Hi. I am new to the forum. My A1C is now 5.5, down from 6.4...yeah! I am on 1000mg of metformin twice daily. As my last appt. (this week), my doc suggested adding actos to the mix. Has anyone begun this treatment? Is it supposed to be great for vascular reasons...but it causes weight gain. My weight is totally under control and I exercise a lot. I am hesitant to take something that might distrupt my current physical balance. Suggestions? Comments?
actos
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Silly question, but with an A1c of 5.5 why add actos 'to the mix'? Seems the metformin and your exercise is probably doing the trick, or is there something else of concern?
Met has little in the way of side-effects (other than the gastro-intestinal issues some experience) and certainly doesn't have the cardiac warnings that actos has... I'd be hesitant, but that's me.
I would ask the same question. How low does he want your bgs to be. A HbA1c of 5.5 is great. My husband is on Actos and it worries me because of the heart issues and the weight gain. Many people have to go off of it because of side effects. It also weakens your bones. Are you on the regular Metformin or the extended. The maximum of the regular is 2550.
Hi ...not sure if I am replying in the correct area...but my doc told me that actos is effective in keeping the physical damage to my arteries etc. It thickens the arterial walls that diabetes often thins. The thinning occurs /begins during the prediabetic phase...not true?
I'm on the extended. I was 6.4 six months ago. I exercise intensely and really eat carefully. I would much rather stay just on metformin. Before on it, my A1c was never below 6.3...even with the diet and exerice. Once I began the full dose...over time it has responded. Not many side effects either. From all the posts I 've gotten, I think I wil decline the actos invitation
Have never heard of this. Is your doc a general practioner or internist? If he keeps going off the wall like this, you might shop around for an endocrinologist.
(later) Okay . . . I've now found an article describing how actos thickens arterial walls, but I still haven't found evidence of diabetes THINNING them.
The study was apparently conducted several years ago at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, and was funded by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Actos.
hmmm...the plot thickens. I usually trust my doc...but in this case I think I have decided to wait before jumping into a new med. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it. " MY A1C is good...I'll not rock the boat.Have never heard of this. Is your doc a general practioner or internist? If he keeps going off the wall like this, you might shop around for an endocrinologist.
(later) Okay . . . I've now found an article describing how actos thickens arterial walls, but I still haven't found evidence of diabetes THINNING them.
The study was apparently conducted several years ago at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, and was funded by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Actos.![]()
Now methinks either he or we got this turned around . . . Upon returning to the article I posted, the headline itself says "curbs" thickening. Reading the copy more carefully, it says "At the end of the treatment period, the carotid artery intima-media (CIMT) thickness -- a measure of the thickness of the middle layers of the carotid arteries -- increased by an average of .012 millimeters in participants taking glimepiride and decreased by .001 millimeters in those taking pioglitazone (actos)." And then it says "Mazzone emphasized that CIMT thickness was a surrogate endpoint and that the results could not yet be taken to mean there would be a reduction in actual clinical events for patients."
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I was on Actos 30MG for a year. I don't think it helped at all. It was great for helping you gain weight cause swelling and I could go on and on. Don't start this drug!
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savage, I am on 30mg of actos and dream of getting to your numbers. The actos has helped very little and I am going to get off of it in the next week or so. Looks like your doing well without it.
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Just to be sure that Actos is not something you want to be on go www.askapatient.com and type in Actos and you will see reviews on people taking this drug and what they think of it. I was taking Actos to help with insulin resistance. I then got to reading about the extended version of Metformin. I decided that it had been 11 years since I tried the regular version and I asked my doctor about going back on Metformin but the extended version and no side affects at all.
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