Nevirapine Er

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If it is near the time of the next dose, skip the missed dose. Take your next dose at the regular time. Do not double the dose to catch up.

Store at room temperature away from light and moisture. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep all medications away from children and pets.

Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company.

Before taking nevirapine, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details.

Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: liver problems (such as hepatitis B or C, cirrhosis), kidney dialysis.

This drug may rarely make you drowsy. Alcohol or marijuana (cannabis) can make you more drowsy. Do not drive, use machinery, or do anything that needs alertness until you can do it safely. Limit alcoholic beverages. Talk to your doctor if you are using marijuana (cannabis).

Before having surgery, tell your doctor or dentist about all the products you use (including prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and herbal products).

During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed. Treatment can lower the risk of passing HIV infection to your baby, and nevirapine may be part of that treatment. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.

This medication passes into breast milk. Because breast milk may transmit HIV, consult your doctor before breastfeeding.

Do not share this medication with others.

Lab and/or medical tests (such as liver function, viral load, T-cell counts) should be done while you are taking this medication. Keep all medical and lab appointments. Consult your doctor for more details.

Rarely, nevirapine has caused severe (sometimes fatal) liver problems. Get medical help right away if you develop symptoms of liver problems, such as nausea that doesn't stop, loss of appetite, vomiting, stomach/abdominal pain, dark urine, pale stools, yellowing eyes/skin, unusual tiredness, rash.

Rarely, nevirapine has also caused serious (sometimes fatal) skin/allergic reactions. Get medical help right away if you have any signs of skin/allergic reactions, including sore throat that doesn't go away, swollen lymph nodes, rash, itching/swelling/redness (especially of the eyes/face), blisters, fever, unusual tiredness, mouth sores, severe dizziness, trouble breathing, signs of kidney problems (such as change in the amount of urine), muscle pain/tenderness/weakness, joint pain.

Women are at increased risk for developing these severe reactions. To help decrease the risk of skin/allergic reactions in all patients, nevirapine is started at a lower dose for the first 14 days. Also, people with higher T-cell counts at the start of nevirapine treatment are at greater risk for liver problems. Nevirapine is usually only started if the T-cell count is fewer than 250 in women or fewer than 400 in men.

Keep all medical and lab appointments so your doctor can monitor how you are responding to nevirapine. The risk of these serious side effects is high in the first 18 weeks and highest during the first 6 weeks of nevirapine treatment. However, these side effects may occur at any time while taking this medication.

If you have stopped taking nevirapine because of liver problems or skin/allergic reactions, you must never take any form of nevirapine again. Tell all of your doctors and pharmacists if you have ever stopped taking nevirapine because of these types of reactions.

Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.

Some products that may interact with this drug include: orlistat, rifabutin, warfarin.

Other medications can affect the removal of nevirapine from your body, which may affect how nevirapine works. Examples include rifamycins (such as rifampin), St. John's wort, among others.

Nevirapine can speed up the removal of many other medications from your body, which may affect how they work. Examples of affected drugs include antiarrhythmics (such as amiodarone), atazanavir, cobicistat, elvitegravir, some drugs used to treat seizures (such as clonazepam), azole antifungals (such as itraconazole, ketoconazole), macrolide antibiotics (such as clarithromycin), methadone, among others.

Do not use prednisone to prevent a rash because it can actually increase the risk of a rash during the first 6 weeks of nevirapine treatment. Ask your doctor for more details.

This medication may decrease the effectiveness of hormonal birth control such as pills, patch, or ring. This could cause pregnancy. Discuss with your doctor or pharmacist if you should use reliable backup birth control methods while using this medication. Also tell your doctor if you have any new spotting or breakthrough bleeding, because these may be signs that your birth control is not working well.

Read the Medication Guide provided by your pharmacist before you start using nevirapine and each time you get a refill. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Take this medication by mouth with or without food as directed by your doctor, usually once daily. Do not crush, chew, or split the tablets. Doing so can release all of the drug at once and increase the risk of side effects.

If you have never taken nevirapine before, you must take the immediate-release form of nevirapine for 14 days, before starting to take the extended-release form. If you have already taken the immediate-release form of nevirapine for more than 14 days, you may start taking the extended-release tablets right away. However, never take two different forms of nevirapine at the same time.

The dosage is based on your medical condition and response to treatment. Children's dosage is also based on body size.

If you stop taking this medication for more than 7 days for reasons other than the serious reactions described in the Warning section, ask your doctor for directions on how to restart treatment. You may need to take the immediate-release form of this medication once daily again for the first 14 days to decrease the risk of serious side effects.

It is very important to keep taking this medication (and other HIV medications) exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not skip any doses. Do not increase your dose, take this drug more often than prescribed, or stop taking it (or other HIV medicines) even for a short time unless directed to do so by your doctor. Skipping or changing your dose without approval from your doctor may cause the amount of virus to increase, make the infection more difficult to treat (resistant), or worsen side effects.

For the best effect, take this medication at evenly spaced times. To help you remember, take this medication at the same time every day.

If someone has overdosed and has serious symptoms such as passing out or trouble breathing, call 911. Otherwise, call a poison control center right away. US residents can call 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call 1-844-764-7669.