Diabetes medications for seniors — the options and their trade-offs

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. Please consult appropriate professionals for guidance specific to your situation.

Diabetes in older adults is different from diabetes in younger people. Your parent might have lived with diabetes for decades, or it might be newly diagnosed. Their diabetes targets might be looser than what a 45-year-old with diabetes would aim for, because squeezing blood sugar down to very tight levels causes hypoglycemia, and in older adults, hypoglycemia is dangerous. Low blood sugar causes confusion, weakness, falls, and can even cause heart attacks. Your parent's goal isn't perfect blood sugar numbers. It's managing their diabetes in a way that prevents complications but keeps them safe and functional.

The medication choices are more complex than they used to be. Metformin is still the first-line choice for most older adults, but there are now newer medications with different mechanisms. Some lower blood sugar by forcing the kidneys to dump glucose in the urine. Some mimic hormones that regulate eating and blood sugar. Some work on the pancreas to make more insulin. Each one has different benefits and different downsides. What works for one person might not work for another, and what worked five years ago might need adjustment as your parent ages and their body changes.

When your parent is taking multiple medications for other conditions, adding diabetes medication gets complicated. Some diabetes medications interact with blood pressure medications. Some require adjusting doses based on kidney function. Your parent might be on a medication that controls blood sugar beautifully but that makes their blood pressure drop dangerously or causes their blood potassium to get too high. Managing all of this requires communication between your parent's doctors, or you serving as the translator when the doctors aren't in the same practice.

Diabetes Management in Older Adults

The blood sugar target for older adults is usually higher than for younger people. Where a 40-year-old with diabetes might aim for fasting blood sugar of 90 to 130, an 80-year-old might aim for 130 to 180. The A1C target, which measures average blood sugar over three months, might be 7 for a younger person but 7.5 to 8 for older adults. This isn't lack of care. It's recognition that tightly controlled blood sugar in older people causes more harm from hypoglycemic episodes than benefit from prevention of long-term complications.

Hypoglycemia is the big fear for older people with diabetes. When blood sugar drops too low, it comes on suddenly. Your parent might feel shaky or sweaty, or they might not feel anything until they're confused, can't think straight, or are having a fall. Severe hypoglycemia can cause seizures or loss of consciousness. In older adults with heart disease, hypoglycemia can trigger heart attacks. This is why doctors are careful about pushing blood sugar too low with medication.

The medications that most commonly cause hypoglycemia are insulin and the sulfonylureas like glyburide and glipizide. These drugs force the body to make more insulin or provide insulin from outside. If your parent takes one of these and eats less than expected, or exercises more than expected, blood sugar can drop dangerously. If they take metformin or the SGLT2 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists, hypoglycemia is less likely, though it still can happen if combined with insulin or sulfonylureas.

Keeping blood sugar from dropping too low sometimes means accepting slightly higher blood sugar. If your parent is on insulin and having episodes where their blood sugar drops to 60 or 70, the dose is too high. The solution is lowering the dose and accepting that fasting blood sugar might be 150 instead of 120. That's okay if it prevents dangerous lows.

Medication regimens need to fit into your parent's life. If your parent takes insulin three times a day and they're having trouble remembering, or they're not eating regularly to coordinate with the insulin, the regimen is too complicated. Simpler is better. One or two medications might work as well as three, even if the blood sugar control is slightly less tight. Your parent with stable blood sugar at 170 who takes one medication and doesn't have hypoglycemic episodes is doing better than your parent with blood sugar at 120 who's confused from frequent low episodes.

The Medication Options

Metformin is the most commonly prescribed medication for type 2 diabetes and usually the first choice. It works by making the body use insulin more effectively and by reducing how much glucose the liver makes. It doesn't cause hypoglycemia because it doesn't force insulin production. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes a rare but serious condition affecting vitamin B12 absorption. Your parent should have kidney function tested before starting metformin and periodically while taking it, because metformin can be dangerous if kidney function is very poor.

