Special information on Precose

Most important fact about Precose
Always remember that Precose is an aid to, not a substitute for, good diet and exercise. Failure to follow the diet and exercise plan recommended by your doctor can lead to serious complications such as dangerously high or low blood sugar levels. If you are overweight, losing pounds and exercising are critically important in controlling your diabetes. Remember, too, that Precose is not an oral form of insulin and cannot be used in place of insulin.

Special precautions for Precose
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding: The effects of Precose during pregnancy have not been adequately studied. If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, tell your doctor immediately. Since studies suggest the importance of maintaining normal blood sugar levels during pregnancy, your doctor may prescribe injected insulin. It is not known whether Precose appears in breast milk. Because many drugs do appear in breast milk, you should not take Precose while breastfeeding.

Special warnings about Precose
Every 3 months during your first year of treatment, your doctor will give you a blood test to check your liver and see how it is reacting to Precose. While you are taking Precose, you should check your blood and urine periodically for the presence of abnormal sugar (glucose) levels. Even people with well-controlled diabetes may find that stress such as injury, infection, surgery, or fever results in a loss of control over their blood sugar. If this happens to you, your doctor may recommend that Precose be discontinued temporarily and injected insulin used instead. When taken alone, Precose does not cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), but when you take Precose in combination with other medications such as Diabinese or Glucotrol, or with insulin, your blood sugar may fall too low.

If you have any questions about combining Precose with other medications, be sure to discuss them with your doctor.

If you are taking Precose along with other diabetes medications, be sure to have some source of glucose, such as Glutose tablets, available in case you experience any symptoms of mild or moderate low blood sugar. (Table sugar will not work because Precose inhibits its absorption.) Symptoms of mild hypoglycemia may include: Cold sweat, fast heartbeat, fatigue, headache, nausea, and nervousness. Symptoms of more severe hypoglycemia may include: Coma, pale skin, and shallow breathing. Severe hypoglycemia is an emergency. Contact your doctor immediately if the symptoms occur.

Why Precose should not be prescribed?
Do not take Precose when suffering diabetic ketoacidosis (a life-threatening medical emergency caused by insufficient insulin and marked by mental confusion, excessive thirst, nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue, and a sweet fruity smell to the breath). You should not take Precose if you have cirrhosis (chronic degenerative liver disease). Also avoid Precose therapy if you have inflammatory bowel disease, ulcers in the colon, any intestinal obstruction or chronic intestinal disease associated with digestion, or any condition that could become worse as a result of gas in the intestine.