When I was first diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes years ago, I asked my doctor about Januvia. He was not a fan and said he did not feel that it worked. He gave me a sample bottle and I tried it. I did not see any difference at all. That doctor has since retired.
I went to my current PCP last week. my A1C was high so my doctor added Januvia to my medicines (Lantus and Humalog). I told him at that time last week that I had tried Januvia before with no results. He wanted me to try it again. The doctors office submitted the RX to Optum RX and I received the medicine yesterday. I took one pill yesterday as directed. I went to bed last night with blood sugar sugar of 73. This morning I woke up with a blood sugar reading of 175. This has been my problem prior to taking Januvia. The other problem is that I am billed $140 for a 3 month RX of Januvia that I am now on the hook for.
If it does not work, I am still having to pay for this prescription that does not work, I can’t afford to do that.
I have called the doctors office and am waiting om a return call.
My question is, does Januvia work? I have only taken one pill but read on the internet that Januvia works immediately. What are your experiences with Januvia? Is there anything I can do since I do not believe it works? Is there a way to try other medicines that may work better without paying $140 to try? My doctor has never given me samples of any medicine. I do not know if he has samples.
Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
I was on Januvia for 12 months and it really did not change my numbers at all. Started with lantus, aprida and Victoza after that and my numbers improved. When Invokana came out in Canada two years ago I tryed that and my A1c went from 7.9 to 5.9 . It worked well when I applied myself ie: being realistic about my diabetes-.A better diet.ect ect. I was on 30 units Lantus per day, 6 units (aprox) Aprida per meal and Invokana . Any medication you start on is going to take a week or two to start becoming effective. And of course, there’s no real miracle pill that you can take and forget about diabetes. It takes work. Invokana is free for the first six months from the makers (in Canada - not sure about other Country’s though? ) I have since stopped all pills and am on a pump now. I was never a fan of any of the pills as there is always a chance of long term side affects. Hope this helps–Good luck!
I was unable to take Januvia - it gave me severe abdominal pain around one hour after every meal. In the short time that I took it, I did not notice any difference.
As it is, I was also unable to tolerate metformin or glimepiride due to other side effects. As a result, I’ve been on insulin for over 4.5 years and doing well enough. Note, I’d probably have had to go on insulin by now, anyway - my own insulin production continued to drop despite good BG control.
Thank you. My doctors office called today and said it takes time for results. He wants to see me again in one month to see if my A1C numbers are better. I hope they are for the cost of the medicine. If no change, I will not refill. I just hate throwing money away on something I question the benefits of.
