“Too many diabetes prescriptions?”
My husband is currently taking three different diabetes medications. He takes Farxiga, Victoza and Repaglinide. This seems extreme. Should he be taking this combination?
Male | 75 years old
Medications: variety
Conditions: diabetic, high cholesterol and high blood pressure
4 Answers
He needs to be evaluated to determine this. Many factors counts including kidney function etc
This is not extreme for the present day. We now have about 20 drugs to treat diabetes and it's not uncommon to take 2-4 of them. They work in different ways. The Farxiga works by blocking the reabsorption of glucose in the kidney, so he excretes it in the urine. Victoza works in several ways 1) it stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin, 2) it suppress the secretion of another hormone called glucagon that raises blood sugar, 3) it slows stomach emptying so the insulin can keep up with the sugar absorption.4) it affects the brain to decrease appetite. Repaglinide works like sulfofnaluria drug and is little used today because it causes wt. gain & low blood sugar. More commonly, we would use metformin in its place. It is cheaper & does not cause low blood sugar. You can certainly use these drugs together, and may need to, but that is expensive therapy. Keep his cholesterol down & his blood pressure, for elevation of these is dangerous.
It’s worth asking the doctor why not just start him on insulin, which may be more affordable. Maybe asking to see an endocrinologist would get some answers.
It is not extreme to take multiple medications for diabetes. All of the medications you mention work in different ways to lower blood sugar. The newer medications are so much safer and better than what we used to have "back in the day." Many diabetics are on multiple medications, and they are not using insulin as soon they used to. This is great to prevent weight gain and avoid low blood sugars. Typically, we start with metformin, and then add on other (often non-insulin) treatments in combination until the A1C goal is reached (I am assuming they must have stopped the metformin). It is not uncommon to require a handful of these meds to get to goal. Of course, diet and exercise is still the cornerstone of good diabetes care! A
great way to improve communication and ask questions that you are curious about is to go together to appointments and write down your concerns.
great way to improve communication and ask questions that you are curious about is to go together to appointments and write down your concerns.
