Ew, how horrible Realsis77!
I am DEFINATELY never going on Januvia. I have enough trouble with my hair as it is! Sounds like you were allergic too it.
Are you on Metformin now instead or something else?
Hi KimKat,
Do you find Metformin helps with your post meal spikes? My morning fasting numbers are good (88-110 range) but my 1 hour post meal spikes can get high if I have minimal carbs. If Metformin or Januvia dont really help with spikes then theres probably no reason to take?
I’ve been on Januvia for about 2 months now and have been pretty happy with it. No side effects except for some runny sinuses for a couple of weeks. Just a minor irritation really. My numbers have been right on target so far and not nearly as many lows as when I was on the fast acting insulin.
Hi Lee,
Thanks for your input. Do you worry about any long term side effects regarding Januvia? I quickly Googled the drug yesterday and there were more negative comments/reports than positive. I even found an article linking it to cancer but maybe if you search enough you’ll find something bad about most drugs… It’s tough having to decide about this stuff. I’ve managed to stay drug free for the first 45 years of my life!
Paul
I don’t know what my 1 hour numbers are because I don’t test at 1 hour only at 2 hour. I can’t afford all those strips soo…I have to be frugal with them.
I can normally wake up between 70 -100. Mostly lately it has been in the 80s or 90s though. I have about 15 to 20 carbs for breakfast and I am almost always under 120 at two hours. I was told that the two hours number is the important one - not really the 1 hour number. You want to be at below 140 at 2 hours.
I never tested and just did diet and exercise before so I can’t really say what the difference is - only that my dx fasting was 205! I wasn’t low carb than though. I had no idea how to do the diet until like a few weeks in so I can’t compare. But without Metformin (and not eating much those first horrible weeks), I was in the 100s before breakfast. Plain oatmeal without met made me go up to 258. After a week on the Met, my numbers were in the normal range. It worked quickly for me. But I never ate oatmeal again so don’t know about that!
Paul,
I didn’t want to go on the meds either. I prided myself on not being a person who rarely took any meds except for once and a while things. I did things the natural way. I dreaded having the everyday pill to take. My doctor freaked me out and I was sort of scared into starting it because my A1C was 9.2.
I think if I knew how to do the diet and everything back than that I might have felt more confident to ignored the doctors orders and experiemented on myself. Thing was I knew nothing about what an A1C was, how to test…I didn’t even know that carbs turned into sugar. I never looked at that stuff before.
I spend two horrible weeks waiting for my blood test results and deciding what to do. I hated it. I didn’t even fill the prescription for almost two weeks after I got it - even than I didn’t take it. I bought a meter but was afraid to use it. (goes to show you how bad diabetes instruction from doctors is).
That said, I often wonder if I could do this without the meds as I didn’t get a chance to try. Mine is definately very genetic and brought on by age I think as I was not overweight. But I think even if I did it might progress to being more difficult as time goes on. I think this way I helping my pancreas to not get to overworked. The idea of having too many high numbers and at risk for complications because of them is what scared me into taking it. Having my legs cut off because of neuropathy is not in my life plan for sure!
Hmmm, If I had 20 carbs for breakfast I would probably spike to 200 at 1 hour and then back to 120-140 at 2 hours. I’ve read, and been told, that all those 200+ 1 hour spikes over time can lead to complications.
I’ll probably call my Dr and have the prescription changed to Metformin but I know she will give me grief for being cautious about Januvia… 
Well, I am a vegan so almost everything I eat has some carbs in it. 
Not too many zero carb vegan foods. I eat pretty much the same breakfast everyday.
I have one piece of low carb sprouted toast (says 7 carbs) with peanut butter (6 carbs for two tablespoons but I don’t measure and I think I don’t use a whole 2 tbspons as my toast is small) and a serving of soy milk cappucino or chocolate (sweetened with splenda - comes that way) at 4 carbs. I have started drinking coffee again (decaf) so I have some xyitol in that (supposed to be 4 carbs but it is sugar alchohol which doesn’t seem to effect my numbers) and a bit of soy or coconut creamer (1 carb).
Without the Met, I might have higher numbers at 2 hours - in fact I am pretty sure I would. I don’t want to go back to eating meat and dairy gives me ear aches soo… I am planning to rehab my diet to cut on the soy though because I am worried about my thryoid.
I think I am gonna write myself a note for tomorrow and I will do a test at one hour and see what it is and let you know. I am sure it varies on different days though.
Taking the Metformin is like taking placebo. It felt weird in the beginning when my numbers were normalizing but now I don’t noticing anything other than the numbers.
My dose is 500 mg Metformin twice daily, 1.25 mg Glyburide twice daily (down from 2.5 mg twice daily before Metformin). HbA1c stable at 5.6. I am probably insulin deficient, not uncommon at my age (age 72, BMI 23). Minimal side effects from Metformin initially for a few months only.
I am wondering if the tighter post prandial control Metformin is giving me is saving a few of my beta cells as post prandial figures improved slowly over the year that I have been taking it. This author seems to think post prandial glucotoxicity can kill beta cells.
If the doc in question is following the AACE guidelines for proper step-wise management of type 2 diabetes, Metformin IS the gold standard, 1st line drug to be prescribed for 90% or more of all type 2 diabetics. It is NOT appropriate for type 2s who are of normal weight (BMI < = 25), for those who are newly dx’ed with very high bgs, or those who have reduced kidney function, among others. As long as you’re a standard type 2, I would think most docs would put you on metformin asap. It’s what’s been recommended by the AACE.
