Taking Medicine For Uncontrolled Diabetes. Looking Alternative For Istamet

Posted on Wed, 27 Feb 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 Answered on

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I have uncontrolled diabities since last 5 years, Now the doctor has priscribed 12 uint of Insulin in night , 1 istamet 50/1000 and 1 gluconorm G2 in morning before breakfast and 1 istamet 50/1000 , 1 gluconorm g2 and 1 ecosprin AV 75 before food in eveining , I am trying to find the alternate for istamet 50/1000 which does not have any additional side effect, as it is very costly and I found on net some similar composition in less price, Can you please suggest some options

Answered by Dr. Rahul Tawde (1 hour later)

Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing in. Istamet is a combination of sitagliptin and metformin. Unfortunately the sitagliptin is expensive and there is no cheaper substitute without compromising quality. Another thing is you are taking 3 gm of metformin but the recommended XXXXXXX dose is 2.5 gm. If you dont want to take istamet you can take plain metformin 1g twice daily but will have to take premix insulin twice daily.
So my recommendation is:
1gm metformin sustained release twice daily
Glimeperide 2mg twice daily
Twice daily premix insulin dose will have to be titrated to maintain FBS< 130, PPBS < 180mg%
Hope this helps,
Shivaprasad

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar