How Do Diabetes Tablets Work?

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 15:11

When should I take tablets, before or after food?
Some tablets should be taken before and some after food. Some tablets even should be taken with the first bite of food, because that is the time they work best. This is very important and you should make this clear from your doctor. If it is before, correct time is around 30 minutes before food.

S.NO	Name	Mech of action	Max dose
1	Sulphonylurea	Stimulates insulin secretion from pancreas
a	Glibenclamide		15mg/day
b	Glimeperide		8mg/day
c	Glipizide		20mg/day
d	Gliclazide		320mg/day
2	Metformin	Decreases hepatic production of glucose and increases utilisation	3gm/day
3	Glitazone	Insulin sensitisers
a	Pioglitazone		45mg/day
b	Rosiglitazone		8mg/day
4	Glinides	Stimulates insulin secretion
	Repaglinide		0.5-16mg/day
5	Acarbose	Inhibits digestive enzyme
6	Gliptin	Increases Insulin and suppresses anti-Insulin hormone called Glucagon	100mg/day

How do they work?

Different tablets work in different ways. Some stimulate the pancreas to produce more Insulin, some tries to help body"s Insulin to work more efficiently while some others do not allow sugar to be absorbed from the stomach. Few tablets work in more than one way.

Can I combine different tablets together?
Yes, if needed. Generally the rule of thumb is to try the maximum dose or maximum tolerated dose of one group and then combine the second tablet from a different group so that they can work together. But now-a-days we are using combination tablet even from the beginning.