Description

What is Sibutramine 20mg ?

Sibutramine 20mg is used together with diet and exercise to treat obesity that may be related to diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

It is a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor which has been used for short- and long-term therapy of obesity, but which was withdrawn from use in 2010 because of increase risk of cardiovascular events.

What are the side effects?

Sibutramine 20mg substantially increases blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some patients. Regular monitoring of blood pressure and pulse rate is required when prescribing sibutramine.

In placebo-controlled obesity studies, sibutramine 5 to 20 mg once daily was associated with mean increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of approximately 1 to 3 mm Hg relative to placebo, and with mean increases in pulse rate relative to placebo of approximately 4 to 5 beats per minute. Larger increases were seen in some patients, particularly when therapy with sibutramine was initiated at the higher doses.

Blood pressure and pulse should be measured prior to starting therapy with sibutramine and should be monitored at regular intervals thereafter. For patients who experience a sustained increase in blood pressure or pulse rate while receiving sibutramine, either dose reduction or discontinuation should be considered.

Storage

Capsules should be stored at 25°C (77°F). Brief periods at higher or lower temperatures, i.e., 15-30°C (59-86°F) are permitted. The medication should be stored in a tight, light-resistant container. The capsules should be protected from heat and moisture.

Which drugs or supplements interact with Sibutramine 20mg?

Sibutramine 20mg must be converted in the liver to its active form. This conversion is inhibited by ketoconazole (Nizoral), cimetidine (Tagamet) and erythromycin (Erytab, Eryc, Ilosone), and use of these drugs can result in decreased conversion and effectiveness of sibutramine. Several other drugs may have a similar effect. These other drugs include clarithromycin (Biaxin), danazol (Danocrine), diltiazem (Cardizem, Tiazac, Dilacor), fluconazole (Diflucan), fluoxetine (Prozac), itraconazole (Sporanox), propoxyphene (Darvon), troleandomycin (Tao) and verapamil (Verelan, Covera, Calan, Isoptin).

How to use Sibutramine

Take one tablet of Sibutramine 20mg once a day for the morning and drink it with plenty of fluid.