Lantus

How can this medicine affect other medicines?

Some medicines can affect your blood sugar levels and may therefore alter your insulin requirements. You should tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including herbal medicines and those bought without a prescription, before starting treatment with this medicine. You should also take care when starting and stopping any new medicines. Always ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking a new medicine to check whether it can affect your blood sugar, and if so what action, if any, you need to take.

The following medicines may decrease blood sugar levels and people taking these medicines may therefore need a decrease in their insulin dose:

antidiabetic medicines taken by mouth

octreotide

disopyramide

fibrates for high cholesterol levels, eg bezafibrate

anabolic steroids, eg testosterone, nandrolone, stanozolol

ACE inhibitors, eg captopril (these can cause unpredictable drops in blood sugar)

MAOI antidepressants, eg phenelzine

fluoxetine

large doses of salicylates, eg aspirin (small pain relieving doses do not normally have this effect).

Beta-blockers, eg propranolol (including eye drops containing beta-blockers) can mask some of the signs of low blood sugar, such as increased heart rate and tremor. They also prolong episodes of low blood sugar and impair recovery back to normal glucose levels.

The following medicines may increase blood glucose levels and people taking these may need increased doses of insulin:

corticosteroids, eg hydrocortisone, prednisolone

diuretics, especially thiazide diuretics, eg bendrofluazide

danazol

diazoxide

isoniazid

some antipsychotic medicines, eg chlorpromazine

somatropin (human growth hormone)

lithium.

Oestrogens and progesterones, such as those contained in oral contraceptives, may affect blood sugar levels, and women taking these may need small adjustments up or down in their insulin dose.

People with diabetes who smoke normally need more insulin, as smoking reduces the amount of insulin that is absorbed into the blood from an injection under the skin. If you give up smoking, you may subsequently need a reduction in your insulin dose. Discuss this with your doctor.

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