Weight gain on Glimepiride

[tecarlin]

I have been on metformin for years, but was not controlling BG.  My MD switched me to Glimeperide my BG is good but my appetite and weight have increased a lot.  Any one have the same issues?  Also, my vision is fluctuating from blurry to sharp during the day, I do have Myasthenia Gravis which can have vision issues too.
Any comments?

Thank you
Tom

[Super_sally888]

Tom,

Could you talk to your Dr about changing meds?  

Glimiperide is a sulfonurea.  These drugs force your pancreas to put out more insulin.  However, the pancreas may burn out sooner and the insulin production may be erratic. Increased insulin leads to increased hunger leads to increase in weight.  Some doctors no longer use sulfonureas as their treatment due to the side effects and the more rapid pancreas burnout.

An option may be low dose insulin combined with metformin.  

You may also try a low carb diet avoiding sugars (including fructose) and grains or severly cutting these, and combine with exercise (if you have time then 30 minutes exercise / walk after each meal could help).

[brice1967]

Hey Tom,

Sorry that you are going through these issues.  It's my understanding that the one side effect that most people talk about when it comes to Glimeperide is the weight gain.

Initially, when I started on metformin I had similar issues but I think those were just in my head more than anything else.  What I did is just learn to eat better but when you are always hungry its got to be difficult to eat right and not feel full.

Have you spoken to your doctor about this?  I'm just throwing this out there but could there be some condition that hasn't been diagnosed.  An eating disorder perhaps?  

Get back to me.  I'd like to hear how things are going.