Sitagliptin

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SweetGuy

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Type 2
Anyone else on Sitagliptin?

I have been taking it for nearly 3 months now in addition to 2x850mg Metformin and the improvement in BG levels has been a bit disappointing. I seem to be stuck at BG of around 8 - 8.5 mmol/l before food rising to about 14 -15 mmol/l after food.

What are other peoples experiences with this?
 
SweetGuy said:
Anyone else on Sitagliptin?

I have been taking it for nearly 3 months now in addition to 2x850mg Metformin and the improvement in BG levels has been a bit disappointing. I seem to be stuck at BG of around 8 - 8.5 mmol/l before food rising to about 14 -15 mmol/l after food.

What are other peoples experiences with this?
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Dear SweetGuy,

Sorry, I have no experience with Sitagliptin. However, with figures like you quote it is clearly not working. You need to get in touch with whoever is looking after your diabetes and get them to make some changes. I follow a controlled carb approach and have found through experience that the only thing that works for me is to cut down on all sugars, starches, wheat, rice and pasta etc. Many years ago I used to be on diabetic meds but I could not achieve the control I now enjoy using controlled carbs.

Regards Dodger

PS welcome to the forum
 
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No, i haven't taken any personally. Whow, i've never even seen that one on the shelf. I do remember the Vildagliptin and Saxagliptin reps coming round though (alas the Vildagliptin peddler came before i was diagnosed and i was not paying so much interest back then). The Saxagliptin woman seemed to think that her drug was better than metformin alone and her brochure claimed it was slightly more likley to give you the runs than Metformin alone. I wan't that impressed coz i thought that being slightly more likely to give you the runs than something that is almost guarenteed to was deffinately significant, but she dissagreed, i suspect she was trying to patronise me for not being a pharmacist....

Anyway, the point is that you're taking gliptins to lower your HBA1c/blood sugar levels, and if it ain't working then there's not a lot of point in taking them. There are other gliptins out there to try, maybe they'll do better, or there's rosiglitasone, pioglitazone and rapaginide if you need or benefit from an add on to Metformin. You might be able to try Exenatide (Byetta) if your doctor supports it's use. Have you tried Metformin modified release? You might need a sort of longer lasting version of Metformin.

You might also try Dodger's dietry suggestions. Cutting down on carbs helps a lot of people. Whatever works for you really.

Rachel🙂
 
Thanks for the advice folks. My BG was slowly going up when I started the Sitagliptin so I suppose if I were not taking it would be even higher than it is now :(

Rosegliazone type drugs are out for me because of heart disease. As are sulpuyrea type drugs as I am overweight to start off with :( The only things left are ones that involve a needle :( Around here you can only get Byetta prescribed by a hospital clinic and only as an alternative to insulin.

When it comes to food while not being completely reckless I do find it difficult to be fanatical about it.
 
Have you tried to change the types of food you eat?

Would you rather restrict your diet or start taking insulin? I know which is better for your health 🙂
 
If your sugars were creeping up before the pills, it will take a little time for them to lower again.

As others have said it is always worth talking to your medical team. Also look at what you are eating. Sweets and cakes are treats and OK as part of a meal once in a while. Make sure you get plenty of fresh fruit and vege too.

Also the ammount of activity you do makes a difference. Might pay to keep a diary for a while to see if a pattern emerges.

And welcome to our forum
 
Oh, yes, we also have Byetta only initiated by hospital consultants, but not as an insulin substitute. We use ours in a similar way to the Glyptins (not that we use glyptins much), as an add on to Meformin or other oral drugs. (I'm a hospital pharmacy technician, so i tend to jump in on drug related threads, oh and spend time appologising for lousy service at other people's local chemists...)

I also hate the idea of being fanatical about food. The very idea of having to count anything, calories or carbs, fills me with panic. I'm a very lazy cook too, and, alas, i have no-one to help me with the washing up...:(. Which is why i'm on Metformin. So trust me, i'm sympathetic. I'm no lover of needles either, although tinsy subcutaneous pen type needles are the least scary in my oppion.

Also i tested my blood sugar before lunch today and it was around 8.5, which annoys me coz it's over 7, but my diabetes nurse would tell me not to sweat it. Have you had an HBA1c test? What was that like? If that's lowering then then it doesn't matter so much what your daily readings are.

Rache
 
I recently started on Sitagliptin. I am on Metformin and my Hb1Ac before Christmas, was 7.0.
After Christmas it had gone up to 7.6 🙄 So my GP rang me at home with my results. She asked me if I wanted to try another meds to lower my BG. I agreed to Sitagliptin.
On Thursday morning my fasting BG was 7.9, Friday 7.8, Saturday 7.8
I am now a week in, Thursday and down to 5.7 today :D
I also don't get the munchies so much and have started to cut down on my carbs.
So far I'm pleased, I have an appointment with diabetes nurse in 10 days time, so we shall see how things go.
 
4 weeks into sitigliptin and cutting back on carbs and I have had another Hb1Ac test.
I rang surgery today for blood results. I have gone from 7.6 to 6.5 in 4 weeks 😎
I have also lost half a stone :D so sitigliptin and a combination of reduced carbs is working for me.
I'm very pleased :D😛
 
cocacola said:
4 weeks into sitigliptin and cutting back on carbs and I have had another Hb1Ac test.
I rang surgery today for blood results. I have gone from 7.6 to 6.5 in 4 weeks 😎
I have also lost half a stone :D so sitigliptin and a combination of reduced carbs is working for me.
I'm very pleased :D😛
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That's a really good reduction in such a short amount of time and congrats on the weight loss too.
 
2 weeks into using Sitagliptin and Glucophage and things seem to be turning round. It's too soon to know how well it's going to work for me but so far it looks encouraging.
 
Alison I noticed a drop in BG levels within the first week. And from then on it just got better 😛
 
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