The first treatment for type 2 diabetes blood glucose (sugar) control is often meal planning, weight loss, and exercising.

Sometimes these measures are not enough to bring blood glucose levels down near the normal range. The next step is taking a medicine that lowers blood glucose levels.

Can diabetes pills help me?

Only people with type 2 diabetes can use pills to manage their diabetes, people with type 1 diabetes must use insulin.

These pills work best when used with meal planning and exercise. This way you have three therapies working together to lower your blood glucose levels.

Diabetes pills don't work for everyone. Although most people find that their blood glucose levels go down when they begin taking pills, their blood glucose levels may not go near the normal range. Start by considering your options and see what might work best for you.

And for many, cost is a factor. Get the facts and explore our tips on comparing the cost.

Will they help?

What are the chances that diabetes pills will work for you? Your chances are low if you have had diabetes for more than 10 years or already take more than 20 units of insulin each day. On the other hand, your chances are good if you developed diabetes recently or have needed little or no insulin to keep your blood glucose levels near normal.

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, oral combination therapy can help.

Even if diabetes pills do bring your blood glucose levels near the normal range, you may still need to take insulin if you have a severe infection or need surgery. Pills may not be able to control blood glucose levels during these stressful times when blood glucose levels shoot up.

Also, if you plan to become pregnant, you will need to control your diabetes with diet and exercise or with insulin. It is not safe for pregnant women to take oral diabetes medications.

There is no "best" pill or treatment for type 2 diabetes. You may need to try more than one type of pill, combination of pills, or pills plus insulin.

Is there a danger of interactions?

In general, diabetes pills are safe and work well. But like any other drug, they must be used with care.

All diabetes pills can interact with other medicines. Because of the chance of medication interactions, you need to tell your doctor about all medicines you are taking. While you're taking diabetes pills, you should check with your doctor before starting anything new — even over-the-counter items.

Any sulfonylurea or meglitinide can cause blood glucose levels to drop too low (hypoglycemia).

Metformin or the glitazones rarely cause hypoglycemia unless taken with insulin stimulators (sulfonylureas or repaglinide) or insulin injections.

Acarbose or miglitol, taken as prescribed, does not cause hypoglycemia. However, hypoglycemia can occur when acarbose or meglitol is taken in combination with other diabetes medications.