Diabetes and other medicines

[Hal]

Hi There

Here is a list of the medicines my wife takes

Metamin SR 2 x 500mg
Gliclazide 20mg
Byetta Morning and Teatime before meals
Ferrous Sulphate 1 x 200mg
Omeprazole 1 x 20mg
Ramipril
Simvastatin
Bisoprolol 1x 1.25mg
Furosemide 3 x 40mg
Provera 3 x 100mg per day
Seretide 125, 2 puffs morning and night

Also Co-Codamol 30/500 2 x 4 times daily when required for pain.

The question I am asking is could any of these have complications for my wife when using them on a regular basis. The reason that I would like to know an answer to this is because my wife is currently in hospital as she went in originally last Tuesday because she was not eating.
Yesterday, she was having heart problems which she has had in the past, heart failure 4 years ago, anaemia, COPD etc so I started to look for answers in my mind as to what could cause this.
On looking through the leaflets it indicates that diabetics should inform the doctors when you take the following medicines, Furosemide, Provera, Bisoprolol and Seretide 125
Her heart was racing up to 160 in the morning with low blood pressure and down to 120 at about 2pm

Here are my thoughts before they give you a new medicine. I feel that they should explain to you that if you have another complication such as diabetes that they should inform you that it could cause problems and that you should take extra care when using them. I have to admit that when we left hospital that they gave us no information as to any problems we may have with the medicines and when doing regular checks that nothing was informed to us about it.

Even when the medicines got reviewed on an annual basis there was no information about these passed onto to us. I know that she started on the Seretide 125 in Dec 2007 and went in with heart failure in Jan 2008 and on coming out she was on furosemide at this point, 250mg to begin with then after about 6 months that went down to 160mg. It was only 12 months ago when she went for another review that I got them to put it down to 120mg which I still felt was too high.

Anybody got any views on this whether the other medicines that were being taken at the same time could have been causing the problems with this.

Many thanks

Hal

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi Hal,

I am sorry to hear about your wife and hope that she is soon on the mend.

You could use a Drug Interaction Checker and print off anything that comes up and then ask your wife's medical team about it. Sometimes it is imperative to use some drugs that may interact because of the possible consequences the patient may face without them.
http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

 

[Anonymous]

hi Hal... I would think your wife's doc should be on top of things. But I do know that steroid drugs can interfere with diabetes. My GP doesn't like putting me on steroids at all and tries other options. I have had seretide before though for a respitory infection but for a short time only as it contains a type of steroid. Steroids tend to put your sugar level through the roof. I am on a few meds that your wife is on... but not all of them. It sounds like your wife needs a review of her meds with the doc. Wishing you all the best... it's not easy for sure.

 

[Hal]

Many thanks for you help on this.
I will have a look at the Drug Interaction Checker this evening.
On the review of the meds, she had an appointment this coming Wednesday for a fasting blood test then a review the week after.
When she has had reviews in the past, the doctors have never done anything about it so I am hoping by the time she comes out of hospital that they will review her meds and put her on the right track.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. We are not in a position to contribute much on this as you are dealing with a large number of drugs and there are likely to be some conflicts as you suspect and we are not experts. I would seek advice from a good pharmacist as well as searching the web on drug manufacturers sites for more information on contra-indications. In general the diabetes drugs Metformin & Gliclazide and Ramipril, Simvastatin and Omeprazole are very common drugs (I take all these except the Omeprazole) and I believe a pharmacist would say they can be taken together but I can't comment on the other drugs and you should seek expert advice especially as your wife has had health complications apart from the diabetes.

 

[noblehead]

Not that I don't trust my gp but I always check with the pharmacist if meds are fine to take for people with diabetes or when taking other medications, hope your wife gets better soon Hal

 

[hanadr]

The leaflets in the boxes in which pills come have information about condir=tions where that medicine is inappropriate. You pharmacy can run a drug interaction programme for you.
Hana

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Hi Hal I'm not sure the Seretide 125 would be causing a problem as I have been taking Seretide 250 2 puffs twice a day for as long as I've been diabetic as well as two other inhalers for COPD, Bronchiectasis and Asthma.

Ramipril is an ace inhibitor used for controlling blood pressure that also helps protect the kidneys against problems associated with diabetes and omprazole is prescribed to protect the stomach against any possible problems the other meds may cause to the stomach lining, commonly prescribed when multiple meds are taken. The Metformin, Gliclazide and Byetta are all diabetic drugs and Simvastatin is used to help reduce cholesterol. Cant comment on the other meds as I am not familiar with them.

Make a list of all your wifes meds and take it with you to any Doctors or hospital appointment or revue and make sure your wifes consultant or doctor is aware of the meds. Although your doctor should have checked for contraindications already, of course all drugs can have side effects that some people may experience.