You'll find quite a few here, and some who take no diabetes
meds.

It depends on your personal medical situation; ask your endo
as intended. Read this first, it may assist minimising the
meds need:
http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 2x500mg

I took Metformin alone for a while.  Now I take Amaryl along with it.  I
would not take Avandia or Actos.  Just would not.

I'm a T2 on Avandia and metformin. In the first year I was on the
combination, I also lost 30 pounds on a carb-restricted diet (which I'm
still on to control BGs). In the same year, I had surgery for glaucoma on
both eyes and developed macular edema in one, but as a complication of the
surgery.

Just my experience... in comparison to the advice of your doctor, it means
very little. Just out of curiosity, are you wanting to just be off a second
medication, or would you consider a second medication other than Avandia?

Cindy

I take metformin only.  Not due to weight concerns.

Susan

I am now partly blind in one eye, and I am persuaded it is due to
avandamet.... I never will know for sure..... I would not advise
anyone to take that stuff.

Will, T2

Linda wrote in message ...

 A lot of docs recommend a progression in meds:

   1.  First,  max out on metformin   (2500 mg/day),   then,

   2.  If you need more anti-Insulin Resistance med,  ADD  Actos or Avandia

   3.  If you need more bG control,  add insulin to your anti-Insulin
Resistance therapy.    One common therapy is a single shot of slow-acting
lasting insulin at bedtime.

Metformin has less of a risk of dangerous side effects then Actos or Avandia
though the G.I. upset that some (many ?)  suffer from may seem severe enough
to them.   AFAIK,    metformin is the most common T2 med worldwide.

Hint:  if maxing out your metformin  dose produces bloating,  nausea and
diarrhea;   try to somehow separate the metformin from any carb in your gut.
Metformin tends to inhibit carb digestion and the carb then ferments.    You
will have to use your imagination somehow to accomplish this.   One way:
metformin + zero carb snack followed some time later by regular meal.

Insulin is the 800-lb gorilla of blood glucose  (bG)  control but does very
little for chronic Insulin Resistance**     If you do suspect high Insulin
Resistance,  a very powerful one-two punch is metformin plus insulin.
Folks who have tried it are very happy with the results.

(**High bG by itself causes Insulin Resistance.    Clinical trials have
demonstrated that adding Insulin will reduce I.R. in folks who have been
"running high" in  bG.    However,  once the insulin has knocked your sugars
down,   most folks need additional anti-Insulin Resistance therapy of some
sort to finish the job of pushing their I.R. into safe zones.)

Regards
 Old Al

Hi Linda
I am also T2.  When first diagnosed I controlled my BS w diet,
exercise, metformin & amaryl.  After I lost some weight, I was able to
be on metformin alone for a couple of years.  I became lax with my diet
& exercise, gained weight, and started Actos w the metformin - got
severe headaches.  Switched to Avandia, and had good BS numbers, but
after a year on the Avandia & metformin combo I developed edema (total
body swelling from water retention) & had to stop the Avandia.  I then
did several months of metformin alone again.  My blood sugars sucked,
as my eating was out of control and I was not exercising.  Also,
metformin alone gave me difficulties with diarrhea.
I don't know if I could have gotten control again while just taking
metformin.  I gained weight up to 200 lbs, and saw my A1c rise because
I was out of control.  I restarted exercising and better food intake,
but was plagued by an out of control appetite.  5 months ago I began
Byetta, and its side effect of appetite suppression has been a God send
for me.
I hope your experience is different/better than mine.
Barbara

Me. I took a similar combination for the first year that I had diabetes.
I am into my second year now. I took one Avandia tablet each morning
with 500mg of Metformin, plus another 500mg of Metformin every night. My
diabetes is well controlled so my primary care physician told me to drop
the Avandia, but I still take 500mg of Metformin twice a day.

After about 12 weeks of dropping the Avandia, my doctor had me do a H1B
test and it was 5.4. I know another doctor at a nearby hospital who
specializes in diabetes research, so just after I had the H1B test that
my doctor prescribed through a blood lab, the doctor I know did an
in-house H1B test on me using a fancy gadget she uses for her research
and that test was exactly the same as the one my doctor prescribed.

I am hoping that after I have my next check up that I will be able to
drop the Metformin too and also reduce the 40mg dosage of Zokor that I
take every night. I have lost around 18 pounds since my previous
doctor's visit (thanks to Weight Watchers) and I have reduced my
saturated fat consumption by around 90%. I am also getting more
exercise.