Question from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA:

My 29 year old daughter has the mental capacity of a toddler and has seizures. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last spring. She takes 5 mg of glipizide 30 minutes before breakfast and one-half tablet 30 minutes before dinner. She has an average blood sugar of 97 mg/dl [5.4 mmol/L] with three blood sugar checks daily, fasting, before dinner, and two hours after her first bite of dinner. Her A1c went from 9.0 down to 5.3, so I know we are having great success. She has also lost 31 pounds. I have a small, unusual problem. She can’t swallow a pill with water. Since the glipizide is to alert the pancreas that she will be eating, I have been using no calorie sugar free Jell-O to administer her pills. She often picks the tablet out and hands it back. She can take huge seizure medications with sugar free pudding and applesauce okay. I have asked the CDE and the manufacturer if using pudding is okay. The dietician said it should be and the manufacturer had no information. Her blood sugars today were 81 mg/dl [4.5 mmol/L], 80 mg/dl [4.4 mmol/L], and 77 mg/dl [4.3 mmol/L]. It seems to me that we might be talking about reducing medications, so that will be my focus when we see her internist. She has white coat syndrome and getting through her appointments and asking all necessary questions gets harried at times. In your opinion, is it okay to use the pudding to administer the glipizide?