Diabetes medication

Sometimes lifestyle changes alone aren’t enough or possible for some people, and in these cases, medication is often used to help improve the control of type 2 diabetes.

There are many medications out there that help control blood glucose levels, all of those working in different ways. It is important to know what medication you are taking as well as some of the possible side effects these medications can have.

There are a number of different classes of medication that your diabetes team may suggest you try including:

Click the buttons above to view information resources for each of the medication classes.

Acarbose

Acarbose works by delaying the rate at which the body digests sugar, which slows down the rate at which your blood glucose rises after you have eaten. It can cause a rumbling stomach, wind, feeling full and diarrhoea. The drug needs to be taken with the first mouthful of food to be effective. It is rarely used nowadays because of these side effects.

Insulin

Sometimes insulin is required to bring blood glucose down to a safe level. The main side effect of insulin treatment is low blood glucose, known as hypoglycaemia (defined as a blood glucose level of less than 4 mmol/L). Because of this, people who are treated with insulin usually monitor their blood glucose more regularly.

Other medicines

As well as controlling blood glucose, people with diabetes often need to take other medications to reduce their risk of complications, by lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol levels, or to protect vital organs like the heart and the kidneys.

These include:

• Statin tablets to lower cholesterol
• Tablets for blood pressure control
• ACE inhibitor or ARB tablets for kidney protection or blood pressure control (drugs with names ending ‘opril’ or ‘sartan’)
• SGLT-2 inhibitors (drugs with names ending in ‘gliflozin’) to protect the kidneys or treat the heart separately to their effect on blood sugar

These medicines can help you achieve the three treatment targets, which we will discuss in the next topic.