Since metformin is often prescribed together with other diabetes drugs, some manufacturers have started combining two drugs in a single pill for more convenient therapy. Glucovance, a single-pill combination of metformin and the sulfonylurea glyburide, became available in 1999. In 2002, the FDA approved a combination dose of metformin and the sulfonylurea glipizide, called Metaglip, as well as a combination pill of metformin and rosiglitazone (a thiazolidinedione) called Avandamet. In 2005, the FDA approved Actoplus Met, a combination dose of metformin and the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone. Anyone taking one of these pills should be alert to the symptoms of lactic acidosis.
