Ozempic and Jardiance: Is It Safe? Label, Studies
Often prescribed together; take extra care with fluids and meals when you are sick or eating little.
- Verdict
- Fine with care
- Label names it
- No
- General caution
- Pills absorbed more slowly
Check a GLP-1 interaction
A quick look at Ozempic
The half-life is about 1 week: half disappears after 7 d, while about 3% remains after five half-lives (35 d).
In the 30-week SUSTAIN 1 trial for type 2 diabetes, people lost 4.7 kg, compared with 1.2 kg on placebo.
Monthly prices in US dollars include the list price and self-pay offers, with each figure taken from the maker's price page.
Sources: FDA label (DailyMed), healthsystemtracker.org, prnewswire.com 1 2.
Ozempic and Jardiance: the verdict
Fine with care
The Ozempic label's drug interactions section, quoted exactly:
“OZEMPIC causes a delay of gastric emptying, and thereby has the potential to impact the absorption of concomitantly administered oral medications. In clinical pharmacology trials,”
Source: FDA label (DailyMed).
What the Ozempic label says
The Ozempic label does not name Jardiance (empagliflozin). Those lines continue to apply to it.
| Named in the label | The risk | What the label tells doctors |
|---|---|---|
| Insulin or sulfonylureas | Low blood sugar | Combining this medicine with insulin or a sulfonylurea, such as glipizide or glimepiride, raises the risk of low blood sugar. |
| Oral medicines | Pills absorbed differently | Slowing stomach emptying may change how other pills are absorbed. |
Source: Ozempic label (DailyMed).
What the studies show
- clinical trials studying use with SGLT2 inhibitors
- The label warns about Acute Kidney Injury Due to Volume Depletion
- reduced caloric intake as a ketoacidosis trigger
- ketoacidosis trigger linked to volume depletion
Source: FDA label (DailyMed).
The practical rule
- If food or fluids cannot stay down, call your doctor that day.
- Tell the person who prescribes your GLP-1 about every pill you take, including this one.
- Ask your pharmacist if any pill you take must maintain a steady level in your blood. Whenever you start out or raise the dose, those may need checking.
- During the first weeks, test your blood sugar more often, and repeat this after every dose increase.
Source: FDA label (DailyMed).
Jardiance with other GLP-1s
None of the drug interaction sections in the 10 GLP-1 labels names Jardiance (empagliflozin). Because each label gives the same general warning about pills you swallow, the answer is unchanged across the class.
That question applies equally to Rybelsus, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Victoza.
Source: FDA label (DailyMed).