Jardiance is a scary drug

The BBQ Pit
1

For the record I am a Type II diabetic. I’m not particularly conscientious about it, and I’m on several non-insulin drugs for it. (Metformin, Victoza.) Have been for many years.

Recently after having routine bloodwork done, my PCP’s office called and told me that my “diabetes is out of control” and ordered me to take Jardiance to reduce my A1C (I forgot to ask what my A1C levels were when they called) - a measure of blood sugar. For those not familiar, the Jardiance commercial lists the side effects, and they are terrifying! Dehydration resulting in yeast infections and urinary tract infections; increased urination; low blood sugar; genital infections - necrotizing fasciitis! (flesh eating disease!!!); and ketoacidosis -

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening problem that affects people with diabetes. It occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. The liver processes the fat into a fuel called ketones, which causes the blood to become acidic.

I took my first Jardiance pill on Sunday. One of the signs of ketoacidosis is your pee smelling funny - like popcorn of all things. Yesterday I noticed that smell and freaked out. I called my doctor’s office and they said to go to the emergency room! Ack!

I get to the emergency clinic and they take a urine sample and start an IV. (That’s worrisome! But it’s a just in case thing.) they take blood samples through it. I wait a while, then the doctor reassures me that I don’t have ketoacidosis. I am, however, severely dehydrated and they hang a bag of saline.

After an hour or so I’m done and they send me home. (With a doctor’s note for two days off of work! I’m scheduled to work in the office this Friday, so I just tell my boss I’m working from home.)

I will be informing my doctor that I’m NOT taking this drug. Even if there was nothing seriously wrong with me, it makes me anxious and I don’t want to take it.

I will step up and monitor my blood sugar better, and I’m going to try harder to reduce the carbs that are the bane of my existence. Also, I thought I was drinking plenty of fluids, but apparently not. I will do better.

Tl;DR – Jardiance is scary and I had a visit to the ER that turned out to be dehydration.

2

Maybe that’s how it’s designed to work, to scare you into compliance!

3

I’ve told the story before about how Jardiance ruined my vacation. Well, not really. I was at the Universal theme park in Orlando a couple years ago. A small portion of the park was closed because it was being used as a filming location. A few months later the first Jardiance commercial came out, and I recognized it; that’s what they were filming.

You win. I’m glad it wasn’t anything more serious. Hope you’re feeling better.

4

I take Jariance as well and when I first started taking it I had similar reactions to it and went into the hospital for actual DKA. Turned out that the Jardiance didn’t cause the DKA, other things that I was still doing caused my blood sugar to rise above 400. My doctor told me that it took a couple of weeks for Jariance to start having side effects and that the reason he put me on it was that I was on the verge of having DKA.

Been taking it for three years now with no side effects. But, I have also lost 70 pounds and gone on a diet of less that 100 net carbs a day. During my weight loss I was doing 5-20 net carbs a day for 6 months. Been doing around 100 net carbs a day since Thanksgiving and haven’t had blood sugar issues or gained any weight back since then. In fact, my doctor took me off insulin and Metforin.

I believe I was told that Jariance works by having you pee out the excessive sugar, so if you are dehydrated it will not work correctly. Perhaps the excessive urination can also lead to urinary tract issues.

I’m going to see if my doctors agrees that now I can remove Jariance. But it did seem to help me.

5

IANAD and would not give medical advice over the internet even if I was, but I have long experience in being a patient advocate both for myself and for others that I care about. I highlight those words because they’re so important. In my view, the role of a patient advocate is to intervene when the goals of the medical practitioner or indeed the medical establishment as a whole do not align with the best interests of the patient.

The purpose of the patient advocate is to ask questions beginning with “why?”, to seek justifications, explanations, and to gather enough information to weigh benefits against downsides for the best interests of the patient. And sometimes the patient advocate faces the medical practitioner with a firm “no”. Any doctor who doesn’t regard the doctor-patient relationship as a collaboration should be dropped like a hot potato.

6

Doesn’t Jardiance have snappy song on the commercials? I would assume that’s a sign of a top quality drug.

7

Do you mean, “The little pill with the big sto - ry to tell”?

8

That’s what I’ve read as well (was researching the GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight loss, and went down the anti-diabetic medication rabbit hole).

Diabetes medication - Wikipedia

But I concur- your doctor ought to be listening to you if you report really unpleasant side effects, and be moving you to some other medication regime.

9

Isn’t that the one that mentions, as a possible side effect, a “rare, but fatal” infection of “the perineum”

Everytine I hear the commercial I think “So if I take this I might die from a moldy taint?!”

10

It’s a little pill with a big scary story of side effects to tell.

11

How are you doing with your ventriloquism? :wink:

12

Yes! And an SDMB member actually had that happen to them. Not just “moldy” - flesh eating bacteria!

13

I have a psychosomatic itch just thinking about it.

:woozy_face:

14

Yep. Get in compliance as soon as you can.

Get a nutritionist. Don’t drink alcohol. Or soda pop. Ever.
Lose weight.

Jardience is a scary drug for a scary disease.
Believe me, if you don’t get it under control it gets way scarier.

Sorry to be so bossy.
I’m Type 1, late stage diabetic. I could fly thru Type 2 restrictions. And you can too.

15

OP, may I humbly suggest weight lifting? It is one of the best things you can do - along with the healthy diet stuff - for type 2 diabetes.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/research/our-research-projects/scotland/stirling-strength-training-type-2

16

Meh, I’ve been on Jardiance for 5-6 years now in addition to Metformin and added Ozempic last year. My A1C is down to 5.5 but my doctor wants to keep the Jardiance due to its cardiovascular benefits.

17

It should be over when the fat lady sings. But it is not. She is singing on my TV all the time.

They are really pushing this drug. I have no problems at all with my blood sugar, none. But I do have some heart problems/atrial fibrilation, and such. It reduces sugar and sodium, which a few diet changes can do. But I have no problem with either.

The Jardiance people apparently got a small result that people had a 12% less chance of dying of Sudden Cardiac Death. 12% .

The fourth time that my cardiologist suggested Jardience, after previous refusals, I got up and was going to leave the appointment, until they got the message of NO. I highly doubt that this is some new wonder drug.

I hope that the person in charge of the cardiology dept I go to gets that big promotion to pharmacutical sales rep that she is shooting for.

Now, lets have another happy dance commercial of the fat lady singing!

18

I’ve taken Jardiance. I’ll never do it again.

19

Yes … and others, and isn’t it nice to know that the money we pay (either directly ourselves, or via our insurance companies) in turn pays for this shit? Another reason why our healthcare is the most expensive in the world.

20

Perhaps, but the MAIN reason our healthcare is the most expensive is that it is a “for profit” system. It is designed for profits.

What we have created is a system that designed to maximize profits. Not reduce costs. Not improve health outcomes. But, to maximize the profits for those who manage it.

True, there are those who work in our healthcare system who are interested in improving outcomes. And those who work to lower costs. But, these are not those who manage the system. They pick up the crumbs left by those who manage the system.