Package Leaflet: Information for the User
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN 50 mg/850 mg Film-Coated Tablets
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN 50 mg/1000 mg Film-Coated Tablets
sitagliptin/metformin hydrochloride
Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine because it contains important information for you.
Contents of the pack
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN contains two different medicines called sitagliptin and metformin.
They work together to control the levels of sugar in the blood in adult patients with a form of diabetes called “type 2 diabetes mellitus”. This medicine helps to increase the amount of insulin produced after a meal and reduces the amount of sugar produced by your body.
Together with diet and exercise, this medicine helps to lower your blood sugar levels. This medicine can be used alone or with certain other medicines for diabetes (insulin, sulfonylureas, or glitazones).
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which your body does not produce enough insulin and the insulin that your body produces does not work as well as it should. Your body may also produce too much sugar. When this happens, sugar (glucose) builds up in the blood. This can lead to serious medical problems, such as heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, and amputations.
Do not take Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN
Do not take Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN if you are affected by any of these conditions and consult your doctor about other ways to control your diabetes. If you are not sure, consult your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse before taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN.
Warnings and precautions
There have been reports of pancreatitis in patients treated with sitagliptin/metformin (see section 4).
If you notice blisters on your skin, it may be a sign of a disease called bullous pemphigoid. Your doctor may ask you to stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN.
Risk of lactic acidosis
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN may cause a very rare but very serious side effect called lactic acidosis, especially if your kidneys are not working properly. The risk of developing lactic acidosis is also increased by uncontrolled diabetes, serious infections, prolonged fasting, or alcohol intake, dehydration (see below), liver problems, and any medical condition in which a part of your body has a reduced supply of oxygen (such as acute and severe heart disease).
If any of the above applies to you, consult your doctor for further instructions.
Stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN for a short time if you have a condition that may be associated with dehydration(significant loss of body fluids), such as severe vomiting, diarrhea, fever, heat exposure, or if you drink less fluid than usual. Consult your doctor for further instructions.
Stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN and contact a doctor or the nearest hospital immediately if you experience any of the symptoms of lactic acidosis, as this condition can lead to coma.
The symptoms of lactic acidosis include:
Lactic acidosis is a medical emergency and must be treated in a hospital.
Consult your doctor promptly to find out how to proceed if:
Consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN:
If you need to undergo major surgery, you should stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN during the procedure and for some time after. Your doctor will decide when you should stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN and when you can start taking it again.
If you are not sure if any of the above applies to you, consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN.
During treatment with Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN, your doctor will check your kidney function at least once a year or more often if you are an elderly person and/or if your kidney function is declining.
Children and adolescents
Children and adolescents under 18 years of age should not use this medicine. It is not effective in children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years. It is not known if this medicine is safe and effective when used in children under 10 years of age.
Other medicines and Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN
If you need to be given an injection of a contrast agent that contains iodine, for example, in the context of an X-ray or scan, you should stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN before or at the time of the injection. Your doctor will decide when you should stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN and when you can start taking it again.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken, or might take any other medicines. You may need more frequent blood glucose and kidney function tests, or your doctor may need to adjust the dose of Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN. It is especially important to mention the following:
Taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN with alcohol
Avoid excessive alcohol intake while taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN, as this may increase the risk of lactic acidosis (see section “Warnings and precautions”).
Pregnancy and breast-feeding
If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant, or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine. You should not take this medicine during pregnancy. Do not take this medicine if you are breast-feeding. See section 2, “Do not take Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN”.
Driving and using machines
The effect of this medicine on your ability to drive or use machines is negligible or non-existent. However, cases of dizziness and somnolence have been reported during treatment with sitagliptin, which may affect your ability to drive or use machines.
Taking this medicine with sulfonylureas or insulin may cause low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia), which may affect your ability to drive or use machines or work without a safe support.
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN contains hydrogenated castor oil
This medicine may cause stomach upset and diarrhea because it contains hydrogenated castor oil.
Take this medicine exactly as your doctor has told you. If you are not sure, consult your doctor or pharmacist.
You should continue with the diet recommended by your doctor during treatment with this medicine and be careful to distribute your carbohydrate intake evenly throughout the day.
It is unlikely that treatment with this medicine alone will cause you to have low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia). Low blood sugar levels may occur when this medicine is taken with a sulfonylurea or insulin, so your doctor may need to reduce the dose of your sulfonylurea or insulin.
If you take more Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN than you should
If you take more than the prescribed dose of this medicine, contact your doctor immediately. Go to the hospital if you have symptoms of lactic acidosis such as feeling cold or unwell, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain, unexplained weight loss, muscle cramps, or rapid breathing (see section “Warnings and precautions”).
If you forget to take Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN
If you forget to take a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If you do not remember until the time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and continue with your normal treatment schedule. Do not take a double dose of this medicine.
If you stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN
Keep taking this medicine for as long as your doctor recommends. If you stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN, your blood sugar levels may increase again.
If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Like all medicines, this medicine can cause adverse effects, although not all people suffer from them.
STOP taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN and consult your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following serious adverse effects:
Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride may cause a very rare (affecting up to 1 in 10,000 people) but very serious adverse effect called lactic acidosis (see section "Warnings and Precautions"). If this happens to you, you must stop taking Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN and contact a doctor or the nearest hospital immediately, as lactic acidosis can lead to coma.
If you have a severe allergic reaction (frequency not known), including skin rash, hives, blisters on the skin/peeling skin, and swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and throat that can cause difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking this medicine and consult your doctor immediately. Your doctor will prescribe a medicine to treat the allergic reaction and change your medicine for diabetes treatment.
