Insulin & Over the counter medicine

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pawprint91

pawprint91

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Just me, back with my questions :rofl: When I collected my insulin from the pharmacy last week, the pharmacist mentioned that she could see I was new to the prescription and to be careful when buying over the counter medication as some of it could interact with insulin. I've googled and can't see what she could mean? I've seen a few things over on facebook groups with people saying things like ibuprofen (and possibly nexium, the heartburn medication) aren't great as the kidneys have to work to deal with them, but I can't see how that actually interacts with insulin, unless she was just referencing diabetes in general. Can anybody shed any light on this for me, please?
 
Perhaps she meant having diabetes? I noticed that some medicines that make you drowsy have a warning about diabetes on them. This is presumably because if you’re knocked out, you might miss a hypo. Also, things like cough syrups are sugary so could put your blood glucose up. If you try to get anything for your feet eg a foot file, you’ll probably see a warning about diabetes on there too.

But no, I’ve never heard of anything interacting with insulin. Perhaps it was just clumsy wording? And ask away with the questions. That’s what we’re here for 🙂
 
Thank you! Can we take ibuprofen etc (obviously not every day, but on occasion, like non diabetics would)?
 
pawprint91 said:
Thank you! Can we take ibuprofen etc (obviously not every day, but on occasion, like non diabetics would)?
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I take ibruprofen and I’ve never been told that having diabetes means I shouldn’t. I had a spell of taking it regularly for a few days a month because of period pain, and I never had any problems at all. Obviously we’re all individuals and you should always check your personal situation.
 
pawprint91 said:
Thank you! Can we take ibuprofen etc (obviously not every day, but on occasion, like non diabetics would)?
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Yes it's fine as long as you do not have kidney disease then it's a case of no NSAI would be recommended.
 
Thank you both 🙂
 
It's worth reading the insulin leaflet in the pack. For mine it advises to avoid aspirin but apart from that there are very few interactions
 
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