International Diabetes Center > Treatments > Diabetes Pills

Diabetes pills

Many people with type 2 diabetes take one or more diabetes pills to help control blood glucose levels. Some women with gestational diabetes also benefit from using the diabetes pill, glyburide. Different diabetes pills work in different ways, such as:

• helping the pancreas release more insulin
• helping the body use insulin better
• causing the liver to release less glucose
• slowing down the absorption of foods that turn into glucose

Pills that help the body use insulin better may be taken in addition to insulin.

Sulfonylureas (sulfa-based pills)	Stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin	Glyburide (DiaBeta®, Micronase® or Glynase®), glipizide (Glucotrol®), glipizide extended release (Glucotrol XL™) and glimepiride (Amaryl®)
Biguanides	Decrease the release of glucose by the liver and make liver cells more sensitive to insulin	Metformin (Glucophage®) and metformin extended release (Glucophage®XR)
Thiazolidinediones	Make muscle and fat cells more sensitive to insulin and decrease the release of glucose by the liver	Pioglitazone (Actos®) and rosiglitazone (Avandia®)
Meglitinides	Cause the pancreas to release insulin over a short period of time (after meals)	Repaglinide (Prandin®)
D-phenylalanine derivatives	Cause the pancreas to release insulin over a short period of time (after meals)	nateglinide (Starlix®)
Alpha glucosidase inhibitors	Slow the body's absorption of carbohydrate	Acarbose (Precose®) and miglitol (Glyset®)
Combination pills	Two or more medications with complementary actions combined in one pill	Glyburide/metformin (Glucovance®), glipizide/metformin (Metaglip®) and rosiglitazone/metformin (Avandamet®)