New meds don’t seem to be working. Changing meds.

[leslie I]

Hello.
Diagnosed in April with hba1c of 108. On Metformin and Gliclazide and got great news that I’m now at 54.
However I was put on Dapagliflozin and told to stop Gliclazide. In the last couple of week my BG is higher by about 2-3 at each fasted reading. I’m feeling rotten in the morning with sore head and nausea. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m just a hypochondriac. Anyone else had similar experience when changing meds?

 

[JITR]

Hello.
Diagnosed in April with hba1c of 108. On Metformin and Gliclazide and got great news that I’m now at 54.
However I was put on Dapagliflozin and told to stop Gliclazide.

@leslie I,

We cannot advise here but why not go back to your GP/DN? Tell them about the side effects and ask about going on to Metformin alone.

After all you have done very well to halve your HbA1c and, as your latest result is a 3 month average, your next result is likely to be <= 48 !!!

 

[leslie I]

Will do. Fingers crossed that my recent experience does not impact HbA1c too much.

 

[saffron15]

@leslie I Well done on lowering your reading so much. Are you on one or two metformin? When I started Dapaglifozin 8 days ago, my metformin was halved to two tablets. I had found four tablets had upset my bowels. I was told that some of the benefits of metformin mirrored dapaglifozin and the new drug had heart and kidney benefits. I was warned not to go too low carb but noone has said what that is. I am eating low carb because I have weight to shift but the lowest I've gone is 60 grams ie not a keto diet and am usually over 100 gms.

I was told to make sure I was well hydrated and I take it with a good amount of water. Despite being told I would pee more I have peed less as my high blood sugar was causing me to pee at night and that has reduced. I have a set of keto test strips and warned to test my urine if I have gone into keodosis - word may not be right. Look on nhs site or leaflet with the meds it is a very rare effect.
My blood sugar is now 58.
The obvious thing to do is check with a pharmacist today if worried or GP next week. You may just be adapting to a new medicine.

I am no expert but I have no bad side effects at the moment. I am very new to testing and my only successful test yesterday was 7 a fasting reading. At the surgery when shown how to use the monitor my reading was 6.8 more than an hour after breakfast two days before I started on dapaglifozin.
I'm taking forxiga. You may find another brand would be better.

 

[leslie I]

@leslie I Well done on lowering your reading so much. Are you on one or two metformin? When I started Dapaglifozin 8 days ago, my metformin was halved to two tablets. I had found four tablets had upset my bowels. I was told that some of the benefits of metformin mirrored dapaglifozin and the new drug had heart and kidney benefits. I was warned not to go too low carb but noone has said what that is. I am eating low carb because I have weight to shift but the lowest I've gone is 60 grams ie not a keto diet and am usually over 100 gms.

I was told to make sure I was well hydrated and I take it with a good amount of water. Despite being told I would pee more I have peed less as my high blood sugar was causing me to pee at night and that has reduced. I have a set of keto test strips and warned to test my urine if I have gone into keodosis - word may not be right. Look on nhs site or leaflet with the meds it is a very rare effect.
My blood sugar is now 58.
The obvious thing to do is check with a pharmacist today if worried or GP next week. You may just be adapting to a new medicine.

I am no expert but I have no bad side effects at the moment. I am very new to testing and my only successful test yesterday was 7 a fasting reading. At the surgery when shown how to use the monitor my reading was 6.8 more than an hour after breakfast two days before I started on dapaglifozin.
I'm taking forxiga. You may find another brand would be better.

I’m on 2 x 1000mg Metformin SL per day. Sounds like there are real benefits from taking dapaglifozin. It’s never a straight journey, I’m learning

 

[saffron15]

@leslie I I knew when I went to the last appointment that the intention was to be given a SGLT2 tablet. It was not clear what was going to happen to metformin. I had slight side effects at three tablets and more at four. I had been on four for less than a week. I think if I hadn't had side effects it may only have reduced to three. My tablets are 500 and slow release.
I have been asked to take them twice a day although as they are slow release I think I could take in one go.
I was told it was a relatively new drug with good benefits. This site also has a section with information about drugs.

Make sure you are not dehydrated as the drug removes glucose which you pee out but as you are obviously concerned try to speak to a pharmacist or your surgery.

Good luck

 

[leslie I]

@leslie I I knew when I went to the last appointment that the intention was to be given a SGLT2 tablet. It was not clear what was going to happen to metformin. I had slight side effects at three tablets and more at four. I had been on four for less than a week. I think if I hadn't had side effects it may only have reduced to three. My tablets are 500 and slow release.
I have been asked to take them twice a day although as they are slow release I think I could take in one go.
I was told it was a relatively new drug with good benefits. This site also has a section with information about drugs.

Make sure you are not dehydrated as the drug removes glucose which you pee out but as you are obviously concerned try to speak to a pharmacist or your surgery.

Good luck

Thank you for that

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It’s never a straight journey, I’m learning

I think the important thing to do is to find the mix of meds and menu that work for you, give the results you are looking for, and you can sustain. Not all meds suit each individual, so there will often be a bit of tweaking and experimentation required to get the optimum mix for you.

When Dapagliflozin / Forxiga / Farxiga was fairly newly approved, we had a few posts from people getting feelings of nausea I think? You might find them digging back through the search.

Search results for query: dapagliflozin

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Does your pharmacist offer a check-in service in the weeks/months after starting a new medication? those can be helpful.

 

[rebrascora]

When Ozempic / Dapagliflozin was fairly newly approved, we had a few posts from people getting feelings of nausea I think?

Mike are you confusing Dapagliflozin with Semaglutide (Ozempic) or am I misunderstanding your post?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Mike are you confusing Dapagliflozin with Semaglutide (Ozempic) or am I misunderstanding your post?

Ooops! Yes. sorry I was a bit tired! I will edit accordingly. Too many meds with double names!