Samuel Grossman, BS Pharm, Pharm.D, CDE Answered 3/5/2015

When an individual’s blood sugar improves significantly it provides room to cut down on doses of medications and ultimately cut down the number of medications. Blood sugar can improve with diet, exercise, and medication therapy. When the number of carbohydrates (sugars) consumed is reduced during the day and the duration and intensity of exercise (such as walking) increases, we see more of an improvement in blood sugar compared to the use of medications alone. When an individual with diabetes has an improvement in blood sugar that is continuous for the entire month, I may consider recommending cutting down the dose of a medication gradually and then if this improvement continues discontinue one medication from the medication regimen and continue to monitor blood sugar.