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September 1, 2001

Pills for Diabetes

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Question from East Peoria, Illinois, USA:

My mother is taking Glucophage [metformin] and has problems with extreme diarrhea due to this medication. What can she do?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

If the diarrhea is clearly due to the drug, there are two easy choices:

If it’s working well, cut the dose, and see if the diarrhea is either lessened to a tolerable level or maybe gone.
If it’s not working well, discontinue the medication and try another type of diabetes pill.

Of course, this is something that she should discuss with her physician — maybe the diarrhea is due to some other cause, or a combination of something else plus the pills.

WWQ