New to Gliclazide

[smitha]

I have just been put onto 80mg of gliclizide twice a day from 1000mg of Glucophage SR. The reason is that my BS are averaging around 14-15 pre and post meals. I hav esuspected late onset type 1, which will be further investigated if the Gliclizide shows no improvement in my BS.
Also I am 5ft 5inch and 9st 4lb, so my Doc doesnt want me to keep losing weight.
Anyway, the irony of it is that Ive heared you can put on alot of weight with Gliclizide. Is this true?
I know I should be happy to try whatever helps my BS, which i am, but I really dont want to put on alot of weight.
Any views would be appreciated.
Cheers
smiha

 

[hanadr]

Gliclazide is well known as a weight gain medication. If you are truly a T1, It won't help you.
Get yourself some ketostix( urine test) from the pharmacy. they're cheap. If you develop ketones and feel ill and have high BG get yourself to A&E ASAP. If you don't have transport, dial 999. That's how DKA ( diabetic Ketoacidosis) starts. It's a life and death condition and the natural consequence of trying to treat T1 as T2

 

[witan]

Hi smitha,

I'm 5ft 7in and 9 and a half stone, been taking two gliclazides a day for nearly a year and have barely put on a pound - although the weight loss has stopped.

However you must get those BG numbers down or it'll start damaging your body - the gliclazides will help if you've got some pancreatic function left, so you may get some improvement.

But you must still consider the other two 'pillars of action' Diet and Exercise.

Cut down on the carbohydrates - you'll see a lot of information on that across the forum, and up the exercise.

You're DIABETIC first and need to take action to reduce the BG - as long as you can keep checking your levels and follow hanadr's advice on keeping aware of ketones in your urine and the risk of ketoacidosis then determining which type can follow later.

Take care and try to take some action to avoid the complications you will certainly get if those levels are not reduced.

Ray

 

[Dennis]

Hi Smitha,

At the moment a bit of weight gain is the least of your problems. As Hana has rightly said, treating Type 1 as Type 2 is extremely dangerous. There are various tests that tour doctor could and should be doing to determine which type you are. Type 1 often develops very quickly and treating you with a type 2 medication to see what happens is a very dangerous game to play!

Keep a close check on your BS both before and 2 hours after food and if your BS levels show no sign of going down within 48 hours either get an emergency appointment with your GP or check in to your local A&E. If it really is Type 1 then time is critical.

 

[Daibell]

Hi Smitha

I've been on two tablets a day recently increased to four and have not put on any weight in 4 years of my diabetes with Gliclazide and Metformin. This suggests I may be a type 1.5'ish rather than type 2 but the point is that Gliclazide doesn't nesessarily cause weight gain; as with everything in diabetes - it all depends.....

 

[smitha]

Thanku for all of your replies. I do realise that my health is more important than my weight. I just find it ironic that you are told to keep an eye on your weight, yet some meds make weight gain a possbility!
Well, its been 4 days since Ive started the Gliclazide, and so far no major improvements. However, i can have readings lower post meals, but they are still high eg before meal 12.8, post meal 12.4.
Im due back on Weds for a review. I just want to get this sorted and back under control.
I am a low-carber, and have previous hba1c of 7.1, 6.4, and 6.9. Im doing nothing different, yet my bs are soring!! Really getting me down now!!!
Thanks
smitha

 

[cugila]

Hi Smitha.

Are you taking any other medication, even non Diabetic related ?

Ken.

 

[Parselmouth]

I've been on glic since March and although I haven't gained any weight, I have been low carbing and not lost much weight, only about three or four pounds, and struggle to keep that off sometimes.

It's very frustrating as I'm not eating anything like as much as I did before diagnosis and should be shifting the pounds but it's just not happening. I only have about a stone and a half to lose. Can't keep the BS down without the glic, though.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Parcelmouth,

Your problem is a very common one in patients on gliclazide and other similar sulphonylurea drugs - as fast as your diet should be dropping the pounds the gliclazide is putting them back on! If you really want to shift those last few pounds then you will most likley need to reduce the carbs even more. You mentioned that you are low carb, but how low is that?

 

[Parselmouth]

Hard to say really as I don't make a habit of counting them, just cutting out the obvious ones like bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar. These are pretty much completely off, bar the odd new potato of an evening, and sometimes some of the low carb bread and pasta you can get online.

