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Told to come off gliclizide

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Wild1magic

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Diagnosed with T2 in July with Hba1c of 102. Changed lifestyle and as a result, 3 months later, have an Hba1c of 40. Over the moon with this but diabetic nurse has said to stop using meds and see how it goes. Would a reduction rather than stopping meds be more beneficial? Any thoughts on this will be appreciated.
 

Great reduction in your HbA1c, Wild1magic. Well done on your hard work and progress.

Nobody here can recommend anything relating to your meds. We often see members delighted to have their meds reduces, and also those who are concerned about it, on the basis their numbers will go back up again.

Are you testing your bloods at home? In so many ways, that's important. If you are testing your bloods at home, you would be able to get an idea if things were remaining stable, or going a bit awry.

People are likely to post their views on how they might feel or what they might do in your shoes. I know you say you're on Gliclazide; are you on anything else your nurse wants you top stop?

When are you due your next appointment/review?
 
If it were me and the nurse said to stop taking the Gliclazide, then I would stop it.

Welcome to the forum and very well done on your results!
 
Personly given the choice between Hba1C in the 50s without gliclizide and a Hba1C in the 40s with gliclizide, I would rather not have the gliclizide. I don't like the way it works by increasing insulin production and hence it increases insulin resistance.
(Metformin is the only diabetic drug I am happy to take long-term unless there is no other way to keep a Hba1C below the high 50s.)

But you don't have to choose, as by keeping up your lifestyle changes you should be able to get a normal Hba1C with no drugs...
 
Fantastic work on your numbers, well done. Ultimately it is your choice on whether to adjust your meds but you must remember that if giving up the glic proves disasterous then the dn or gp would put you back on them. Nothing is ever written in stone.
 
That is really great progress @Wild1magic ! I had a similar conversation with my GP a few weeks ago when my last test showed 47. I'd been on 80mg Gliclazide since diagnosis with an HbA1c of 102 and she suggested I could stop meds completely or try a reduction of 50% to 40mg. I've opted for a 50% reduction and a retest in 3 months and if all goes well I'll then stop the meds. It's early days but my own BG tests show a slight rise in average BG readings but these could well be due to me not sticking to my LCHF diet quite as strictly as I have in the past.
 
Well done! If it were me I would stop the gliclizide and keep up the low carbing to keep my bg normal. I would drop it to keep my pancreas producing insulin as long as I could and not burn it out. I would request metformin to help my insulin resistance.

But that's me, I'm not a doctor!!
 
Brilliant reduction .. well done

We don't know if your body produces enough insulin on its own, or whether your pancreas needs a little help from Gliclazide, so it is difficult to advise you. It has to be your decision, but as your nurse has suggested this, why not give it a try for 3 months then have another test? If necessary you can always go back on it. However, if you have a blood glucose meter I recommend you keep an eye on your levels regularly rather than waiting for the next HbA1c. If you don't have a meter, I highly recommend you buy one or you are working blind.
 
Hi,

I was put on gliclazide as a result of having contracted Sepsis and my blood sugars where interfering with the antibiotics so I needed something to really push my sugars down as metformin by itself wasn't working able to control my sugars.

Long story short, as you can see from my reading below its all now alot better, but equally I have a meter and have been monitoring very closely how I'm doing.

What I would say is that the gliclazide keeps making me giddy so has taken a bit of getting used to, although I'm doing well I want to ensure my sugars stay low while I try and lose weight again so as to give me a chance of not needing the drugs as a lower body weight has helped be before (yer I strayed....). So I'm going to be looking at reducing from 2 pills of gliclazide to 1 in about 6 months time at my next diabetic appointment, if my sugars remain the same or hopefully get a bit lower again. But I will be monitoring with my meter to see what happens.

I'm just advising that perhaps reducing would be a better idea as it could also be a bit of a shock to your body, but if you don't have a meter you won't know whats happening.

At the end of the day its up to you.
 
Low carbing dropped my Hba1c to 41 and I have no trouble in keeping my BG levels down - I checked yesterday just before eating and it was 4.8mmol/l with no medication.
Perhaps I am lucky - but I find that I have no problem at all with sticking to the way of eating if it means that I do not need to take tablets. I think that my daily carb intake of under 60 gm, is just fine for my needs, and I am seeing my weight and my waistline reduce again. If you feel that you can cope without medication then give it a go - there is no bar to resuming if you find you need the tablets, but why go on popping pills if you can live without them?
 
 
 

I test every day religiously and input all food intake on MyFitnessPal. I will continue testing in this way to ensure it wasn’t just the meds but also my diet which helped my reduction. I will post again soon when I have results with no meds.
 
Wild1magic said:
I test every day religiously and input all food intake on MyFitnessPal. I will continue testing in this way to ensure it wasn’t just the meds but also my diet which helped my reduction. I will post again soon when I have results with no meds.
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Good luck. I hope it works for you.
 
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