Janumet (Sitagliptin-metformin)

Janumet 50 mg/1,000 mg Film-Coated Tablets

Sitagliptin/Metformin Hydrochloride

What Is Janumet?

The name of your tablet is Janumet. It contains two different medicines called sitagliptin and metformin.

Sitagliptin belongs to a class of medicines called DPP-4 inhibitors (dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors), and metformin belongs to a class of medicines called biguanides.

They work together to control blood sugar levels in patients with a form of diabetes called ‘type 2 diabetes mellitus’. Janumet helps to improve insulin levels after a meal and lowers the amount of sugar your body produces.

Along with diet and exercise, this medicine helps lower your blood sugar. Janumet can be used alone or with certain other medicines for diabetes (insulin, sulphonylureas, or glitazones).

What Is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, or NIDDM. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which your body does not make enough insulin, and the insulin that your body produces does not work as well as it should. Your body can also make too much sugar. When this happens, sugar (glucose) builds up in the blood. This can lead to serious medical problems like heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, and amputation.

Before You Take Janumet

Do Not Take Janumet:

• If you are allergic (hypersensitive) to sitagliptin or metformin or any of the other ingredients of Janumet;
• if you have diabetic ketoacidosis (a complication of diabetes with rapid weight loss, nausea, or vomiting) or have had a diabetic coma;
• if you have problems with your kidneys;
• if you have a severe infection or are dehydrated;
• if you are going to have an X-ray, you will be injected with a dye. You will need to stop taking Janumet at the time of the X-ray and for a few days after if you have recently had a heart attack or have severe circulatory problems, such as ‘shock’ or breathing difficulties;
• if you have liver problems;
• if you drink alcohol to excess (either every day or only from time to time);
• if you are breastfeeding.

Do not take Janumet if any of the above apply to you. If you need more information, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking Janumet.

Take Special Care with Janumet

Cases of inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) have been reported in patients receiving Janumet. Pancreatitis can be a serious, potentially life-threatening medical condition. Stop taking Janumet and call your doctor if you experience severe and persistent stomach pain, with or without vomiting, because you could have pancreatitis.

Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking your medicine:

• If you have or had pancreatitis, gallstones, alcoholism, or very high triglycerides. These medical conditions can increase your chance of getting pancreatitis or getting it again.
• If you have type 1 diabetes. This is sometimes called insulin-dependent diabetes.
• If you experience some of the following symptoms: cold or uncomfortable, severe nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, muscular cramps, or rapid breathing. Metformin hydrochloride, one of the ingredients in Janumet, can cause a rare but severe side effect called lactic acidosis (a build-up of lactic acid in the blood) that can cause death. Lactic acidosis is a medical emergency and must be treated in a hospital.

If you experience some of the symptoms of lactic acidosis, stop taking Janumet and consult a doctor immediately.

During treatment with Janumet, your doctor will check your kidney function at least once a year or more frequently in the following cases:

1. If you are elderly or your kidney function is borderline or at risk of worsening.
2. If you have or have had an allergic reaction to sitagliptin, metformin, or Janumet.
3. If you take sulphonylurea, insulin, or diabetes medicines together with Janumet, you may experience low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia). Your doctor may reduce the dose of your sulphonylurea or insulin.
4. If you are going to have an operation under general, spinal, or epidural anesthetic. You may need to stop taking Janumet for a few days before and after the procedure.
5. If you are under 18 years of age
6. If you are unsure if any of the above apply to you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking Janumet.

Taking Other Medicines

Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines. This includes medicines obtained without a prescription, including herbal medicines.

The following medicines are particularly important:

• medicines used to treat diseases that involve inflammation, like asthma and arthritis (corticosteroids);
• specific medicines for the treatment of high blood pressure (ACE inhibitors);
• medicines which increase urine production (diuretics);
• specific medicines for the treatment of bronchial asthma ((3-sympathomimetics);
• iodinated contrast agents or alcohol-containing medicines.

Taking Janumet with Food and Drink

Take Janumet with meals to lower your chance of an upset stomach.

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant should talk to their doctor before taking Janumet. You should not use Janumet during pregnancy.

Metformin passes into human milk in small amounts. It is not known whether sitagliptin passes into human milk. It is not known if Janumet passes into human breast milk. You must not use Janumet if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.

Driving and Using Machines

Janumet has no known influence on the ability to drive and use machines. However, when driving or operating machinery, it should be considered that dizziness and drowsiness have been reported with sitagliptin.

Taking Janumet in combination with medicines called sulphonylureas or with insulin can cause hypoglycemia, which may affect your ability to drive and use machines or work without a safe foothold.

How to Take Janumet

Always take Janumet precisely as your doctor has told you. You should check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure.

Janumet should be taken:

• twice daily orally;
• with meals to lower your chance of stomach upset;
• your doctor may need to increase your dose to control your blood sugar;
• continue to take Janumet as long as your doctor prescribes it so you can continue to help control your blood sugar.

You should continue your diet during treatment with Janumet and ensure that your carbohydrate intake is equally distributed over the day. If you are overweight, continue your energy-restricted diet as instructed.