Some patients who took metformin have experienced the following adverse effects after starting treatment with sitagliptin:
Frequent (may affect up to 1 in 10 people): low blood sugar, nausea, gas, vomiting
Infrequent (may affect up to 1 in 100 people): stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, drowsiness
Some patients have experienced diarrhea, nausea, gas, constipation, stomach pain, or vomiting when starting treatment with the combination of sitagliptin and metformin (frequency classified as frequent).
Some patients have experienced the following adverse effects when taking this medicine along with a sulfonylurea such as glimepiride:
Very frequent (may affect more than 1 in 10 people): low blood sugar levels
Frequent: constipation
Some patients have presented the following adverse effects while taking this medicine in combination with pioglitazone:
Frequent: swelling of hands or feet
Some patients have presented the following adverse effects while taking this medicine in combination with insulin:
Very frequent: low blood sugar levels
Infrequent: dry mouth, headache
Some patients have experienced the following adverse effects during clinical studies while taking sitagliptin alone (one of the medicines contained in Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN) or during use after approval of Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride or sitagliptin alone or with other diabetes medicines:
Frequent: low blood sugar, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, nasal congestion or runny nose, and sore throat, arthritis, pain in the arm or leg
Infrequent: dizziness, constipation, itching
Rare: reduction in platelet count
Frequency not known: kidney problems (which sometimes require dialysis), vomiting, joint pain, muscle pain, back pain, interstitial lung disease, bullous pemphigoid (a type of skin blister)
Some patients have experienced the following adverse effects after taking metformin alone:
Very frequent: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and loss of appetite. These symptoms may appear when you start taking metformin and usually disappear.
Frequent: metallic taste, decreased or low vitamin B12 levels in blood (symptoms may include extreme fatigue, pain, and redness of the tongue, numbness or pale or yellowish skin). Your doctor may request tests to determine the cause of your symptoms because some of them can also be caused by diabetes or other unrelated health problems.
Very rare: hepatitis (liver problem), hives, skin redness (rash), or itching.
Reporting Adverse Effects
If you experience any type of adverse effect, consult your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse, even if it is a possible adverse effect not listed in this prospectus. You can also report them directly through the national reporting system included in Appendix V http://www.notificaRAM.es. By reporting adverse effects, you can contribute to providing more information on the safety of this medicine.
Keep this medicine out of sight and reach of children.
Do not use this medicine after the expiration date shown on the label and packaging after CAD. The expiration date is the last day of the month indicated.
Do not store above 25°C.
Medicines should not be disposed of through wastewater or household waste. Deposit the packaging and medicines you no longer need at the SIGRE collection point in your pharmacy. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of the packaging and medicines you no longer need. This will help protect the environment.
Composition of Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride SUN
Appearance of the Product and Package Contents
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles with silica gel/desiccant.
Packaging of 28 and 56 film-coated tablets in a child-resistant closure bottle or 200 tablets in a screw-cap bottle.
Only some package sizes may be marketed.
Marketing Authorization Holder
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Europe B.V.
Polarisavenue 87
2132JH Hoofddorp
Netherlands
Manufacturer
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Europe B.V.
Polarisavenue 87
2132JH Hoofddorp
Netherlands
Terapia S.A.
Str. Fabricii nr. 124
Cluj-Napoca, 400632
Romania
You can request more information about this medicine by contacting the local representative of the marketing authorization holder:
België/Belgique/Belgien//Ceská republika/
Danmark/Eesti/Ελλάδα/Hrvatska/Ireland/Ísland/
Κύπρος/Latvija/Lietuva/Luxembourg/Luxemburg/Magyarország/
Malta/Nederland/Norge/Österreich/Portugal/
Slovenija/Slovenská republika/Suomi/Finland/Sverige
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Europe B.V.
Polarisavenue 87
2132 JH Hoofddorp
Nederland/Pays-Bas/Niederlande//Nizozemsko/
Nederlandene/Holland/Ολλανδία/Nizozemska/The Netherlands/Holland/
Ολλανδία/Niderlande/Nyderlandai/Pays-Bas/Niederlande/Hollandia/
L-Olanda/Nederland/Nederland/Niederlande/Países Baixos/
Nizozemska/Holandsko/Alankomaat/Nederländerna/Nederländerna
Tel./τηλ./tlf./τηλ./Sími/τηλ./Tlf./Puh./
+31 (0)23 568 5501
Deutschland
Sun Pharmaceuticals Germany GmbH
Hemmelrather Weg 201
51377 Leverkusen
Deutschland
Tel. +49 (0) 214 40399 0
España
Sun Pharma Laboratorios, S.L.
Rambla de Catalunya 53-55
08007 Barcelona
España
tel. +34 93 342 78 90
France
Sun Pharma France
31 rue des Poissonniers
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine
France
Tel. +33 1 41 44 44 50
Italia
Sun Pharma Italia Srl
Viale Giulio Richard, 3
20143 Milano
Italia
tel. +39 02 33 49 07 93
Polska
Ranbaxy (Poland) Sp. z o. o.
ul. Idzikowskiego 16
00-710 Warszawa
Polska
Tel. +48 22 642 07 75
România
Terapia S.A.
Str. Fabricii nr 124
Cluj-Napoca, Judetul Cluj
România
Tel. +40 (264) 501 500
Date of Last Revision of this Prospectus:
Detailed information about this medicine is available on the European Medicines Agency website: http://www.ema.europa.eu.