Anyone on Glipizide? (Metformin, blood, plan, diet)
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My primary doc added Glipizide 10mg 1x daily. I began almost a month ago. I've puffed up over 10 pounds since, after having lost 10 pounds.
I also am on Metformin ER 2000mg per day.
I have to say I feel awful every day now: muscle aches, very low energy, just general malaise. Can anyone relate I really feel helpless.
I have an endocrinologist phone appt tomorrow.
Any advise is appreciated.
I don't take Glipizide but I am on the same dose of Metformin ER as you, and have been for over 2 decades.
I'm also on Mounjaro, and I've had very low energy and malaise over the months, but at different levels. I decreased my dose late January and felt better, but still weak. It is very frustrating to feel that way.
Ask your doctor if you can take a lower dose of Glipizide or try something else altogether, and at a low dose to start with and then titrate up.
Thanks, lotta. Am I correct that this Diabetes type 2 will be one of those diseases that requires trying different meds to try before finding the right one for me? And by "right medicine" I mean not feeling awful all the time.
I tried Metformin prior (like 6 months ago), but I stopped. I then determined it was clashing with a laxative I was taking. I stopped the laxative and am able to tolerate the Metformin.
I also find difficulty eating only meat and vegetables all day and I know full well how big a part food is in managing this monster.
Can anyone share some dietary tips (what to eat for breakfast and lunch)?
Thanks, lotta. Am I correct that this Diabetes type 2 will be one of those diseases that requires trying different meds to try before finding the right one for me? And by "right medicine" I mean not feeling awful all the time.
I tried Metformin prior (like 6 months ago), but I stopped. I then determined it was clashing with a laxative I was taking. I stopped the laxative and am able to tolerate the Metformin.
I also find difficulty eating only meat and vegetables all day and I know full well how big a part food is in managing this monster.
Can anyone share some dietary tips (what to eat for breakfast and lunch)?
This is my breakfast.
Breakfast is easy for me. I have a huge omelet with 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup egg whites, cheese, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, meat, and sour cream on it. That is only 430 calories and 10 carbs. It is a huge meal that keeps me full until lunch and the low carbs has very little effect on my BG.
Omelets can be changed easily to fit your desired calories and amount of food intake.
Lunch is usually a large portion of meat with little else.
Supper varies greatly.
I have been off Metformin now for close to 5 months and my A1c is WAY better now than when on 2000mg of metformin a day. It was hard to make the drastic change in my food intake but it is better than being on prescription drugs for me.
I also give a LOT of credit to getting a CGM(Libre 3) as I can see in real time how different foods really change my BG levels.
My primary doc added Glipizide 10mg 1x daily. I began almost a month ago. I've puffed up over 10 pounds since, after having lost 10 pounds.
I also am on Metformin ER 2000mg per day.
I have to say I feel awful every day now: muscle aches, very low energy, just general malaise. Can anyone relate I really feel helpless.
I have an endocrinologist phone appt tomorrow.
Any advise is appreciated.
I started out on Glipizide many years ago. The pill forces you to secrete insulin. Insulin causes weight gain, pretty much common knowledge. It is an old school medication, there are newer and better ones in the same class, one is Glimepiride. Your doctor is behind the times, not surprising. Ask for a low dose of Glimepiride and try to watch what you eat.
There's also a whole bunch of new drugs on the market. I am off meds completely and cannot offer advice in that regard, but you could explore some of those. They are all more expensive than the Metformin + Sulfonylurea combo which was a standard years ago. The idea is to treat the cause and not the symptom. Very few docs practice this way unfortunately.
You are now in a viscous circle, you need to break out of it.
My recommendation is to cut the carbs and stay on just the Metformin. It will not work if you eat everything you shouldn't. You can take the other pill "on demand" if you will be eating non diabetic friendly food. Run it by the endo but it should be fine.
It all comes down to diet and if you are willing to make changes.
I started out on Glipizide many years ago. The pill forces you to secrete insulin. Insulin causes weight gain, pretty much common knowledge. It is an old school medication, there are newer and better ones in the same class, one is Glimepiride. Your doctor is behind the times, not surprising. Ask for a low dose of Glimepiride and try to watch what you eat.
When I started this adventure they put me on Glimepiride. Didn't do squat. They took me off of it. I struggled along for years with having high night time glucose levels and I came in with an 8.something A1c after a bad winter of eating.
My Dr. said "We are going to try this old school med on you just to see what will happen because I need your A1c to be at least down in the sevens".
My next A1c was 5.1 and hasn't been above 6 since then. The Dr. said that for some reason some people respond better to Glipizide than Glimepiride and he doesn't really know why. He said he only knows this because people like me have made him run out of options.
He called Glimepiride a "smart drug" and Glipizide a "stupid" drug. He said "apparently you respond better to 'stupid' drugs".
