Get Informed: Avandia
Active Ingredient(s)
Rosiglitazone
What does it do?
This product is used in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2. It increases the body's ability to use insulin.
- Last Text Update:
- 2010-Jul-31 3:29 PM
- Last Data Update:
- 2010-Jul-30 9:08 PM
Other Names
- Avandia
- Rosiglitazone
- Rosiglitazone Maleate
How Safe Is It?
- Your Risk Rating
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- Average Risk Rating
-
- Pregnancy Category
- C
Black Box Warning
This product has a black box warning relating to its increased risk of Congestive Heart Failure and heart attack.
Facts & Figures
- Date Approved
- 25 May 1999
- Est US Patients*
- 1,902,000
- Generic Available
- No
- OTC Available
- No
User Age Distribution*
< 21
21-39
40-59
60+
Age (Years)
* Estimated number of US people currently taking Avandia or its active ingredient based on population adjusted patient numbers registered with iGuard.org.
Avandia Safety Report
Learn more about iGuard's risk ratings
- Please login or register (it's free) so iGuard can check how Avandia interacts with other drugs and diseases in your profile.
What is Avandia used for?
iGuard is currently tracking more than 14,000 patients that use Avandia (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)). Use the table below to learn why iGuard users take this product; click on any underlined condition to get information on other medications used for treatment.
| Disease / Condition | % | Average Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Diabetes | 100% |
mild
severe
|
How well does Avandia work?
iGuard regularly polls our more than 14,000 users taking Avandia (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medications (TSQM) . This feedback is continuously updated in tables below for the benefit of the iGuard community. To request scores for specific patient subgroups, please contact research@iGuard.org.
Average Satisfaction Score
(out of 10)
Average Effectiveness Score
(out of 10)
- 73%
- of patients are confident that the good things about Avandia outweigh the bad things.
- 20%
- of patients wish they were told more before they started taking Avandia.
Common Side Effects of Avandia
iGuard regularly polls our more than 14,000 users taking Avandia (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) to monitor the development and frequency of side-effects. This feedback is continuously updated in tables and graphs below for the benefit of the iGuard community.
14% of patients experience side-effects on Avandia
3% of patients experience significant side-effects on Avandia
Most Common Side Effects...
-
Weight Gain
-
Swelling/Edema
-
= 10%
Global Patient Feedback for Avandia (Rosiglitazone) ( Post a comment )
Question/Comment:
I have been on Avandia for 10 years with no problems. I take 8 mg Avandia and 1500 mg of metformin daily.
When I started taking it there were no warnings about the side effects but since it works so well I would have risk them for the control I gain. Over the years my A1C has been in the range of 5.1 to 6.2. So I plan on losing the weight I have gained to get back under 5.1.
54 year old Male – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2010-04-18 17:42:25
Question/Comment:
The last warnings about Avandia prompted me to change to Actos. I have been on it for about a week and only have one month's supply as my Medicare prescription insurance requires a special request from my physician. I'm anxious to see if it help me lose weight. My heart condition, an upper aortic aneurism and accompanying valve problem was solved by open heart surgery last year and my last echocardiogram showed no changes since the surgery.
76 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2010-04-17 12:25:00
Question/Comment:
I started taking Avandia in the spring of 2008 with no problems. I switched physicians in December 2008. In January 2009, because of reports on the side effects of Avandia, my current (new) physician took me off and replaced it with another oral diabetes medication - metformin. The replacement for Avandia caused EXTREME long term nausea so much so, that I started missing doses. Needless to say, my blood sugar levels got out of control. Last month, June 09, I finally convinced my doctor to put me back on Avandia and am feeling 100% better than I have in the previous six months! And my blood sugar levels are slowly returning to a controlled state.
57 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-07-19 11:31:44
Answer/Reply:
I started taking Avandia (Rosiglatazone) 4mg on 1 December - initially for 28 days - as my sugar levels were high - 8.6 - I already take 3 metformin a day (have done for 5 years) the 850mg each - the doctor would not put me on 4 metformin a day - he said try Avandia and if that doesn't work it would be insulin injections for me. I couldn't have started at a worse time, it was Christmas coming and though I didn't exactly overeat - I did have some Christmas pudding and a couple of mince pies - but we also went away after new year for 5 days - to Scarborough Grand Hotel, where we had English full breakfasts and 5 courses dinners - plus 1 hr free bar!!!! Anyway, we don't drink, so limited myself to 1 gin & tonic a night, and when I came back and was re-tested - even though I had run out of Avandia 6 days previously, I had gone down to 7.2 - so I am now on it again, 4mg daily and I will be re-tested in March. I do feel I am eating better with Avandia, before I always felt nauseous at tea-time, and though I don't exactly eat a lot during the day (I am retired) I do get hungry at teatime but then when the food is in front of me I feel sick!!! But with Avandia - I feel I am eating healthily - but small meals, like avocado and prawns or prawn cocktail or a small curry for 1 healthy eating. My partner cooks for himself and I do have a small Sunday roast and sometimes a small stew when we do that - but otherwise I'm happy to substantiate my diet with lots of fruits, like bananas, cherries, apples and plums. Nothing wrong in that!!!
62 year old Female – Source: iGuard United Kingdom
Posted: 2010-01-20 12:52:19
Answer/Reply:
Metformin is NOT a "replacement" for Avanida. They are two competely different medications which work in completely different ways. The side effects of Metformin go away after time and it is a safer medication. You are diabetic. You are already prone to heart disease.
48 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2010-05-07 09:08:31
Question/Comment:
I'm a 50 year old female and I have experienced weight gain and excessive swelling of my legs and feet especially when the weather is hot since I started taking avandia 3years ago
51 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-07-06 17:58:47
Question/Comment:
I also wish I would have been told of the side effects of Avandia before I started taking it. I do have to be really careful not to eat foods that have high salt content but those foods I should not be eating anyway. My calfs of my legs will puff up and cause me discomfort but again those are foods I should avoid so maybe it helps me to not eat those items. My experience with avandia has helped me to be able to maintain my weight around my stomach as I do not seem to gain in my stomach and it is the first place I loose when I loose weight and I have never been able to maintain it since I was young but I believe it helps me break my glucose down properly and keeps me from gaining weight around the middle but I also eat so much better and exercise daily and with the 3 combination, exercise, diet and avandia I believe I have my coronary artery disease somewhat under control.
I am 61 years old and feel and look better then when I was 50 years old.
Pam
61 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-05-07 12:43:31
Answer/Reply:
when i started taking avandia i gained weight ,about 7 lbs, but so far no other side effects
66 year old Male – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-05-27 15:20:01
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33
Patient Comments About
Avandia