Diabetes Medication (Cont.)

 
Side Effects of Insulin
Side effects of insulin may include:
 
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Weight gain.
     

Oral Medications for Diabetes

Many types of diabetes medication can help people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood glucose. Each type of medication helps lower blood glucose in a different way. The specific drug you take will likely be from one of these groups:
 
  • Sulfonylureas stimulate your pancreas to make more insulin
  • Biguanides decrease the amount of glucose made by your liver
  • Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors slow the absorption of the starches you eat
  • Thiazolidinediones make you more sensitive to insulin
  • Meglitinides stimulate your pancreas to make more insulin
  • D-phenylalanine derivatives help your pancreas make more insulin quickly.
 
(Click List of Diabetic Medication for the brand names of these oral medications.)
 
Your doctor might prescribe one oral medication for diabetes. If this medicine does not lower your blood glucose, your doctor may:
 
  • Ask you to take more of the same pills
  • Add a new medicine or insulin
  • Ask you to change to another medicine or insulin.
 

Other Injectable Diabetes Drugs

Besides insulin, there are two other classes of injectable diabetes medicines:
 
 
Exenatide works by acting like the hormone incretin in the body, increasing insulin production and slowing digestion. It is used to treat type 2 diabetes, either by itself or in combination with metformin, a sulfonylurea, or thiazolidinedione.
 
Pramlintide is used to treat both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This medicine works like the hormone amylin in the body, increasing insulin production, slowing digestion, decreasing the production of glucose by the liver, and reducing appetite.
 
(Diabetes Medication Continued: Page 5)

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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD