Diabeta

Diabeta is a prescription medication used to treat type 2 diabetes. This medication belongs to a group of drugs called sulfonylureas, which help lower blood sugar levels by causing the pancreas to secrete insulin. It also helps the body use insulin more efficiently.

Diabeta comes in tablet form. It is usually taken once daily, with breakfast. Sometimes a second daily dose is required.

Common side effects include nausea, heartburn and "feeling full". 

Diabeta is a prescription medication used to treat type 2 diabetes. Diabeta lowers blood sugar levels along with exercise and an appropriate diet.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully.

The dose your doctor recommends may be based on the following:

• other medical conditions you have
• other medications you are taking
• how you respond to this medication
• age

The recommended maintenance dose range of glyburide (Diabeta) is 1.25 to 20 mg daily (20 mg/day is the maximum daily dose).

Serious side effects have been reported with Diabeta including the following:

• Diabeta may increase your chance of death from heart problems.
• Diabeta can cause low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) in patients. Tell your doctor if you have a history of kidney or liver disease or drink alcohol. Symptoms of low blood sugar include:
  • shakiness
  • tremors
  • cold sweat
  • fast heart rate
  • headache
  • moodiness
  • dizziness
  • blurred vision
  • confusion

• Diabeta can decrease the number of red blood cells in people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.  Alert your doctor if you have a history of G6PD deficiency or anemia.

Ask your doctor about the safe use of alcoholic beverages while you are taking Diabeta. Alcohol can make the side effects from Diabeta worse. Consuming alcohol while taking Diabeta also rarely may cause symptoms such as flushing (reddening of the face), headache, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, weakness, blurred vision, mental confusion, sweating, choking, breathing difficulty, and anxiety.

Avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight, and wear protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Diabeta may make your skin sensitive to sunlight.

Ask your doctor what to do if you get sick, develop an infection or fever, experience unusual stress, or are injured. These conditions can affect your blood sugar and the amount of Diabeta you may need.

After exposure to stress, such as fever, trauma, infection, or surgery, Diabeta may cause you to lose control over your blood glucose levels.

Do not take Diabeta if you:

• are allergic to Diabeta or to any of its ingredients
• have type 1 diabetes mellitus or diabetic ketoacidosis, with or without coma. These conditions should be treated with insulin.
• are being treated with bosentan

Common side effects include:

• nausea
• heartburn
• "feeling full"
• rash

This is not a complete list of Diabeta side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

• bosentan (Tracleer)
• angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors such as benazepril (Lotensin), captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec), fosinopril (Monopril), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), moexipril (Univasc), perindopril, (Aceon), quinapril (Accupril), ramipril (Altace), and trandolapril (Mavik)
• anticoagulants ('blood thinners') such as warfarin (Coumadin)
• aspirin
• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn)
• beta blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin), labetalol (Normodyne), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), nadolol (Corgard), and propranolol (Inderal)
• calcium channel blockers such as amlodipine (Norvasc), diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor, Tiazac, others), felodipine (Plendil), isradipine (DynaCirc), nicardipine (Cardene), nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia), nimodipine (Nimotop), nisoldipine (Sular), and verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, Verelan)
• chloramphenicol
• clarithromycin (Biaxin)
• cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune)
• disopyramide (Norpace)
• diuretics ('water pills')
• fluconazole (Diflucan)
• fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem)
• hormone replacement therapy and hormonal contraceptives (birth control pills, patches, rings, implants, and injections)
• insulin or other medications to treat high blood sugar or diabetes
• isoniazid (INH)
• MAO inhibitors such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), and tranylcypromine (Parnate)
• medications for asthma and colds
• medications for mental illness and nausea
• miconazole (Monistat)
• niacin
• oral steroids such as dexamethasone (Decadron, Dexone), methylprednisolone (Medrol), and prednisone (Deltasone)
• phenytoin (Dilantin)
• probenecid (Benemid)
• quinolone and fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro), gatifloxacin (Tequin), levofloxacin (Levaquin), moxifloxacin (Avelox), ofloxacin (Floxin)
• rifampin
• salicylate pain relievers
• sulfa antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole/ trimethoprim (Bactrim, Septra)
• sulfasalazine (Azulfidine)
• thyroid medications

This is not a complete list of Diabeta drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X, are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

Diabeta falls into category C. There are no well-controlled studies that have been done in pregnant women. Diabeta should be used during pregnancy only if the possible benefit outweighs the possible risk to the unborn baby.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed

Although it is not known whether Diabeta is excreted in human milk, some sulfonylurea drugs are known to be excreted in human milk. Because of the possibility for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or stop the use of this medication. Your doctor and you will decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of using Diabeta.

If the drug is discontinued, and if diet alone is inadequate for controlling blood glucose, insulin therapy should be considered.

Avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight, and wear protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Glyburide may make your skin sensitive to sunlight.

Glyburide can cause low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) in patients. Make sure you know the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar.

Alcohol can intensify the side effects of glyburide.

Glyburide should be taken with a healthy diet to maximize its blood glucose lowering effects.