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Invokana

fairygirl271

Member
Messages
5
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi, have been diabetic (type2) for 5 years now and my last Hb1AC reading at 8.4 so my diabetic nurse has suggested we try a new tablet called canagliflozin (Invokana). It's relatively new, and because it can cause hypo's have stopped taking Gliclazide. I still take metformin and saxagliptin with it. My question is, is anybody else taking this new med and if so hsve they found it to be effective in controlling the bg levels?. Thanks.
 

Can't help directly as I'm T1 on insulin, but this'll give your post a bump.

Welcome to the forums and take a look at the info from @daisy1 there's a lot of good stuff in there.

Tried looking at your diet and carbohydrate intake?
 
urbanracer said:
Can't help directly as I'm T1 on insulin, but this'll give your post a bump.

Welcome to the forums and take a look at the info from @daisy1 there's a lot of good stuff in there.

Tried looking at your diet and carbohydrate intake?
Click to expand...

@fairygirl271

Hello and welcome to the forum

Here is the information which we give to new members which urbanracer mentioned. It will give you a lot of advice about diet and carbohydrates. Hopefully someone will be able to help with your question soon. Any more questions just ask and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 140,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
I am on Invokana as my levels go really high - i am classed as Hyper not hypo. It really works for me, you do get thirsty and need to pee more but that has been the only side effect. Saying that, drinking more water has helped with other stuff as well, my skin is better and feel a bit more alert, so win win for me. When I first started taking it, i got thrush but i am prone to it anyway. I had one treatment for it and havent had it since. I have been on Invokana now for 4 months and my readings are a lot better. I am due to go for a blood test soon so that will be the real tester
 
Same here. I was outa control, but the 300mg Invokana really helped. I drink coffee non-stop anyway so didn't notice drinking and peeing more.

Tom

 
Hi there, I am on 300g dose. I asked question about this drug but asked if anyone was taking Canagliflozin. You may see question on forum from earlier this week. I had serious problems with Gliclazide and Metformin but after being referred to a consultant am now on slow release Glucophage, 40mg Gliclazide and 300g of Invokana. I am so much better. I experience extreme thirst and make lots of trips to the toilet but that is far better than going there for another reason. As soon as the dose was increased from 100g to 300g I developed thrush, literally within days. I have yet to see how my levels have improved.
 
Have been on Invokana for 3 months now without problems other than increased water intake. Had blood test today so will be interesting to see results. My meter shows a fasting level of between 6 and 6.9 which is lower. Have also lost 4 kilos. I do use non-perfumed baby wipes each time I have a pee on the advice of another Invokana user to reduce risk of urine infections and thrush - so far so good. Will report back when I get blood results. I was very reluctant to take this new med but it does seem to be working. Hope this helps.
 
Have been taking the Invokana for 1 year now. Am on 100mg per day. Have lowered my readings and have lost over 1and a half stone, back to size 12 which is nice! Have noticed an increased thirst/ peeing and slight problems with Thrush but all in all feel this works for me, along with the Saxagliptin and Metformin. Am due for my HbA1C in a few weeks so will have to see how that turns out.
 
All I can say is hope you don't get thrush which is quite a common side effect. I did on this new tablet - twice in space of just under a month. You may not but just telling it as it is.
 
ijcrowland said:
All I can say is hope you don't get thrush which is quite a common side effect. I did on this new tablet - twice in space of just under a month. You may not but just telling it as it is.
Click to expand...
Hi, as mentioned have got a slight problem with thrush, but my DN has given me a prescription for Caneston cream which deals with it almost immediately. I think that overall, Invokana has really helped me lower my BG, so can deal with the thrush okay, it's a minor problem.
 
Had blood results today (impressive...only had the test yesterday!) HBa1c down from 7.9 to 6.8 in 3 months. Doc very pleased and so am I. Urine test showed that I need to drink more water. To be honest haven't been as vigilant about water intake as I was in the beginning and he stressed was very important with Invokana to drink lots of agua to keep urine infections at bay. Hope this info helps you other Invokana users...
 
yes very helpful thanks, I could also do with drinking more water, tend to drink gallons of tea!!!
 
Just wondering if this would work for me. As since quitting cigs gone from 12 to 14 dress size and potentially more drugs on top of 1000mg SR Metformin - but intrigued to see a weight loss of just over a stone - I now 9.5 as opposed to 8.6 and that is purely added to abdomen - as we all know - a definite T2 thing.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
 
 
I too was on this drug. It certainly did reduce my hb1ac. Unfortunately it caused GI problems for me and was stopped. The advice you have had in previous posts I would concur with. Certainly up your fluid intake. That helps protect against UTI
 
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