What would be your treatment step to get patient at goal?
56-year old female with type 2 diabetes, BMI of 30 kg/m2 and no major comorbidities, has been on metformin and a sulfonylurea at their highest tolerated doses. Four months ago, her previous physician added a high dose of a DPP-IV inhibitor to help get her to goal of 7%. The treatment regimen brought the A1C to 7.6%. The patient is seeking a second opinion.
Would you consider switching any medications or adding on? Please list what would be your preferred options.
Recheck A1C in 2-3 months.
1. I would assess if the patient is truly tolerating the current regimen. Especially with metformin, I have found that some patients end up missing doses due to significant GI side effects.
2. The patient is now on 3 drugs alone to manage their DMII. I would assess how they are taking these medications and their understanding as to what they are for as some patients struggle with health literacy and may encounter difficulties in managing complex medication regimens.
3. I would delve into if the patient is having difficulty accessing their medications, either from a financial barrier standpoint, or if they are having transportation issues etc that preclude their ability to obtain their medications.
4. I would go over their blood sugar log to see we can find patterns for when their blood sugar is spiking and find possible triggers to intervene on.
5. If the patient has not seen a nutritionist yet, I would get them set up with a nutritionist in order to help them learn about a DMII diet and how to count carbs, read nutrition labels, which can be overwhelming for someone with a new diagnosis with DMII.
6. We would also discuss non-pharm interventions such as exercise as well.
I would assess all of this prior to stepping up their medication regimen or switching therapeutics.
Add sglt 2 and glp1
Better efficacy, weight loss and MACE data
As always we would make lifestyle modification goals such as 5% weight loss.