Many patients with diabetes take glucose-lowering drugs but still fail to achieve satisfactory blood glucose control, for various reasons.Patients should pay attention to the following points during oral antidiabetic therapy.
- Do not change medications frequently
Some sulfonylurea antidiabetic drugs exert a gradually strengthening effect in the body over time.Some patients are unaware of this and are eager to switch medications after only a few days or more than ten days if blood glucose and urine glucose do not improve satisfactorily.In fact, some glucose-lowering drugs only reach their maximum hypoglycemic effect after half a month or even one month of use. - Do not combine drugs of the same class
Each antidiabetic drug has a maximum effective dose.Do not easily conclude that a drug is ineffective before reaching this dose.A reasonable approach is: Gradually adjust the dose of the glucose-lowering drug according to blood glucose levels.
If blood glucose is still not well-controlled at the maximum effective dose, combine it with other types of drugs in a different class.
Do not use two drugs from the same class at the same time.
Patients should consult a doctor before adjusting medications and should not make decisions on their own.Current guidelines recommend starting combination therapy with two or even three oral antidiabetic drugs when a single drug at a moderate dose fails to control hyperglycemia adequately.If two oral drugs are still insufficient, insulin therapy can be added.
- Glucose-lowering drugs are not necessarily better if they are more expensive
The price of a drug is not proportional to its efficacy, and the hypoglycemic effect should not be judged by cost.Instead of asking which drug is “better”, we should focus on which drug is more suitable.A drug effective for one patient may not work for another, and may even be harmful. - Choose glucose-lowering drugs according to body weight and age
For severely obese patients, weight loss should be achieved first, and glucose-lowering drugs selected afterward based on blood glucose levels.
Diabetic glucose-lowering treatment is long-term, even lifelong.Patients should not stop taking medications or reduce the dosage on their own.Consult a doctor if there are special circumstances.