Forxiga

Forxiga is a tablet you take once a day. It's mainly prescribed for type-2 diabetes, but it can also help with heart failure and chronic kidney disease. This branded medicine contains dapagliflozin, which is a sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, and it works to help manage your blood sugar levels.

You should use it together with a diet and exercise plan, especially if metformin on its own hasn't been enough to control your blood glucose levels. It can be taken by itself or with other diabetes treatments, like metformin.

If you have type 2 diabetes, it means your body isn't as effective at breaking down glucose from your food. This usually happens because you either don't produce enough insulin—a hormone from your pancreas that helps convert glucose into energy—or your cells have become less responsive to insulin, or sometimes both. As a result, glucose levels in your blood become too high since it's not being properly converted into energy.

Forxiga helps lower your blood sugar by blocking the SGLT2 protein in your kidneys. Normally, this protein prevents glucose and salt from being passed into your urine. By blocking it, Forxiga allows more glucose to be excreted in your urine, which in turn reduces your blood sugar levels.

Forxiga comes in two doses: 5mg and 10mg. Typically, the advised dose is one 10mg tablet daily. However, if you have a liver issue, our clinician may suggest the 5mg tablet instead.

While you're taking Forxiga, your HbA1c (which indicates your average blood sugar levels over the past 2-3 months) will need to be monitored. If it seems that your blood glucose levels aren't improving as expected, your dose or treatment may need to be adjusted.

There are various treatments available for type-2 diabetes, and it can be challenging to find the one that suits you best. Typically, the first medication prescribed is metformin. If metformin, along with diet and exercise, doesn't help you keep your blood sugar levels in check, you may need to try a different treatment or a combination of treatments, which might include taking metformin with another medication.

Various diabetes treatments work in different ways, so each one affects your body slightly differently. You might be given an injection instead of a tablet like Forxiga. Our clinician can help determine which treatment might be best for you after discussing your health with us.

There are no other treatments available that contain only dapagliflozin, so you won't find anything that works exactly the same way. However, there are a few combination treatments that include dapagliflozin.

Qtern is made up of dapagliflozin and saxagliptin, while Xigduo combines dapagliflozin with metformin. If you've been recommended to take these medicines together, you might find these treatments more convenient.

You’ll usually be prescribed the 10mg dose of Forxiga, unless you have a liver condition. In that case, a clinician might recommend starting with the 5mg dose for safety. If you’re uncertain about the right dose for you, our clinician can provide guidance.