# Alert: Diabetes Drug Avandia Warning!



## Observer (May 21, 2007)

Diabetes is a debilitating disease with many ramifications, but so also can be the remedies prescribed for it, some potentially dangerous.

According to a just released MSN/CNBC article, found here, Avandia is one such remedy - a recent study claims that it increases the rate of heart attack and death by 43%!


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## imfree (May 21, 2007)

I've used Avandia in the past, but have been off for about 2
years.Does anyone know if there is a residual damage issue?


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## SamanthaNY (May 21, 2007)

Observer said:


> Diabetes is a debilitating disease with many ramifications, but so also can be the remedies prescribed for it, some potentially dangerous.
> 
> According to a just released MSN/CNBC article, found here, Avandia is one such remedy - a recent study claims that it increases the rate of heart attack and death by 43%!



This seems pretty huge - yet they've stopped short of yanking it off the market, and aren't even advising current patients to stop taking it - only to talk to their doctors. Something seems off somwhere...


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## MisticalMisty (May 21, 2007)

I don't take this particular one. I've told every Dr. that I've seen that my metformin has raised my blood pressure and they don't believe me. Before I was diagnosed, I didn't have bp issues, now it's always high even with bp meds. I bet that was one of the issues with Avandia.


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## Tooz (May 21, 2007)

My mother takes it. I told her, and she's calling her doctor tomorrow. She's just started the meds a week or so ago, but damn.


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2007)

They're telling people to contact their doctors so that they will get a medical alternative to the drug, rather than stopping a medicine that they require to control their blood sugar.

They're not telling people to stop taking it because there are "unpublished" studies (according to the FDA) that contradict this studies' findings and to advise people to go off a medicine that controls their blood sugar without full, validated evidence to support it would be highly irresponsible and possibly damaging. 

The bottom line was that this one study found evidence of cardiac involvement for patients taking it, but apparently it was not a wide ranging study done over years. There is one currently underway with Avandia - large number of participants, years of following them, and it's got about 2 years left before it's completed. 

What I'm saying here was all said on the CBS Evening News - about 5 mins of coverage at the beginning of the show, and every expert they talked with said no one should stop taking the drug without first talking to their doctor and getting assigned to an alternative blood sugar controller. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/21/health/main2831501.shtml

**I don't take any drugs for blood sugar, so I have no side on this... just repeating the coverage from the national news regarding it.**


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## Observer (May 21, 2007)

Ann Marie is correct. 

Two physicians interviewed on the evening news here in Los Angeles confirm the ready availability of viable alternatives for concurrent patients. They also noted that some patients have responded exceptionally well to this drug with no observed problems. 

The best response is for those affected to contact their physician first and then make an informed personal judgment. My purpose in posting this type of information is not to precipitate panic but to enable patient participation in the treatment process.


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## Observer (May 22, 2007)

And now the other side .. .

The manufacturer of Avandia has today issued a detailed rebuttal to yesterday's NEJM report, found here, citing both weaknesses in the methodology of the study published by the NEJM as well as prior studies with contradictory findings.

The contradictory information again illustrates the problem confronting both patients and doctors, as well as regulatory agencies, in areas such as this. Coming to a "final answer" is a difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible choice.


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## Tracyarts (May 25, 2007)

How spooky that this came out a week after I had to be taken off of Avandamet due to some dangerous side effects that were starting to put me at extreme risk for heart failure.

I developed evere edema, shortness of breath, lethargy and weakness. A cardiologist ruled out heart trouble but said I needed to get off the drug NOW and get the edema reversed before it did any further damage. 

So, my doctor who treats me for PCOS put me back on Metformin and in about a week I have already seen a decrease in the level of edema and an increase in stamina and energy level.

If you are having any problems on any drug tell your doctor! I had let another doctor tell me that edema was just something that happened to supersized people with mobility loss, and I never even thought to link it to the Avandamet until the cardiologist who checked me for heart failure told me it could be the culprit.

Tracy


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## Theatrmuse/Kara (May 25, 2007)

I take Advandaryl.......combination of advandia and something else. I haven't reached my endocronologist yet to see about switching to another medication. Scary stuff......reports such as this!
Hugs, Kara


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