our GP, pharmacist or diabetes specialist.
People who are taking antidiabetic tablets should only drink alcohol in moderation and accompanied by food. This is because alcohol can make your warning signs of low blood sugar less clear, and can cause delayed low blood sugar, even several hours after drinking.
If you get an infection or illness, or have an accident while taking this medicine you should let your doctor know, because when the body is put under stress this medicine may become less effective at controlling your blood sugar. In these cases your doctor may need to temporarily replace your treatment with insulin. You should also consult your doctor about your diabetes treatment if you are due to have surgery under a general anaesthetic, or if you get pregnant. In these situations blood sugar is normally controlled by insulin.
This type of medicine can cause liver problems on rare occasions. For this reason, you should let your doctor know if you develop any of the following symptoms while taking this medicine, as they may indicate a problem with your liver: unexplained nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, darkened urine or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice).
Use with caution in
Elderly people.
Decreased kidney function.
Decreased liver function.
Underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).
Insufficient production of hormones by the pituitary gland (pituitary insufficiency).
Insufficient production of natural steroid hormones by the adrenal glands (adrenal insufficiency).
Malnutrition.
Severe vascular disease, eg severe coronary heart disease.
Not to be used in
Children.
Allergy to medicines from the sulphonamide group, eg the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole.
Allergy to other sulphonylureas, eg glibenclamide, tolbutamide.
Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes.
Diabetic ketoacidosis.
Coma due to ketoacidosis in severe and inadequately treated diabetes (diabetic coma or pre-coma).
Severely decreased kidney function.
Severely decreased liver function.
Hereditary blood disorders called porphyrias.
Pregnancy.
Breastfeeding.
This medicine should not be used if you are allergic to one orany of its ingredients. Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if you havepreviously experienced such anallergy.If you feel you haveexperienced an allergic reaction, stop using this medicine and inform yourdoctor or pharmacist immediately.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Certain medicines should not be used during pregnancy orbreastfeeding. However, other medicines may be safely used in pregnancy orbreastfeeding providing the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to theunborn baby. Always inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning apregnancy, before using any medicine.
This medicine should not be used during pregnancy. Diabetes is usually controlled using insulin during pregnancy, because this provides a more stable control of blood sugar. If you get pregnant while taking this medicine, or are planning a pregnancy, you should seek medical advice from your doctor.
It is not known if this medicine passes into breast milk. It should not be used by breastfeeding women, because it could potentially cause low blood sugar in a nursing infant. Seek medical advice from your doctor.
Label warnings
This medicine should be swallowed whole, not chewed.
Side effects
Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individualpe
