there are huge lawsuits here on Avandia - Actos is no better. No dr prescribes Avandia anymore.

You are probably right Arline. My husband was on that, and we discussed with his Dr. at the time about stopping it, but he didn't want to do that. we changed Dr. and the first thing to go was Avandia.

My dr believe in Avandia to the bitter end. He said its the one drug that can get BS down when its out of control.

I remember a Dr. trying toputme on Avandia and I said no because I had heard about it causeing heart attacks a few years ago!
I do take Actos and am quite concerned at this time.
I believe GlaxoSmithKline should be made an example of and all the other Pharmaceuticals that prefer money over safe health but it won't happen!

HI suny you are right there they just hide the stats that do not support their case in a pile of documents and obscure any negative bits in goboldy gook nobbody can understand

they refused to make public all the reports until they were forced to

They hide behind statistics and say if they are made public we will not understand them

The real reason of course is they don;t want us to question their assurance's which often turn out to be worthless

I trust drug companies about as much as I trust the banks

This is a very interesting topic because there is an underlying subject here. What about our doctors? As you all know I stopped taking Januvia on my own because of terrible side effects. I was very trusting and I asked both my Internist and my Endocrinologist about Januvia maybe causing the side effects. Both doctors said no, that my joint inflammation was not a side effect of the Januvia. However, I kept noticing all sorts of Januvia kleenex boxes, Januvia note pads, Januvia tissue paper (the one that they cover their patient tables with) in their offices. Then I noticed that pharmaceutical reps would come in with gifts for the doctors and the staff (take out lunch from nice restaurants etc). Now, both doctors are reputable in the community. One doctor in particular hands out drug samples to just about every patient. I know that many of the patients don't have money to pay for their drugs, and I want to think positive of this one doctor. Does he cater that much to the pharmaceutical reps in order to help his patients with free drugs? Anyway, my own personal conclusion is that I the patient have to do as much research as I can. I have to be informed. And I have to ask my doctor questions and then tell him (I even take him printouts of what I find online) what kind of medication I would prefer. My doctor is not defensive, he does listen to me (my Internist). The Endo, I have just dropped, I need to look for another one. Anyway, I would be interested to know how you feel about your own doctors. Why do they push drugs on us when the studies are there and the information is there to tell us they should not be prescribed. Are they afraid of the pharmaceutical companies? Or are they just too busy to keep up with the latest information?

My doctor is not a pill pusher, which I absolutely love. His goal is my goal, to help me get off meds if possible - as soon as possible. He also listens to me. If I think I need a test done, he will send me for the test.

I have changed pcp'ssince I was diagnosed. my pcp does not push anything except a cholesterol meds, because mine high but she doesn't push a particular one. She is very flexible and listens to me when i tell her something isn' working for me.

I love my family physician. She guides me and helps me out. She doesn't push pills on me either.

You're right. It's important for us to stay informed for ourselves too. I think this gives us greater control over the disease. All of the information I have read lately all points to us as caretakers of our disease. The Doc can only do so much.

The side effects of Januvia are pancreatitis and thyroid cancer. I mentioned this to my doctor and his associate. Both say the percentage is so small they are still prescribing it.

I also have done my own research on meds and bring articles to him, He disputes every article. Maybe he's right - maybe he's wrong but I also choose my own meds. Luckily, he is not a pill pusher and only gives meds when absolutely necesssary and very low doses.

I know diabetes is a progressive disease. and I know eventually most diabetics have to go on insulin, I have gone from no meds to Metformin 500 mg 2x a day to 1000 mg 2x a day but luckily in almost 12 years I have been able to stay on just Metformin. But its harder to keep my numbers down now. I eat less and less carbs.

Jesus that Januvai seems like a nasty pill with side effects like pancreatitis and thyroid cancer I think Id rather just stick with the diabetes

with thyroid cancer the only treatment seem to be large doses of radiation and if pancreatitis leads to cancer you usually got less than a year before the curtains.

I;m defiantly trying to stick to the Metformin for as long a possible

I was told if you get pancreatitis, give you IVs of something or other and you 'should' be fine.

I have worked for many Doctors along the way. The reps come in and give samples, the new ones they push the Dr's to sell and they give money, prizes, trips..like contests for them to push the new meds out. Some don't know the total effects till it's too late also. Unfortunately some Docs know and decided to take the chance.
That is why it is good to do your own research but somepeople aren't into that thy have full trust in their Doctor as were supposed to have. But those days are gone for most.

Lost, your so right about the companies hiding it all but the last few years they have been exposed so at least people question it now. Doesn't help us much but I think if we know our Docs you can tell if they push pills or not. And we have to ask always about side effects and make our own decision sometimes.
Look at something like Aleve, its the greatest little pain killer out there but... it causes stomach bleeding if over used. And it is always over used evn my daughters use it for cramps and such and I beg them not too because of what it does.....I am talking to walls there....
I agree with you about that Januvia, take my chances without it...
Meds are wonderful but unfortunately it's a business and money first!! Guarantee you any board member wouldn't let their family take it if they were asked to...GRRRRRRRRRR

When it comes to diabetic meds, I think we're in a catch 22. You're damned if you do and damned if you dont. Its true doctors are lured by all these drug companies. On the other hand, do you really think they put blinders on when it comes to the bad side effects and purposefully threaten our lives just to get a tissue box ?