Glucophage vs Actos

[lcmema]

I have been taking glucophage for about 3 years, combined with Amaryl. After a few weeks on Atkins I dropped the Amaryl and have been getting good bs readings with just the glucophage. Before Atkins my MD wanted to add Actos with the other 2 meds. I never got the prescription filled...began Atkins instead. My bs reading are only high in the morning. I've read that Actos evens bs levels better than glucophage. Should I switch?

[wsgts]

Well, you read my report below on Actos. It seems to be a very nice drug for me to take, with no low problems. I would say if Glucaphage is working, why bother? Glucaphage has been proven to help you lose weight, while Actos has been proven to make people gain.

I wouldn't be too worried about having a little of both if you bg is not good enough on one.

BTW, you say high, what does high mean to you? I consider morning below 150 to be fine.

Later,
wsgts

[lcmema]

My bs was almost 200 this AM. Any other time of the day it is 100-120, which is probably not great, but pretty good for me. I take 1000mg glucophage with breakfast and 1000mg at supper time. I was wondering too if I should take the evening dose at bed time. Would that make a difference or just throw everything off?? I certainly do not want to take anything that causes weight gain!

[kjturner]

Oh, yes. Take it at bedtime. But may I suggest you ask your doc to switch you to Glucophage XR. That's the extended release version of metformin and I have found it does a much better job of evening out my bg's, plus the added benefit of not causing the intestinal disturbance the non-XR version causes.