Farxiga®

What is Farxiga?

Farxiga is a daily tablet treatment. It’s primarily used to treat type-2 diabetes, but it can also be used for heart failure and chronic kidney disease. It’s a branded medication that uses the active ingredient, dapagliflozin – a sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor – in order to help you to control your blood glucose levels.

It should be used alongside a diet and exercise plan, and where treatment with metformin alone hasn’t been enough to manage your blood glucose levels. It can either be used on its own or alongside other diabetes treatments, such as metformin.

How does Farxiga work?

When you have type 2 diabetes, it means that you’re no longer able to break down the glucose that you eat as well as you should be able to. This is usually either because you don’t produce enough insulin (a hormone made in your pancreas that helps you to use glucose for energy) or because your cells have become less sensitive to insulin (or a combination of both). This then results in too high concentrations of glucose in your blood, as it’s not being properly broken down into energy.

Farxiga works to reduce your blood sugar levels by blocking the action of the SGLT2 protein in your kidney. The SGLT2 protein typically stops glucose and salt from entering your urine, so by blocking this protein, you pass more glucose in your urine, which lowers your blood sugar levels.¹

What doses of Farxiga are there?

There are two doses of Farxiga: 5mg and 10mg. The recommended dose is usually one 10mg tablet per day, though our doctor might recommend the 5mg tablet to you if you have a liver problem.

Your HbA1c (which shows your average blood sugar levels over the last 2-3 months) will need to be measured whilst you’re using Farxiga. If it doesn’t appear to be helping your blood glucose levels as it should be then your dose or treatment might need to be changed.

How to take Farxiga

You should always follow the advice of our clinician when taking Farxiga.

To use it:

• swallow one tablet, whole, with water
• take it with or without food
• take it at any time of the day, but you might find it easier to remember if you take it at the same time each day.

How long does it take Farxiga to work?

Farxiga starts to get to work to reduce your blood sugar levels after around two hours, but it might take a week for it to reach its full effect.¹ If you don’t have any symptoms from diabetes, you might not notice that it’s having an effect, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not working in the background to help your condition.

What should I do if I make a mistake when taking Farxiga?

If you accidentally take more Farxiga than you should’ve done, seek medical help straight away.

If you forget your dose of Farxiga, you can take it when you remember, so long as you leave 12 hours until your next dose. If you’re unable to leave a 12 hour gap between doses then skip the missed one and take your next dose as normal. Don’t double up on doses to make up for missed ones.