Type 2 Diabetes: Living With the Disease - Medications
How medicine helps manage diabetes
Some people with type 2 diabetes need pills (oral medicines) to help their bodies make insulin, decrease insulin resistance, or slow down how quickly their bodies absorb carbohydrate.
Five Ways to Control Type 2 Diabetes
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Read the Five Ways to Control Type 2 Diabetes article > >
You may take no medicine, one medicine, or a few medicines. Some people need to take medicine for a short time, while others always need to take medicine. How much medicine you need depends on how well you can keep your blood sugar within your target range. You may need more medicine over time, even if you have good control of your blood sugar.
Taking two or more medicines may work better to lower your blood sugar level than taking one medicine alone. Also, taking two or more medicines may mean fewer side effects if you are taking a lower dose of each.
Medicine choices
-
Oral
medicines that help your body make insulin. These include:
- Sulfonylureas, such as glipizide (Glucotrol), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase, and Micronase), glimepiride (Amaryl), and other medicines that work in combination (Glucovance, Metaglip).
- Meglitinides, such as repaglinide (Prandin), nateglinide (Starlix), and a combination medicine (Prandimet).
- DPP-4 inhibitors, such as sitagliptin (Januvia), saxagliptin (Onglyza), and a combination medicine (Janumet).
-
Oral medicines that
lower insulin resistance. These include:
- Biguanides, such as metformin (Glucophage) and other medicines that are combined with metformin (Prandimet, Avandamet).
- Thiazolidinediones, such as pioglitazone (Actos) and rosiglitazone (Avandia).
-
Oral
medicines that slow down absorption of carbohydrates.
These include:
- Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, such as acarbose (Precose) and miglitol (Glyset).
-
Medicines that help lower blood sugar. If you are having trouble controlling your blood
sugar with pills, your doctor may suggest one of these medicines:
- Incretin mimetics, such as exenatide (Byetta). You take this medicine as a shot 2 times a day.
- Amylinomimetics, such as pramlintide (Symlin). This medicine works with insulin and glucagon to help control blood sugar. It is given as a shot before meals.
- Insulin . Insulin lets sugar (glucose) in the blood enter cells, where it is used for energy. Without insulin, the blood sugar level gets too high. Most of the time, people who take insulin use a combination of short-acting and long-acting insulin. This helps keep blood sugar within your target range. You may want to learn more about when insulin is needed for type 2 diabetes.
You may also need to take:
- A low-dose aspirin every day. Talk to your doctor about whether you should take low-dose aspirin. Daily low-dose aspirin (81 milligrams) may help prevent heart problems if you are at risk for heart attack or stroke.
- Medicines that control high blood pressure. For more information, see the topic High Blood Pressure (Hypertension).
- Medicines that control high cholesterol, such as statins. For more information, see the topic High Cholesterol.
- An ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), if you have protein in your urine. Protein in the urine could mean a problem with your kidneys (diabetic nephropathy).
Managing your medicines
Medicines can help you manage your diabetes and other health problems, but only if you take them correctly. It can be hard to keep track of when and how to take your medicine, especially if you are taking more than one. Maybe you aren't sure why you are taking a medicine or if it is working. Or you might have trouble paying for your medicine. For help, see:
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

