Posted by Rick on July 17, 2000, at 17:08:15
In reply to Re: World Wide ADRAFINIL - SLS, posted by FredPotter on July 16, 2000, at 16:17:46
> One thing I read about drugs like it is that it boosts blood glucose levels. As a newly diagnosed diabetic type II I'm not keen on this happening.
Can anyone add to this?
> Thanks
> FredI can comment on my current experience with Provigil (modafinil), which is a newer derivative of adrafinil. After a month taking Serzone, I added 200mg/day of Provigil. That was about five weeks ago, and based on frequent home monitoring I have seen no blood glucose increase during that time. That doesn't mean it could never happen, but so far, so good. Besides, frequent home-monitoring could quickly flag any upward trend in glucose levels and allow you and your doctor to assess the need to make changes.
But I'd like to back up a little to give you a more complete story.
First of all, I was amazed at how just 20 mg/day of Celexa lowered my blood sugar to deeply within the normal blood glucose ranges and kept it there consistently for the four months I was taking it. This was certainly an unanticipated and welcome "side effect". (Athough for someone taking insulin or certain diabetes meds, this could potentially lead hypoglycemia without a meds adjustment.)
Since stopping the Celexa (and moving to Serzone) I'm up 15-20 points at all readings, with no changes in diet or physical activity. I don't know how typical this kind of reaction to Celexa was, although I've read research and anecdotes about other SSRI's, especially Prozac, lowering glucose levels. My pdoc said he read something similar about Serzone, but that sure hasn't appeared to be true for me...if anything Serzone's added perhaps 5 points to my pre-Celexa levels. (Or is it possible that the Celexa "crutch" permanently changed some aspect of my body's glucose metabolism...in a sense causing a dependency?? I think I'm getting way out of my league here...)
If it weren't for the fact that Celexa made sex less pleasurable and sometimes difficult, I'd be tempted to start taking it again just for the blood sugar effect -- especially now that the Provigil would probably counter the fatigue and lack of motivation Celexa caused. But I doubt any doctor (either pdoc or GP) would continue to prescribe Celexa soley to maintain glucose benefits.
As a brief background, I've never been diagnosed as diabetic, especially since I consistently shed unwanted pounds during the year following my first fasting blood test (136 mg/dl - or was it 132?). But it's ikely I'm at least glucose impaired.
I started to type a few other observations, but I'd be wandering too far astray from your question. I would like to say that it's gratifying to see how quickly diabetes monitoring and treatment options have been evolving over the last few years, especially for cases where lifestyle changes aren't providing adequate control. And there's an ever-accelerating amount of very promising research taking place.
poster:Rick
thread:40385
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000717/msgs/40768.html