Jardiance (empagliflozin) Risks, Warnings, and Complications

Precautions Before Starting Jardiance (empagliflozin)

Tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had an allergic reaction to Jardiance (empagliflozin), any of the ingredients in Jardiance (empagliflozin) tablets, or any other drugs. Your pharmacy can give you a list of ingredients.

Give your healthcare provider a complete medical history. Jardiance (empagliflozin) may not be right for people with certain medical conditions such as problems with urination, recurrent urinary tract infections, vaginal yeast infections, heart failure, low blood pressure, high cholesterol, pancreatitis, other pancreatic diseases, pancreatic surgery, chronic kidney disease, severe renal impairment, or liver disease. Men should tell their doctor if they are uncircumcised. 

Tell your doctor if you are undergoing dialysis for end-stage renal disease. Your doctor will check kidney function before starting you on empagliflozin — this medication is not to be given to people with an EGFR below 45 mL/min/1.73 m².

Also, tell your doctor if you are on a low-salt diet or regularly drink alcohol or binge drink (drink large amounts of alcohol in a short period). You should know that alcohol can affect blood sugar levels. Talk to your doctor about the safety of drinking alcoholic beverages while on empagliflozin. 

Give your doctor a complete list of all your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products. This can help avoid serious interactions between Jardiance (empagliflozin) and other drugs.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, could be pregnant, plan to get pregnant, or are breastfeeding. Although this medication is unlikely to pass into breast milk, there can be a theoretical risk to the infant, and you should not breastfeed while on Jardiance (empagliflozin).

Precautions During Use of Jardiance (empagliflozin)

Keep all your medical and lab appointments while on Jardiance (empagliflozin). Your doctor may want to check if the medication has been able to improve glycemic control (blood sugar levels). They may also order certain laboratory tests to monitor your kidney function and adjust the dose of Jardiance (empagliflozin).

Tell your doctor if there are any changes in your diet if you become dehydrated or if you are eating or drinking less due to an illness, surgery, or symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Also, contact your doctor if you have an infection and/or fever, are experiencing unusual stress, or have suffered an injury. These conditions can lead to fluctuations in blood sugar levels, and you may need to change your empagliflozin dose.

Jardiance (empagliflozin) can cause dizziness and lightheadedness if you get up too quickly from a sitting or lying position, especially when you first start taking this medicine. To prevent this, get out of bed slowly and rest your feet on the ground for a few minutes before standing up. Call your doctor if the problem is severe or does not disappear in a few days.

Tell your healthcare professionals you are taking Jardiance (empagliflozin) if you have any surgery, including dental surgery.

If you have lab tests done, tell the laboratory personnel that you are on Jardiance (empagliflozin). This medicine can increase the amount of glucose in your urine.

Call your doctor if you become pregnant while taking Jardiance (empagliflozin).

Jardiance (empagliflozin) Drug Interactions

Taking Jardiance (empagliflozin) with some other medications can affect how the medications work. Interactions between medications can also increase the risk of serious side effects. Your physician may choose different diabetes medications for you, change the dose or frequency of one or both medicines, and/or closely monitor you for side effects if there are known interactions between Jardiance (empagliflozin) and your other medications.

There can be possible drug interactions between Jardiance (empagliflozin) and the following medications:

• Blood pressure medications called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors which include lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril, Qbrelis, in Zestoretic), enalapril (Vasotec, Epaned, in Vaseretic), quinapril (Accupril, in Quinaretic, in Accuretic), benazepril (Lotensin, in Lotrel), perindopril (in Prestalia), ramipril (Altace), captopril, fosinopril, moexipril, and trandolapril.
• Blood pressure medications called angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) such as losartan (Cozaar, in Hyzaar), valsartan (Diovan, in Exforge, in Diovan HCT), candesartan (Atacand, in Atacand HCT), irbesartan (Avapro, in Avalide), azilsartan (Edarbi, in Edarbyclor), telmisartan (Micardis, in Twynsta, in Micardis HCT), eprosartan (Teveten), olmesartan (Benicar, in Benicar HCT, in Azor, in Tribenzor). 
• Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) such as naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin).
• Diuretics or water pills.
• Heart medications like digoxin (Lanoxin).
• Insulin or other oral medications for diabetes mellitus such as glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide, glimepiride (Amaryl, in Duetact), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase).

This list does not describe all possible Jardiance (empagliflozin) interactions. Give your healthcare professionals a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products. Also, tell your health care provider if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs because some of these substances can cause serious health complications when used with prescription drugs.