Hi all-
Has anyone had experience with or heard anything about Januvia for people with T1 LADA? My new endo recommended it saying it helps lower glucose levels and my c-peptide test has me at the right level for trying it. I’ve read a few studies which show it has been helpful. The side effect list is long though and so I’m wondering if anyone out there has tried it.
Thanks!
Jennifer
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Great question and something I’ve always wondered about. It says Januvia is for T2 diabetics, and I personally am very skeptical about taking T2 drugs for T1 diabetes. But I don’t have any personal data to share, so am interested in others’ perspectives. Did your endo give any rationale for prescribing that?
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I’ve seen that too! What he said is that as long as my c-peptide results show that I’m producing insulin (currently in my honeymoon period), the Januvia can help lower blood glucose levels. Since LADA has some characteristics of T1 and T2, I was thinking that it might be one of those situations in which a T2 drug may be effective. That being said, the endo suggested that I stop taking Metformin and I have had no change in BG levels since then.
@jpf Have heard of “off label” uses for several T2 intended products for use by T1s, but have no experience to relate. I take it from your comments the Endo’s take is it would be helpful only for honeymooning T1s? Either way, please let us know if you decide to try it and what results you achieve!
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I was diagnosed with Type 1 in August 2021 and was prescribed sitagliptin from the start, initially Januvia and then a generic when it was available here in Germany. I take one 100mg sitagliptin tablet once a day.
I wasn’t sure how much it was working until the morning I accidentally took two of the tablets and my blood sugar ran low all morning with no other explanation (I needed about double the carbs I’d bolused for that morning). So it definitely does something.
My endo has said I’ll take sitagliptin as long as I’m still producing insulin. Once I stop producing insulin, it won’t do any good. My C-Peptid at diagnosis (two years ago) was .4ng/mg (reference range is 1.1-4.4 ng/ml). It hasn’t been tested since then.
Januvia worked from the start from me and I haven’t been prescribed other similar meds, like Metformin, so I can’t compare.
I don’t have any negative side effects with sitagliptin, branded or generic, and I have no complaints.
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