Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
Do you have a question for Maarten and do you live in Thailand? Send this to the editor: www.thailandblog.nl/contact/ It is important that you provide the correct information such as:
- Age
- Complaints)
- History
- Medication use, including supplements, etc.
- Smoking, alcohol
- Overweight
- Optional: laboratory results and other tests
- Possible blood pressure
You can send photos to [email protected] everything can be done anonymously, your privacy is guaranteed.
Dear Martin,
I was surprised to find out by chance that something is not right with the drug Glucophage XR 1000mg. I have been taking this drug as a diabetic for three years but my sugar level just won't come down much to the chagrin of my doctor at Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya. It's a shock every time I get to the cash register to buy this medicine together with some others and pay for the research...... 14.000 baht.
Last week I noticed that something floated to the surface after the big message. It was this pill that, after being in my stomach for 12 hours, was still in the same state as when I took it. I started paying attention to it and if you wait a while before flushing it, it's back, the Glucophage XR 1000 mg. Exactly as it is in the folder.
The hospital is rather lighthearted about it….” Then you take another pill for diabetes” but they ignore the fact that I have now spent more than 126.000 baht on this medicine. They don't want to talk about that.
Now I have been using Victoza 3ml for two months, also not cheap (7.300 baht per month), but my sugar value has dropped immediately after getting up from 225 mg / dl to 135 mg / dl in the morning and a side effect is that you lose weight, 10 kilos in two months without doing anything noteworthy about sports or adjusting my diet.
Anyway, an experience that may also apply to you without you realizing it.
Regards,
F.
******
Dear F,
Glucophage (metformin) is almost the cheapest diabetes medication available, while Victoza (Liraglutide) is one of the most expensive.
Incidentally, liraglutide is an excellent antidiabetic, with indeed the beneficial side effect of losing weight.
Metformin XR is a delayed-release preparation. What you see in the toilet is just the shell. The content is normally recorded.
Apparently the metformin is not working enough, or the dose is too low. You can take up to 3.000 mg per day. Buy it at the pharmacy, then it will be much cheaper. Take after eating. You can also take regular non-slow-release metformin.
There are many other drug combinations, but giving advice without knowing more is almost impossible
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Maarten