What You Need to Know About Januvia
If you are one of the millions of Americans suffering from type 2 diabetes, your doctor may recommend that you change your diet, exercise and take a medication to control your blood sugar. If that medication is Januvia, there are some very important things you need to know about it.
What is Januvia? What does it do?
Januvia is a medication prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. Januvia is sold by Merck.1
Januvia is a brand name of the drug sitagliptin. Sitagliptin is used along with diet and exercise, and sometimes with other medications, to lower blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes (a condition in which blood sugar is too high, because the body doesn’t produce or use insulin normally). Sitagliptin works by increasing chemicals in the body that lower blood sugar when it’s too high.2
Does Januvia work?
Some patients reported that Januvia gave them good results in reducing their blood sugar levels. Other patients said they noticed no benefit.3
A 2006 study found that sitagliptin reduced glucose excursion in obese, non-diabetic test subjects at a rate 35% greater than placebo.4
What should I go over with my doctor before deciding to take Januvia?
Januvia can cause severe pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) which can be fatal.5 Januvia may also react with other medications to cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).6 Januvia can cause a severe allergic reaction and may also cause kidney damage, which can be severe.7
Other side effects can include stomach upset or diarrhea, upper respiratory infection, stuffy or runny nose and sore throat, headache and swelling of hands and feet when taken with another type of diabetes medication.8
A 2009 comparison of the effects of sitagliptin, metformin and a combination of the two drugs on rats reported that sitagliptin alone resulted in adverse effects on the pancreas, including cancer of the pancreas in rats.9
A 2010 review of reported adverse events on the US Food and Drug Adminstration database concluded that reports of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer among human patients were consistent with results of animal studies. The review stated that “pancreatic cancer was more commonly reported among patients who took sitagliptin or exenatide as compared with other therapies.”10
What if I’m already taking Januvia?
If you’re concerned about Januvia or have experienced any adverse effects, talk to your doctor. Never stop taking any prescription medication without talking to your doctor.
Learn everything you can about Januvia before you start taking it.
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1 http://www.januvia.com/sitagliptin/januvia/consumer/type-2-diabetes-medicine/index.jsp?WT.svl=2?MTD=2&CMP=1&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=JA80G
2 PubMed, “Sitagliptin” (revised 15 December 2011, retrieved 29 October 2011), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000350/
3 American Diabetes Association, Patient forums (retrieved 29 October 2012), http://community.diabetes.org/t5/Adults-Living-with-Type-2/Januvia/td-p/257402; Diabetes forums, patient forums (retrieved 29 October 2012), http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/type-2-diabetes/65625-questions-about-januvia.html
4 J Clin Pharmacol., Herman GA et al., “Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects of the oral DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin in middle-aged obese subjects.” August 2006), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16855072
5 Food and Drug Administration, “Information for Healthcare Professionals – Acute pancreatitis and sitagliptin (marketed as Januvia and Janumet)” (25 September 2009), http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/DrugSafetyInformationforHeathcareProfessionals/ucm183764.htm; Food and Drug Administration, “Sitagliptin (marketed as Januvia and Janumet) – acute pancreatitis” (25 September 2009), http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm183800.htm
6 Food and Drug Administration, Medication Guide Januvia, (2010, retrieved 9 October 2012), http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM204269.pdf
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Diabetes, Matveyyenko A et al., “Beneficial Endocrine but adverse Exocrine effects of Sitagliptin in the HIP rat model of Type 2 Diabetes, interactions with Metformin.” (April 2009), http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2009/04/28/db09-0058.abstract
10 Gastroenterology, Hillblom L. et al.. “Pancreatitis, Pancreatic, and Thyroid Cancer With Glucagon-Like Peptide-1–Based Therapies” (21 February 2011), http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(11)00172-7/abstract