Any Survivor Also A Diabetic

[Brenda Durant]

I been reading about diabetes meds. lowering survival rates. My husband is a stage 3c rectal cancer survivor and is also a type 2 diabetic. He has no family history of colon or rectal cancer. I now wonder if his diabetes meds caused his cancer and I am worried about him continuing to take them. Reading the side affects of the diabetes meds. makes me wonder if anyone should take them.
Does anyone have good advice from their doctors about taking diabetes meds. while trying to beat cancer?

[Dot]

Hi Brenda

My husband is currently undergoing treatment for Stage IV CC with mets to the liver. He is also a diabetic, Type 1. Diabetes is a disease that you can control somewhat with medications. If you do not get your blood sugars under control then you risk damage to other parts of your body. Kidney damage, hypertension, blindness etc. Diabetics also heal slower then someone without it partly due to poor circulation and having high blood sugars. My opinion is take the medications needed to keep the diabetes under control. Frankly, you can find just about anything that could cause cancer. There are many people that have Type II Diabetes
that take the oral medications who don't have cancer.

During Chemo my husband's blood sugars are high due to the Decadron and that chemo drugs need to be in a Dextrose solution, so he has to make adjustments and take more insulin. Also, he sees his endocrinologist more often now.

Hope this helps. If you can go through the cancer treatments and survive and beat it, then you can do anything!

[Guest]

I am a 2 year survivor of stage IV with mets to the Liver and Lung,
now back on chemo. I was diagnosed with Prednisone induced
diabetes 2 months ago. I take 1, 15 unit injection of insulin a day
and follow a strict diet. My blood sugars are good and I feel better
than ever. I was also afraid to add anything new to my Cancer
regiment but I feel so much better that I am glad the doctor
found the problem. The doctor said the meds would not have an
effect on my Cancer treatments and would only make things
better. It certainly has given me back my energy and I sleep good.

It might help to attend a Diabetes seminar and ask lots of questions
or check out message boards for your concerns.
We all have to make difficult decisions in this battle,
good luck to you and your husband as you try to make the best
one for your situation.

Carol

[Durant_B]

There is a lot of data and reports that diabetic drugs decrease survival rate (those being the sulfoneurics). The diabetic pills my husband was taking befor getting rectal cancer, had a side affect of rectal bleeding and unusual passage of mucos material. This lead to him not getting checked. Who could not think that a drug that caused such side affects could also cause cancer? I know too much about the FDA and "big pharma" to trust anything that they release to the public.

[Guest]

Brenda,
I work for big pharma and I hear this a lot. My answer would be, what if your husband would not take Insulin. Can he survive. The world is not perfect and if a drug causes no other side affects, then my father and most likely everyone else here would not be alive. All drugs are two-fold. Its because of big pharma that we have grade a pharmaceuticals.