Kombiglyze adverse side effects can be deadly for type-2 diabetics that take the medication for blood sugar control.

AstraZeneca’s Kombilglyze combines saxagliptin (Onglyza) and metformin (Glucophage) to help control high blood sugar.

Kombiglyze is a an incretin-based drug that belongs to a class of medications called DPP-4 inhibitors. The drug helps the pancreas secrete more insulin while stopping the liver from making more sugar.

Kombiglyze Adverse Side Effects on the Pancreas

Kombiglyze reduces the amount of sugar that the liver releases overnight, resulting in lower blood sugar in the morning.

It also can help lower after-meal blood sugar spikes by helping the body increase insulin levels after eating.

Kombiglyze adverse side effects allegedly include an increased risk of pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer.

Kombiglyze’s ingredient saxagliptin increases the number and size of the cells that secrete insulin in the pancreas. These cells are called beta cells, and they either shrink or die in people with type-2 diabetes, causing these patients to experience a reduction in insulin.

A 2013 study found the beta cells that saxagliptin helped produce were abnormal. These beta cell abnormalities were only seen in patients who took drugs such as Kombiglyze.

Kombiglyze adverse side effects also include pancreatitis and the creation of benign tumors that can transform into cancer in the pancreas.

Kombiglyze Adverse Side Effects: Risk of Heart Failure, Lactic Acidosis

In April 2015, the FDA recommended saxagliptin carry a  warning regarding an increased risk of heart failure. A study nicknamed SAVOR found that 16,000 patients on saxagliptin had a 27 percent higher risk of hospitalizations due to heart failure than those who were in a control group.

When the heart pumps blood at an abnormally slow rate, it is known as heart failure, causing the body to become deficient in oxygen and nutrients. Over time, fluid retention leads to congestive heart failure.

Symptoms of heart failure include increasing shortness of breath or trouble breathing, especially upon lying down; an unusually fast increase in weight; swelling in the feet, ankles or legs.

The metformin component of Kombligyze adds risk of lactic acidosis, a build-up of lactic acid in the blood.

Lactic acidosis is a rare but serious side effect that requires immediate emergency treatment in a hospital. Symptoms include feeling extremely weak or tired, unusual muscle pain, trouble breathing and sleeping longer than normal. You might feel lightheaded or dizzy, experience a slow or irregular heartbeat, feel cold, and vomit or have diarrhea.

On its website, Kombiglyze advises users to have kidney function tested before and during the use of the medication. Astra Zeneca also advises anyone who has had metabolic acidosis or diabetic ketoacidosis not to take Kombiglyze at all.

If you have taken Kombiglyze or Onglyza and suffered any adverse side effects, you could be eligible for compensation through an individual or class action lawsuit.