they still haven`t told me to test my blood sugars . will i need to if change medication ?
You need to test your BG whatever medication you take. Purely because you are diabetic, it doesn't matter what the medical people say. They seem to discourage testing so that they don't have to prescribe test strips. Personally I have never understood why some doctors feel that just an HbA1c every 6 months or even a year (seems to depend on your doctor) is adequate when regular self testing will allow you to be aware of your BG immediately.
Metformin is usually the first drug to be prescribed to type IIs, it's been around for a long time. It doesn't agree with everyone, I had terrible problems with Metformin but the weight problems caused by Rosiglitazone and then Gliclazide were even worse.
I'm back on Metformin and lowering my carb intake has eased the diarrhea problems considerably. I could have tried the Slow Release version but I seemed to find a solution before it was offered. The other benefit with lowering carbs for me (no bread/pasta/potato/rice . . . . . usually) is that I was able to ditch Gliclazide, Januvia and statins. There is also virtually no possibility of having a hypo which wasn't the case when taking Gliclazide.
Although the law does not stipulate anything for diabetics who are not insulin dependent, the fact that hypos are a possibility when taking Gliclazide (it's making your pancreas create more insulin) it's advisable to be very aware of what your BG is doing before you drive and to have something like Glucose tablets with you in case of a hypo.
