Tradjenta®

What is Tradjenta?

Tradjenta is a treatment for type-2 diabetes that works to help lower your blood sugar. It can be prescribed when diet, exercise and metformin haven’t worked to properly control your blood sugar levels.

Type-2 diabetes is a condition that develops when your body is no longer able to produce as much insulin as it should do, or your cells have lost sensitivity to insulin (or both). When this happens, you’re no longer able to remove the sugar that you eat from your bloodstream as well as you should do, which leads to high blood sugar levels (hyperglycaemia). Having hyperglycaemia for long periods of time can lead to long-term problems for your health.

How does Tradjenta work?

When you eat, your body produces hormones called ‘incretins’, which stimulate your pancreas to release insulin. But in order to stop too much insulin from being released, your body also has enzymes, called DPP-4, which break down incretins so that your pancreas is only releasing insulin when you need it to.

When you have type-2 diabetes, though, you often need your pancreas to secrete more insulin for longer, so sometimes the DPP-4 enzyme can act as more of a hindrance than a help.^[1]

Tradjenta works, then, as a ‘DPP-4 inhibitor’. This means that it stops DPP-4 from working properly which, in turn, prolongs the action of incretin hormones – helping your pancreas to secrete more insulin and lower your blood sugar.^[2]

What doses of Tradjenta are there?

Tradjenta comes in only one dose size: 5mg of linagliptin, of which the recommended dose is one tablet per day. If a 5mg daily dose of Tradjenta isn’t working to lower your blood sugar, you’ll likely be prescribed an additional or alternative treatment.

How to take Tradjenta

You should always take Tradjenta exactly as prescribed by our doctor.

To take Tradjenta, simply swallow your tablet whole with water. The recommended dose is one tablet per day, which you can take with or without food.

How long does it take Tradjenta to work?

Even though it’ll probably take a few weeks for any difference to be seen in your HbA1c (the test of your average blood sugar levels over the last 2-3 months), Tradjenta should get to work quickly to help increase your insulin secretion. It typically reaches peak levels in your system around 90 minutes after you take it, and it should be working to full effect within around four days.^[1]

Because type-2 diabetes doesn’t always give you noticeable symptoms, you might not feel any different from taking Tradjenta – but this doesn’t mean that it’s not working. You’ll need to keep taking it to lower your risk of developing any complications.

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

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

If you forget to take your dose of Tradjenta, you can take it when you remember – so long as it’s not too close to your next scheduled dose. If it is, simply skip that dose and carry on as normal. Don’t double up on doses, or take more than one dose on the same day, to make up for a missed one.