Insulin Drug Interactions.

As there are a good number of medications which can interact with insulin to cause unwanted effects, your doctor must be notified each time you begin, stop, and change the dosage of any medication in order to prevent any undesirable insulin drug interactions. You should understand that insulin drug interactions can bring about high blood glucose level, although this may not bring instant danger. However, another effect of insulin drug interaction is low blood glucose levels which can quickly become fatal.

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Types of Insulin Interactions:

All medications which can have some kind of effect on blood sugar levels in the bloodstream may possibly interact with insulin. Certain drug interactions raise blood glucose levels. Although this is not immediately dangerous, it can lead to other dangerous complications if treatment is not given. Such drug interactions are not totally covered in this short article. Usually, these interactions are only discovered during the daily monitoring of blood glucose and countered before problems happen.

Other insulin drug interactions can cause low blood glucose levels which can lead to dangerous complications too quickly for any regular monitoring of blood glucose levels to detect. Some of the drugs and medications which can lead to life-threatening low blood glucose complications are :

• Sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfa drugs) such as:

1. –  Sulfisoxazole (Gantrisin®)
2. –  Sulfamethoxazole (Septra®, Bactrim®)
3. –  Sulfadoxine (Fansidar®)
4. –  Sulfadiazine

• Salicylates such as:

1. –  Choline magnesium trisalicylate (Trilisate®)
2. –  Aspirin (Anacin®, Bayer®, Ecotrin®)
3. –  Diflunisal (Dolobid®)
4. –  Salsalate (Amigesic®, Disalcid®,Salflex®)

• ACE inhibitors (Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors) such as:

1. –  Fosinopril (Monopril-HCT®, Monopril®)
2. –  Quinapril (Accuretic®, Accupril®)
3. –  Enalapril (Vaseretic®, Lexxel®, Vasotec®)
4. –  Lisinopril (Prinzide®, Zestoretic®, Zestril®, Prinivil®)
5. –  Ramipril (Altace®)
6. –  Captopril (Capozide®, Capoten®)
7. –  Benazepril (Lotensin® HCT, Lotrel®, Lotensin®)

• MAOIs (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors), such as:

1. –  Tranylcypromine (Parnate®)
2. –  Selegiline (Emsam®, Zelapar®, Eldepryl®)
3. –  Rasagiline (Azilect®)
4. –  Phenelzine (Nardil®)
5. –  Isocarboxazid (Marplan®).

• Fibrate cholesterol medications, such as:

1. –  Gemfibrozil (Lopid®)
2. –  Fenofibrate (Triglide™, Tricor®, Lofibra™, Antara™)

• Beta blockers, including :

1. –  Propranolol (Inderal®)
2. –  Timolol (Blocadren)
3. –  Sotalol (Betapace®)
4. –  Carvedilol (Coreg®)
5. –  Atenolol (Tenormin®)
6. –  Metoprolol (Toprol XL®, Lopressor®)
7. –  Bisoprolol (Zebeta®)
8. –  Labetalol (Trandate®)
9. –  Nadolol (Corgard®)

• Disopyramide (Norpace® CR , Norpace®)
• Reserpine
• Alcoholic beverages
• Propoxyphene (Darvocet®, Darvon®)
• Oral diabetes medications
• Octreotide (Sandostatin®)

Actions Required On Insulin Drug Interactions

The medications mentioned in this article may cause low blood glucose when they interact with insulin or other insulin medications. As such, it is recommended that you seek the advice of your doctor before taking any of the medications together with insulin. The advice you get from the doctor would be to monitor your blood glucose levels more often for some time to see if it is necessary to make any changes to your insulin dosage. Perhaps, your doctor may have you replace the medication with another which does not cause any interaction with insulin.

Even when you stop using or adjust the dosage of any of the medications mentioned in this article, your doctor or your health care team ought to be informed. Again, monitoring of blood glucose levels more often for a certain period is required so that the results of your monitoring can assist your doctor to make any adjustment necessary.

Final Thoughts

This article has not the space to discuss many insulin drug interactions. There are interactions which can bring on high blood glucose levels known as hyperglycemia. Although they may not be dangerous, failure to treat them can result in dangerous complications. In such an interaction, your insulin dosage has to be adjusted accordingly. As you can see from this article, it is wise to consult your doctor when it concerns actions or changes on the dose of any medications, even over-the-counter medications.(see Diabetes Complications)