Gliclazide - Increases Insulin, Right?

[DumfriesDik]

Okay, a little information is dangerous. But I would like to be best prepared for my next meeting with HCP about my medication. I am doing a LCHF diet. <25g Carbs, well, that is known carbs anyway.

Dr Fung says to reduce the amount of insulin. Gliclazide encourages the production of insulin.

There seems to be a conflict here. Should I talk to HCP about stopping/reducing my Gliclazide? I am currently on the max does - 2 morning and 2 night.

Thanks everyone.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Okay, a little information is dangerous. But I would like to be best prepared for my next meeting with HCP about my medication. I am doing a LCHF diet. <25g Carbs, well, that is known carbs anyway.

Dr Fung says to reduce the amount of insulin. Gliclazide encourages the production of insulin.

There seems to be a conflict here. Should I talk to HCP about stopping/reducing my Gliclazide? I am currently on the max does - 2 morning and 2 night.

Thanks everyone.

Gliclazide forces the pancreas to produce more insulin. My endo kept telling me I couldn't have hypo's, but I was on glic at the time, and doing low carb, which she knew about. And heck yeah, I was having hypo's! That's why people here tend to warn about using gliclazide and a low carb diet at the same time. It's really not do-able, and far, far from safe. So yeah, talk to your doc asap, because you really shouldn't mix both approaches. And I was only on a smidge of the stuff... You be careful eh.
Jo

 

[miahara]

I was on gliclazide and a low carb diet for a bit over 3 years and had as far as I know no low hypos. At one stage my HBa1C was in the remission zone, but over the next year it started to climb far too high. A c-peptide test showed my pancreas had started to fail to produce suffiicient insulin with the result that I'm now insulin dependent. I can't prove it, but I suspect that the glic hammered my pancreas into failure.

 

[Tophat1900]

Okay, a little information is dangerous. But I would like to be best prepared for my next meeting with HCP about my medication. I am doing a LCHF diet. <25g Carbs, well, that is known carbs anyway.

Dr Fung says to reduce the amount of insulin. Gliclazide encourages the production of insulin.

There seems to be a conflict here. Should I talk to HCP about stopping/reducing my Gliclazide? I am currently on the max does - 2 morning and 2 night.

Thanks everyone.

Too much insulin in your system results in insulin resistance (IR). Gliclazide makes the pancreas produce even more, making insulin resistance worse, which can lead to a whole host of other chronic conditions associated with IR. Being you had a hypo, you can expect that to continue at times and there is the possibility those hypos could get more severe as your system adjusts over time to low carb without addressing this.

I'd suggest you talk to your HCP about what you want to do, whether it is a reduction or stopping is up to you. None of us can advice you about stopping or dosing. It's your decision to discuss with your hcp. Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

[DCUKMod]

@DumfriesDik - Gliclazide works by encouraging your system to up its insulin production, in an effort to cope with the food and drinks we are consuming.

Bottom line is we all need insulin in order for our metabolic processes to work, but the challenge is getting that in the correct amounts at the correct time. Of course, in a healthy, efficient body, this just happens, pretty much like magic. For those of us with sub-optimal systems, therein lies the rub.

As T2s we usually produce plenty insulin of our own, but it doesn't work too well - usually due to insulin resistance.

At the moment, from what you say about your eating patterns, you have already reduced the amount of insulin your body needs (from whatever source), by reducing the foods needing increased insulin loads to metabolise. On top of that, taking a medication encouraging your system to generate increased levels of natural insulin to metabolise your food, may be unnecessary, or unnecessary at the doses you are taking.

When you see your HCP to discuss all this, they will have protocols for meds reductions, but of course, you have input to any discussion around that.

I know on your other thread, @Dark Horse posted a link to a UK meds reduction for T2s on a low carb diet, but I'll post it again here: https://bjgp.org/content/69/684/360

I'd take a copy of that with me (it's only 2 pages, and available to download as a .pdf file), but such are the advantages we girlies have with our cavernous handbags!

Were I in your shoes, I would want to discuss all the options with my HCP. I'd have done the sort of reading you are already doing, plus I'd ensure I had a decent handle on how any other meds work on my body too, and I would want to have a monitoring system (test strips, plus a planned, maybe sooner than usual A1c) in place, and a "what if" plan.

By a what if plan, I mean, what happens if it doesn't seem to be going right, or if it goes too well!

I think for T2s, getting our circulating insulin levels down to as near to "normal" as possible is usually desirable. Like anything else in this life, there'll be exceptions to every rule.

Do you have an appointment yet? I bet all the surgeries will get busy on the lead up to the holidays.

 

[Brunneria]

Yes. what @DCUKMod said!
Plus (in the absence of a very recent HbA1c that shows your recent drop in numbers), I would take a record of my recent blood glucose readings, including the hypo(s) you have been having.

 

[DumfriesDik]

Thanks for your replies, all are very helpful.

I have had a second hypo yesterday. I am seeing my GP about my diabetes in a weeks time. I feel much better informed with all your help. Many thanks.