Diabetes has been a growing problem over recent years. More than likely you or someone you know has been affected by diabetes in one way or another. A report today by ABC.com stated that 45 percent of adults have diagnosed or undiagnosed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

It is important to know what kind of medication you or your loved one is taking when it comes to diabetes, so we will do a quick rundown of the most popular diabetes drugs and how they work.

Actos Oral

Actos is an anti-diabetic drug that is prescribed along with a proper diet and exercise program in order to control high blood sugar in patients that suffer from type 2 diabetes. Actos works by helping to restore your body’s proper response to insulin, which in turn lowers your blood sugar.

Amaryl Oral

Amaryl aka Glimepiride is an anti-diabetic drug that is used in patients with type 2 diabetes. Amaryl works by to stimulate the release of your body’s natural insulin. Controlling high blood sugar will allow diabetics to avoid kidney damage, blindness, nerve problems, and many other problems while also lessening the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Lantus SubQ

Lantus is used in people with type 1 (insulin-dependent) or type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Lantis is a man-made, long-acting type of insulin that is similar to human insulin but starts working more slowly and lasts longer than regular insulin produced by the body.

Avandamet Oral

Avandamet works by helping to restore your body’s proper response to the insulin you naturally produce. Avandamet belongs to a class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones or “glitazones.”

Cozaar Oral

Cozaar is used to treat high blood pressure and also to help protect the kidneys from damage due to diabetes and works by blocking the hormone angiotensin which relaxes blood vessels, causing them to become wider. Cozaar is in the class of drugs called angiotensin receptor blockers.

Glucophage Oral

Glucophage is used in people with type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes) and works by controlling high blood sugar. Proper control of diabetes may also lessen your risk of a heart attack or stroke. It is in the class of drugs known as biguanides and works by helping to restore your body’s proper response to the insulin your body naturally produces, while also decreasing the amount of sugar that your liver makes and that your stomach and intestines absorb.

These are just a few of the more common drugs that you may be prescribed by your doctor. If we didn’t cover your diabetes drug in this post, check out healthcentral.com and study up on your diabetes drugs. Also, always make sure you know of any and all possible side effects that could occur.

However, people suffering from atypical depression — characterized by hunger and sleepiness, rather than loss of appetite and insomnia — may have different needs in an antidepressant and should discuss with their doctor options such as Bupropion (familiarly known by its GlaxoSmithKline trade name, Wellbutrin), which could help where popular SSRIs might fail.

That is because SSRIs — Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors — work on the neurotransmitter Serotonin, while Wellbutrin — an NDRI — is a Norepinephrine and Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitor. This change of focus in the affected neurotransmitter may make all the difference for those individuals who suffer depression in an atypical manner.

Atypical depression differs from regular, “melancholic” depression primarily in energy and appetite. It is often characterized by “reversed vegetative symptoms” such as over-eating (regular depressives have little appetite) and/or over-sleeping (regular depression is usually characterized by sleeplessness).It is estimated that up to 40% of people suffering from depression have atypical symptoms.

Wellbutrin reportedly has a more enlivening affect than the SSRIs, so it is often considered for those who are sleeping abnormally long amounts. (For this reason, it is not advised for those suffering anxiety or agitation.) It is also one of the only antidepressants that is not associated with weight gain, and for this reason is also suitable for atypical depressives who may be overeating.

Even successful users of SSRIs have reason to consider Wellbutrin. SSRIs have widely-known sexual side effects that trouble some patients, even if the SSRI is curing their depression. This may make them turn to their physician for refinement of the prescription. Says Ray Sahelian, M.D.:

Since bupropion raises dopamine levels, it actually can enhance sexuality rather than depress libido as do many SSRIs. Bupropion has been shown to have a favorable effect on sexual dysfunction. Several reports and small, short-term trials have examined bupropion as an adjunct or substitute for other antidepressants in sexually dysfunctional patients. This means that Wellbutrin is often prescribed for sufferers of atypical depression, but it is also prescribed as an add-on for people using SSRIs who would like to try to combat the sexual side effects of SSRIs.

In other words, Wellbutrin is often prescribed as an add-on to an SSRI for the express purpose of relieving some of the SSRI’s sexual side effects (usually loss of libido or functioning).

Depression is not the only condition that Bupropion has been approved to treat. In 1997, it was approved by the FDA as a smoking cessation aid under the name Zyban. And in 2006, Wellbutrin XL was approved as a treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder. Because both Wellbutrin (prescribed for depression) and Zyban (prescribed for smoking cessation) are essentially Bupropion, patients should not take both at the same time; they would be doubling their dose.

