Rosiglitazone & Glimepiride

Rosiglitazone & Glimepiride may be found in some form under the following brand names:

• Avandaryl

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins or herbal supplements. Rosiglitazone/glimepiride and certain other medicines can affect each other and may lead to serious side effects including high or low blood sugar, or heart problems. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

• insulin.
• any medicines for high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart failure, or for prevention of heart disease or stroke.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your doctor and pharmacist before you start a new medicine. They will tell you if it is alright to take rosiglitazone/glimepiride with other medicines.

Before starting rosiglitazone/glimepiride, ask your doctor about what the choices are for diabetes medicines and what the expected benefits and possible risks are for you in particular.

Before taking rosiglitazone/glimepiride, tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you:

• have heart problems or heart failure.
• have type 1 (“juvenile”) diabetes or had diabetic ketoacidosis. These conditions should be treated with insulin and should not be treated with rosiglitazone/glimepiride.
• have a type of diabetic eye disease called macular edema (swelling of the back of the eye).
• have liver problems. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver before you start taking rosiglitazone/glimepiride and during treatment as needed.
• had liver problems while taking Rezulin (troglitazone), another medicine for diabetes.
• have kidney problems. If people with kidney problems use rosiglitazone/glimepiride, they may need a lower dose of the medication.
• have glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. This condition runs in families. People with G6PD deficiency who take glimepiride (one of the medicines in this combination product) may develop hemolytic anemia (fast breakdown of red blood cells).
• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Rosiglitazone/glimepiride should not be used during pregnancy. It is not known if rosiglitazone/glimepiride can harm your unborn baby. You and your doctor should talk about the best way to control your diabetes during pregnancy. If you are a premenopausal woman (before the “change of life”) who does not have regular monthly periods, rosiglitazone/glimepiride may increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Talk to your doctor about birth control choices while taking rosiglitazone/glimepiride. Tell your doctor right away if you become pregnant while taking rosiglitazone/glimepiride.
• are breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed. It is not known if rosiglitazone/glimepiride passes into breast milk. You should not use rosiglitazone/glimepiride while breast-feeding.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins or herbal supplements.

The recommended starting rosiglitazone/glimepiride dose is 4 mg/1 mg taken once daily with the first meal of the day.

If necessary, your doctor may decide to slowly increase your dose to a maximum dosage of 8 mg/4 mg once a day.