Miglitol+metformin

Miglitol+metformin may cause a rare and serious side effect ‘lactic acidosis’ (buildup of lactic acid in the blood), characterized by abdominal pain, muscle cramps, vomiting, severe fatigue, and difficulty breathing. It is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention. Inform your doctor if you have any severe liver or kidney problems as their normal functioning is required to eliminate excess lactic acid from the body.  Consumption of alcohol, prolonged fasting, dehydration, uncontrolled diabetes, serious infections, and liver problems increases the risk of lactic acidosis. If you have dehydration (severe loss of body fluids) due to severe vomiting, diarrhoea, exposure to heat, or fever, stop taking Miglitol+metformin and immediately seek medical attention. Miglitol+metformin may cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and its symptoms include sweating, dizziness, palpitations (pounding heartbeat), and shivering, etc. Whenever you experience any of these symptoms, immediately consume candies or glucose biscuits rather than ordinary sugar. If your condition doesn’t improve, consult your doctor immediately.

Drug-Drug Interactions: Miglitol+metformin may interact with other antidiabetic drugs, diuretics or water pills, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen and celecoxib), antacids (cimetidine and omeprazole), antiasthma drugs (salbutamol and terbutaline), corticosteroids, anti-HIV drug (dolutegravir), iodinated X-ray contrast agents, medications used to treat high blood pressure (verapamil, ramipril, losartan, and telmisartan, etc.), antibacterial (rifampicin and trimethoprim), a medication to treat chest pain (ranolazine), anticancer drugs (vandetanib and olaparib), an antifungal drug (isavuconazole), medicines that help in digestion (pancreatin and amylase), and medicines used to treat constipation (bisacodyl, senna, and sodium picosulfate, etc.). Miglitol+metformin may also modify the effect of long-acting medicines such as slow-release, extended-release, modified-release, or sustained-release.

Drug-Food Interactions: Avoid intake of alcoholic beverages with Miglitol+metformin as it increases the risk of lactic acidosis.

Drug-Disease Interactions: Miglitol+metformin should be avoided in patients with liver or severe kidney diseases, heart diseases (like congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction), severe dehydration, uncontrolled diabetes, and gastrointestinal disorders (inflammation, ulcers, blockage, or hernia).

• Fill your half plate with starchy veggies, a quarter with proteins, and a quarter with whole grains.
• Eat at regular intervals. Do not take the long gap between a meal or snack.
• Monitor your blood sugar level regularly, especially when there are a lot of fluctuations.
• Invest in at least 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity and 15 minutes of high-intensity exercise every week.
• Lose weight gradually to achieve a healthy body mass index (18.5 to 24.9).
• Replace refined carbohydrates containing whole-grain foods and increase intake of fruits and veggies and other fiber-enriched foods.
• Reduce intake of saturated fat (or hidden fats) in food like chips, crisps, pastries, biscuits, and samosas. Choose omega-3 fatty acid-containing oils for daily cooking. You may use palm oil, mustard oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil, and safflower oil for frying.
• Do not take stress as it may elevate your blood sugar level. You may adopt stress management techniques like mindfulness, yoga, or meditation to control stress-related blood sugar changes.
• Opt for low-fat dairy products (low-fat yogurt, fat-free milk, cheese, etc.).
• Keep your blood pressure as normal (120/80) as possible as it reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases in diabetes patients.

• Beware of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level) symptoms include sweating, dizziness, palpitations, shivering, confusion, irritability, etc. Whenever you experience these symptoms, try to eat candies or glucose biscuits and get in touch with your doctor. Make sure you carry these with you at all times, especially for long travels.
• Before undergoing examinations such as an X-ray or CT scan or undergoing surgery, inform your doctor that you are taking Miglitol+metformin. This medicine needs to be stopped before undergoing surgery or examination.