Re: Susie

[Guest guest]

<< Susie, I dread it when people keep adding medication, refuse to change

their diet. I think that is more the problem than specific medication like

glyburide or glucophage, I think none are without drawbacks. I

don't like to have you say it squeezes your pancreas, or use loaded words

about it, I had good results with it. Kaiser puts their worst patients, the

ones who won't reform on 10mg of glyburide plus glucophage, typically 2

850mg doses a day (forever). >>

Lots of people " have good results " with sulfonylureas. They can eat freely

and get pretty good test results - for awhile. That's the kicker. The sulfs

overdrive the pancreas, shortening the time before the pancreas poops out

and they must move on to insulin. Our problem is not a lack of insulin -

it's an inability to use it. And sulfs go about treating diabetes the wrong

way, by churning out more and more insulin, in an attempt to overcome that

resistance. But excess insulin is not a good thing for our body. And there's

the constant threat of hypos, and now we learn that heart attack risk is

also increased.

My sister didn't feel she needed to change her diet because her readings

were looking pretty good. I don't consider my sister a " worst patient. " All

she was doing was following doctor's orders in taking sulfonylureas all

these years. It wasn't until her pancreas quit (as I kept telling her it

would). Then she spiraled out of control in a matter of months.

You didn't lose your pancreas to a sulfonylurea because you didn't stay on

it. You would be singing a different tune if you had sacrificed a major body

organ to a pill - especially if it happened in the year 2000, when there are

so many newer, better pills available, as well as injected insulin, to

achieve good control. (Oh, did I forget to mention the most important one?

Diet.)

Susie