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Dapagliflozin

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Jak34

Jak34

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, I had a blood test 2 weeks ago after the doctor increased my Metmorfin and Gliclazide, I'm also on Sitagliptin because my BG was in double figures and I couldn't bring them down. Anyway had my blood test results and my HbA1c is 74. Went back to doctors today and she has put me on Dapaglifozin 10MG once a day but I've just read a thread on here about them and the person said he was having kidney problems since taking them. My liver and kidney results came back normal but I'm worried if I should take them. Is anyone else on them?
 
Hi Jak, we do have some members on this medication and it can work very well. As it encourages glucose to be peed out it does cause extra work for the kidneys, but I think that if your kidneys are healthy then it shouldn't be a problem. Your GP should be aware of this and make sure you are closely monitored. Hopefully, someone with direct experience will be along to share their experiences. 🙂
 
I'm on a similar drug, canagliflozin, that works in the same way. I had recent bloods taken that all came back normal before I was started on it and my doctor said they'd monitor my kidney function every few months but since my kidneys are healthy, there shouldn't be much of an issue. If your kidney function declines you may be taken off it. It's also important to know that this medication can cause urine infections and/or genital thrush. If you do, you need to let your doctor know. That being said, I've been on canagliflozin a few months now and not had any issues. I found it very effective in lowering my blood sugar and apparently it's good for weight loss too!
 
Rosiecarmel said:
I'm on a similar drug, canagliflozin, that works in the same way. I had recent bloods taken that all came back normal before I was started on it and my doctor said they'd monitor my kidney function every few months but since my kidneys are healthy, there shouldn't be much of an issue. If your kidney function declines you may be taken off it. It's also important to know that this medication can cause urine infections and/or genital thrush. If you do, you need to let your doctor know. That being said, I've been on canagliflozin a few months now and not had any issues. I found it very effective in lowering my blood sugar and apparently it's good for weight loss too!
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I was on it for a short while. It gave me a strong dose of thrush, which needed Deflucane (heap big stong juju with more contraindications than a statin).Was up all day and night with urgent need to pee, even within minutes of a previous session. Was not an experience I wanted, so came off it toot sweet, I control by diet now, and that has had better effectt than the drug. I have reduced my Gliclazide dose in half now.

There is an FDA warning on this family of medication (SGLT-2 Inhibitors) that it can cause lactic acids to rise and can lead to ketoacidosis at normal bgl levels. Our government has also now issued this same warning. GP's are advised to use the yellow card system for reporting any DKA events. GP's are also advised to make sure that their patients are aware of the symptoms of DKA, which can be life threatening.

There is no way I would go back on this type of medication, even though it sounds like it has potential for bgl control via the kidneys rather than the pancreas.
 
Thanks for the replies. I took 1 at five last night and was up in the night being sick. Going to take 1 today and if i'm sick again I'm not going to take any more
 
Jak34 said:
Thanks for the replies. I took 1 at five last night and was up in the night being sick. Going to take 1 today and if i'm sick again I'm not going to take any more
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Very sorry to hear this Jak :( Hope you feel better tonight 🙂
 
Sorry to hear you were being sick. Are you feeling any better? Vomiting isn't mentioned as a side effect on my patient information leaflet for canagliflozin, is it for dapagliflozin? It may not be related to the medication. How have you been on it today?
 
Symptoms of DKA can appear quickly and may include:
  • frequent urination.
  • extreme thirst.
  • nausea.
  • vomiting.
  • abdominal pain.
  • confusion.
  • breath that smells fruity.
  • a flushed face.
Remember thst if using SGLT-2 Inhibitors, they can give DKA at NORMAL bgl levels i,e, around 4 or 5 mmol/L, accorfing to the FDA warning
 
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Took it a 12.30 today so if i'm sick it's during the day. So far so good. Have only had the vomiting last night with none of the other things listed although i have no idea what DKA is. :( Time to google I think 🙂
 
DKA is an abbreviation for diabetic ketoacidosis, if that helps with your search.
 
robert@fm said:
DKA is an abbreviation for diabetic ketoacidosis, if that helps with your search.
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Sorry, should have made that clear in my post.

The rest of this post has been deleted since the source of the material cannot be verified.
 
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Confusingtheblues said:
9-44 (USA?) which is considered the Normal range
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What!?!? :confused: The USA measures BGs in megadoodles, which are 18x millimoles; a range of 9–44 mg/dl is equivalent to 0.5–2.4 mmol/l, which is very low even at the upper end. Someone has got their figures badly wrong.
 
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You are right. The info i had was a newsfeed, and had been translated incorrectly. I have checked Diabetic Care mag, and the article was not in it, so this info I posted seems to be totally erroneous. i have deleted it from my previous post since it seems to be from a dubious source. Sorry.
EDIT: the magazine refers to Invokana,(Canagliflozin) so my searches failed. I have now found the original report.
 
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I have now found the relevant report. It is published in the March 22 2016 issue of the ADA Diabetes Care magazine. The newsfeed I read was rewritten and is an incorrect precis of the report Abstract. The conclusions reported in the newsfeed were wrongly extracted from the report, and gave an erroneous conclusion drawn by the 'author'. Whilst there was an increase in DKA events requiring A&E compared to placebo, the incidence in the placebo group was not zero as reported, and was not unsimilar to the trial group. So the full report is available online if you wish to Google it, but it is not as significant as i had been led to believe. Incidentally there is another report in this mag, but in a 2015 issue, that shows a more significant study involving T2D's and Dapagliflozin.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Been on them a week now and so far no side affects and now wake with BG between 4 and 7 so they are doing the trick 😎
 
Glad to hear they're working well for you! The canagliflozin is the only thing that brought mine down too. Only downside is weeing a lot but I do when they're high anyway!
 
Was on them for 3 months and found they did not work, though had side effects of
  • frequent urination.
  • extreme thirst.
It was like when one is first diagnosed, drank water and fluids like there's no tomorrow resulting in many trips to the loo.
 
@Jak34 - Hello. I am on Dapagliflozin 5mg since last July (2015) - 3 times I have had to stop it due to 'burning' when passing urine, usually lasts a couple of days and then I go back on Dapagliflozin. But, it is brilliant in bringing my blood sugars within range.
 
In March 2015 I was diagnosed as Type 2 and in July was prescribed Dapagliflozin (Forxiga). Within 3 weeks I was in intensive care with life threatening DKA. The only symptom I had was extreme tiredness. Other than that, I had no other symptoms. My BG levels were under 8. In November 2015 I when medication didn't work for my diabetes, I was told I was now Type 1 and had to inject. 6 months after this, I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer (triple negative). My medical team are now looking to see if there's a link. I have to be honest and say that whilst I know this drug can work well for some people, there isn't enough known about it at the moment. In clinical trials there was evidence of raised breast and bladder cancers and it was high enough for the FDA to suspend the use of the drug until it had been investigated further. A later report said that the high incidence probably related to poor screening and breast cancer being undetected. I remain sceptical.
 
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