Take this medicine only as directed by your doctor. Do not take more or less of it than your doctor ordered, and take it at the same time each day.

Follow carefully the special diet your doctor gave you. This is an important part of controlling your condition, and is necessary if the medicine is to work properly.

Test for sugar in your urine or blood with a diabetic urine or blood test kit as directed by your doctor. This is a convenient way to make sure your condition is being controlled, and it provides an early warning when it is not. Your doctor may also want you to test your urine for acetone.

Dosing

The dose of diazoxide will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of diazoxide. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.

The number of capsules that you take depends on the strength of the medicine.

• For oral dosage forms (capsules or suspension):
  • For treating hypoglycemia (low blood sugar):
    • Adults, teenagers, and children Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. At first, the usual dose is 1 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) (0.45 mg per pound) of body weight every eight hours. Then, your doctor may increase your dose to 3 to 8 mg per kg (1.4 to 3.6 mg per pound) of body weight a day. This dose may be divided into two or three doses.
    • Newborn babies and infants Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. At first, the usual dose is 3.3 mg per kg (1.5 mg per pound) of body weight every eight hours. Then, your doctor may increase the dose to 8 to 15 mg per kg (3.6 to 6.8 mg per pound) of body weight a day. This dose may be divided into two or three doses.

Missed dose

If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.

Storage

To store this medicine:

• Keep out of the reach of children.
• Store away from heat and direct light.
• Do not store in the bathroom, near the kitchen sink, or in other damp places. Heat or moisture may cause the medicine to break down.
• Keep the oral liquid form of this medicine from freezing.
• Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed. Be sure that any discarded medicine is out of the reach of children.

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For diazoxide, the following should be considered:

Allergies Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to diazoxide, sulfonamides (sulfa medicine), or thiazide diuretics (certain types of water pills). Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy Studies have not been done in pregnant women. However, too much use of diazoxide during pregnancy may cause unwanted effects (high blood sugar, loss of hair or increased hair growth, blood problems) in the baby. Studies in animals have shown that diazoxide causes some birth defects (in the skeleton, heart, and pancreas) and other problems (delayed birth, decrease in successful pregnancies).

Breast-feeding It is not known whether diazoxide passes into breast milk. However, this medicine has not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.

Children Infants are more likely to retain (keep) body water because of diazoxide. In some infants, this may lead to certain types of heart problems. Also, a few children who received diazoxide for prolonged periods (longer than 4 years) developed changes in their facial structure.

Older adults Many medicines have not been tested in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing use of oral diazoxide in the elderly with use in other age groups.

Other medicines Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking diazoxide, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Amantadine (e.g., Symmetrel) or
• Antidepressants (medicine for depression) or
• Antihypertensives (high blood pressure medicine) or
• Antipsychotics (medicines for mental illness) or
• Bromocriptine (e.g., Parlodel) or
• Cyclandelate (e.g., Cyclospasmol) or
• Deferoxamine (e.g., Desferal) or
• Diuretics (water pills) or
• Hydralazine (e.g., Apresoline) or
• Isoxsuprine (e.g., Vasodilan) or
• Levobunolol (e.g., Betagan) (use in the eye) or
• Levodopa (e.g., Dopar) or
• Medicine for heart disease or
• Metipranolol (e.g., OptiPranolol) or
• Nabilone (e.g., Cesamet) (with high doses) or
• Narcotic pain medicine or
• Nicotinyl alcohol (e.g., Roniacol) or
• Nimodipine (e.g., Nimotop) or
• Nylidrin (e.g., Arlidin) or
• Papaverine (e.g., Pavabid) or
• Pentamidine (e.g., Pentam) or
• Pimozide (e.g., Orap) or
• Promethazine (e.g., Phenergan) or
• Timolol (e.g., Timoptic) (use in the eye) or
• Trimeprazine (e.g., Temaril) Use of any of these medicines with diazoxide may cause low blood pressure

• Ethotoin (e.g., Peganone) or
• Mephenytoin (e.g., Mesantoin) or
• Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin) Any of these medicines and diazoxide may be less effective if they are taken at the same time

• Angina (chest pain)

• Gout Diazoxide may make this condition worse

• Heart attack (recent)

• Heart or blood vessel disease

• Kidney disease The effects of diazoxide may last longer because the kidney may not be able to get the medicine out of the bloodstream as it normally would

• Liver disease

• Stroke (recent)