Safety Tips for Diabetes Medication

If diet and exercise can’t get your blood sugar level down, your doctor‘s next move may be to prescribe a diabetes medication. One of the most popular choices is Actos.

Actos is effective, but unfortunately it can come with some pretty serious side effects.

Choosing a Medication

Before you take any medication, you should do thorough research on the drug.

If you’re considering taking Actos (pioglitazone), you need to know that your risk of developing bladder cancer increases by 40 percent if you take Actos for more than a year. This has led many who have developed bladder cancer to file Actos lawsuits against its manufacturer. Your risk of heart failure and heart attack also increases substantially with Actos.

This is why thorough research is so important. Start by going to the Food and Drug Administration’s website.

There’s a tab called drugs@FDA. There, you will find all of the drugs approved by the FDA in alphabetical order, as well as their label information.  

If you look up Actos, you will find that the drug has also been connected with side effects such as:

·        Macular edema (an eye disease that causes blindness).

·        Bone fractures.

·        Lliver failure.

For more information also try searching on metformin, you’ll see some of these same side effects of Actos listed.

Drug classes such as Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, non-sulfonylurea secretagogues and sulfonylureas are safer diabetes drug choices because they have fewer side effects.

Tips for Taking Diabetes Medication

Once you and your doctor have decided on a diabetes medication, you need to know how much to take and when to take it. Diabetes drugs must be taken regularly, so you should have a backup plan in case you can’t get to your medicine.

Here are some precautions you should consider taking:

·        Keep three days of medication on hand in case you can’t get to a doctor.

·        Gather backup supplies (this could include insulin delivery supplies, extra batteries for a blood glucose meter and a fast-acting source of glucose).

·        Keep your emergency supplies in one well-marked container that’s easy to find.

·        Make a list of emergency contacts.

·        If you are a parent, give a copy of these emergency contacts, along with treatment instructions, to your child’s day care or baby sitter.

·        Make sure you have identified people that will assist you or your child in the event of a diabetes emergency and make sure these people are aware of their responsibilities.

When it comes to diabetes, the best way to stay in control is to be well-informed. If you have any questions about your medication or your treatment plan, ask your doctor. Together, you can make diabetes much more manageable.

Author Bio: William Richards is a writer for Drugwatch.com. He uses his journalism background to investigate dangerous drugs and promote consumer awareness!