# Gliclazide



## Nanadot64 (Dec 8, 2015)

Hi - I have been a type 2 diabetic for around 15 years, started off diet only and am now on metformin, Byetta injections and gliclazide (one 80mg per day).  Unfortunately my blood sugar has been up for the last few months and now my dose of gliclazide has been upped to 2 per day.  I have been on this dose now for just over a week but my blood sugars are still as high even though I have also been doing better with my eating (not so many carbs).  Can someone advise how long it takes for the extra gliclazide to start working as I seem to remember when I first started it worked quite quickly.  Also over the last few days I seem to have numbness in my leg and top of my foot and am not sure if this is due to the diabetes or the extra medication. Can anyone help?


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## AlisonM (Dec 8, 2015)

It should start to work within a few days, if it's going to. Gliclazide work by tricking your body into making more insulin but only if your body is capable of that. It may be you can't produce enough now to make the Gliclazide worthwhile. If cutting carbs isn't helping either, I suspect this may be the case , so I reckon you should go back to your GP and tell him/her it isn't working and you need to discuss other options, possibly insulin.

The numbness could be a result of high blood sugars, or the medications, or a number of other things. Again, you should discuss it with the GP.


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## AlisonM (Dec 8, 2015)

Oh, and welcome to the forum.


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## Northerner (Dec 8, 2015)

Hi Nanadot64, welcome to the forum  Sorry to hear you are having problems getting the numbers down. I'd agree with Alison, if your pancreas is unable to produce the extra insulin that stimulation from gliclizide normally provokes then it will not be helping - this does look to the case if levels are remaining stubborn even with a reduced carb intake. Whilst insulin does bring some of its own particular issues, it does make blood sugar control much simpler, on the whole. Certainly, you shouldn't feel as though it is any kind of failure on your part if you need it, it's just the way things are sometimes. Would you mind going on insulin?


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 8, 2015)

I am a little worried about going on insulin, one of the things that concerns me is I used to be very overweight at 99 kilos and have managed over the last few years to get down to just under 79 kilos which I realise is still too much but have really struggled to get any lower.  I understand that insulin can put weight back on.  Also I don't know anything about using insulin, it seem to be very complicated but I may be wrong about this, I am just really unsure.


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## Northerner (Dec 8, 2015)

Nanadot64 said:


> I am a little worried about going on insulin, one of the things that concerns me is I used to be very overweight at 99 kilos and have managed over the last few years to get down to just under 79 kilos which I realise is still too much but have really struggled to get any lower.  I understand that insulin can put weight back on.  Also I don't know anything about using insulin, it seem to be very complicated but I may be wrong about this, I am just really unsure.


This is a common worry with insulin, but in reality there is no reason why your weight would increase using insulin. In fact, it is probably less likely than gliclizide (if it was working!), since that works by stimulating extra insulin production - but you have no control over how much! I've been on insulin for over 7 years now and my weight has remained stable. It's perfectly natural to worry about something you know little about, except perhaps the various stories that circulate, many of which may be untrue.

See how you go, and if you don't see any improvement then return to the GP to discuss your options - let them know your concerns and see what they have to say


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## AlisonM (Dec 8, 2015)

Northerner's right Nanadot64, I've been on insulin around 5 years now and I'm slowly losing weight. It does seem complicated at first but you quickly get the hang of it and let's face it, if you need it, you need it. See what your GP says, it could make things so much better for you.


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 8, 2015)

Thanks very much, I have an appointment with the diabetic nurse at my surgery next week so I will discuss it with her then.


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 8, 2015)

Thanks both of you.


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## AlisonM (Dec 8, 2015)

Nanadot64 said:


> Thanks very much, I have an appointment with the diabetic nurse at my surgery next week so I will discuss it with her then.


That's great. Let us know how it goes.


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## grovesy (Dec 8, 2015)

When I went on Gliclazide it worked quickly.


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## Stitch147 (Dec 8, 2015)

When I started on gliclazide it started working within a couple of days


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## Caroline (Dec 8, 2015)

when do you take the gliclizide? I was advised to take it 20 30 minutes before meals then it will work better.

