[yannah]

stop taking it abruptly that you know of?

[enigmalady777]

I stopped aburptly when I started insulin. I have had no ill effects since stopping -- as a matter of fact, the swelling I had in my ankles and feet stopped as soon as I stopped taking it.

IMO, the actos never helped my sugar levels so I was happy to stop taking it.

[yannah]

actos never did anything for me, than they added met which worked, but no one ever discontinued actos. so with the new "boxed warning" I think I want to stop taking it.

[enigmalady777]

Besides the swelling and not helping my blood sugars, the "Black Box" warning was another concern - but I wanted to stop taking it long before the warning came out!

[Harold]

It looks like from July 31st 08 10.5 Actos took you to Sept 08 8.3. A 2.2% drop with Actos along with any increase in exercise or dietary changes you made. You should not see anything adverse from stopping Actose other than an increase in bgl. Which means you might have to double your met. Have you read the warnings that come with met? Whatever you decide, talk to your doctor about your concerns so they will be ready to up your met.

[yannah]

I am actually going to see an endo in a week Harold. I am med phobic, i got diabetes from taking a drug called zyprexa. I am going to run this past my endo.

However, I beleive the drop in ac1 I had initially was from diet. My dr. said it would take 6 weeks for the actos to work, and it that point we weren't seeing much difference in my numbers so he eventually added met and then I saw a big difference in my numbers. (after about 3 weeks)

I am not at all comfortable taking the met. I developed uncontrollable twitching in my legs and my doctor took my off of my statin. I still have the twitching. so i am pretty scared of all drugs. (although at this point I really doubt the twitching was from the statin) the twitching could be the ace inhibitor or the actos. or from who knows what, those wo drugs have that side effect. my dr does not think it is neuropathy, although, I myself, have my doubts.

My mentrual cycles are crazy screwed up, and that could be the actos as well, or it could be my diet (I am not eating enough) or it could be I am 44.

I have mild swelling in my left leg, could be my varicose veins, could be the actos. who knows.

but I am not finding a good dr to help me with this ****, I am on my second dr. Decided to go to an endo to see what he says.

[Debbie Sue]

I stopped Actos abruptly with no side effects. The endo wanted me off it ASAP because it elevated my liver enzymes. Having a fatty liver and taking Actos was not a good thing for me. Sometimes I wonder about the comprehension of doctors...

[Harold]

There's no reason to take a drug if it does not do anything for you. We rely on or doctors advice and their choices of drugs to treat us, but we owe it to ourselves to know the potential side effects and have the final say in what we take. Took myself off of Lipitor six months after my dose was doubled from 20mg to 40mg. The first year at 20 it was common to have days I felt bad, and after it was doubled to 40 it was every day. I felt bad enough everyday, nothing specific, the will to live was fading away. Took Altace until people were harassing me constantly about the cough. Consulted with my doctor and now take different meds.

[jakin]

I don't know of any reason that you can't stop taking Actos. What are you replacing it with? I stopped after a problem with swelling ankles. Janumet seems to be working for me.

[jakin]

2000 mg/day of metformin gave me unbearable GI problems. Hope you can continue to tolerate it.

[yannah]

I couldn't tolerate met at 1500 a day, so it was reduced to 1000 a day and no difference in my numbers.