Janumet alone is unlikely to cause abnormally low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). When Janumet is used with a sulphonylurea medicine or insulin, low blood sugar can occur, and your doctor may reduce the dose of your sulphonylurea or insulin.

Sometimes, you may need to stop taking your medicine for a short time. Talk to your doctor for instructions if you:

• have a condition that may be associated with dehydration (significant loss of body fluids), such as being sick with severe vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, or if you drink fluids a lot less than usual;
• plan to have surgery;
• are due to get an injection of dye or contrast agent as part of an X-ray;
• if you take more Janumet than you should;
• if you take more than the prescribed dosage of Janumet, contact your doctor immediately;
• if you forget to take Janumet;
• if you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If you do not remember until it is time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular schedule. Do not take a double dose of Janumet.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any further questions about using this product.

Possible Side Effects

Janumet may cause side effects like all medicines, although not everybody gets them.

Very rarely, patients taking metformin (one of the active substances of Janumet) have experienced a serious condition called lactic acidosis (too much lactic acid in your blood). This is more common in people whose kidneys are not working correctly. Stop taking Janumet and see a doctor immediately if you notice any of the symptoms: feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting), abdominal pain, muscular cramps, unexplained weight loss, rapid breathing, and feeling cold or uncomfortable.

Very common side effects (likely to occur in more than 1 per 10 patients).

Common side effects (likely to occur in less than 1 per 10 but more than 1 per 100 patients).

Uncommon side effects (likely to occur in less than 1 per 100 but more than 1 per 1,000 patients).

Rare side effects (likely to occur in less than 1 per 1,000 but more than 1 per 10,000).

Very rare side effects (likely to occur in less than 1 per 10,000).

Some patients taking metformin have experienced the following side effects after starting sitagliptin:

• Common: nausea.
• Uncommon: weight loss, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, low blood sugar, drowsiness.

Some patients have experienced stomach discomfort when starting the combination of sitagliptin and metformin together.

Some patients have experienced the following side effects while taking Janumet with a sulphonylurea: 

• Very common: low blood sugar.
• Common: constipation

Some patients have experienced the following side effects while taking Janumet in combination with rosiglitazone:

• Common: headache, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, low blood sugar, fungal skin infection, upper respiratory infection, swelling of the hands or legs.

Some patients have experienced the following side effects while taking Janumet in combination with insulin:

• Very common: low blood sugar.
• Uncommon: dry mouth, headache.

Some patients have experienced the following side effects while taking sitagliptin alone:

• Common: low blood sugar, headache.
• Uncommon: dizziness, constipation.

In addition, some patients have reported the following side effects while taking sitagliptin: Common: upper respiratory infection, stuffy or runny nose and sore throat, osteoarthritis, and arm or leg pain.

During post-approval use with Janumet or sitagliptin, one of the medicines in Janumet, additional side effects have also been reported (frequency not known). These side effects have been reported when Janumet or sitagliptin have been used alone and/or part of combination therapy: allergic reactions, which may be severe, including rash, hives, and swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and throat that may cause difficulty in breathing or swallowing. Stop taking Janumet and call your doctor immediately if you have an allergic reaction. Your doctor may prescribe a medicine to treat your allergic reaction and a different medicine for your diabetes. Other side effects that have been reported include inflammation of the pancreas, kidney problems (sometimes requiring dialysis), and vomiting.

Some patients have experienced the following side effects while taking metformin alone:

• Very common: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite.
• Common: a metallic taste.
• Very rare: decreased vitamin B12 levels, hepatitis (a problem with your liver), redness of the skin (rash) or itching, lactic acidosis (excess of lactic acid in your blood), particularly in patients whose kidneys are not working correctly. The symptoms include feeling cold or uncomfortable, severe nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, or rapid breathing.

If any of the side effects get serious or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.

How to Store Janumet

Keep out of the reach and sight of children.

Do not use Janumet after the expiration date, which is stated on the blister and the carton. The expiry date refers to the last day of the month.

Do not store above 30°C.

Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines that are no longer required. These measures will help to protect the environment.

Further Information

What Janumet Contains

The active substances are sitagliptin and metformin. Each film-coated tablet contains 50 mg of sitagliptin (as phosphate monohydrate) and 1,000 mg of metformin hydrochloride.

The other ingredients are microcrystalline cellulose (E460), povidone K 29/32 (E1201), sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium stearyl fumarate. In addition, the film coating contains the following inactive ingredients: polyvinyl alcohol, macrogol 3350, talc (E553b), titanium dioxide (E171), iron oxide red (El72), and iron oxide black (El72).

What Janumet Tablet Looks Like and Contents of the Pack

Capsule-shaped, red film-coated tablet with “577″ debossed on one side.

Opaque blisters (PVC/PE/PVDC and aluminum). Packs of 14, 28, 56, 112, 168, 196 film-coated tablets, multi-packs containing 196 (2 packs of 98) film-coated tablets. Pack of 50 x 1 film-coated tablets in perforated unit dose blisters.