Oral agent		Half-life	Peak level	Effective duration	Dosage range and frequency
Sulfonylureas
	Tolbutamide (Orinase)	4.5 to 6.5 hours	3 to 4 hours	6 to 10 hours	500 to 1,500 mg twice daily
	Acetohexamide (Dymelor)	6 to 8 hours	3 hours	12 to 24 hours	250 mg once daily to 750 mg twice daily
	Tolazamide (Tolinase)	7 hours	3 to 4 hours	16 to 24 hours	100 mg once daily to 500 mg twice daily
	Chlorpropamide (Diabinese)	36 hours	2 to 4 hours	24 to 72 hours	100 to 750 mg once daily
	Glimepiride (Amaryl)	3 to 5 hours	2 to 3 hours	24 hours	1 to 8 mg once daily
	Glipizide (Glucotrol)	2 to 4 hours	1 to 3 hours	16 to 24 hours	2.5 mg once daily to 20 mg twice daily
	Glyburide (DiaBeta, Micronase)	10 hours	4 hours	18 to 24 hours	1.25 mg once daily to 10 mg twice daily
Metformin (Glucophage)		1.5 to 4.9 hours	Unknown	6 to 12 hours	500 mg twice daily to 850 mg three times daily
Acarbose (Precose)		2 hours	1 hour	Unknown	25 to 100 mg three times daily
Troglitazone (Rezulin)		16 to 34 hours	2 to 3 hours	Unknown	200 to 600 mg once daily