Diabetics wish they had more hands...

..so they could give Actos four thumbs down, apparently.

Diabetics give a Rick James reception to Type 2 medication side effects.

I was on Ask a Patient, checking out other people's reactions to Actos (the TZD a lot of people were switched to when Avandia got a reputation for being bad for your heart, but now it's coming out that Actos shares some of those same heart risks and then some), and it seems unanimous, at least among this sampling of internet commenters: all thumbs down.

From their testimonies, weight gain was pretty much a given, which really upset a lot of the reviewers (obviously... who wants a side effect that contributes to the disease it sets out to treat?).

Here's a sample of what people had to say about their Actos side effects:

• "I am so mad because I was losing weight before I started this medicine. I was 213lbs and now, two months later, I am 233. DONT TAKE THIS DRUG, IT IS DANGEROUS !!!!!!!!"

• "I now have huge thighs and butt. I started actos 15 MG and my doctor quickly moved me on to 30 MG. I can't lose the weight even though I have been off of actos for almost a year now. It did bring down my blood sugar but made me fat in doing so."

• "It did bring my blood glucose levels down, but the side effects just are not worth it. I thought I was going to have a stroke, heart attack or something."

• "...So puffy around my knees that I can no longer see where my knee stops and my leg starts. Extreme swelling due to increase in fat cells as per Actos. I can no longer continue using this medication. Legs look like huge tree trunks."

And those are just four people out of the millions who have taken this drug. Check out others here if you really want to get a sense of the kind of side effects people are experiencing.