Medicine induced diabetes

[Alpam]

Well I have just been diagnosed with medicine induced diabetes. My doctor said that I probably would of developed diabetes eventually in life, but because of my age (24) and the fact that I have been on antispychotics for the past four years she concluded that the medications had significantly brought forward this diagnosis (especially the Seroquel which I was on for over 2 years).

Does anyone have any information on the link between the two? I never thought that I would get a side effect as serious as this.

[Guest Vapourware]

It's a bit late here and I'm ducking off to bed, but I thought I'd quickly chime in...

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear that you've developed diabetes. It's not fair to develop something that serious when you were just trying to get better.

Secondly, while I don't have any links to articles handy on me at the moment, I do recall reading about how antipsychotics can increase a person's risk of developing diabetes. I'm not sure if I've read anything about Seroquel causing this; I think that most of the hoopla was surrounding Zyprexa. It was something about antipsychotics modifying a person's metabolism, but don't quote me on this.

[Anna]

Yes, AAPs can induce diabetes. They are notorious for metabolic changes, not just appetite increase . The treatment for this (if you want to remain on AAPs) is diet, exercise, and sometimes, metformin (which is showing some MILD improvement for people who get the syndrome). MILD. If not, your options are the typicals, which increase risk of TD. Your other option might be latuda, which in clinical trials showed weight loss and not much evidence of metabolic disorders, though keep in mind the same thing was said about abilify when it was "new" and people IRL actually do sometimes blow up on that med.

it is, however, an option.

Anna

ETA: I'm not sure if it was fanapt or latuda that caused decreased appetite and lack of metaboly syndromes. Sorry. It was one of the two, I believe latuda

[netsavy006]

Just noting, all AAPs are required to carry a warning of increased risk of diabetes from taking the drug.

Here's the warning found on Fanapt's PI sheet for example:

Hyperglycemia, in some cases extreme and associated with ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar coma or death, has

been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics including FANAPT. Assessment of the

relationship between atypical antipsychotic use and glucose abnormalities is complicated by the possibility of

an increased background risk of diabetes mellitus in patients with schizophrenia and the increasing incidence of

diabetes mellitus in the general population. Given these confounders, the relationship between atypical

antipsychotic use and hyperglycemia-related adverse events is not completely understood. However,

epidemiological studies suggest an increased risk of treatment-emergent hyperglycemia-related adverse events

in patients treated with the atypical antipsychotics included in these studies. Because FANAPT was not

marketed at the time these studies were performed, it is not known if FANAPT is associated with this increased risk. Precise risk estimates for hyperglycemia-related adverse events in patients treated with atypical

antipsychotics are not available.

Patients with an established diagnosis of diabetes mellitus who are started on atypical antipsychotics should be

monitored regularly for worsening of glucose control. Patients with risk factors for diabetes mellitus (e.g.,

obesity, family history of diabetes) who are starting treatment with atypical antipsychotics should undergo

fasting blood glucose testing at the beginning of treatment and periodically during treatment. Any patient

treated with atypical antipsychotics should be monitored for symptoms of hyperglycemia including polydipsia,

polyuria, polyphagia, and weakness. Patients who develop symptoms of hyperglycemia during treatment with

atypical antipsychotics should undergo fasting blood glucose testing. In some cases, hyperglycemia has

resolved when the atypical antipsychotic was discontinued; however, some patients required continuation of

antidiabetic treatment despite discontinuation of the suspect drug.

[SashaSue]

Latuda doesn't do the histamine antagonism that the other AAP's do. Since it's thought to have a lot to do with weight gain, it makes sense that weight gain would be less of an issue with latuda.