Glicazide

[Madeline]

So DSN rang this afternoon to say she’d spoken to the consultant and he has prescribed glicazide. Would appreciate any thoughts on this, and experience, rather than Dr Google 🙂

 

[Ljc]

I was on Gliclazide for quite a while It caused no side effects. It did not help me much but others it does. It works by making your Pancreas work harder at producing insulin It’s not suitable for people with T1
Though I never had any hypo’s while on it they are a possibility, so they must prescribe a meter and test strips
I’ll look up the patient info leaflet and post it here

Back in a mo

 

[Ljc]

Here it is
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/5883/pil.
Check out section 2

 

[Madeline]

Thank you lovely!

 

[Ljc]

TBH I am wondering if it’s suitable for you

 

[Madeline]

TBH I am wondering if it’s suitable for you

I have concerns. I have hypothyroidism and take thyroxine, I’m on prednisolone, and I have hypos - my BGs are very volatile right now, I’ve gone up, and down 7mmols within an hour or so just today. Like my pancreas is doing it’s best, but it’s all a bit of a last hurrah. But tbh insulin scares me too, how on earth would I calculate with such leaps? And I don’t have faith in the endocrinologist, not after last time - I have trust issues anyway. What a mess this all is

 

[Stitch147]

I'm on gliclizide. Make sure you get a test kit as it can cause hypos. I've only had one. The only thing I found is that it caused me to gain weight.

 

[Madeline]

Lol weight gain is the reasoning behind no insulin. The penny just dropped, insulin is the most expensive option, isn’t it.

 

[grovesy]

I did not gain weight on Gliclazide. I was on it a couple of years and found I was getting quite a few hypos even on the slow release version.

 

[Ljc]

They were my concerns too.

I have concerns. I have hypothyroidism and take thyroxine, I’m on prednisolone, and I have hypos -

They are why I am wondering if they would be suitable for you. Also. Glic and similar meds cannot make the pancreas produce insulin at a steady rate, in my non medical opinion it’s more of a splurge and splutter.

It is awful when you lose trust in someone, in your case where your health and well-being are paramount.

As for gaining weight on insulin. That ain’t necessarily so, I haven’t, if you need to lose weight then you watch what food/carbs you put in, less carbs means less insulin.

I didn’t gain or lose weight on Glic either.

 

[grovesy]

They were my concerns too.

They are why I am wondering if they would be suitable for you. Also. Glic and similar meds cannot make the pancreas produce insulin at a steady rate, in my non medical opinion it’s more of a splurge and splutter.

It is awful when you lose trust in someone, in your case where your health and well-being are paramount.

As for gaining weight on insulin. That ain’t necessarily so, I haven’t, if you need to lose weight then you watch what food/carbs you put in, less carbs means less insulin.

I didn’t gain or lose weight on Glic either.

I also found it very unpredictable, and my hypos symptoms were often different , and I realised after stopping it that I felt better off it.

 

[Leonora]

My doctor put me on it for 2 months with the metformin once he realised what the steroids were up to. It worked with the metformin to quickly stabilise my BG. When I stopped the Glic then it was up to me to try and keep my BGs stable. The only thing you can do is try it and see. If it causes problems go STRAIGHT back to that consultant. And yes I did have a couple of hypos whilst on it. Good luck, Madeline x

 

[Madeline]

Thanks guys, really appreciate your input. Guess I’m going to have to grit my teeth and have a go - luckily I’ve got my own meter and plenty of strips. Blasted steroids!

 

[SJK311]

Hi Madeline. I was diagnosed with T2 3 weeks ago and I’m on 160mg of Gliclazide a day. My BG levels are all over the place, mostly high but GP says that this is normal in the early stages of meds. I hit 14.5 yesterday but this evening had my first hypo although it was mild.
I’m eating low carb, generally feel fine and have lost 2 pounds since starting on the meds (not trying to lose weight and not overweight). No side effects.
Hope this helps.

 

[Madeline]

Hi Madeline. I was diagnosed with T2 3 weeks ago and I’m on 160mg of Gliclazide a day. My BG levels are all over the place, mostly high but GP says that this is normal in the early stages of meds. I hit 14.5 yesterday but this evening had my first hypo although it was mild.
I’m eating low carb, generally feel fine and have lost 2 pounds since starting on the meds (not trying to lose weight and not overweight). No side effects.
Hope this helps.

That does, thank you. Do you know how long it takes to start working, so far it’s done nothing except make me feel weird, no carbs (eggs for breakfast, salad and fish for lunch), been doing stuff to try and keep active, and I’m still 14

 

[grovesy]

For me it acted very quickly.

 

[Madeline]

For me it acted very quickly.

That was my expectation, the DSN is ringing Monday to see if it’s helped, and was very insistent about keeping an eye out for hypos.

 

[SJK311]

I still feel a little weird at times and often feel like I have very mild indigestion. I saw a locum GP this week (far better than my actual GP) ahead of getting prescription and she said it can take a few weeks to settle fully. She told me not to worry about the high readings and keep going low carb although to make sure I wasn’t being too drastic.
I’ve had a couple of normal range readings over the last couple of days but all week prior to that my readings were 80% in the high range. My approach right now is stay calm and eat right.
I see the diabetes specialist at my GP surgery at the star of May. At that point, I should have a good idea of where I’m at.

 

[SJK311]

I was nowhere near a hypo until last night when I recorded 3.5 before evening meal. The day before at the same time, I was 14.5.
Same lunch and drinks both days. Go figure!

 

[grovesy]

I found some of my hypos I did not recognise initially as hypos. Some were similar to panic attacks, some with aura migraines.