My wife is 33 years old and was diagnosed with Diabetes several years ago. She started seeing an Endocrinologist in order to get her blood sugar levels under control. After experimenting with various levels of different types of medicines (Oral, Injections, Dietary adjustments, etc) her doctor prescribed Actos, which is a pill. After a period of time, her blood sugar improved. However she also put on a huge amount of weight in a short time. As her doctor would continue to monitor her weight, he would tell us she was gaining weight and needed to stop eating so much. We told him that she was eating the same way and exercising the same amount as she was prior to starting the Actos, but each time she came back, she would have gained more weight. Again, he would preach that she must stop eating so much and insisted the the Actose was NOT responsible for her rapid weight gain. Even though we showed him how she was eating and exercicing the EXACT same way she was prior to the Actos. When we discovered that my wife had gained 100 pounds, we were shocked and stopped seeing this Endocrinologist. We went to my wife's Primary Doctor and he took her off of the Actos. Within a month or so, her weight LOSS began. Again, her eating and exercise was the same as it had been prior to the Actos and the same as it had been during the Actos. My wife has been off of Actos for about
a year now and she has lost over 70 pounds during that period. She still has a long way to go to get off all of the weight that Actos caused her to gain, but she's feeling much healthier, and is much happier. It goes without saying that we are extremely frustrated and angry with her Endocrinologist .... If anyone is currently taking Actos, or is considering starting it, please think about
it and ask lots of questions. Of course, if you start to gain weight, then consult your doctors immediately. One side note...Actos DID help her get her blood sugar close to under control, something that she had a hard time doing with other medications. However, the 100 pound rapid weight gain was NOT worth it. It made her sick much of the time and made her back deteriorate to the point of requiring a wheelchair and not being able to walk a flight of stairs.
Post Edited By Moderator (Jeannie143) : 12/7/2008 8:04:53 PM (GMT-7)