General Information on Glucovance
Glucovance is an oral antihyperglycemic drug that contains Glyburide and Metformin HCl. You can buy Glucovance to treat type-2 diabetes because both metformin and glyburide help in controlling blood sugar levels and improving glycemic control. Glyburide assists in lowering the level of blood glucose by stimulating the pancreas to release insulin while metformin hydrochloride acts as antihyperglycemic agent and helps improve the glucose tolerance in patients diagnosed with type-2 diabetes.
Side effects of Glucovance
Administration of Glucovance can lead to several side effects with lactic acidosis on the top of the list as it can be fatal. Lactic acidosis symptoms start to show very slowly and it gets worse with time. Some of the mild symptoms of lactic acidosis include weakness or muscle pain, difficulty breathing, numbness or cold feeling in the legs, nausea followed by vomitting, stomach pain, uneven or slow heart rate, and dizziness. Some of the severe symptoms of acidosis include dyspnea, abdominal pain, hypotension, hypothermia, and bradycardia. If you develop any of these symptoms, consult a medical professional or get emergency medical help.
Glucovance may also cause allergic reactions in rare cases, characterized by breathing problems, swollen tongue, lips, throat, and the face and hives. Other rare but serious side effects include lightheadedness or dizzyiness, fever and chills, sore throat, low blood sugar, blurred vision, unusual bruising, loss of appetite, irregular heartbeat, dark urine, and pale stool.
In controlled clinical trials of Glucovance, cases of Edema were noticed. In some patients symptoms of hypoglycemia like sweating, dizziness, and hunger was noticed. Clinical trials have also saw an incidence of gastrointestinal side effects with vomiting or nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain being the most common.
Precautions
Although there are no reports to support fetal harm caused by Glucovance; doctors normally don't prescribe this medicine for pregnant women. It is a known fact that oral intake of sulfonylureas by pregnant women can lead to neonatal hypoglycemia. You must talk to your doctor before you buy Glucovance if you are suffering from any type of kind of kidney disease, diabetic ketoacidosis, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD), heart disease, and history of heart attack.
Glucovance Dosage
Glucovance is available in the following forms- Glucovance 250mg and Glucovance 500mg tablets. The norm is to individualize the doses or prescribe according to requirement. Most doctors will not prescribe more than the maximum recommended dose of 20 mg glyburide or 2000 mg metformin daily. The starting dose is Glucovance 1.25mg/250 mg (glyburide/metformin) twice a day during or with meals. Once Glucovance has been administered, the effectiveness of the therapy should be assessed by measuring HbA1c levels once every three months. If required the doctors can prescribe Glucovance 5 mg/500 mg (glyburide/metformin) as well.
Interactions
Glucovance should not be administered along with specific drugs or medicines like thiazolidinedione as it can increase the risk of hypoglycemia. Addition of rosiglitazone to Glucovance can lead to weight gain. Some of the other drugs that Glucovance interacts with include cimetidine, ranitidine, quinine, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, amiloride, procainamide, triamterene, isoniazid, niacin, Synthroid, birth control pills, Dilantin, diltiazem, diuretics, probenecid, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
