Can anyone comment on actose with metformin for treatment? My insurance denied byetta (which I was on and it was working) b/c I have not failed oral combination therapy yet. My doctor has suggested actose. He knows I do not want to take a sulfonyurea b/c of the lows and also b/c I believe it will burn out my pancreas quicker. I have read about headaches and weight gain w/ actose. Is anyone on it and have you had success? anything I should be weary of?
Hi Scott I take Janumet and Actos and along with my lower carb diet all is working well for me. I actually lost 65# while taking this combination. last 4 months lowest was 80 and highest was 127 twice.
Hey Scott, I just started Actos along with Metformin this week. The doctor also wanted to put me on byetta along with the 2 other ones. Since I have a severe problem with injecting myself, I haven’t started the byetta. But I will keep you informed to let you know how the Actos is working out for me. I should know how it’s coming along in a few weeks. So far, no headaches.
thank Yari, You’ll like the byetta. it has worked well for me and it has the weight loss side effect which I need
Scott,
Did you try having your doctor write a letter to your insurance company about why you should be on byetta and your success while on it? My insurance company also wanted evidence of failure from oral meds to approve byetta (new insurance company) but I had not been on oral meds, had been on insulin only, and with byetta had been able to reduce the amount of insulin I took. My doctor wrote a letter explaining this and why she felt byetta was a better choice, and my insurance company authorized it, in fact, they told me that it was not a yearly authorization, but I had authorization for lifetime.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will try this
I had some bad reactions to Actos, it didn’t really work well with my BP meds. But let me add this Scott, I think we all have to be very careful in recommending or asking for ideas about a medication. What works for me, might not work for you, and if you go on what it did for me, you might find it detrimental. Likewise the other way…what didn’t work for me, might work wonderfully for you. It’s good to know these things, but not to just go by that. I didn’t want Metformin at all, infact I tried it a couple of years ago, and it was horrible for me. Now I am on the right dosage and it is working fine…but had I known the original name of it, I wouldn’t have agreed to take it. So user beware.
My comment is this…DON’T DO IT!! If weight is an issue, Actos is certainly your enemy - so are the headaches. Janumet, as I understand it, is better for those newly diagnosed.
Of course, your insurance company is all wet on this. Have you taken a C peptide test? If it comes back low enough, the ins. company won’t be able to fight it. But in any event, having your doc write them a letter, as Teri suggested, is a good idea.
Also, as I became more educated, I realized that I would much rather be on insulin than on sulfonyureas. I have just added Symlin to the insulin to help reduce my resistance.
I’d also highly recommend this site to learn more overall - http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ - Her book is great, too - Blood Sugar 101: What They Don’t Tell You About Diabetes
Cheri