Patient/caregiver was educated on how to take Saxagliptin use as follows:
- Take the medication at the same time, every day, to avoid forgetting the medication. Taking this medication at regularly spaced intervals along with compliance for recommended dietary measures helps to prevent any gross fluctuations in blood sugar numbers and maintain them in the target range. This can also help with preventing any undesired side-effects and toxicity with the medication.
- Maintain strict compliance with intake of the medication as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication. Usually Saxagliptin is ordered to be taken once a day.
- Do not change the dose on saxagliptin without consulting your physician.
- This medication can induce some nausea, vomiting, and stomach upset with loose stools, especially when taken on empty stomach. Taking the medication with a glass of water and some food or snack can help avoid these unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms.
- Discuss with your physician or nutritionist regarding your recommended diet plan and calorie intake limitations, if any. Observe compliance with any recommendations made to derive the benefit of saxagliptin intake. Grossly overeating or undereating in comparison to the recommended calorie intake can lead to poor blood sugar control and compromise the therapeutic benefit of saxagliptin.
- Saxagliptin starts peaking in action in about two hours after intake. Observe compliance with food intake accordingly, as recommended. Do not skip a meal, while taking any medications to regulate your blood sugars. Skipping a meal or undereating can bring the blood sugars down. Observing compliance with medication intake in the backdrop of skipped meal or undereating can lower the blood sugars to dangerous levels, thus precipitating an emergency.
- Determine your meal and snack times and strictly adhere to the time. Observing compliance with the time of nutrition intake and the time of medication intake, as recommended, can help significantly with the goals of establishing a discipline with regards to eating habits, streamlining the insulin release response, regulating blood sugar numbers at the desired level, and preventing development of undesired complications.
- Take the regular tablet as a whole with a glass of water. Individuals with severe swallowing difficulties must check with their doctor for other preparations of medication available, if any, to help an easy intake. Do not cut or crush the saxagliptin tablet to facilitate an easy intake. Cutting or crushing the saxagliptin tablet can lead to the tablet losing the film-coat on it and gives a very unpleasant taste in the mouth. Also, it can result in rapid absorption of the drug into the blood stream, thus resulting in toxicity and overly corrected blood sugars with episodes of dangerous hypoglycemia.
- Observe compliance with taking your daily blood sugar readings, as recommended. Log maintenance of all the blood sugar readings help for a comparative feedback, as to how well the drug is helping control the blood sugars. Maintaining a log of dietary items consumed on each meal and snack can provide input with regards to foods that help/harm your plan for blood sugar regulation.
- Saxagliptin acts immediately with the first dose of medication. It can take about a week to ten days to fairly adjust to your body, before improvement in blood sugar control and complete stabilization of blood sugar readings is noticed. So, do not discontinue taking the medication without your physician’s consult.
- While taking saxagliptin, notify your doctor of any continuing poorly controlled blood sugars. This can assist your doctor with revising your dose of saxagliptin or adding another medication to help better control your numbers on blood sugar. Also, notify your doctor regarding any continuing or worsening unpleasant side-effects of saxagliptin use, so that, your dosage on the medication could be revised.
- If the blood sugars are getting too low with saxagliptin use, despite compliance with recommended calorie intake, your dose of saxagliptin may need to be revised or change of plan considered. Notify your physician regarding any overly corrected blood sugars with saxagliptin use, resulting in episodes of hypoglycemia with extremely low blood sugars, confusion, and dizziness.
- Saxagliptin is mainly metabolized inside the body by the liver and is excreted out of the body in the urine by the kidneys. If liver is deficient, metabolism of the drug could be compromised, which can result in higher concentrations of the drug in the body for longer periods of time. If kidney function is deficient, elimination of the drug and metabolites could be compromised, which also can result in higher concentrations of the drug in the body for longer periods of time. Either case can contribute to toxicity with saxagliptin and consequent side-effects. Individuals with history of compromised liver or kidney function must let their physician know regarding the same. While taking saxagliptin, periodical labs could be ordered for evaluation of liver and kidney functions. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and lab draws ordered, if any, for evaluation of liver and kidney functions. Be accommodative to the changes in dose of saxagliptin or treatment plan accordingly, to achieve an optimum blood sugar control response and prevent development of any undesired side-effects.
- If you miss a dose, try taking it at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the dose scheduled. Do not take an extra dose to try making up for the missed dose, which can result in toxicity and an episode of dangerous hypoglycemia. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.
