Ziprasidone

Geodon® Logo

Brand name(s): Geodon®

What special precautions should I follow?

Before taking ziprasidone,

• tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to ziprasidone or any other medications.
• do not take ziprasidone if you are taking amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone), bretylium, chlorpromazine (Thorazine), cisapride (Propulsid), disopyramide (Norpace), dofetilide (Tikosyn), dolasetron (Anzemet), droperidol (Inapsine), erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin, Erythrocin), gatifloxacin (Tequin), halofantrine (Halfan), ibutilide (Corvert), levomethadyl (ORLAAM), mefloquine (Lariam), mesoridazine (Serentil), moxifloxacin (Avelox), pentamidine (NebuPent, Pentam 300), pimozide (Orap), procainamide (Procanbid, Promine, Pronestyl), quinidine (Quinidex), sotalol (Betapace), sparfloxacin (Zagam), tacrolimus (Prograf), or thioridazine (Mellaril).
• tell your doctor and pharmacist what other prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking. Be sure to mention any of the following: antidepressants, diuretics (''water pills''), bromocriptine (Parlodel), cabergoline (Dostinex), carbamazepine (Tegretol), ketoconazole (Nizoral), levodopa (Dopar, Larodopa), medications for anxiety, medications for high blood pressure, medications for seizures, pergolide (Permax), ropinirole (ReQuip), sleeping pills, and tranquilizers. Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.
• tell your doctor if you have recently had a heart attack and if you have or have ever had liver disease, heart failure, irregular heartbeats, stroke or mini-stroke, seizures, Alzheimer's disease, or if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had diabetes.
• tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking ziprasidone, call your doctor.
• you should know that ziprasidone may make you drowsy. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you.
• remember that alcohol can add to the drowsiness caused by this medication.
• you should know that you may have increases in your blood sugar (hyperglycemia) while you are taking this medication, even if you do not already have diabetes. If you have schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions), you are more likely to develop diabetes than people who do not have schizophrenia, and taking ziprasidone or similar medications may increase this risk. Tell your doctor immediately if you have any of the following symptoms while you are taking ziprasidone: extreme thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger, blurred vision, or weakness.It is very important to call your doctor as soon as you have any of these symptoms, because high blood sugar can cause more serious symptoms, such as dry mouth, upset stomach and vomiting, shortness of breath, breath that smells fruity, or decreased consciousness,and may become life-threatening if it is not treated at an early stage.
• you should know that ziprasidone may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting when you get up too quickly from a lying position. This is more common when you first start taking ziprasidone. To avoid this problem, get out of bed slowly, resting your feet on the floor for a few minutes before standing up.
• you should know that ziprasidone may make it harder for your body to cool down when it gets very hot. Tell your doctor if you plan to do vigorous exercise or be exposed to extreme heat.

Last Revised: 01/01/2005

User Comments

Post your comment!

meds-help.com is proud to announce that its 'review' feature is now available online. meds-help.com users are now able to review our articles online, click on the link in the targeted section...

Click here to write a review