LAMIVUDINE AND ZIDOVUDINE

(la MIV ue deen and zye DOE vue deen) Brand: Combivir

What is the most significant information I must know about lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Do not take this medicine if you have ever had an allergic reaction to Combivir or any medication that contains lamivudine, zidovudine, or emtricitabine, including: Atripla, Complera, Emtriva, Epivir, Epzicom, Retrovir, Trizivir, or Truvada.

• Some people develop lactic acidosis while taking lamivudine and zidovudine. Early symptoms may get worse over time and this condition can be fatal. Get abnormal medical help if you have even mild symptoms such as: muscle pain or weakness, numb or cool feeling in your arms and legs, trouble breathing, stomach pain, nausea with vomiting, slow or uneven heart course, dizziness, or feeling very weak or tired.

• This medicine can also reason severe or life-threatening effects on your liver. Call your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms while taking lamivudine and zidovudine: pain in your upper stomach, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, or jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

• Lamivudine and zidovudine can lower blood cells that help your body fight infections and help your blood clot. Your blood may need to be tested often. Avoid being around people who are sick or have infections. Avoid activities that may magnify your risk of bleeding injury. Speak your doctor at once if you develop signs of infection.

• If you have hepatitis B you may develop liver symptoms after you stop taking this medicine, even months after stopping. Your doctor may want to check your liver function for different months after you stop using the medicine. Visit your doctor regularly.

• Do not take Combivir with any another medication that contains lamivudine or zidovudine, including: Epivir, Epzicom, Retrovir, or Trizivir.

What is lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Lamivudine and zidovudine are antiviral medications that prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cells from multiplying in your body.

• The combination of lamivudine and zidovudine is used to treat HIV, which causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This medicine is not a cure for HIV or AIDS.

• Lamivudine and zidovudine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medicine guide.

What must I discuss with my healthcare provider till taking lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Some people develop a life-threatening condition called lactic acidosis while taking lamivudine and zidovudine. You may be more likely to develop lactic acidosis if you are overweight or have liver malady, if you are a woman, or if you have taken HIV or AIDS medications for a long time. Conversation with your doctor about your individual risk.

• Lamivudine and zidovudine can also reason severe or life-threatening effects on your liver. Speak your doctor if you have liver malady, especially hepatitis B.

• Do not take Combivir with any another medication that contains lamivudine or zidovudine, including: Epivir, Epzicom, Retrovir, or Trizivir.

• To create certain you can safely take lamivudine and zidovudine, speak your doctor if you have any of these another conditions:

· kidney disease;

· bone marrow suppression; or

· if you have used an HIV medicine in the past, such as abacavir (Ziagen), didanosine (Videx), emtricitabine (Atripla, Complera, Emtriva, Truvada), lamivudine (Epivir, Epzicom, Trizivir), stavudine (Zerit), tenofovir (Viread), or zidovudine (Retrovir).

• FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether lamivudine and zidovudine will harm an unborn child. HIV can be passed to your child if you are not properly treated during pregnancy. Speak your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. Take all of your HIV medicines as directed to control your infection.

• If you are pregnant, your name may be listed on a pregnancy registry. This is to track the outcome of the pregnancy and to estimate any effects of lamivudine and zidovudine on the baby.

• Women with HIV or AIDS must not breast-feed a child. Even if your child is born without HIV, the virus may be passed to the child in your breast milk.

• Lamivudine and zidovudine must not be used to treat HIV in adolescents weighing smaller than 66 pounds.

How must I take lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Take exactly as predesigned by your doctor. Do not take in larger or less amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

• Lamivudine and zidovudine can be taken with or without food.

• HIV/AIDS is generally treated with a combination of drugs. Use all medications as directed by your doctor. Read the medicine manual or patient instructions provided with every medicine. Do not change your doses or medicine schedule without your doctor's advice. Each face with HIV or AIDS must stay under the care of a doctor.

• Lamivudine and zidovudine can lower blood cells that help your body fight infections and help your blood clot. This can create it easier for you to bleed from an injury or get sick from being near others who are ill. Your blood may need to be tested often. Visit your doctor regularly.

• Store at room temperature away from moisture and heat.

What happens if I miss a dose?

• Take the missed doze as soon as you remember. Skip the missed doze if it is nearly time for your following scheduled doze. Do not take extra medication to create up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose?

• Search abnormal medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

• Overdose symptoms may include severe forms of some of the side effects listed in this medicine guide.

What must I avoid while taking lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Avoid being around people who are sick or have infections. Speak your doctor at once if you develop signs of infection. Avoid activities that may magnify your risk of bleeding or injury. Use extra care to prevent bleeding while shaving or brushing your teeth.

• Taking this medicine will not prevent you from passing HIV to another people. Avoid having unprotected sex or sharing razors or toothbrushes. Conversation with your doctor about safety ways to prevent HIV transmission during sex. Sharing drug or medication needles is never safety, even for a healthy person.

What are the possible side effects of lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Get abnormal medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your person, lips, tongue, or throat.

• This medicine may reason lactic acidosis (a build-up of lactic acid in the body, which can be fatal). Lactic acidosis can start slowly and get worse over time. Get abnormal medical help if you have even mild symptoms of lactic acidosis, such as: muscle pain or weakness, numb or cool feeling in your arms and legs, trouble breathing, stomach pain, nausea with vomiting, quick or uneven heart course, dizziness, or feeling very weak or tired.

• Call your doctor at once if you have any of these another serious side effects:

· signs of a new infection such as fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, sores in your mouth and throat;

· pale skin, feeling light-headed, rapid heart course, trouble concentrating;

· light bruising, unusual bleeding (nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum), purple or red pinpoint spots under your skin;

· heighten sweating, tremors in your hands, anxiety, feeling irritable, sleep problems (insomnia);

· diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, menstrual changes, impotence, loss of interest in sex;

· swelling in your neck or throat (goiter);

· problems with walking, breathing, speech, swallowing, or eye movement;

· weakness or prickly feeling in your fingers or toes;

· severe lower back pain, loss of bladder or bowel control;

· liver problems--upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);

· pancreatitis--severe pain in your upper stomach spreading to your back, nausea and vomiting, quick heart course; or

· severe skin reaction -- fever, sore throat, swelling in your person or tongue, burning in your eyes, skin pain, followed by a red or purple skin rash that spreads (especially in the person or upper body) and causes blistering and peeling.

• Smaller serious side effects may include:

· headache;

· mild nausea or diarrhea;

· cool symptoms such as stuffy nose, sneezing, sinus pain, cough; or

· changes in the shape or location of body thick (especially in your arms, legs, person, neck, breasts, and trunk).

• This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may message side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What another drugs will affect lamivudine and zidovudine?

• Speak your doctor about all another medications you use, especially:

· antiviral medicine such as ganciclovir (Cytovene) or ribavirin (Copegus, Rebetron, Virazole);

· a cancer medication such as doxorubicin (Adriamycn);

· interferon (Actimmune, Alferon, Avonex, Betaseron, Extavia, Infergen, Intron, Rebetron, Rebif); or

· a sulfa drug (Bactrim, Septra, SMX-TMP).

• This list is not complete and another drugs may interact with lamivudine and zidovudine. Speak your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal commodity. Do not start a new medicine without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?

• Your pharmacist can provide more information about lamivudine and zidovudine.

Remember, hold this and all another medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medicine only for the indication prescribed.

Disclaim: Each effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses external of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way must be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safety, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the help of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

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