(POR fi mer) Brand: Photofrin
• You must not receive this medicine if you are allergic to porfimer, or if you have porphyria (a genetic enzyme mess that causes symptoms affecting the skin or nervous system).
• Till you receive porfimer, speak your doctor if you have liver or kidney disease.
• Porfimer may magnify the sensitivity of your skin and eyes to sunlight, bright easy, or machine headlights. Avoid exposing your eyes and skin to natural sunlight and bright indoor lights for 30 to 90 days after you are treated with porfimer.
• This medicine may reason your eyes to be more sensitive to oncoming headlights while you are driving. Avoid driving at night before this effect wears off.
• Porfimer makes your body's tissues more sensitive to the effects of easy.
• Porfimer is used together with "photodynamic" laser easy therapy to reduce the size of tumors in the lungs or esophagus (the pipe that connects your mouth and stomach).
• Porfimer may also be used for purposes not listed in this medicine guide.
• You must not receive this medicine if you are allergic to porfimer, or if you have porphyria (a genetic enzyme mess that causes symptoms affecting the skin or nervous system).
• To create certain you can safely receive porfimer, speak your doctor if you have any of these another conditions:
· liver disease;
· kidney malady; or
· a history of stroke or blood clot.
• FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether porfimer will harm an unborn child. Speak your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant while being treated with this medication.
• It is not known whether porfimer passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing child. You must not breast-feed while you are receiving porfimer.
• Porfimer is injected into a vein through an IV. You will receive this injection in a clinic or hospital setting.
• Speak your caregivers if you feel any burning, pain, or swelling near the IV needle when porfimer is injected.
• You will receive laser easy treatment within 40 to 50 hours after your porfimer infusion. A second laser easy treatment may be given within 96 to 120 hours after your porfimer infusion.
• Porfimer will create your skin and eyes more sensitive to easy and severe sunburn may result. For at least 30 days after you are treated with porfimer, you should protect your eyes and skin from natural sunlight and bright indoor lights (such as lights in a doctor's or dentist's office, operating room lamps, tanning beds, bright halogen lights, or unshaded easy bulbs).
• To avoid exposing your skin to sunlight, hold all parts of your skin covered with clothing and wear dark sunglasses when you are outdoors. Sunscreen will not prevent a severe skin reaction to sunlight during the 30-day period after your treatment with porfimer.
• You may be more sensitive to sunlight and bright easy for up to 90 days or longer. To determine when this effect has worn off, you may test your skin to see if it is still sensitive to sunlight.
• To test your skin for sun sensitivity:
· Expose a little area of skin to direct sunlight or bright indoor easy for about 10 minutes.
· Do not use the skin on your person or near your eyes to test for easy sensitivity.
· If the exposed skin develops redness, swelling, or blistering within 24 hours, wait other 2 weeks till testing the skin again.
· If your exposure to sunlight will magnify because of travel or relocation within the 90-day period after you receive porfimer, test your skin again.
• Exposure to indirect sunlight (sun shining through a window) is not as deleterious and will actually help your body eliminate porfimer from your tissues. Follow your doctor's instructions about the excellent amount of easy exposure.
• Call your doctor for instructions if you miss an appointment for your laser easy therapy. The timing of your laser easy therapy in relation to your porfimer infusion is significant for the treatment to be effective.
• Since this medicine is given by a healthcare professional in a medical setting, an overdose is unlikely to occur.
• Avoid exposing your eyes and skin to natural sunlight and bright indoor lights for 30 to 90 days after you are treated with porfimer.
• This medicine may reason your eyes to be more sensitive to oncoming headlights while you are driving. Avoid driving at night before this effect wears off.
• 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.
• Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:
· pale skin, feeling light-headed or short of breath, rapid heart course, trouble concentrating;
· cough with yellow or green mucus, stabbing chest pain, feeling short of breath, coughing up mucus or blood;
· tight feeling in your throat, trouble swallowing;
· fever, chills;
· sudden numbness or weakness, problems with vision, speech, or balance;
· pain, swelling, warmth, or redness in one or both legs;
· feeling very thirsty or hot, being unable to urinate, hard sweating, or hot and dry skin; or
· anxiety, sweating, pale skin, severe shortness of breath, wheezing, gasping for breath, cough with foamy mucus, quick or uneven heart rate.
• Smaller serious side effects may include:
· heighten sensitivity of your eyes to light;
· nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
· constipation;
· back pain;
· sleep problems (insomnia); or
· sore throat, mild cough.
• 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.
• Speak your doctor about all another medicines you use, especially:
· allopurinol (Zyloprim);
· griseofulvin (Fulvicin);
· thalidomide (Thalomid);
· an antibiotic such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro), gemifloxacin (Factive), levofloxacin (Levaquin), moxifloxacin (Avelox), ofloxacin (Floxin), norfloxacin (Noroxin), and others;
· a tetracycline antibiotic such as doxycycline (Doryx, Oracea, Periostat, Vibramycin), minocycline (Dynacin, Minocin, Solodyn), or tetracycline (Ala-Tet, Brodspec, Panmycin, Sumycin, Tetracap);
· a diuretic (water pill) such as chlorothiazide (Diuril), hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ, HydroDiuril, Hyzaar, Lopressor HCT, Vasoretic, Zestoretic), chlorthalidone (Hygroton, Thalitone), indapamide (Lozol), metolazone (Mykrox, Zaroxolyn), and others;
· heart or blood pressure medication such as amlodipine (Norvasc, Caduet, Exforge, Lotrel, Tekamlo, Tribenzor, Twynsta, Amturnide), diltiazem (Cartia, Cardizem), nifedipine (Nifedical, Procardia), verapamil (Calan, Covera, Isoptin, Verelan), and others;
· medicine used to prevent blood clots, such as abciximab (ReoPro), bivalirudin (Angiomax), cilostazol (Pletal), clopidogrel (Plavix), dabigatran (Pradaxa), dalteparin (Fragmin), dipyridamole (Persantine, Aggrenox), eptifibatide (Integrelin), fondaparinux (Arixtra), ticlopidine (Ticlid), tirofiban (Aggrastat), and much others;
· medicine used to treat blood clots such as alteplase (Activase), tenecteplase (TNKase), urokinase (Abbokinase);
· an oral diabetes medicine such as glipizide (Glucotrol, Metaglip), glimepiride (Amaryl, Avandaryl, Duetact), glyburide (DiaBeta, Micronase, Glucovance), and others; or
· a phenothiazine such as chlorpromazine (Thorazine), fluphenazine (Permitil, Prolixin), perphenazine (Trilafon), prochlorperazine (Compazine, Compro), promethazine (Pentazine, Phenergan, Anergan, Antinaus), thioridazine (Mellaril), or trifluoperazine (Stelazine); or
· a sulfa drug (Bactrim, Septra, Sulfatrim, SMX-TMP, and others).
• This list is not complete and another drugs may interact with porfimer. 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.
• Your doctor or pharmacist can provide more information about porfimer.
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.
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