Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol Interaction
Drug interaction information between Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol.
Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol. Major interactions are generally avoided, moderate ones may need monitoring or a dose adjustment, and minor ones are usually low-risk. This page shows the documented mechanism and guidance. Label-documented interactions are not a complete safety review, so always confirm your own medications with a pharmacist or doctor. Educational information, not medical advice.
How They Interact
Albuterol can cause blood sugar levels to rise, which counteracts the effect of the insulin.
What To Do
You should monitor your blood sugar levels more often as your doctor may need to adjust your insulin dose.
FDA Label Information
Drugs that May Decrease the Blood Glucose Lowering Effect of APIDRA Drugs: Atypical antipsychotics, corticosteroids, danazol, diuretics, estrogens, glucagon, isoniazid, niacin, phenothiazine derivatives, progestogens (e.g., in oral contraceptives), protease inhibitors, somatropin, sympathomimetic agents (e.g., albuterol, epinephrine, terbutaline), and thyroid hormones.
Insulin Glulisine Also Interacts With
- Fluoxetine moderate
- Pramlintide moderate
- Octreotide moderate
- Clonidine minor
- Lithium minor
Albuterol Also Interacts With
- Theophylline major
- Albuterol/Ipratropium moderate
- Atomoxetine moderate
- Digoxin minor
- Glimepiride minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol together?
This is a minor interaction. You should monitor your blood sugar levels more often as your doctor may need to adjust your insulin dose.
How serious is the interaction between Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol?
This interaction is classified as "minor" severity by the FDA. Minor interactions are unlikely to cause significant problems but should still be mentioned to your healthcare provider.
Why do Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol interact?
Albuterol can cause blood sugar levels to rise, which counteracts the effect of the insulin.
Understanding the Insulin Glulisine and Albuterol Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Insulin Glulisine belongs to the Rapid-Acting Insulin class and Albuterol belongs to the Short-Acting Beta-2 Agonist class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Albuterol can cause blood sugar levels to rise, which counteracts the effect of the insulin. Severity tiers matter: major flags generally advise avoidance, moderate flags often require monitoring or dose adjustment, and minor flags may only call for awareness.
Context around a specific patient determines real-world impact. Insulin Glulisine has 9 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Albuterol has 16. Each additional medication compounds the interaction surface, which is why pharmacists run full-profile checks rather than evaluating one pair at a time. FDA-derived guidance for this pair is: You should monitor your blood sugar levels more often as your doctor may need to adjust your insulin dose. Timing of doses, renal and hepatic function, age, and other concurrent prescriptions all shape whether a labeled interaction matters clinically.
An interaction flag is not a verdict. A large share of labeled interactions are managed routinely in clinical practice, the fix may be as simple as spacing doses or adding a monitoring test. Others require the prescriber to choose a different medication entirely. This page surfaces FDA-sourced labeling and openFDA data for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice and cannot account for your full clinical picture. Never start, stop, or adjust either Insulin Glulisine or Albuterol based on a web page, speak with your prescriber or pharmacist before making any change.
Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about drug interactions.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.