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Gliclazide

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
joimes75

joimes75

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi

Something?s been bugging me for a while (sorry that sounds a bit American... I watch a lot of DVD's 🙂 .) about my being prescribed Gliclazide straight away after my Type 2 diagnosis.

I didn?t get a chance to talk to the Dr as the prescription arrived straight in the post together with a letter confirming i'd failed the Glucose Tolerance Test.. and then my meeting with the practice nurse was fantastically short as they had only booked one short time slot by mistake.. but pretty much everyone else i hear of seems to be on Metaformin.

I think I?m reasonably young for Type 2 at 30 and am pretty thin, is there any obvious reasons anyone knows why I would be given Gliclazide rather than Metaformin straight away?? :confused:

I'm a bit concerned about the long term consequences of being on this drug as I believe its got a bit of a bad rep..

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas why i might be? (before i approach my Dr..) :D

Cheers
James
 
from what i have seen about Gliclazide it does cause some adverse side effects one being Hypoglycemia.i cant really answer but maybe you should ring up and go back to see your GP it is always good to know about the pill you are taking
 
I agree with Steff

Don't worry too much, Gliclazide isn't particularly bad. You've probably been given it over Metformin coz you're not overweight (no offense to anybody taking Metformin, i'm one of you after all) as Metformin is supposed to be good for people trying to lose weight. The side effects (nausea, the runs etc) are pretty much the same as Metformin and Steff's right, the only difference is that you might get hypos when on Gliclazide, where was you wont in Metformin. Loads of people are on Gliclazide, for all sorts of reasons, it's an alternative rather than a second choice, you're not alone or on a less good treatment, but if you do have problems or concerns, ask your doctor.


Rachel
 
thanks chaps, thats good to know! 🙂

I have had a couple of not too serious hypos (though they felt a bit more serious at the time 😉 ) - after not eating a lot for lunch and walking around a lot but the nurse advised me to take half the pill in the day and half before bed which has worked well ever since.

Its the principle behind the tablets that worries me a bit (and which i will def ask the dr about) - to stimulate the Pancreas into overproducing Insulin where as I understood it the reason my Pancreas (probably) failed was due to it being so overworked in the first place just seems so counter intuitive :D but its good to know im not the only person being put on it straight away!!

im increasingly feeling i may have to get a medical degree to understand this ruddy condition... :D

Cheers
James
 
I was given gliclizide to help out the metformin. Ask the doctor, but as he sounds as good as mine, you may be better off talking to the practice nurse too. I was told there was a prescription waiting for me that I wasn't expecting (I'd seen the doctor the day before and he'd said nothing about needing additional pills). When I made an appointment to ask what they were for and why they hadn't been discussed my doctor said they were for the diabetes and that's all I needed to know, I was given no instructions on when to take them until I saw the DSN (who has now absconded).
 
I was tried with diet originally but as it didn't seem to reduce my bg levels was started on 80mg gliclizide in the morning about 20 min pre breakfast.
I was on gliclizide as metformin was incompatible with other essential medication.
My ac1 halved in the first 6/12 and agaim after 12/12/ . I was having hypos midmorning so a reduction to 40 mg was introduced after 6/12 and as I had a hypo during my last visit with the consultant requiring a fruit drink and biccies before leaving, the medication was stopped completely.
I think a contributing factor was an almost zero fat diet after gall bladder prob and septicaemia.

If you have no medication, hypos should not happen, but the chance of ketone probs etc if your bg goes too high are a factor.

Do nothing without professional advice and bear in mind that we are all different and this is a support forum not a professional medical one.
 
thanks so much guys!

Sharpwaa - I'm embarassed to say that despite testing a LOT recently in all sorts of circumstances i've never even considered testing just the effects of the pills themselves prior to eating food... i will do so asap! thankyou :D its also great to have some figures to compare myself with, thankyou!!

Caroline - Yes im a little concerned about my GP practice they are lovely people but everything keeps on going wrong... eg i had my Glucose tolerance test cancelled 4 times due staff sickness and their not being able to get hold of the right testing kit... in the end i think they just made one up themselves..

Kojack - thanks also for your advice, its ok i wont change anything without discussing it with my Dr! :D I'm attempting to get myself as informed as possible. People who know me well might argue that there is a first time for everything 😉
 
I was told to take gliclizide at night because of the way it works, but it would appear everyone takes it at different times of the day. Now I'm not sure when it is supposed to work best, and since my doctor is an idiot at the best of times, there will be no sense out of hime either!
 
The way my doctor explained it Metformin helps your body make the best of what insulin you have while Gliclazide tricks your pancreas into producing more of it*... Umm, I may have them the wrong way round. He also told me to always take the pills with food as that may help mitigate the side effects, which were awful during the first two weeks but have eased off considerably now.

* He also told me Gliclazide is the cheapest version of the drugs that do this and that they all lose their usefulness eventually. And, that forcing the pancreas to do this is not a good thing as it will almost certainly give up the ghost in time and then you'll need insulin.

My doctor is good, he calls a spade a bloody shovel and doesn't spare me the bald truth: That this disease is what I make of it and it's up to me how well or badly I do long term.
 
I really hope the new one in Inverness will be as good and as plain speaking. It's nice to be treated as a sentient being and not a disease.
 
Northerner said:
This is why we don't 'split' the forum into different types, like a lot of forums do - I think we benefit a great deal from everyone's experiences, whatever their connection to diabetes!🙂
Click to expand...

very good totally agree this forum has an equal opps policy !
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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