Caution: The most well-known side effect of Bupropion is that it lowers seizure thresholds. Doctors have worked around this with lower dosages (it is highly dose-dependent) and controlled-release formulations. Still, those with seizure disorders should avoid Bupropion. Other common side effects are nervousness/ agitation and insomnia. As with any antidepressant, people suffering from increased depressive symptoms or thoughts of suicide should contact their doctor immediately.

Some formulations of Bupropion are available as generics in the United States and Canada.

U.S. Brand Names

• Budeprion SR®
• Budeprion XL®
• Buproban™
• Wellbutrin SR®
• Wellbutrin XL®
• Wellbutrin®
• Zyban®

Canadian Brand Names

• Novo-Bupropion SR
• PMS-Bupropion SR
• RATIO-Bupropion SR
• SANDOZ-Bupropion SR
• Wellbutrin XL®
• Wellbutrin®
• Zyban®

A couple of years ago, actor Tom Cruise was dismissed as a kook for ranting against antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs. But in light of what we’re now learning about SSRIs, is it possible that we collectively owe Cruise an apology?

First, let me say that I still think Cruise is an odd guy. And I know that his bashing of SSRIs is not rooted in scientific research, but in the strange tenets of Scientology — including an irrational hatred of the field of psychiatry.

Second, I strongly believe that antidepressants can help people. I’ve seen their positive effects on people personally. But I also believe the FDA should take further steps to ensure the safety of these medications, and to curb the greed-fueled marketing of SSRIs by drugmakers.

With those caveats, there’s no question that across a number of fronts, Cruise is receiving a level of vindication regarding SSRIs.

As Evelyn Pringle reports in Scoop:

The demolition of the giant “psycho-pharmaceutical complex” appears to be on the horizon … The antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI’s, such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro are at the center of the storm. These drugs have been prescribed to more Americans than any other class of medications over the past two decades. Cymbalta, Effexor and Wellbutrin are often referred to as SSRI’s, but they are slightly different chemically. However, the drugs all carry similar side effects and warnings….

The top sales pitch for SSRI’s has been the “chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain” myth. “There is no evidence whatsoever that depression is caused by a biochemical imbalance,” says Dr. Peter Breggin, one of the world’s leading experts on psychiatric drugs and author of the new book, “Medication Madness.”

People take for granted pronouncements such as, “You have a biochemical imbalance,” and “mental disorders are like diabetes,” he explains in the book. “In reality,” Dr. Breggin writes, “these are not scientific observations – they are promotional slogans, so adamantly repeated in the media … that people assume them to be true … Reluctant patients by the millions are pushed into taking drugs by doctors who tell them with no uncertainty that they need medication.”

While Dr. Breggin’s view is still in the minority, anti-SSRI sentiment is gaining traction — thanks in large part to the questionable actions of drugmakers.

At the moment, all eyes are on Paxil maker GlaxoSmithKline due to reports that the company is under investigation by the US Department of Justice, as well as the Senate Finance Committee … The report that led to the investigation … was submitted by Dr Joseph Glenmullen, a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of “The Antidepressant Solution” and “Prozac Backlash: Overcoming the Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Other Antidepressants with Safe, Effective Alternatives”…

The report shows that Glaxo knew in 1989, long before Paxil was FDA approved, that people taking the drug were 8 times more likely to engage in suicidal behavior than people given a placebo, or sugar pill. Now, it stands to reason that even the most depressed person would decline to take Paxil if given these facts. Also, parents certainly would decline if they were told about the risks.

Dr Glenmullen explains that, by submitting what he refers to as “bad” Paxil numbers to the FDA, Glaxo was able to avoid adding a warning about suicide to the label when the drug was approved…

As Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee puts it: “Essentially, it looks like GlaxoSmithKline bamboozled the FDA.” And this may only be the beginning, as Big Pharma’s marketing practices — including paying off academic researchers and physicians — come under closer scrunity.

As the Glaxo scandal unravels, the public will learn that other antidepressant makers such as Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Wyeth and Forest Laboratories are equally guilty … Shrinks on the take are so addicted to industry money that it’s impossible to embarrass them … Overall, estimates indicate that the drug industry spends $19 billion annually on marketing to physicians in the form of gifts, travel, meals and other consulting fees…

The scary part is, even though all this scrutiny may cost Big Pharma by reducing the overprescribing of SSRIs, the families affected by suicides or other SSRI-related tragedies may never get their day in court — if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Wyeth in the Wyeth v. Levine case now before the court.

