I am wondering what people’s experiences with Glipizide have been. In pregnancy its more common to be prescribed glyburide, but these are the same class of drugs and they work the same and I believe Glipizide is more commonly prescribed. My fastings are now going above a hundred even with the metformin. Honestly I don’t think metformin ever worked, I think just working out in the evening helped my fasting. But
now that My Placenta has grown larger I produce more insulin resistant hormones and working out doesn’t help anymore. I feel I need to prepare myself for a change in medication and it most likely will glyburide. I know it can cause hypoglycemia but does anybody else have any experience with this drug? Any long-term risks or short-term risks that they know of? when I look online to see any side effects with pregnancy it’s always talking about it causes hypoglycemia with the baby which worries me but I would like to at least be somewhat prepared for when I have this conversation with my MD.
Thanks.
My dad took glipizide for almost two decades and seemed to do well on it, but he is a type 2 and (obviously) not using it during pregnancy. I think glipizide is a sulfonylurea so it increases insulin release from the pancreas. I think long-term there are questions about whether it may lead the pancreas to “burn out” earlier since it’s stimulating more insulin release, not reducing insulin resistance. But I think that risk during pregnancy is pretty minimal.
Also, unlike metformin they don’t really seem to benefit the cardiovascular risk factors associated with Type 2. But again, for gestational diabetes my guess is that’s less of a concern.
So the way I see this drug is as relatively benign but perhaps less effective for the population-level for preventing long-term complications.
Gylpizide. Glyburide can definitely cause hypos…
Sometimes very quickly. 20ish years ago I took one with lunch, and was hypo having seizures <30 minutes later. My Endo says that response is not common, but it can happen. I would however feel somewhat confident that your endo would be astute enough to not jeopardize your baby. If taking it makes you feel uncomfortable, ask for an alternative. There is a plethora of pills and injections available.
Congrats and best of luck with your pregnancy! 