Heart Disease

Many different factors can affect your blood glucose control — such as the types of foods you eat, when you eat, and your daily activity level, among other things. Various medications (other than your diabetes tablets or insulin) can also affect your diabetes control. Some medicines can increase blood glucose levels, while others decrease them; and some may worsen complications of diabetes, such as kidney disease. It is important for you to know before you take any medication — prescription or nonprescription — whether it will affect your diabetes.

Be careful about nonprescription medications. Just because they are available without a prescription does not mean that they will not affect diabetes control. For example, decongestants can increase your blood glucose level, increase your blood pressure, and "mimic" symptoms of an insulin reaction, such as causing nervousness and causing the heart rate to increase. Similarly, alcohol decreases blood glucose levels, and nicotine increases blood glucose levels.

Your doctor and pharmacist are best qualified to help you whenever you begin taking a new drug. Be sure that any doctor you see for any reason knows that you have diabetes and is aware of all the drug names and doses of all medications you are taking.

You can keep track of all your medications on the Medication Information Record, and bring it with you on each doctor visit.