Specifically, the Consumerist says that “suffix drugs” — the kinds with letters like CD, CR, ER, LA, SR, XL, XR, or XT after the name — are usually just different versions of the same drug that vary only in how the drug releases in the body. The blog then says:

By coming up with different variations on old drugs, pharmaceutical companies can keep the profits rolling on drugs whose patents have expired. Best of all, if they can get the doctor to write one of these letter sequences after the drug’s name, the pharmacy can’t substitute a lower-priced generic (unless a generic of the extended release version is already on the market).

For example, Wellbutrin (bupropion) came out in 1985 requiring 3 pills a day. In 1996, 36 months before the old patent expired, they came up with Wellbutrin SR, only 2 pills a day. In 2003, 5 months before the SR patent expired, Wellbutrin XL was released, only one pill a day.

A 3 month supply of 300 mg of bupropion per day retails on average for $270. You’ll have to pay $693 and $656 for Wellbutrin SR and XL, respectively. Over the course of a year, that’s $1080 extra dollars. Is it really worth paying 2.5 times as much just for one fewer pill?

You know how we feel about Big Pharma’s slimy game-playing with patents, so you know where we stand on this issue; we agree, in principle, with the Consumerist and Dr. Jardini.

But every drug is different — as is every patient’s reaction. The Consumerist handled the issue too glibly, causing it to receive quite a bit of pushback from its commenters. In fact, we found the pushback just as valuable as the blog post itself.

Here are a few choice responses:

Wellbutrin can cause seizures if too high of a dose is given at once. The time release capsules allow a higher dose to be taken because it will be slowly released into your blood stream rather than released all at once (which is what brings on the seizures). For people not at risk for seizures, or for people taking low doses, the SR or XL probably doesn’t matter, but for some people it does…

I take Adderall XR. When I was first prescribed adderall, i was on lower doses, multiple pills per day. There were definite peaks and valleys to my day. At one point I was also on generics, which gave me a headache, so i went back to regular adderall. I then switched to the XR to try and avoid peaks and valleys and I haven’t looked back since. It’s not just as simple as fewer pills, the body chemistry is different, that’s why its a different prescription…

I prefer the Ambien CR. Because with regular Ambien I wake up in less than 5 hours. With CR I can get a full 8 hours…

Totally bad advice. I take the Wellbutrin XL, and have since its release. Prior to that, on the Twice a day SR, I would frequently forget – and suffer the consequences. Anti-depressants are less forgiving than other medications. The time release aspect of the XL really reduces the swings even normal doses of SR can cause…

When an epileptic stops taking his extended release medication because the Consumerist told him the evil pharm companies were ripping him off, don’t be surprised when he hires a lawyer. The consumerist should leave the job of dispensing medical advice to those with medical degrees…

Really, there are two separate issues here. First, choice is good for consumers; the more versions of a drug the better. And clearly from the comments above, those little suffixes can and do make a difference.

The second issue is not really a medical issue; it’s a public policy issue. Why do these different drugs have such different costs? The answer is clearly that Big Pharma is taking advantage of our current drug patenting system’s loopholes; as one commenter correctly puts it:

Remember, the drug companies could have offered all the versions at once, but by delaying releases till patent protection is near expiration helps them control the market for many times longer than traditional patent protection would provide.

This is plainly true. And we, as consumers and members of the public in a democracy, have the power to close these loopholes. We can require the FDA to be stricter in its patent requirements. By not doing so, we’ve effectively allowed pharmaceutical companies to keep new versions of a drug off the market simply in order to extend their patents and avoid generic competition.

The (understandable) mistake the Consumerist has made here is underestimating how completely the tentacles of Big Pharma control our behavior as drug consumers — and how difficult it is for us to extract ourselves from their grasp.

By the way, eDrugSearch.com’s own e-book on saving money on prescription drugs will be coming out soon. Be on the lookout.

The gist of it is this: Matthew says he’s an “independent prescription-drug namer” who is responsible for naming drugs like Vioxx, Wellbutrin, Paxil and Advil. He says he’s doing a 12-part YouTube series on “How to Be Creative,” in which he discusses his techniques for naming top-selling medications.

By episode five, Matthew has been fired by his top clients for getting drunk and talking smack in episode four, which you can view below.

Watch the whole series here.