If you suffer from Type 2 diabetes, your health care provider may have recommended that you try Invokana, the brand name for canagliflozin, a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. Theoretically, this prescription drug will help you control your blood sugar level, along with diet and exercise.
Before you start taking Invokana, however, you need to know that this dangerous drug can not only produce serious side effects, but also cause you to have one or more adverse reactions, resulting in one or more of the following:
- Lower limb amputation
- Ketoacidosis
- Hypotension
- Acute kidney failure
- Urosepsis
- Hypoglycemia
In some ways, the many possible negative side effects inherent with Invokana usage can be analogous to your body committing self-cannibalization. In other words, it may manage your diabetes, but the rest of your body pays an enormous price, up to and including death.
Routine side effects
Invokana poses a particular risk for women. For instance, common side effects of Invokana include the following:
- Urinary tract infections
- Yeast infections
- Vaginal itching
- Skin hypersensitivity, including such things as redness, rash, itching, swelling, hives, etc.
- Bone fractures
- Weakness and fatigue
If you are pregnant, Invokana can harm your fetus. If you are breastfeeding, you must choose between continuing to do so or taking Invokana.
Negative interactions with other drugs
If you already take a diabetes drug, you need to know that Invokana can and does react with all of the following: Amaryl, Glucotrol, Januvia, Tradjenta, Trulicity and Victoza.
As always, your wisest course of action consists of thoroughly discussing with your health care provider the pros and cons of taking any prescription medication and/or switching from one to another. If (s)he truly believes that a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor such as Invokana represents your best chance of controlling your blood sugar levels, ask him or her about other brand names that contain different ingredients than Invokana.
