Albenza - Side Effects, Dosage & Warnings

Albenza (Albendazole)

Albenza Information

Albenza is a drug also commonly known in different countries under the name of Albendazole. Albenza is a drug that belongs to a wide class of medicines called anthelmintics. This type of drugs is used in the treatment of tapeworm infections. Albenza is a drug with a special inhibitory effect than works on tubulin polymerization. In this way, the cytoplasmic microtubules are gone. Albenza has proven itself to be highly efficient in the fight against Taenia solium and Echinococcus granulosus (especially during their larval forms).ALBENZA is indicated for the treatment of parenchymal neurocysticercosis due to active lesions caused by larval forms of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium.

Tablets

Each white to off-white, circular, biconvex, bevel-edged film coated, TILTAB tablet is debossed with “ap” and “550” and contains 200 mg of albendazole. Inactive ingredients consist of: carnauba wax, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium saccharin, sodium starch glycolate, and starch.

Albenza Uses:

Albenza (Albendazole) is a drug that is usually prescribed to patients who have Taenia solium or Echinococcus granulosus. However, this drug could also be used for other purposes (it can treat other disorders) besides the ones that have been mentioned here.

This medication is used to treat certain tapeworm infections (such as neurocysticercosis and hydatid disease).

Other Uses:

This section contains uses of this drug that are not listed in the approved professional labeling for the drug but that may be prescribed by your health care professional. Use this drug for a condition that is listed in this section only if it has been so prescribed by your health care professional.

This medication may also be used to treat other types of worm infections.

Albenza Warnings

A treatment with Albenza could cause harm to the patient’s bone marrow or to his or her liver. Therefore, in the case of a long term treatment with this drug, a doctor should carefully monitorise the patient’s response to the treatment (liver function tests, blood counts monitoring, etc), at least twice a month. The treatment with this drug (Albenza) can be continued only if the blood changes in the patient’s body are modest. You must consult with your personal physician before you start taking this drug, because some rare fatalities are associated with a treatment with Albenza. These deaths were due to pancytopenia and to granulocytopenia. 

The patients that need to be treated for neurocysticercosis must also receive the most appropriate anticonvulsant and steroid therapy as required (this differs from one patient to another). Doctors ought to keep in mind the possibility of administering intravenous or oral corticosteroids, because these drugs are known to successfully prevent unwanted cerebral hypertensive episodes (that usually occur during the first week of the patient’s anticysticeral treatment).

If you are pregnant, or if you are planning to be so soon, you should not start taking Albenza (also known as Albendazole) except in some severe clinical circumstances (only if there is no other alternative management). If a patient (a woman) that is taking this drug gets pregnant during her treatment with Albenza, she should be informed of the possible harm that could be caused to the fetus. If you are currently nursing a baby, you must not start taking this drug without your doctor’s consent. You ought to take all the necessary precautions that your doctor tells you to.

This drug has not been properly tested on children. Therefore, you should consult a pediatrician before you give this drug to a child under the age of 6. The hydatid infection in young children and in infants is extremely uncommon. However, no problems or harmful effects have been encountered in the children who were treated with Albenza. The neurocysticercosis infection is unfortunately more common than the neurocysticercosis infection in children. Albenza has not been properly tested on elderly patients.

Albenza Intake Guidelines

Ask your doctor how and when you should take Albenza in order to get the best results from your treatment. You must not disobey any of the instructions that your doctor has given you. If you fail to understand any of them, you should address a pharmacist, a doctor or a nurse. Albenza should be taken in with food or milk in order to prevent stomach upset. You ought to store this drug away from heat and moisture. It is recommended that you keep this medicine away from direct sunlight and from the reach of children.

Albenza Dosage

Ask your doctor to tell you the dose of Albenza that suits you best, In order to ensure that you take in the correct amount of Albenza you should use a measuring device such as a measuring cup or a measuring spoon (not a regular spoon). You can buy such a device from your local pharmacy. You must not take double doses of this drug without your doctor’s consent.

Albenza Overdose

If you suspect that you could be suffering from an overdose with Albenza, you are probably in need of medical care as soon as possible. Contact your local poison control center as soon as you can. Alert your doctor immediately. In case of Albenza overdose, general supportive measures and symptomatic therapy are usually recommended.

Albenza Missed Dose

In order to get the best results from you treatment with Albenza, you should try to take this drug on a regular basis. If you happen to forget to take one of your doses of this drug, you should take it as soon as you can. If it is about time for another of your schedules Albenza doses, you should skip the dose that you have missed and continue with your regular treatment. You must not take in double doses of Albenza without your personal physician’s consent.

Albenza Side Effects

The most common Albenza side effects that have affected most patients are headache, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, fever, sore throat, seizures or unusual bleeding or bruising. However, if these side effects persist, you must alert your doctor as soon as you can. The next adverse events are very rare: rash, leukopenia, allergic reactions, urticaria, and sometimes even acute renal failure.

Albenza Drug Reactions

Avoid taking these drugs during your Albenza treatment:

• Dexamethasone
• Cimetidine
• Praziquantel
• Theophylline

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of ALBENZA. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Blood and Lymphatic System Disorders: Aplastic anemia, bone marrow suppression, neutropenia.

Eye Disorders: Vision blurred.

Gastrointestinal Disorders: Diarrhea.

General System Disorders: Asthenia.

Hepatobiliary Disorders: Elevations of hepatic enzymes, hepatitis, acute liver failure.

Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders: Rhabdomyolysis.

Nervous System Disorders: Somnolence, convulsion.

Renal and Urinary Disorders: Acute renal failure.

Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue Disorders: Erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

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