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Glucophage - Metformin is used to treat type 2 diabetes in adults and children. Glucophage may be used alone or in combination with other diabetic medicines. Glucophage is also used to prevent the development of diabetes in people at risk for diabetes, weight gain due to medicines used for treating psychoses and for treatment of polycystic ovaries.
Important fact about Glucophage side effect lactic acidosis
Glucophage may cause a very rare, but potentially fatal side effect known as lactic acidosis. This condition is caused by a buildup of lactic acid in the blood. Side effect is most likely to occur in patients whose kidneys or livers are not working well and in those who have multiple medical problems, who are taking several medicines or have congestive heart failure. The risk is also higher in elderly or those who are drinking alcohol. Lactic acidosis is a medical condition that must be treated in a hospital.
Symptoms of lactic acidosis: unusual muscle pain, extreme weakness or tiredness, low body temperature, sleepiness, rapid breathing or trouble breathing, dizziness, slow or irregular heartbeat, light-headedness or unexpected or unusual stomach discomfort.
Lactic acidosis results when a buildup of lactic acid occurs due to an inability to clear metformin from the system. Lactic acidosis occurs very rarely, only once in every 30,000 person in years of use. This problem almost always occurs in elderly patients who have another major health problem, especially one that may impair circulation or breathing. Anyone who has significant congestive heart failure, kidney or lung disease should never take Glucophage, because lactic acidosis has a mortality rate of about 40%.
Metformin very rarely, if ever, causes lactic acidosis when it is used correctly. Glucophage is associated with lactic acidosis in people with medical conditions that can themselves cause lactic acidosis, such as heart failure, hypoxia or sepsis. It is impossible to determine to what extent, if any, metformin may contribute to the development of lactic acidosis in individual person. When Glucophage is used as defined, risk of lactic acidosis is either null or so close to null that it cannot be factored into ordinary clinical decision making.
That Glucophage can itself cause lactic acidosis is supported by the finding of lactic acidosis in patients who took overdoses. The accumulation of metformin in the setting of renal insufficiency might be expected to precipitate lactic acidosis in some people who are at risk. If overdoses is excluded, most cases of lactic acidosis associated with metformin, particularly the fatal ones, were probably not caused by Glucophage.
Drinking alcohol while taking Glucophage may also trigger lactic acidosis when other health risks are present. Be sure to ask your doctor or pharmacist about alcohol consumption if you are taking Glucophage. Be aware that cimetidine, a gastrointestinal drug, may enhance the effects of metformin. If you already taking cimetidine, the dose of metformin may need to be lowered.
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