Go have a chat about the numbness justto rule everything out


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 8, 2015)

I have been taking it 20-30 minutes before eating, just wondering if I am maybe not eating enough to get it working?  Sometimes at breakfast I will only maybe have a fat free yoghurt and an apple.


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## Well.legless.69 (Dec 8, 2015)

I was on 4 gliclazide a day plus sitagliptin was constantly high I've just been put on insulin & hoping things are improving good luck my nurse has been trying out everything but finally decided insulin was the best option good luck


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## Caroline (Dec 9, 2015)

Nanadot64 said:


> I have been taking it 20-30 minutes before eating, just wondering if I am maybe not eating enough to get it working?  Sometimes at breakfast I will only maybe have a fat free yoghurt and an apple.


don't think the amount you eat affects they way it works, the idea is it stimulates your pancreas into making more  insulin read for any food you eat.


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## Stitch147 (Dec 9, 2015)

I have mine about 20 minutes before breakfast, I'm on 2 tablets a day


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## Robin (Dec 9, 2015)

Nanadot64 said:


> I have been taking it 20-30 minutes before eating, just wondering if I am maybe not eating enough to get it working?  Sometimes at breakfast I will only maybe have a fat free yoghurt and an apple.


Can I ask, does the fat free yogurt have more carb in it that you'd expect? Sometimes they are thickened with cornflour or something, to make the consistency the same as a full fat one, and although that usually means fewer calories, it can mean unexpected fast carb whooshing into your system, particularly if you're having it just with fruit.


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 9, 2015)

What does everyone recommend for breakfast or what do you have?  I have always struggled with this as before being a diabetic I didn't really eat it.  I sometimes have Weetabix but as trying to cut carbs am not eating this at the moment.  I don't have a lot of time in morning so it needs to be something fairly quick to prepare.


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## Robin (Dec 9, 2015)

I have toast made from Burgen soya and linseed bread, which is the only bread that doesn't give me a spike, or scrambled egg, on its own, which only takes a couple of minutes to cook if you break the eggs straight into the pan and beat them round with the wooden spoon, (and I put the pan to soak and wash it later.) Occasionally I have sugar free muesli with extra mixed seeds sprinkled on, and I find if I eat this with a spoonful of full fat yogurt, it raises my BG levels less than  with milk.


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## Nanadot64 (Dec 9, 2015)

Thank you I will try that bread, I do miss eating bread as that was my usual go to as toast.


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## Northerner (Dec 9, 2015)

I do scrambled eggs in the microwave - 2 minutes for two eggs, light and fluffy and no pan to wash!  Another vote for Burgen Soya and Linseed bread! My favourite!


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## grovesy (Dec 9, 2015)

Mostly eggs or bacon, with Warburton /Kingsmill sandwich thin.


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## trickyearlobe (Jan 28, 2018)

+1 for scrambled eggs, I love to do them in the wok.
It takes about 1-2 min and it's zero effort to clean if you keep the wok properly seasoned or use non-stick.

For a bit of variety these might be low enough carbs for some:

Thick yoghurt (or my new favourite Skyr) with a little fruit.
Mashed avocado/lemon on a small bit of toasted rye bread with a bit of smoked salmon (and maybe a poached egg).

For me, gliclazide worked pretty quickly to start with. 20mg was enough to give me my first ever hypo 2-3 hrs after I took it.
Now I take 40mg twice a day before meals (along with 1000mg Metformin) and my sugar is quite high a lot of the time.


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## Beck S (Jan 29, 2018)

I'm on Gliclazide, although I'm giving it a test break for a bit.  It took a few days to get into my system and start working, but they did ok.  Take it in the morning with my first Metformin.  Gliclazide can cause hypos, so make sure you've got something with you in case you do get one.  I didn't lose a lot of weight with them, but it did kind of come off pretty slowly.

Breakfast, I either have egg on toast with some bacon, or I have some granola with milk.


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