When I started this adventure they put me on Glimepiride. Didn't do squat. They took me off of it. I struggled along for years with having high night time glucose levels and I came in with an 8.something A1c after a bad winter of eating.
My Dr. said "We are going to try this old school med on you just to see what will happen because I need your A1c to be at least down in the sevens".
My next A1c was 5.1 and hasn't been above 6 since then. The Dr. said that for some reason some people respond better to Glipizide than Glimepiride and he doesn't really know why. He said he only knows this because people like me have made him run out of options.
He called Glimepiride a "smart drug" and Glipizide a "stupid" drug. He said "apparently you respond better to 'stupid' drugs".
That would be a very simplified explanation. The doctor must have underestimated your intellect or willingness to learn. It's typical for a doctor, they assume people can't or don't want to understand. This may be true for some people.
These type of drugs stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. They do this regardless of what you eat. If you were to eat nothing, you would still get a spike in insulin. That is the mechanism by which they work. Nothing "smart" about either of these two drugs.
Glimepiride is considered milder and less harmful and yes, it's in a newer class and improved but it is in no way smart. You could double the dose on the Glimepiride or half the dose on the Glipizide and you would in effect, get the same thing. There are more things to consider than dosage.
You got the better results because the Glipizide spikes your insulin way higher than the Glimepiride. That is a shortsighted approach. You are lowering your blood sugar but at what cost? The higher insulin levels are causing you harm, probably just as much as the high blood sugar. It's a two sided sword.
Best strategy is to limit your carb intake and help it along with less medication. I say limit, no need to cut them all out completely. With this plan, you will then need less help from the medications.
Sulfonylureas is the class of drugs that these medications are in. This class of drugs are known to burn out your pancreas. You would be better off avoiding them all together to tell you the truth.
There are newer GLP-1 and not as new, DPP-4 class of drugs and I guess you could call them smart but in theory, what they offer is glucose-dependent insulin secretion. They stimulate the pancreas in producing the amount of insulin you need only when you need it. It's more complicated than that but that is what they do in a nutshell. There are other hormones involved in the process. There are drawbacks to them like with any meds, side effects and who knows what kind of long term effects. Ozempic is a GLP-1 for reference. Januvia is a DPP-4. They are expensive, some people don't want to pay that much, even with insurance.
Thanks, lotta. Am I correct that this Diabetes type 2 will be one of those diseases that requires trying different meds to try before finding the right one for me? And by "right medicine" I mean not feeling awful all the time.
I tried Metformin prior (like 6 months ago), but I stopped. I then determined it was clashing with a laxative I was taking. I stopped the laxative and am able to tolerate the Metformin.
I also find difficulty eating only meat and vegetables all day and I know full well how big a part food is in managing this monster.
Can anyone share some dietary tips (what to eat for breakfast and lunch)?
My doctor isn't in favor of keto type diets, and they aren't my thing either. I eat a wide variety of foods, and try to go with fresh and not packaged or processed. Veggies, fruit, plant protein, lean animal protein (less often), eggs (occasionally), nuts, legumes, seeds, whole grains (only occasionally). Variety is the spice of life!
And don't forget to HYDRATE all day long! 64+oz of water/day, and include some electrolytes 2 or 3 times a week.
As far as trying different meds, that might be true, but not necessarily. I'm the type to stick the landing, meaning I go on a med and then stay with it long-term. Metformin is the only diabetic med I'd been on in my life and I started taking it in 1999. The ER formula didn't exist yet when I started the med, and it was rough! Extended release was like the sun coming back out when that was available. No more GI distress.
Mounjaro was added last July, and it has reduced my A1c down to a normal level, which never happened just on Metformin. There are some side effects which I have to manage, but that's just the way it sometimes goes with a GLP-1 drug. I'm staying on each of the 2 meds until a change is needed, which I'm not expecting anytime soon.
Last edited by lottamoxie; 05-16-2023 at 11:52 AM..
Thanks for all the ideas: we are increasing Synthroid to .137, stopping Glipizide, adding Glimepiride 2mg and keeping Metformin at 2k per day.
She has ordered a blood test to measure my pancreas levels to see how much I'm producing insulin naturally. I'll update this post with the test name asap. Also added was a Freestyle Libre: I'll feel more educated thusly, as no doc ever even ordered a finger-stabber-thingy.
Thanks for all the support wonderful CD'ers.
I'm a believer in Glucose Monitors as you can chart easily what certain foods do to your body.
I'm just on one Metformin per day, and my doctor wanted me to go on the insulin pump while I was on conventional insurance. Medicare's not so easy to deal with in getting approval for The Pump.
A Medtronic pump allows me to be more regulated all the time--without so many peaks and valleys on the graph. I now have to pay $35 monthly for the Novolog, but Medicare Part B is completely paid since we have a Supplement with Plan F.
It's now so nice not to have to do finger sticks--which many people avoid. The GSM is the way to go.
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