Diabetes treatment: Medications for type 2 diabetes

Healthy lifestyle choices — including diet, exercise and weight control — are an important part of diabetes treatment. If you have type 2 diabetes, sometimes medication to control blood sugar is needed, too. Sometimes a single medication is effective. In other cases, a combination of medications works better.

Here's an at-a-glance comparison of various diabetes medications. Medications are listed in order of release date, from oldest to newest.

Medication	How it's taken	Advantages	Disadvantages	Cost
Glipizide (Glucotrol)	By mouth	Combines well with other diabetes medications	May cause low blood sugar and weight gain	Low: $4 to $78 a month
Metformin (Fortamet, Glucophage, others)	By mouth	Doesn't cause weight gain; may decrease LDL ("bad") cholesterol and triglycerides	May cause nausea and diarrhea; rarely, may cause a harmful buildup of lactic acid (lactic acidosis)	Low: $4 to $100 a month
Glimepiride (Amaryl)	By mouth	Combines well with other diabetes medications	May cause low blood sugar and weight gain	Low: $4 to $40 a month
Rosiglitazone (Avandia)	By mouth	May slightly increase HDL ("good") cholesterol	May cause swelling and weight gain that leads to or worsens heart failure; may increase LDL ("bad") cholesterol and triglycerides; may increase risk of heart attack; rarely, may cause liver problems	High: $90 to $220 a month
Pioglitazone (Actos)	By mouth	May decrease triglycerides	May cause swelling and weight gain that leads to or worsens heart failure; may increase LDL ("bad") cholesterol; rarely, may cause liver problems	High: $90 to $250 a month
Pramlintide (Symlin)	By injection	May promote weight loss	Can't be taken at the same time as oral medications or mixed with insulin in the same syringe; may cause nausea	High: $200 to $400 a month
Exenatide (Byetta)	By injection	May promote weight loss	May cause nausea; rarely, may cause harmful inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)	High: $100 to $200 a month
Sitagliptin phosphate (Januvia)	By mouth	Doesn't cause weight gain	May cause upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat and diarrhea; little is known about other potential side effects	High: $175 to $250 a month

Note: Cost ranges are based on nationwide monthly averages reported in the Source Pharmaceutical Audit Suite by Wolters Kluwer Health in October 2007. Check with your insurance provider or pharmacy for details on these or other diabetes drugs.

Diabetes treatment: Medications for type 2 diabetes

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