If You Need More Than One Medicine

Diabetes pills sometimes stop working after a few months or years. The cause is often unknown. This doesn't mean your diabetes is worse. When this happens, taking more than one type 2 diabetes medicine (combination therapy) may help.

Most people with type 2 diabetes take a combination of medicines. The longer you have type 2 diabetes, the more likely it is that you’ll need more than one medication to control your blood sugar.

Switching from one pill to another doesn’t tend to work as well as adding a second (or third) medicine, so your doctor may add a medicine to what you’re currently taking.

Some type 2 diabetes medicines are combined in one pill to make it easier for you to take them.