I could do better in the fat department, as I have been eating a fair bit of cream with the strawberries. If I have carbs, I have them later in the day when they affect my BS less. I tend to be guided by the levels, and will have a bit of chocolate if levels allow as I find that the Green and Black's Almond barely has an effect on my BS at all, but it's full of calories of course. lol

As I say, I don't have a massive amount of weight to lose, so lifestyle and habit tend to have a greater pull than weight loss at times.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Paecelmouth,

Why not give yourself an experimental fortnight where you drop ALL starchy carbs, no chocolate or any other treats, and half fat cream (or creme fraiche) with the strawbs. That may just kick-start the weight loss again.

 

[Patch]

I've just been put on Glic in addition to the 2000mg of Metformin MR that I already take.

They didn't tell me that it would make me put on weight. I can't afford to put on anymore weight - I'm 17st 5lb and 6' 2".

Unless this makes a drastic drop in my BG I won't be continuing with it.

The diabetic nurse said I may need to go onto insulin if the Glic doesn't work. I'm Type 2.

 

[Dennis]

The diabetic nurse said I may need to go onto insulin if the Glic doesn't work. I'm Type 2.

That's the sort of statement that you would expect from someone who doesn't know a great deal about diabetes treatments, and leads me to suspect that your "diabetic nurse" is a practice nurse who has been asked to look after the diabetes patients, rather than a specialist nurse with a qualification in diabetes treatment. There are many alternative treatments for type 2s that they could (and should) consider before resorting to insulin. These include alternative varieties of sulphonylureas that encourage less weight gain than gliclazide.

 

[smitha]

Hi
Im on HRT (femoston), Calcichew and a prescrived vitamin d tablet. I have a condition called hypogonadism. My pituitary gland doesnt send the message to my ovaries to produce eggs, resulting in no periods and low levels of oestrogen. We had IVF to concieve our Son. I have also found that the pituitary gland controls insulin, which could be a possible explanation to my diabetes. I have mentioned this to my nurse, and doctor, but this doesnt seem to be of any interest to them. I have a new GP, whom I am seeing tomorrow, who seems to be interested thankfully.
I feel its not my pancreas that doesnt function properly, but that it isnt getting a strong signal from my pituitary gland. Obvioulsy, im no expert, but what do you all think?
Got my review tomorrow, im eager to get my bs under control, but dredding the thought of going onto insulin. hey ho!!
smitha

 

[cugila]

Hi smitha.

If you are a qualified Endocrinologist you might understand all of this ? Here is information about all three body parts that are involved in the process. It get's too complicated for me. :?

Pituitary Gland.
http://www.umm.edu/endocrin/pitgland.htm
Adrenal Glands
http://www.umm.edu/endocrin/adrengl.htm
Pancreas.
http://www.umm.edu/endocrin/pancreas.htm

There is also mention of Somatotropin, a growth hormone which is also involved in the process.

Hope that helps ?

Ken.

 

[smitha]

Cugila
Thankyou soooooo much for that information. I managed to figure it out albeit for the medical terminologies!!! :lol: I will print this off and take it to my GP tomorrow, see what she makes of it. I think I am going to ask to be referred to a specialist. There may be nothing that can be done, except what Im already doing, but atleast Ive explored all avenues!!!
Thankyou for taking time out to research this for me, its much appreciated.
smitha

 

[Parselmouth]

Hi Paecelmouth,

Why not give yourself an experimental fortnight where you drop ALL starchy carbs, no chocolate or any other treats, and half fat cream (or creme fraiche) with the strawbs. That may just kick-start the weight loss again.

NO TREATS!!??? Not sure I could keep that up for a fortnight. :lol: Alternatively I could try asking my doctor for an alternative that does the same job and doesn't have the same weight control issues.

 

[Parselmouth]

Well, I just came back from my diabetic nurse who told me that my Hba1C has come down from 11.5 :shock: at diagnosis to 5.9, so hurrah! Success.

I am going to drop one gliclazide on advice, so hopefully this will help in losing some weight.

 

[Dennis]

Well done Parcelmouth - that's a great result.

 

[Patch]

Right on Parselmouth. Nice results there...