There are several types of diabetes medicines that work in different ways, such as Insulin, Metformin, Glibenclamide, Glimepiride and Liraglutide. However, these medications can cause side effects such as weight gain or loss, nausea, diarrhea, and hypoglycaemia, and are more common at the start of treatment.
While there are these possible side effects, remedies to treat diabetes are crucial because they help control blood sugar, reducing the risk of complications such as kidney failure, skin ulcers and blindness. Therefore, if there is any side effect, treatment should not be stopped and it is essential to consult the endocrinologist or general practitioner to change the treatment and adjust the doses if necessary.
It is important to remember that, for the correct treatment of any type of diabetes, whether it is type 1, 2 or gestational diabetes, it is essential to eat a low-sugar diet and to practice daily physical exercises, besides the use of the medicines or insulin application according to the recommendations of the doctor. Understand better how treatment is done for each type of diabetes.
Side Effects of Insulin
The main side effect of any type of insulin is hypoglycemia, which is the exaggerated reduction of glucose. This change causes symptoms such as tremors, dizziness, weakness, perspiration and nervousness, and is very dangerous, because if it is not corrected quickly, it can cause fainting and even coma. Learn to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia.
- What to do : If hypoglycaemia is suspected, eat something that is easy to swallow and contains sugar, such as fruit juice, a glass of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar, or a candy, for example. If symptoms do not improve, it is important to go to the emergency room.
Hypoglycaemia usually occurs when there is some deregulation of the treatment, which may be changes in the diet that the person was accustomed to, have not eaten for a long time, use of alcoholic beverages or some exercise or intense stress.
So to avoid this side effect and keep glucose levels constant, it is critical to make several small meals throughout the day, rather than eating too much and rarely, preferably with a nutritionist-oriented diet. If hypoglycaemia is repetitive, it is important to consult with the general practitioner or endocrinologist to adjust the doses of insulin and avoid this type of complication.
In addition, it is important to know how to apply insulin correctly to prevent constant injections causing any damage to the skin or adipose tissue, an alteration called insulin lipohypertrophy. Here's how to take the insulin correctly.
Side effects of oral antidiabetics
There are several oral antidiabetics, in the form of tablets, to control type 2 diabetes, which can be taken alone or in conjunction with others.
Each class of hypoglycemic drugs acts differently in the body, and can cause several types of side effects, which vary with the type of medication, dose and sensitivity of each person. The main ones are:
1. Nausea and diarrhea
This is the main side effect of diabetes remedies, being very felt by people using Metformin. Other medicines that also cause this change may be Exenatide, Liraglutide, Vidagliptin or Acarbose.
- What to do : You should consult your doctor to try to make adjustments that reduce the risk of these effects, such as taking the medication after eating or preferring medicines with nighttime use, such as Metformin XR. If symptoms persist, it may be necessary to change the type of medication with medical advice. Eating small meals several times a day will also help to control this type of symptom. While you wait for the medical consultation you can take a ginger tea to control the feeling of nausea and vomiting.
2. Hypoglycemia
The risk of very low sugar is greater in medicines that stimulate the secretion of insulin by the pancreas, such as Glibenclamide, Glimepiride, Gliclazide, Repaglinide and Nateglinide, for example.
- What to do : Never be fasted or long without eating while using the medication, in addition to following a balanced diet and divided into several small meals a day, avoiding staying more than 3 hours without eating. When feeling the first symptoms or identifying someone with signs of hypoglycemia, you should sit down and offer foods rich in sugar or easily digested carbohydrates, such as 1 glass of fruit juice, half a glass of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar or 1 sweet bread, for example. Check with your doctor to see if there is a need for dose adjustment or modification of the medicine.
3. Excess gases
This type of symptom is felt by people who use drugs that work by lowering the absorption of glucose in the intestine, such as Acarbose and Miglitol, also being a complaint of people who use Metformin.
- What to do : It is advised to avoid foods with excess sugars, such as sweets, cakes and breads, or that produce many gases, such as beans, cabbage and eggs, for example, in addition to having a high fiber diet. Check out more foods that cause gas in this video:
4. To fatten
This side effect is common with the use of insulin or medicines that increase the amount of insulin in the body, such as Glibenclamide, Glimepiride, Gliclazide, Repaglinide and Nateglinide, or with those that cause fluid accumulation and swelling, such as Pioglitasone and Rosiglitazone.
- What to do : You should maintain a balanced diet, with few carbohydrates, fat and salt, in addition to practicing physical activity daily. The most indicated exercises are those that burn more calories, such as hard walking, running or bodybuilding. Find out what the best weight loss exercises are.
5. Lack of appetite
This type of symptom can happen with the use of several medicines, like Metformin, but it is more intense in people who use Exenatida or Liraglutida, also known like Victoza. For this reason, it is common to have weight loss with the use of these types of remedies.
- What to do : maintain a balanced diet, without eating meals at the scheduled times, divided into small meals, several times a day. Check out some home remedies to combat lack of appetite.
6. Urinary tract infection
The increased risk of urinary tract infection occurs in a class of diabetes medicines that increase the elimination of glucose from the urine, such as Dapagliflozin, Empagliflozin, Canagliflozine. In this case there is pain or burning sensation when urinating and smell of strong urine.
- What to do : Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, and avoid foods with excess sugar, and take the antibiotic indicated by your doctor. If this is a persistent change, talk to your doctor about the need to change the medicine to control diabetes.
It is common for people with diabetes to need to use more than one type of medication, so in these cases, care should be redoubled to avoid side effects, taking care of the correct dose, recommended times, and always keep meals balanced. Here's what the diet for people with diabetes should look like in this video:
