“How can I stop taking diabetes medication?”

Never stop your meds before consulting with your endocrinologist. I do stop diabetic meds for my patients sometimes if their A1C is well controlled and diabetes is controlled with diet and exercise, e.g., wean off insulin gradually, stopping oral meds, etc.

Ali A. Achira, MD.

You didn't tell me what kind of diabetes you have or what meds you are taking so I can give you only a generic answer. If you have Type 1 diabetes you can never stop your insulin as it can & will be fatal. I am going to assume you have Type2 diabetes & are taking oral agents. If this be the case, then it might be possible to stop your meds if you lose wt. Type2 diabetes is an insulin resistant state associated with obesity. If you get rid of the excess fat by diet & exercise, you may be able to stop your meds. If you regain the fat. the diabetes will come back. Consult your Dr. & perhaps a dietician and learn how to decrease the insulin resistance & follow their guidelines.

Typically you will need to need to do this in conjunction with a diabetes specialist to avoid complications. One study showed that a diabetes went into remission when patients lost about 30 pounds.

If you are overweight, the first approach is weight loss and daily aerobic exercise. Otherwise, you probably will need to continue the medicine.

You will need to be evaluated in the clinic to see if you could be taken off the diabetes medications. There are many factors to consider before stopping the medications. Those should be discussed with the endocrinologist in the clinic.