Allopurinol Tablets 100mg, 300mg (Actavis UK Ltd)

Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine.

• Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
• If you have any further questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
• This medicine has been prescribed for you. Do not pass it on to others. It may harm them, even if their symptoms are the same as yours.

Index

• 1 What Allopurinol tablets are and what they are used for
• 2 Before you take
• 3 How to take
• 4 Possible side effects
• 5 How to store
• 6 Further information

Do not take Allopurinol tablets and tell your doctor if you:

• are allergic (hypersensitive) to Allopurinol tablets or any of the other ingredients (see section 6).
• are currently suffering from an acute attack of gout.

Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking Allopurinol tablets if you:

• have severe liver or kidney disease , you may be given a lower dose.

Taking other medicines

Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription. Especially:

• azathioprine (to treat rheumatoid arthritis and after organ transplants)
• ciclosporin (to treat psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis or after organ transplants)
• 6-mercaptopurine (used to treat some cancers and bowel diseases)
• adenine arabinoside
• probenecid (used in gout)
• phenytoin (used in epilepsy)
• theophylline (to treat asthma)
• ampicillin or amoxicillin (antibiotics)
• aspirin or related medicines (salicylates)
• drugs to prevent blood from clotting (such as warfarin)
• chlorpropamide (used in diabetes)
• didanosine (antiviral)
• diuretics (water tablets) or ACE inhibitors such as captopril (used in high blood pressure)

Pregnancy and breast-feeding

If you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or are breast-feeding ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine.

Driving and using machines

Allopurinol tablets may make you feel dizzy, affect your co-ordination or make you sleepy. Make sure you are not affected before you drive or operate machinery.

Sugar intolerance

If you have been told you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before taking this medicine, as it contains lactose.

Doses:

Adults:

Starting dose of 100-300mg once a day, this may be increased to 200-600mg a day in divided doses. A maximum dose of over 900mg a day is rarely needed.

Children (usually restricted to metabolic disease or cancer):

10-20mg per kg of body weight a day.

Elderly or patients with kidney disease:

Your doctor may prescribe a smaller dose.

If you take more Allopurinol tablets than you should:

If you (or someone else) swallow a lot of the tablets at the same time, or if you think a child has swallowed any of the tablets, contact your nearest hospital casualty department or tell your doctor immediately.

If you forget to take Allopurinol tablets:

Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten dose. If you forget to take a dose take it as soon as you remember it and then take the next dose at the right time.

Stop taking Allopurinol tablets and contact your doctor at once if you experience the following allergic reactions:

• itchy or flaky skin rash, bruising or discolouration of the skin
• fever, swollen lymph glands, joint pain, changes in blood composition, swollen blood vessels, inflammation of the liver (hepatitis), jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes), kidney damage (blood in the urine) or fits.

Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following side effects or notice any other effects not listed:

• Gastrointestinal: feeling or being sick, vomiting blood, offensive fatty diarrhoea, changes in bowel habits, swollen mouth and changes in taste
• Nervous system: headache, general tiredness, dizziness, depression, coma, nerve disorders including lack of muscle control, paralysis, weakness and numbness, “pins and needles”, sleepiness
• Heart: chest pain (angina), slow heart beat, oedema (water retention), high blood pressure
• Other effects: fever, worsening of acute gout attacks, cataract, diabetes, hair loss, changes in hair colour, boils, changes in blood chemistry and blood cells, disturbances of vision, enlarged breasts in men, difficulty maintaining an erection, “wet dreams”, infertility, blood in the urine, high levels of fat or urea in the blood.

What Allopurinol tablets contain

• The active substance (the ingredient that makes the tablets work) is Allopurinol. Each tablet contains either 100mg or 300mg of the active ingredient.
• The other ingredients are maize starch, carmellose sodium, cellulose, sodium lauryl sulphate, lactose, magnesium stearate.

What Allopurinol tablets look like and contents of the pack

Allopurinol tablets are circular, biconvex, white, uncoated tablets.

Pack sizes are 28 tablets.

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