Januvia is FAR more expensive. It can run you in excess of $200/month if you do not have insurance.
Hi Angela,
My BMI is approx 21. I have been relatively thin most of my life. I walk about 35k per week so in relatively good health other than the BG issues. So from what you are saying Metformin wouldn’t be for me? It’s so hard getting a Dr here to actually listen to me that I’m not a typical type 2 and maybe something else is going on…
Hey Paul,
I am not a “normal” Type 2 either. I am thin like you. I was thin at DX and I am even thinner now. Met is working great for me right now. I am 5’4" and I weighed 130 at DX (actually a higher weight for me - the most I have ever weighed in my life is 135 - normally I was between 115 and 125). I lost 30 lbs without even trying in the first 3 to 5 months because I was too freaked to eat too much until I figured the diet out. So now I weigh 100 so I am “underweight” according to the BMI. I would need to gain 10 to get into the “normal” weight category. Honestly though I think that a normal weight for me is more like 105ish. 110 is OK too and I am trying to gain a few pounds back but 130 I thought was high for me - even though for my height it is in the “normal weight” standard on the BMI calculator. I have always been a thin person even when I was a kid.
Those things don’t take into account your bone structure and stuff like that. I am teeny person. I think that Type 2 standard is old skool - It is more of that “you have to be overweight to be Type 2” stuff which we know is not true anymore. Like Metformin = Type 2 ‘fat’ people or somethiing. I don’t think the pill can tell how fat you are or are not when you take it!
I think my doctor prescribed me the Met also because I was DX’d at a low cost clinic - no insurance, no money so he knew it was the cheaper options. Geez, $200 buck for Januvia - no way!
I"m on lowest dose, 25mg, Januvia for four months so far, and it is doing fine for BG control. In fact, it is the only drug I’ve tried so far (I’m a new diabetic) so I don’t know what metaformin would do for me. I’m already thin so don’t need to lose weight.
I do seem to get inflammation more often, sinus headaches, but doubt if that has anything to do with Januvia. I keep in mind that just having diabetes means, for me anyway, more frequent infections than I have ever had before. Can’t expect Januvia to decrease the frequency of it. If I ever get taken off this drug for a reason, I’ll be letting TuDiabetes learn about it.
Yeah, I was a little worried about long term side effects too. Especially after hearing about Avandia. But just about every diabetes drug I’ve researched has some scary claims associated with it. I decided to give it a try and so far my numbers have been real good.
I believe that it is the januvia that is causing your sinus headaches. I never had sinus headaches until I started to take januvia. if you read the side effects it does state that sinus issues is one of the side effects. the longer you take it the worse they are going to get. That is what happened to me. After six months on januvia I could not deal with headaches, depression, lack of focus, poor immune system. I never experienced that until the Januvia. I was put on 100 right off the bat and my life has not been the same since then.
I went to an allergist, an ENT had all kinds of test done to figure out why i have sinus headaches that make me so dizzy that I have to sit for 30 minutes. Dont ever think that it may not be a drug that you are taking. Think about how you felt before the drug and compare it to now. I know diabetes does not cause sinus pressure. Even when I was at emergency when I was first diagnosed with a bg of over 1000 I had no sinus pressure, stomach problems, depression, or dizziness.
Beware of the Januvia. I have made it my personal cause to warn people to stay away from Januvia because it will completely change your life for the worst.
Read my profile and I have indepth details of the hell Januvia put me in. Metformin for me was a better choice.
I am with you on believing that Januvia caused the headaches as well as many other bad side effects. The crazy thing my new endo wanting my A1C lower than 6.5 and he tried to put me on that crap again. I guess he did not read my chart because i put that I would not ever take Januvia again, ever. I rather have high bg’s for the rest of my life than take that garbage.
Im sorry about your nighmare with the name of Januvia. I feel my family lost 2 years of my life because of the drug and I am not like I was before the drug. they love me but they know I am not the same person. It triggered panic attacks, headaches, server stomach problems, depression, and many other nasty things. It killed my immune system also. I would tell any new person into the type 2 world to stay away from this garbage.
take care
give it a few more months, for me the runny sinuses turned to sever sinus pressure issues, to insane migrane headaches. It has been almost 2 years since i got off that garbage and my sinus have not been the same since. I have had every test done by allergist and ENT and they cant find any issues physically which to me then points back to januvia. watch the drug. I think its garbage and should be pulled off the market.
My Dr wanted to put me on 100mg right away… My a1c is 5.9 so not sure why she is so aggressive with the drug or didn’t suggest Metformin first. I will be seeing her tomorrow and letting her know I want to try Metformin first.
Paul. I am at a 6.5 with metformin and now I push back whenever an endo wants to introduce some new pill. This one, januvia, is way too harsh in the body and with an A1C of 5.9 I dont think its worth it. the endo who prescribed it to me had a philosophy of tight control also and it turned my life into a living hell. So I switched endo and went with one who looks at quality of life and balaces with meds.
Docs do not live our day to day life. I dont think the benefits of dropping a few more points when your A1C is in good range is worth it. I had a 7.3 when I was given the drug so I tried it. All I am saying is becareful with drugs because the side effects sometimes are worse than the small drop in our A1C and for some reason our doctors just dismiss them at trivial.
take care and good luck in your choices.