Diabetes Talking

Question:

I’m going to a new physician tomorrow (change of medical coverage) and would like to know if anybody had any experiences with amaryl.  The physician I’m seeing is also the one my boss is currently seeing for his diabetes. I am currently taking 2.5mg of glyburide (micronase) and my boss is taking amaryl 2mg 2x/day.  Since I’ve been running a little high, fasting anywhere from 130-170’s, I’m anticipating she (my new physician) might: a) increase my current dosage of glyburide or b) switch me over to amaryl. Any comments on amaryl or any possible side effects that anyone knows about? (read: rezulin). Thanks in advance. Steve NYC

Response:

I was on amaryl for several months before I became pregnant.  I really enjoyed the consistent level of BG it kept me at.  I also took metformin with it tho.  I was weaning off the metformin while taking the amaryl.  I took amaryl once a day (am) and it lasted 24 hours.  I think it is worth trying. Debbie C – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m going to a new physician tomorrow (change of medical coverage) and would like to know if anybody had any experiences with amaryl.  The physician I’m seeing is also the one my boss is currently seeing for his diabetes. I am currently taking 2.5mg of glyburide (micronase) and my boss is taking amaryl 2mg 2x/day.  Since I’ve been running a little high, fasting anywhere from 130-170’s, I’m anticipating she (my new physician) might: a) increase my current dosage of glyburide or b) switch me over to amaryl. Any comments on amaryl or any possible side effects that anyone knows about? (read: rezulin). Thanks in advance. Steve NYC

Response:

The advantage of Amaryl over others is that Amaryl has a longer half-life.  You need only take it once per day. If your boss is taking 2mg twice a day, he would be the same as taking 4mg once per day. Your glyburide dose is also fairly low.  An increase to 5 mg isn’t that extreme. Your numbers seem low enough that your doctor will probably not recommend switching to rezulin. Diet and increased exercise will probably what she tells you. Bob type 2, 9 yrs Amaryl, Glucophage Been there, Done that, bought the XL T-shirt

Response:

First i  heard of amaryl twice a day.  4mg is actually the recommended max.  My doc allows me to vary my amaryl according to my estimated daily routine.  This is becouse my daily routine defies any kind of balance.  My inactive day dose is 3mg and an active day dose is 2mg.  A couple days of extreme exercise i actually did 0 and kept my bg within limits.  The extreme exercise was about 10 miles of hiking with climbing gear and then climbing a near vertical slope for about 500 feet.  (the only reason that i did it was to see if i could still do it). jimt – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The advantage of Amaryl over others is that Amaryl has a longer half-life.  You need only take it once per day. If your boss is taking 2mg twice a day, he would be the same as taking 4mg once per day. Your glyburide dose is also fairly low.  An increase to 5 mg isn’t that extreme. Your numbers seem low enough that your doctor will probably not recommend switching to rezulin. Diet and increased exercise will probably what she tells you. Bob type 2, 9 yrs Amaryl, Glucophage Been there, Done that, bought the XL T-shirt

Response:

An excellent source of information on drugs is http://www.rxlist.com/ Jim – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m going to a new physician tomorrow (change of medical coverage) and would like to know if anybody had any experiences with amaryl.  The physician I’m seeing is also the one my boss is currently seeing for his diabetes. I am currently taking 2.5mg of glyburide (micronase) and my boss is taking amaryl 2mg 2x/day.  Since I’ve been running a little high, fasting anywhere from 130-170’s, I’m anticipating she (my new physician) might: a) increase my current dosage of glyburide or b) switch me over to amaryl. Any comments on amaryl or any possible side effects that anyone knows about? (read: rezulin). Thanks in advance. Steve NYC

Response:

J. C. … An excellent source of information on drugs is http://www.rxlist.com/ Jim

This appears to be a *very* useful site. Thanks,           Ted

Response:

I started out diagnosed as insulin-resistant, not diabetic (huh?) and my docs put me on Glucophage and Spironolactone for 90 days. I never got past the 3rd week. I had problems with the usual side-effects of Glucophage (an understatement–I felt like hell). Told my doc I couldn’t handle it, and she said, essentially, fine, and didn’t prescribe a replacement. So I went 2 years w/o any meds. Ended up in the ER a few weeks ago with really high BG. They put me on Amaryl. I took it and kept waiting to feel rotten, but instead it just did the job w/o any side effects. Awesome. Long story short: had to add insulin to get the BG down to a level that the Amaryl could handle, but had absolutely no side effects with Amaryl at max dose of 8MG. It seems to keep me on a more even keel than Glucophage did. If all goes well, I’ll be able to drop the insulin later and just stick with Amaryl. It seems to be a drug I can live with. Good luck, Victoria Type 2 5/99 (after being a closet diabetic  2 yrs <g) 8MG  Amaryl, 16U NPH bedtime

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