Question for Glipizide

Kerstin · #1 (**permalink**) 11-18-2008, 11:51 AM

I have a question for those of you who take glipizide. How long does it take for your blood sugar to start to go down after you take your pill? It takes 4 hours...like clockwork from the time I take the pill till my sugar starts to go down and I am wondering if this is normal??

pdxdennisj · #2 (**permalink**) 11-18-2008, 02:43 PM

Yes, 4-5 hours.

TomB · #3 (**permalink**) 11-18-2008, 05:48 PM

Same here. I'll take either 2.5mg or 5mg depending on what I figure on eating. My 2 hour post prandials are often in the 250 range and then 3 -4 hours after taking the pill, BG usually goes normal or I crash. I also take Lantus which seems to even things out a bit. But as you can tell, I haven't gotten this quite figured out yet.
Tom

slipperyelm · #4 (**permalink**) 11-18-2008, 10:03 PM

I'm answering only from the memory of having tried glipizide a few years ago, but I think it only took about 15-30 minutes to noticeably start kicking in. If I took it and missed my breakfast or breakfast was late, I was headed straight for a hypo in a short time.

DonnyC · #5 (**permalink**) 11-18-2008, 11:14 PM

2-3 hours like clock work.

slipperyelm · #6 (**permalink**) 11-19-2008, 09:43 AM

Are those of you who say it takes hours to start working taking the extended release form? I did not take extended release, and as I say, I think it only took 15-30 minutes to start working.

From Glucotrol (Glipizide) Drug Information: Uses, Side Effects, Drug Interactions and Warnings at RxList , page six

"Peak plasma concentrations occur 1-3 hours after a single oral dose. The half-life of elimination ranges from 2-4 hours in normal subjects, whether given intravenously or orally."

and

"The insulinotropic response to a meal occurs within 30 minutes after an oral dose of GLUCOTROL [glipizde] in diabetic patients, but elevated insulin levels do not persist beyond the time of the meal challenge."

I would imagine that action to raise insulin and lower blood glucose starts before peak plasma concentration, so I don't know why you all would have to wait 2-5 hours before it starts working. Maybe 2-5 hours before you see its BG lowering action completed.

I will say, though, that I seemed to be hypersensitive to glipizide. This included that it continued to lower my BG well past the post-prandial period. And in fact I did not have to eat at all to get its effect. It did lower my BG in the absence of meals.

I took half a 2.5 mg tablet.

Kerstin · #7 (**permalink**) 11-19-2008, 12:14 PM

I'm taking the "regular" (not long acting). I take 1 5mg tab before breakfast and 1/2 before dinner. I'm supposed to take it 1/2 hour before the meal. The problem has been..the stuff takes 4 hours to start working. So my blood sugar has already gone up from the meal and is going back down..and I go hypo and have to take glucose. It's ridiculus. I don't know why it takes so long to work..maybe my pancreas is sluggish. Anyway..what I've started to do is take it 3 hours before my meal. And this seems to work. Lowers the blood sugar when it goes up from the meal, but does not make me go too low. And yes..GOD forbid I miss a meal...if I do..I go down to the low 40's!!!