[auto]

I have been on Amaryl (glimepiride) 2 mg twice daily for over a year now. I went off it for a week and then back on, recording my BG levels at least twice daily. The average readings for the week before, week I was off the meds, and then the week after I went back on are not significantly different:

• week 1 on amaryl: 121 +/-16
• week 2 off all meds: 125 +/-12
• week 3 back on amaryl 113 +/-14

I'm thinking glimepiride is not doing anything for me. Is a week of a long enough test duration? Should I ask my GP for different meds? The Endo who first prescribed Amaryl (actually, Januvia but that was insanely expensive) left to work for industry. I also note that my A1C is trending upward, last measure 6.4 using the Walmart test kit. I welcome any observations and would like to hear from anyone who is also on glimepiride. I read prior posts on this sulfonylurea drug and did not find this answer. Thanks and Cheers.

 

[tony0611]

Amaryl is a bad drug. I would suggest get off it. Amaryl works with a single dose and you dont need to Await for multiple days/weeks to see the effect of the Amaryl.

I was on Amaryl and the results were instant. Blood sugars crashed in a day or 2, but it does not make sense in taking a drug that whips your pancreas into making more insulin..Thing about whipping a dying horse.....

 

[tony0611]

I would suggest looking at your diet more, increasing metformin (if not already at max), including more exercise. And if all that does not work probably look at insulin

 

[JT Reagan]

Are you having any episodes of low blood sugar? Glimepiride worked too well for me some days and not at all on others. The trigger was citrus.
You don't say if you are taking metformin. Tony 6011 is right about the common sense of not taking something that will eventually make you worse. However, it is bringing down the blood sugar (as per your third week compare to the second). Ask your doctor for something else with a different approach. Also, I dropped down the carb amount for a stretch and that got me back on track without the drug.

 

[auto]

Thanks so much for the response. No, I am not on metformin nor any other meds. I rarely if ever go hypo, meaning I always record a BSL of 90 or higher. I suspect my primary control of blood sugar is through diet, as I rarely eat any carbs.

 

[auto]

Visited my GP yesterday and she took me off Amaryl and put me on metformin instead. She would have done this initially but deferred to my former endocrinologist (who now gets big bucks at Lilly Pharmaceuticals). I'll wait a few months and post back any difference in the numbers.