Starting dapagliflozin – the reality (after reading all the horror stories)….

(This is another one of those posts that is probably only interesting if you’re diabetic or know someone who is so I won’t take offence if you click that little X in the corner – non-diabetic content will be back tomorrow 😁)

When I was first told I’d be starting Dapagliflozin for my diabetes, I did what I always do and went straight to Dr Google.

And honestly, I nearly talked myself out of it before I’d even picked up my prescription.

My HbA1c had actually gone up slightly when I had it checked in December. I’d had a difficult end to the year and hadn’t been very well, and what started as one issue turned into lots of tests and scans (along with a fair amount of stress and upset). Along the way they discovered a large hernia and some gallbladder problems, which were completely unrelated to what they were originally looking for but needed an operation to fix them.

During that time, I’ll be honest, my focus on what I was eating slipped a bit. Nothing dramatic, but enough to explain the small rise in my HbA1c. I tried to convince my diabetic nurse that I could bring it back down myself because it wasn’t a huge increase, but she wasn’t convinced I’d be able to while I was still feeling so unwell. She strongly recommended dapagliflozin to help me, which is how I ended up with a prescription for it in my one hand and Dr Google on my phone in the other.

There were so many posts and comments from people saying they refused to take it, or had really bad experiences, or warning others against it completely. The more I read, the more convinced I became that it was going to be a bad idea.

A lot of what I came across mentioned things like recurrent thrush, urinary tract infections, feeling unwell, or just generally not getting on with it at all and it felt like there were far more negative experiences being shared than positive ones which were few and far between.

What I didn’t see much of were people saying it had actually worked well for them.

So I went into it expecting the worst but for me, it’s actually been really positive.

I’m not going to get into the full medical side of it because that’s not my place, but one thing that did help me was understanding, in a really simple way, what it actually does as a medication. Dapagliflozin works by helping your body get rid of excess glucose through your urine, rather than keeping it in your bloodstream, which helps bring your blood sugar levels down over time.

I didn’t have any of the side effects I’d been worrying about, and nothing happened that made me feel like I shouldn’t be taking it. It just slotted into my routine without much fuss. The most positive thing I can say is that if I wasn’t checking my blood glucose levels, I genuinely wouldn’t know I was taking it.

The biggest difference has been in my HbA1c. Over the first three months of taking it, my HbA1c dropped by 15, which I was really pleased with. That wasn’t just down to the Dapagliflozin though, because at the same time I made a conscious effort to keep my carbs under 160g a day, and I’m also taking metformin, so it’s definitely been a combination of things rather than one quick fix.

Day to day, things just feel a bit more steady. My blood glucose levels aren’t as all over the place as they were before, and I don’t seem to get the same spikes with certain foods. It hasn’t made everything perfect, but it has made it feel more manageable. 

One thing I haven’t experienced is weight loss, which I know some people do mention can be a side effect when taking Dapagliflozin. For me, that hasn’t been part of it at all, so it just shows again how differently people can respond.

Before I started, I’d built it up into something quite daunting because of everything I’d read whereas in reality, it’s just become another part of how I manage things, and not something I really think about that much now other than making sure that I drink a lot of water every day. 

That doesn’t mean it will be the same for everyone, and I completely understand why some people choose not to take it. We’re all different, and those side effects people talk about are real for some people. It’s always something to talk through properly with your own medical team rather than basing a decision on what you read online.

But I did want to share a more balanced experience, because if I’d read something like this before I started, I probably wouldn’t have worried quite so much.

If you’re prescribed Dapagliflozin then I hope this helps you to see that not everyone’s experience is poor and I wish you every success in reducing your HbA1c whatever route you take!

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