts here, I get the impression that you have an oversensitive stomach for some reason. I do not think Glic is responsible for upset tummy, and I have been on it for 3 years now including the max dose without noticing any upsets. It is not something that others have posted either, so it certainly does not seem to be a commonly reported side effect. Metfartin I understand since that does have a documented history for causing problems.

I think you could discuss with your doctor to increase Glic to see if that helps. I find it needs a high dose to start off, and then it can be reduced as sugars come down. If you really are reacting tummywise to Glic then a small increase could make it worse and thus confirm your sensitivity. 40g/day is only just above the parapet, and seems more like a holding dose.

The other advantage that Glic can offer is if you are a driver. It is one oral med that DVLA acknowledges can lead to hypos, and so you may be able to negotiate test strips on scrip from a GP.
 

Rose22

Well-Known Member
Messages
282
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Reading between the lines of your posts here, I get the impression that you have an oversensitive stomach for some reason. I do not think Glic is responsible for upset tummy, and I have been on it for 3 years now including the max dose without noticing any upsets. It is not something that others have posted either, so it certainly does not seem to be a commonly reported side effect. Metfartin I understand since that does have a documented history for causing problems.

I think you could discuss with your doctor to increase Glic to see if that helps. I find it needs a high dose to start off, and then it can be reduced as sugars come down. If you really are reacting tummywise to Glic then a small increase could make it worse and thus confirm your sensitivity. 40g/day is only just above the parapet, and seems more like a holding dose.

The other advantage that Glic can offer is if you are a driver. It is one oral med that DVLA acknowledges can lead to hypos, and so you may be able to negotiate test strips on scrip from a GP.

Ah thankyou, yes the dr gave me test strips, with the Gliclazide prescription, I couldn’t believe it! Hmm that’s interesting, no one else has the tummy issues. No break today it’s the same, but I do now have an itchy chest? Little red rash looking thing, not really noticeable but very itchy! I do have a sensitive stomach, can’t eat wheat bloats me and was told had ibs about twenty years ago now. Couldn’t tolerate metformin, sr bit better but the pharmacy swapped brand and I spent every day on toilet watch from place to place, not ideal or practical. Yes he said he was starting me on the lowest dose? Think he’s trying to stop the gap between now (with me having high bs for months) and me seeing the diabetes team in sept.