I kmow this is going to sound like a REALLY stupid question....again and I apologise.
Ive been put on 4 x Gliclazide a day. Only been a week and currently on two, one in morning one at night, bringing my levels down gradually. Will increase to two in next few days.
My question is once ive reached the limit of 4 I assume my levels will be at an alright level, so will I be able to then lower the dose or is that it now for life?
Can anyone advise?
Hi. It all depends. 320mg is the max dose which I was on for many years. Gliclazide stimulates the islet cells to produce more insulin which is fine if they still exist. If they are dying off then Gliclazide will stop working as it did for me. If you are near normal body weight and possible fairly young then you are more likely to be a Late onset T1 with declining islet cells. If so, then I'm afraid in the longer term a move to insulin is likely. If you are overweight and hence more likely to be T2 then the Gliclazide is of limited use as your body may already be swimming in insulin but insulin resistance stops it being used. So, see how your blood sugar goes with the Glic and take it from there. Do come back and let us know. Have you been diagnosed T1 or T2 yet?
Yes im type 2, normal body weight and 33 2 x gliclazide have only vought my levels diwn to an average of 13 so im guessing I will need all 4. My hba1c went from 6.5 at diganosis in sep 12 to 10.1 last week
It is a good chance that doubling your gliclizide dose will bring you levels down and I hope it does, but if it doesn't there are other options open before the dreaded insulin
Type 2 diagnosed 24/01/2013.
NovoRapid, Lantus, Victoza, Metformin (sr), Simvistatin
Hi. From what you say I think you need to discuss the possibility of Late onset T1 (LADA) with your GP rather than T2. Many LADAs start life as mis-diagnosed T2s. There are two tests the GP can organise; GAD and c-peptide. The fact that the Gliclazide isn't helping too much indicates that your islet cells may not be as good as new which is another indicator of LADA. I've been thru the same route although older. I had Sitagliptin added which helped a bit before I moved to insulin. I must admit I'm really happy I'm now on insulin as I had to starve myself of carbs as my pancreas failed and now I can eat fairly freely. LADA comes on at different rates so don't panic; just be aware of the possibilities and have the meds you need to keep the blood sugar right.
They said to me that I will most likely be on insulin in next couple of years and that I dont fiy the normal criteria other than family history :/ Andy, I am restricting my diet at the moment to around 30-40g carbs per meal. The lowest ive had post meal since being on the 2 x glic is 9.9. Wondering whether I should just give it a bit more time before increasing x
Oh no im not saying you're wrong, I actually think you may be right I guess im just trying to convince myself that itll all come down quickly and I can maintain a good level for a good few years yet but its not looking that way
well the important thing is getting those numbers down, if you get t1 diagnosis at least they will get you sorted, i do hope the glic works though
edit: do you test for keytones? if you are indeed t1 it may be a good idea to keep an eye on those with some ketostix from the chemist, but remember on lc diet you will probly hve some, just check they arent going high maybe