@A DiabetesTeam Member SU's are NOT popular in the US and rarely prescribed because almost all of them are generic - drug companies make no money off them so there is no incentive for the Doctors to prescribe them

All the rest of the countries in the gang here have Socialized Medicine and these are a cheap option if the government is picking up the tab

Brenzavvy belongs to a class called SGLT-2 - good meds, more expensive - work by forcing the kidneys to suck extra sugar and salt out of the blood and pass it in urine

Main side effect (about 20% of users) is chronic yeast infections (all that sugar feeds the yeast), but if you tolerate the stuff lowers blood sugar no matter how bad your insulin production and insulin resistance is, protects the kidneys (second leading cause of death in diabetics) AND really protects the Cardio-Vascular system (less salt means drastically lower risk of Heart Attack and Stroke which along with congestive failure is the number one killer of diabetics)

So great meds, typically "not cheap" though - but Brenzavvy is the "generic'ish" version of Jardiance so considerably less costly then the Brand Name

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

Actos (Pioglitazone) belongs to the TZD class of meds and yes, it's a low cost option compared to "most"

The other low cost drug class is Sulfonylurea's (SU's) - all the meds name end in "IDE" as in Glimepiride, Glyburide, Glipizide etc

They work super well, have been around for about 80 years so well established but have two common side effects

First, users tend to gain 5 or 10 pounds - this can be alleviated with a slight change to your diet

Second they cause low blood sugar, sometimes dangerously low because these meds require a great deal of attention from the user and if you don't eat "enough" you go low

Most of them, in generic form cost literally a few cents per pill (I could get a years worth of Glyburide, at 3 pills a day, in Canada for less than 75 bucks - ya, for the whole year)

But they work best if every meal has the nearly the same number of carbs - you can NEVER skip a meal even if that means you drop what you are doing and eat at Noon or 5pm (because if you don't eat at nearly the same time every day, then you can go high or low)

Cumbersome to take but that's why they don't cost a Grand a month - you can either pay for the meds to do all the work or do it yourself - SU's make you do the work yourself

Until about 25 years ago these were the Only Oral Meds for Type 2 - I have seen them used (in my family) for years - work great, but are NOT a "Take it and Forget It" Med

Pandapat I've tried metformin extended release and thats horrible

Grahamlamb thank you. The doctor tried to prescribe me brenzavvy but none of the drug stores have this yet so I'm still looking for inexpensive. I can't afford the expensive ones.

Metformin is the cheapest.Have you tried the extended release version?- it's easier on the stomach