Category Archives: Drug & Supplement Information
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #3: My experience with Niacin
Third post in a series…
This is the third in a series where I go through all the drugs and vitamin supplements that my doctor has instructed me to take and I provide you with a list of links / readings / background information.
For the full backstory and the 411 on Invokana and the ACA, check out the first post:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana and the ACA
For the second post spotlighting Janumet, check out:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #2: Janumet
I am a fairly new diabetic. I was diagnosed in June 2015, approximately 6 months ago. My doctor immediately put me on two diabetic drugs. This was in addition to the drugs I was taking to control my high blood pressure and dust/dust mite allergies.
A month ago at my last doctor’s visit, because of the results from a comprehensive panel of bloodwork, I was ordered to start taking a HUGE number of mega-doses of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Which of course lead me to having a LOT of questions! So I started doing research online and since I blog and I was once upon a time a Librarian, I thought “AHA!” — instant blog post series! Woot!
Standard disclaimer:
I am not a doctor. I am not giving medical advice. I’m just sharing my own experiences.
Before you make any changes that could affect your health, you should talk to your doctor first!
So, here’s the next drug/supplement on my list:
Niacin
Q: When and how should I take Niacin?
A: Talk to your doctor for doses and frequency. — I was taking it 2 x per day, once around 9 in the morning and then again around 9 at night, 500mg Extended-Release tablet.
Q: Any drug interactions that I should watch for?
A: YES! as with most drugs there is a big long list of possible interactions, but…
OMG! This drug/supplement interacts apparently interacts with just about EVERYTHING! And it has some funky side effects too! After discussing things with my doctor, she ordered me to stop taking it.
The reasons my doctor order me to stop taking it were:
(1) I was having hot flashes. My whole body seemed to rise in temperature; I could literally put my hand close to an arm or leg and feel the heat radiating from my body.
(2) My face would have a kind of “pin-prick” sensation all over my head, face and ears. Very similar to the feeling that you get when the circulation returns to an arm or leg that “went to sleep.”
Reasons number 1 & 2 above are actually pretty common side effects. And while feeling weird, are worth putting up with because of the benefits of taking the Niacin.
The reason a doctor will order you to take Niacin is to lower bad cholesterol and increase the good cholesterol. Which is something I need to do based on that huge panel of blood tests my doctor did on me.
IF it had only been the funky flashes, then my doctor would have told me to keep taking the drug as long as they didn’t increase in frequency or intensity.
But the thing that caused my doctor to order me to stop was:
(3) Niacin was interfering with the effectiveness of Janumet (50 mg/1000 mg) and Invokana (300 mg), the two drugs I take to control my Type 2 Diabetes.
The day after I began taking Niacin, I noticed Read the rest of this entry
Share with folks on the Interwebz :-)
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #2: Janumet
Second post in a series…
This is the second in a series where I go through all the drugs and vitamin supplements that my doctor has instructed me to take and I provide you with a list of links / readings / background information.
For the full backstory and the 411 on Invokana and the ACA, check out the first post:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana and the ACA
I can hear the collective groan from my assembled readers… “Just give us the short story!” — well as you should all know by now, I don’t do short very well. But, I shall try. 😀
I am a fairly new diabetic. I was diagnosed in June 2015, approximately 5 months ago. My doctor immediately put me two diabetic drugs. This was in addition to the drugs I was taking to control my high blood pressure and dust/dust mite allergies.
A month ago at my last doctor’s visit, I was ordered to start taking a HUGE number of mega-doses of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Which lead me to a BUNCH of questions:
Are there any interactions that I should be watching out for?
..- What are all these things supposed to be doing to improve my health?
.. - Are any of these things the cause of:
- …a constant low volume ringing in my ears?
- …a weird pattern I’m seeing in my blood sugar levels? [Since I’ve started taking the supplements, my fasting blood sugar levels have increased dramatically.]
..
Standard Disclaimer:
I am NOT a doctor. I am not offering medical advice. You should ALWAYS consult your doctor before making any medical decisions.
Why share such personal information?
Well, I’m a bit of a drama queen. LOL I love talking about Moí!
Actually, I’m a retired Librarian. I enjoy sharing information. I get a kick out of it.
Since I’m doing this research online no matter what for my own benefit, I thought I’d make a series of blog posts out of it so that others could benefit as well.
Read the first article in this series for more detail on how and why I chose these particular links / articles.
Janumet (Sitagliptin / Metformin)
Q: When and how should I take Janumet?
A: Online, everything I read said “take with meals” — but that wasn’t exactly “helpful. Sheesh. I wanted EXACTNESS! Did “with meals” mean just before the meal or actually when I was eating? Did the drug need time to be absorbed BEFORE I started to eat? And if I was supposed to take it “with meals” then wouldn’t that mess up the timing if I’m taking two pills a day? I mean, logically, it makes sense to take two doses of medication 12 hours apart if you are taking “two per day”. If I took it “with meals” then it wouldn’t be 12 hours apart — after all, breakfast and dinner are NOT 12 hours apart. *sigh*
Of course every article also said to “ask your doctor” so I did. 🙂
My doctor said: to take the 1st pill of the day 10 minutes before eating breakfast (basically I take it when I start cooking breakfast). For the second dose of the day, my doctor said to take it approximately 12 hours later. So if I eat breakfast at 9 am, then I should take the second pill around 9 pm.
Q: Any drug interactions that I should watch for?
A: Yes, as with most drugs there is a big long list of possible interactions.
I discovered that, for me, what I need to be most aware of is a possible interaction with my high blood pressure medication, Enalapril and with my Niacin supplement. So, I bet you can guess what I’m about to say…all together now:
Note to self: ask my doctor about this when I see her next time!
Janumet (Sitagliptin / Metformin)
Information / Articles / Links
Janumet (WebMD)
Link: http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-148074/janumet-oral/details
Diabetes Medicines You Don’t Inject (WebMD)
Link: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/oral-medicine-pills-treat-diabetes
Sitagliptin (MedlinePlus)
Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a606023.html
Metformin (MedlinePlus)
Link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a696005.html
Medication Guide for Janumet (Food & Drug Administration)
Note: This is a PDF file. Get the current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Link: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/drugsafety/ucm204268.pdf
Janumet (website mantained by the drug’s manufacturer)
Link: http://www.janumetxr.com/sitagliptin_metformin_HCL/janumetxr/consumer/what-is-janumet/index.xhtml
Note: Yes, you can get lots of information on the manufacturer’s website.
However, when using any manufacturer’s website, you need to put on your “buyer beware” hat. Think about it: the company is a business which means that it is to their advantage to emphasis the positives and minimize the negatives even as they do everything the law requires them to do in terms of disclosure of risks.
Trust, but verify be thy motto when reading information provided by the manufacturer.
Discount ($5 copay program / Savings Card for Janumet)
Note: I am on this program. The application process is easy to complete. Basically the program works like a coupon when you pick up your monthly prescription at the pharmacy. My copay for this drug is $100. The pharmacy rings up $100 then they apply the “coupon” and Tah-DAH, my balance due is only $5.
Link: http://www.activatethecard.com/7159/
Free Trial for Janumet (30 day supply)
Note: I took advantage of this when I first started taking Janumet. For me that was 60 tablets because my doctor ordered me to take it 2x per day. The Free Trial works like a coupon at the pharmacy during checkout. When the coupon is applied, there is zero cost. You pay nothing. Your insurance company pays nothing.
Special Note: If you have trouble redeeming the coupon have the clerk ring the transaction all by itself. When I did this, it wouldn’t work if I had anything else on the ticket other than just the Janumet. I have no idea why the computers were not happy but once ONLY the Janumet was on the ticket, everything worked fine.
See ya on the dance floor!
P.S. If you find any of this information valuable, please “Like” and “Share” it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter etc.
P.P.S. If you found this information REALLY helpful and/or valuable then please consider helping me out by making a small donation via PayPal to help me
- pay for my medications,
- pay for vitamins & supplements,
- and/or to help me pay for practice fees as I return to the dance floor.
See ya on the dance floor!
Share with folks on the Interwebz :-)
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana, and ACA
First post in a series…
When I started writing this post two days ago, I had intended it to be just a “quick” post.
SIGH
Well, it is turning into quite the project. And waaaaaaaaay too long for a single post. So, here is the “introduction” and the 411 on Invokana.
For those who aren’t hip to all the current jargon… “411” is what the kid’s these days call “information.”
Questions! I got Questions!
Because of a recent doctor’s visit, I have a bunch of questions. And I went online and started doing some research, trying to get answers to those questions.
After a little bit, it occurred to me that I should put the information I found into a blog post. Sort of a one-stop shop with links, where I use my searching skills to save you folks a lot of time.
I know that I’ve had a recent surge of new subscribers who found my blog because of the Diabetes information that I’ve posted.
So, if any of you folks have answers or comments based on your own experience then, please SHARE them in the comments at the end of this post.
Standard Disclaimer:
I am NOT a doctor. I am not offering medical advice. You should ALWAYS consult your doctor before making any medical decisions.
A bit of background…
I was diagnosed with diabetes in June of this year. I started taking Invokana and Janumet in mid-June and started testing my AM fasting blood sugar levels in late June.
I’m visiting my doctor once a month right now so that my doctor can keep a close watch on things not only because I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic, but because I’m “obese” (workin’ on that!) and I have high blood pressure (workin’ on that too!)
One bonus of going to see my doctor monthly is that it really helps me; just knowing that I’m going to weigh in and will have my blood pressure checked, keeps me on track. To date, I’ve lost 27-30 lbs since my heaviest weight of 333 lbs. Yay!
My weight fluctuates a little, of course. This morning I weighed 305 which gives me a 28lb loss to date. But the good news is that I’m nearing at a threshold / plateau breaker of 300 lbs. Unfortunately my body is resisting going past that hurdle. Grrrrrrrrrr
At last month’s regular visit, about four weeks ago, I had a really BIG blood work panel done when I was at my doctor’s office. That visit was the 3 month anniversary of my diabetes diagnosis; which is why she did the big blood work panel — 3 months after I had been taking the two diabetes medications.
Well, last week, at this month’s doctor visit, she gave this multi-page report that were the results from the blood work.
OMG! It was huge.
Who knew that you could discover so much about a person just from their blood! A bit overwhelming actually.
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 