Nurse Teaching on Precautions to be Observed while taking Glipizide

Patient/caregiver was educated on the precautions to be observed while taking Glipizide as follows:

  1. Take the medication at the same time every day, to avoid forgetting the medication.
  2. Maintain good regular eating habits. Do not skip your meals.
  3. Be aware of signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia, such as, dizziness, lightheadedness, sweating, and hunger, to avoid any episodes of altered levels of consciousness and accidental falls. One should stay away from activities, such as, driving and operating heavy machinery, until they are used to the side effects caused by Glipizide.
  4. Maintain compliance with your dietary recommendations, as ordered.
  5. Maintain compliance with any exercise schedule prescribed by your doctor. Try not to overdo on your exercise.
  6. Take weight reading at least twice a week and maintain a log of every reading for comparative feedback. Maintain an ideal weight for your height.
  7. Maintain strict compliance with intake of Glipizide as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication.
  8. Do not change the dose on Glipizide without consulting your doctor.
  9. Be sure to use adequate sun protection, while taking Glipizide, as the skin can turn more sensitive to sunlight due to the medication.
  10. Take a blood sugar reading always before you take Glipizide. Maintain a log of every day blood sugar readings for comparative feedback, as to how well the drug is helping to control the blood sugars.
  11. If the blood sugar is too low, despite eating regularly and without skipping a meal, you can defer taking Glipizide for that dose and notify your doctor regarding the same.
  12. Keeping a track of frequency of episodes of low blood sugars, despite eating regularly, can help your physician revise your dose on the medication.
  13. Also, notify your doctor, if the blood sugar continues to be high, despite taking Glipizide as recommended, so that, your medication dose could be revised.
  14. Observe compliance with any regular lab work ordered, such as, blood count and hemoglobin A1c. As Glipizide is metabolized in the liver and eliminated in the urine, compliance with hepatic and renal function panel ordered periodically is highly recommended.
  15. If a dose is missed, it should be taken at the earliest notice of noncompliance, if it is within 2 hours of the scheduled missed dose time. Report the noncompliance to your physician. If it is time for the next dose, the missed dose can be skipped. Compensating for the missed dose by taking an extra dose can pose serious risk for an episode of extremely low blood sugars, thus precipitating an emergency.
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