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Pioglitazone
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from eMedTV.comYou should talk with your healthcare provider prior to taking pioglitazone if you have:
- Heart problems of any kind, especially congestive heart failure (CHF)
- Liver problems, including liver failure or cirrhosis
- An upcoming surgery
- Any allergies, including allergies to food, dyes, or preservatives.
Also, let your healthcare provider know if you are:
- Pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant (see Actos and Pregnancy)
- Having problems getting pregnant
- Breastfeeding
- Premenopausal without regular menstrual periods.
Tell your healthcare provider about all other medicines you may be taking, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
(Click Precautions and Warnings With Pioglitazone for more information, including information on who should not take the drug.)
In general, type 2 diabetes treatment begins with lifestyle changes (for example, weight loss, exercise, and diet). If lifestyle changes alone are not effective at managing diabetes, medication (such as pioglitazone) may be necessary.
The main goal of diabetes medicine is to lower blood sugar levels enough to reduce your risk of developing problems related to diabetes, such as heart, nerve, eye, or kidney problems. Because pioglitazone can lower blood sugar levels, people may be able to lower their risk for developing problems related to high blood sugar by taking it.
For most people, pioglitazone is quite effective at controlling blood sugar. It is also generally well tolerated. However, side effects can occur or the medicine may not work as well as needed. In these cases, you may need to combine pioglitazone with another diabetes medicine, such as metformin (Glucophage®) or insulin. You may also wish to consider a substitute. These substitutes could include other thiazolidinediones or other diabetes medicines, either by themselves or in combination.
(Click Actos Alternatives to learn more about alternatives to pioglitazone.)
To learn about controlling diabetes through lifestyle choices, click the following eMedTV links:
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD