A number of medicinal products are known to interact with glucose metabolism and therefore the physician should be consulted when using other medications in addition to human insulin (see Precautions). The physician must therefore take possible interactions into account and should always ask his patients about any medicinal products they take.
Insulin requirements may be increased by substances with hyperglycaemic activity, such as glucocorticoids, thyroid hormones, growth hormone, danazol, beta2-sympathomimetic (such as ritodrine, salbutamol, terbutaline), thiazides.
Insulin requirements may be reduced in the presence of substances with hypoglycaemic activity, such as oral hypoglycaemics (OHA), salicylates (for example, acetylsalicylic acid), certain antidepressants (monoamine oxidase inhibitors), certain angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (captopril, enalapril), angiotensin II receptor blockers, non-selective beta-blocking agents and alcohol.
Somatostatin analogues (octreotide, lanreotide) may both decrease or increase insulin dose requirements.