January 25, 2001
Medications: Pills for Diabetes
Question from Gillette, Wyoming, USA:
My 12 year old son, who has type 1 diabetes diagnosed at the age of five, takes three injections of insulin daily. Recently, while visiting his mother, he was given a prescription for Glucophage by a doctor, other than his primary care giver. What is it?
Answer:
Glucophage [metformin] is used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It acts as an insulin sensitizer. If your son is extremely overweight, this might be an experimental manner of helping him need less insulin and not overeat as much. If he has type 1 diabetes and is not overweight, then metformin does not have much place in current treatment. You should talk to your son’s usual doctors or diabetes team to find out if he should be using Glucophage.
SB