Sulfonylureas like glyburide, glipizide, and glimepiride force the pancreas to make more insulin. They work quickly and reliably lower blood sugar. The problem is that they cause hypoglycemia, sometimes severely, especially in older adults. They also promote weight gain. They're less favored now than they used to be, but some older adults do okay on them.

SGLT2 inhibitors like empagliflozin and canagliflozin work by making the kidneys dump glucose into the urine. They have interesting side effects: your parent might have more urinary tract infections or yeast infections because the glucose-rich urine creates an environment where these infections thrive. But they have other benefits. They actually help the heart and kidneys, so if your parent has heart disease or kidney disease, this is a good choice. They don't cause hypoglycemia when used alone.

GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide are newer medications that work similarly to a hormone in the gut. They lower blood sugar, they slow stomach emptying so people feel fuller longer, and they help with weight loss. They also protect the heart and help with blood pressure. The downside is cost and the side effect profile: nausea, sometimes vomiting, and diarrhea, especially when starting. Some people find these side effects settle down. Some don't.

DPP-4 inhibitors like sitagliptin enhance the body's own insulin response when blood sugar is high. They're safe, they don't cause hypoglycemia when used alone, and they're well tolerated. They don't work as powerfully as some other options, but for mild diabetes, they're a good choice.

Insulin is what many people fear. When your parent's doctor says they might need insulin, it feels like the disease is progressing, like they're sicker. But insulin is actually just replacing what a diabetic pancreas doesn't make enough of. For some older adults, starting insulin makes their blood sugar stable and predictable. The downside is the daily injections and the need to coordinate with meals and activity. But modern insulin pens are easier to use than the old syringes, and the insulins available now have better profiles than the old long-acting insulins.

Your parent doesn't graduate to insulin because they're not managing well with pills. They might go on insulin because the pills aren't working anymore, because their kidney function changed and they need a medication that's kidney-safe, or because their situation has changed in some way. Insulin is a tool, not a failure.

Daily Management

Monitoring blood sugar can be as simple as checking with a meter a few times a day, or more complex with continuous glucose monitors that show trends throughout the day. For older adults not on insulin, checking twice a day or less often is usually adequate. For those on insulin, more frequent checking helps with dose adjustments.

Coordination with meals is important if your parent takes medications that lower blood sugar quickly. If they take a sulfonylurea or insulin, they need to eat when the medication is supposed to work. Skipping meals is dangerous. Eating at very different times on different days makes blood sugar unpredictable.

Exercise affects blood sugar. Activity lowers blood sugar, sometimes dramatically. If your parent takes blood-sugar-lowering medication and then goes for a long walk, blood sugar might drop too much. This isn't reason to avoid exercise. It's reason to monitor and adjust medication or meals as needed.

Illness changes everything. When your parent has infection, even a minor one, blood sugar typically goes up. The blood-sugar-lowering medication might not be enough. Your parent needs to monitor more closely and might need to contact their doctor about dose adjustment. Dehydration makes blood sugar worse.

Your parent should know the signs of low blood sugar: shaking, sweating, feeling anxious, hunger, difficulty thinking clearly. They should know that these can come on fast and they should treat it immediately with something sweet, like juice or glucose tablets. They should not drive or operate equipment if they feel these symptoms.

They should also know signs of high blood sugar: increased thirst, more urination, fatigue, and sometimes fruity-smelling breath in severe hyperglycemia. These develop more slowly than low blood sugar, usually over hours or days.

Emergency preparedness matters. Your parent should wear a medical alert bracelet if they take insulin, so if they're unconscious, people know they have diabetes. Their family should know where diabetes supplies are kept and should understand that if your parent can't eat or is unconscious, this is an emergency.

Diabetes management in older adults is about preventing complications while keeping your parent safe and functional. The targets are usually less aggressive than for younger people, the regimens should be simple enough that your parent can actually follow them, and the focus is on avoiding dangerous low blood sugar more than on achieving perfect numbers. What works for your parent might not match what works for your friend's parent. The goal is your parent's safety and quality of life.

How To Help Your Elders provides educational content for family caregivers. This is not a substitute for professional medical, legal, or financial advice. Every family situation is different — what works for one may not work for another.