Show references Papadakis MA, et al. They will Diabetes medications and prescriptions prescriptipns you should continue to take your medication or if you need a new prescription. Get the Mayo Clinic app.

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McGraw-Hill; Accessed Sept. Wexler DJ. Overview of general medical care in nonpregnant adults with diabetes mellitus.

Oral medication: What are my options? American Diabetes Association. Sulfonylureas and meglitinides in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Melmed S, et al. Therapeutics of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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ART Home Diabetes treatment Medications for type 2 diabetes. Show the heart some love! Give Today. Help us advance cardiovascular medicine.

Find a doctor. Explore careers. Sign up for free e-newsletters. About Mayo Clinic. Use this table to look up the different medications that can be used to treat type 2 diabetes. Use the links below to find medications within the table quickly, or click the name of the drug to link to expanded information about the drug.

Tolbutamide Orinase® various generics. SE: hypoglycemia, weight gain Preferred SFU for elderly Must be taken times daily. Glimepiride Amaryl® various generics. Initial: mg daily Range: mg Dose: Taken once daily. SE: hypoglycemia, weight gain Need to take only once daily.

Glipizide Glucotrol® Glucotrol XL® various generics. Initial: 5 mg daily Range: 2. Glyburide Micronase®, DiaBeta® various generics. Initial: 2. Glyburide, micronized Glynase PresTab® various generics. Initial: 1. Initial: mg daily 0. SE: hypoglycemia Safe for elderly Duration of action is only 4 hours Take within minutes of meal.

Initial: mg three times daily if A1C close to goal, use 60 mg Range: mg Dose: Taken three times daily. SE: hypoglycemia Safe for elderly Duration of action is only 2 hours Take within 30 minutes of meal. Glucophage: mg, mg, mg tablets Glucophage XR: mg, mg tablets Fortamet: mg, mg tablets Glumetza: mg, mg tablets Generic metformin ER: mg, mg tablets.

Initial: mg twice daily or mg once daily Range: mg Dose: Taken two or three times daily ER: Initial: mg once daily Range: mg Dosed once daily.

Acarbose Precose® various generics. SE: flatulence Take with first bite of meal Start with low dose and slowly ­ to minimize GI intolerance. Pioglitazone preferred over rosiglitazone Actos®.

SE: anemia, swelling edema from fluid retention, weight gain, macular edema in eye , bone loss and fractures in women May cause or worsen heart failure Cannot use if have liver problems or severe heart failure Requires liver monitoring 6.

Initial: 4 mg daily Range: mg Dose: Taken once or twice daily. SE: anemia, swelling edema from fluid retention, weight gain, macular edema in eye , bone loss and fractures in women May increase­ risk of heart problems such as heart-related chest pain angina or heart attack myocardial infarction May cause or worsen heart failure Cannot use if have liver problems or severe heart failure Requires liver monitoring 6.

GLP-1 ANALOGS: increase insulin secretion, reduce glucose release from liver after meals, delay food emptying from stomach and promote satiety.

Initial: 5 mcg SQ twice daily Range: up to 10 mcg SQ twice daily Dose: Taken twice daily. SE: nausea, headache, hypoglycemia when used with insulin secretagogues Rare reports of sudden pancreatitis inflammation of pancreas May cause mild weight loss.

Initial: 0. SE: nausea, headache, diarrhea, hypoglycemia when used with insulin secretagogues Rare reports of sudden pancreatitis inflammation of pancreas.

Cannot be used if have history of medullary thyroid cancer. Initial: 30mg once weekly Range: can increase to 50mg once weekly if inadequate response. Some people with type 2 diabetes may no longer need to use diabetes medicines after weight-loss surgery. Researchers are studying whether weight-loss surgery can help control blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes who have obesity.

Pancreatic islet transplantation is an experimental treatment for people with type 1 diabetes who have trouble controlling their blood glucose levels.

Pancreatic islets are clusters of cells in the pancreas that make the hormone insulin. A pancreatic islet transplantation replaces destroyed islets with new islets from organ donors. The new islets make and release insulin. Because researchers are still studying pancreatic islet transplantation , the procedure is only available to people enrolled in research studies.

The NIDDK conducts and supports clinical trials in many diseases and conditions, including diabetes. The trials look to find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease and improve quality of life.

Clinical trials—and other types of clinical studies —are part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help health care professionals and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Find out if clinical trials are right for you. Watch a video of NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers explaining the importance of participating in clinical trials. You can view a filtered list of clinical studies on insulin, medicines, and other diabetes treatments covered in this health topic that are federally funded, open, and recruiting at www.

You can expand or narrow the list to include clinical studies from industry, universities, and individuals; however, the National Institutes of Health does not review these studies and cannot ensure they are safe.

Always talk with your health care provider before you participate in a clinical study. This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases NIDDK , part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public. Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts.

The NIDDK would like to thank Stuart A. Weinzimer, M. English English Español. Diabetes Overview What Is Diabetes? Show child pages. Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes Show child pages. Preventing Type 2 Diabetes Show child pages.

Managing Diabetes Show child pages. Preventing Diabetes Problems Show child pages. On this page: What medicines might I take for diabetes? What type of diabetes do I have? What are the different types of insulin? What are the different ways to take insulin?

What oral medicines treat type 2 diabetes? What other injectable medicines treat diabetes? What should I know about side effects of diabetes medicines? What questions should I ask about my diabetes medicines? Do I have other treatment options for my diabetes? What medicines might I take for diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes If you have type 1 diabetes , you must take insulin because your pancreas does not make it. Type 2 diabetes Some people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose level by making lifestyle changes.

Gestational diabetes If you have gestational diabetes , you can manage your blood glucose level by following a healthy eating plan and doing a moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking for minutes, each week.

Table 1. Needle and syringe You can give yourself insulin shots using a needle and syringe. Insulin shots involve drawing insulin from a vial into a syringe and then injecting it. Pen An insulin pen looks like a writing pen but has a needle for its point.

An insulin pen is a convenient way to take insulin. Pump An insulin pump is a small machine that gives you steady doses of insulin throughout the day. Insulin pumps can be programmed to deliver insulin directly into your body, 24 hours a day or at certain times.

Inhaler Another way to take insulin is by breathing powdered insulin into your mouth from an inhaler device. Jet injector A jet injector is a device that sends a fine spray of insulin into the skin at high pressure instead of using a needle to deliver the insulin.

Artificial pancreas An artificial pancreas is a system of three devices that work together to mimic how a healthy pancreas controls blood glucose in the body.

Type 1 diabetes If you have type 1 diabetes, your doctor may recommend you take other medicines, in addition to insulin, to help control your blood glucose.

Taking insulin or other diabetes medicines Anti-cancer mind-body practices often Dabetes of Glutamine for muscle recovery diabetes. In addition to making healthy food and Diabetees choices, getting physical activity, getting enough meedications, and medicationz stress, medicines can help ,edications manage the Glutamine for muscle recovery. Some other treatment options are also available. The medicine you take depends on the type of diabetes you have and how well the medicine controls your blood glucose levels, also called blood sugar levels. Other factors, such as any other health conditions you may have, medication costs, your insurance coverage and copays, access to care, and your lifestyle, may affect what diabetes medicine you take. If you have type 1 diabetesyou must take insulin because your pancreas does not make it.