Side effects of medication

Hi @Kelsey21 I haven't heard of this but don't take this medication myself so someone may correct me, might be best to give your doctor a call so it can be changed if that's what's causing it, or sort the problem if it's being caused by something else

Kelsey21 said:

Hi all, been diagnosed type 1 two weeks ago, linked to autoimmune disease . Initially prescribed gliclazide 80mg twice a day, last Thursday this was increased to 160mg twice a day plus put on 14 units of insulin twice a day, since Friday I have had swollen itchy eyes and tingling lips like some sort of allergic reaction /sensitivity is this linked ? Has anyone else heard of this ?

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Hi Kelsey, firstly, if you are diagnosed, Type 1 there is absolutely no way on the planet that you should have ever been prescribed Gliclazide.

The drug leaflet in the packet says "Do not take Gliclazide Tablets if you have insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes."

I suggest that you stop taking it and get in touch with your surgery immediately, and don't take any fobbing off. It is so far from the NICE guidance to prescribe this drug for type 1 that whoever did so is being directly negligent and failing to meet their duty of care.

I agree with Tim2000 - gliclazide is a type 2 drug. Yes, all drugs have side effects so you could be reacting to it. If you're definitely type 1 I have to question why your doc is putting you on type 2 drug to stress out your pancreas (this drug stimulates your pancreas to produce insulin) and insulin at the same time. It seems crazy to me. I hope you can get to your doc asap and ask what on earth are they doing to you.

Kelsey21 said:

Thanks for reply, think initially they thought it was type two but then because I already have diagnosis of autoimmune thyroid disease have decided it is linked to this making it type 1, and because levels were so high they put me on insulin so confusing and when you feel so ill it's even harder to make sense of! Think I will phone doctors for advice

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Great idea. As soon as they decided that you were likely to be T1, they should have immediately stopped the Gliclazide. It encourages your pancreas to produce more insulin, which is the last thing you want as a T1.

Have you had the GAD test and c-peptide test as yet? That's the only way to know what type you have really, although even then you may need the same tests done again later if things change. Although one auto-immune condition could lead to more, it isn't always a given from what I've seen. Eg. I know people with hashimotos but they don't have diabetes, equally I know some who had gestational diabetes or they have type 2. It appears you could get any type. It's best to get the diagnostic tests done if you haven't already.

Hi. Yes taking Gliclazide when on insulin is pointless and could cause some conflict. I had to ask/tell my nice DN to stop mine when I went onto insulin as she forgot to remove it. As Mep says you should really have some tests but if you are now labelled as T1 then you should shortly be moved to the Basal/Bolus insulin regime which gives better control than mixed twice a day. This is not urgent if the mixed is controlling your blood sugar well but it may well be needed in the future