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Dapagliflozin thoughts

Gimli

Gimli

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi I take metformin and a low dose of glicazade.
My sugers simply won't come down and are becoming harder to control even with low carb eating and working in a Job thats on my feet and moving.
I am over weight for my shame it won't shift
Nurse wants me to Try dapagliflozin in week or so .
Just wondered if others have had a possitive reaction with this med.
Nurse said drink lots soo
 
Gimli said:
Hi I take metformin and a low dose of glicazade.
My sugers simply won't come down and are becoming harder to control even with low carb eating and working in a Job thats on my feet and moving.
I am over weight for my shame it won't shift
Nurse wants me to Try dapagliflozin in week or so .
Just wondered if others have had a possitive reaction with this med.
Nurse said drink lots soo
Click to expand...
It is quite a common addition to the other medications people are prescribed and as you say the advise it to drink plenty as otherwise people can become dehydrated as that medication encourages the kidneys to work to excrete excess glucose via urine so more loo visits are not uncommon. With both the gliclazide which induces the pancreas to produce more insulin and the dapagliflozin the advise is not to go too low on carbs but around 130g per day is usually OK for most people.
It may still be worth looking at your diet and reviewing that with some strategic testing to identify any food which may be problematic.
 
I think the use of the ‘flozines type of meds are becoming more widespread, they tried me on one not dapagiflozine itself but something similar which for me wasn’t helpful

as @Leadinglights has already mentioned be sure your well hydrated, please be sure you read and understand the notes that will come with the medication
you will most likely receive a digital Copt once you are taking this type of medication regarding the precautions you should take
 
There’s a NICE flowchart here for adding various meds up to triple therapy.


‘Flozins are suggested (there’s guidance you can dig into for dapagliflozin). The other option once you get to triple therapy seems to be to swap one for a GLP-1 (eg Semaglutide) which may have additional benefits weight-wise. Though ‘flozins can also aid weight loss by the looks of it.
 
Gimli said:
Just wondered if others have had a possitive reaction with this med.
Click to expand...
Nope it gave me DKA, thankfully not fatal in my case of course but it has been for others. Most people are ok but make sure you’re aware of the symptoms of DKA and can test for ketones if needed.
 
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For me, dapagliflozin did exactly what was wanted as shown in the graph. Towards the end of '23 my BG was generally creeping up and dapaglifozin was added to my metformin - the vertical line marks the date. As you can see, as a result my levels drifted back down with nothing above 12 and a much reduced number above 10 since I started taking it. My HbA1c dropped from mid 50's to high 40's.

My experience suggests you take it and see what happens. There is very little to worry about.
 
Gimli said:
Thank you all .I'm quite worried about it all to be honest nurse was quite flippant
Click to expand...
@Gimli sorry to hear your worried, getting a good control of our BS’s etc can for some of us Diabetics cause added anxiety & stress, I can relate to your experience of the nurse coming over as “flippant”

I remember thar attitude coming from a GP quite a few years ago
however in my case, now I understand more about how Diabetes effects me, I can actually kind of understand some of what was said to me (all those years ago) however I will never agree with the way it was communicated to me.
I hope you get on well with the forthcoming change to your medication and whilst SGLT-2 medication wasn’t for me, I do know a few others who it totally helped them change things around
 
for me its works you pee out the sugar i have lost 6 stone along with counting carbs/cals
 
Docb said:
There is very little to worry about.
Click to expand...
There is a very real risk of DKA though, we’ve read of at least 3-4 DKA that were successfully treated and one that resulted in death on the forum. Probably more than that those are just the ones that come to mind.

I know lots of people are okay with it but we shouldn’t dismiss the risks, people need to know what to look out for when one of the side effects can be fatal.
 
I totally understand how you feel it was only a few weeks ago I was writing a thread on here worried to start taking dapagliflozin. It started lowering my sugars immediately I was surprised how quickly it started to work. Plenty of fluids is key thrush and UTIs are common side effects. I was worried about DKA so I purchased the urine strips from Amazon, just having them reduces my worry. I hope all works out for you 🙂
 
Hi all some great advice from you all. I shall read leaflet and make sure I drink plenty xxx
Urine steios may be way to go for me
 
I've been on it for about 6 - 8 months and apart from peeing regularly no other side effects other than lately am incredibly hungry at times but when I eat I get full more quickly and a slight skin rash on my face. I drink close to 3 - 4 litres of fluid a day - always have drunk loads though. My BS came down from 115 to 81 earlier this year after being on Dapag for about 3 months, so was really pleased with that. Diet is still being tightened up as I don't measure carbs that closely. Over the past 2-3 years have lost almost 4 stone but need to lose more. I am naughty in that I eat things I should not but that is getting less and less so as said diet is improving. My biggest thing is probably exercise - need to do more of that.
 
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