serious effects:

•    allergic reactions affecting the skin such as rashes, severe itching, peeling or blistering, sensitivity to light

•    allergic reactions affecting the lungs causing inflammation of the lung tissue or fluid on the lungs; signs include cough, difficulty breathing, tiredness, fever, sweating

•    yellowing of your skin or whites of your eyes, pale stools, dark urine, loss of appetite; these may be

signs of liver problems caused by blocked bile flow. Damage to the brain may also occur in those who already have existing liver disease such as cirrhosis (signs include changes in personality or behaviour, abnormal movements or shaking)

• you experience any unusual bruising, nose bleeds, feel unusually tired, have a sore throat; these may be signs of a blood disorder.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you suffer from

any of the following other effects:

•    changes to the salts/chemicals in your blood especially of potassium, chloride, sodium and magnesium. Symptoms include mild loss of appetite, thirst, nausea, vomiting, constipation, muscle weakness, twitching, cramps, dizziness, abnormal heart rhythm, confusion, tiredness, fits

•    inability to get an erection or lack of sex drive

•    worsening of gout

•    diarrhoea and occasionally indigestion

•feeling faint on standing up

•    increase in amount and frequency of urination

•    inflammation of the pancreas (rarely).

If you notice any of these or any other side effects not mentioned in this leaflet, or if any side effect gets serious, then tell your doctor or pharmacist.

S. HOW TO STORE

BENDROFLUMETHIAZIDE TABLETS Keep the tablets in the pack provided. Do not store above 25°C.

KEEP ALL MEDICINES OUT OF THE REACH AND SIGHT OF CHILDREN

Do not take the tablets if the expiry date on the pack has passed. If you have any medicines that are out of date, return them to your pharmacist for safe disposal.

6. FURTHER INFORMATION Ingredients:

Each tablet contains 2.5mg of bendroflumethiazide as the active ingredient. They also contain the

following other ingredients: lactose, maize starch, pregelatinised maize starch and magnesium stearate.

What the medicine looks like:

Bendroflumethiazide Tablets 2.5mg are white, round tablets engraved with the company logo on one side and “A268” on the other. The tablets are available in packs of 28, 30, 42, 56, 60, 84, 90,112 or 500. (Not all pack sizes may be marketed).

Who makes this medicine and holds the Product Licence:

Crescent Pharma Limited, Units 3 & 4,

Quidhampton Business Units, Polhampton Lane,

Overton, Hants, RG25 3ED

Date leaflet revised: October 2011

If you would like this leaflet in a different format

please contact the licence holder at the above

address.

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PATIENT INFORMATION LEAFLET BENDROFLUMETHIAZIDE Tablets 2.5mg

Please read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine.

Keep the leaflet; you may need to read it again.

If you have any questions or are not sure about anything, 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.

If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.

In this leaflet:

1.    What Bendroflumethiazide Tablets are and what they are used for

2.    Before you take Bendroflumethiazide Tablets

3.    How to take Bendroflumethiazide Tablets

4.    Possible side effects

5.    How to store Bendroflumethiazide Tablets

6.    Further information

1. WHAT BENDROFLUMETHIAZIDE TABLETS ARE AND WHAT THEY ARE USED FOR

This medicine belongs to a group of drugs known as diuretics (water tablets). This medicine is used to reduce fluid retention (oedema) caused by heart, liver or kidney conditions by increasing the

flow of urine. It is also used to treat high blood pressure, either alone or in combination with other drugs which lower blood pressure.

2. BEFORE YOU TAKE

BENDROFLUMETHIAZIDE TABLETS Do not take these tablets if you have:

•    an allergy to bendroflumethiazide or to any of the other ingredients (see section 6)

•    Addison's disease (a disorder where the adrenal glands do not produce enough steroid hormones)

•    low blood levels of sodium (hyponatraemia) or of potassium (hypokalaemia)

•    high levels of calcium in the blood (hypercalcaemia)

•    high levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricaemia) causing symptoms of gout ie. pain in the joints

•    acute porphyria

•    severe kidney or liver function problems.

Check with your doctor before taking these

tablets if you have:

•    diabetes

•    porphyria

•    gout

•    systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) which is a destructive skin condition

•    liver disease (cirrhosis), including that caused by alcohol

•    kidney or liver function problems

•    inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)

•    prostate problems

•    severe asthma and you are taking beta agonist (sympathomimetic) medicines (see below)

•    high blood lipid levels.

Taking other medicines:

Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking these tablets if you are taking other medicines, including any that you can buy without a prescription. This is especially important if you taking:

•    any medicines for treatment of asthma including sympathomimetics (bambuterol, fenoterol, formoterol, reproterol, ritodrine, salbutamol, salmeterol, terbutaline, tulobuterol) or theophylline

•    non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain and inflammation eg. ibuprofen, indometacin or ketorolac

•    medicines containing opiates, used for the relief of pain eg. codeine, morphine

•    any other medicines used to treat high blood pressure, including ACE inhibitors eg. enalapril, angiotensin II antagonists eg. losartan, alpha blockers eg. prazosin, and calcium channel blockers eg. amlodipine, diltiazem

•    medicines for heart problems including beta blockers (especially sotalol) and cardiac glycosides eg. digoxin

•    medicines to control irregular heart beat especially amiodarone, disopyramide, flecainide,

lidocaine, mexiletine and quinidine

•    medicines to treat depression such as lithium, tricyclic antidepressants or reboxetine

•    any other diuretic medicines especially acetazolamide

•    medicines taken by mouth for diabetes especially chlorpropamide

•    corticosteroids eg. prednisolone

•    oestrogens or progesterones (as present in oral contraceptives or HRT)

•    allopurinol (used to treat gout)

•    alprostadil (for impotence)

•    aminoglutethimide (used in some cancers and Cushing’s syndrome)

•    amphotericin (used to treat fungal infections)

•    calcium salts or Vitamin D

•    carbamazepine or barbiturates (used in epilepsy)

•    carbenoxolone (used for stomach ulcers)

•    cisplatin (used to treat cancer) or toremifene (for breast cancer)

•    colestyramine and colestipol (used to lower blood cholesterol)

•    pimozide (used to treat mental illness)

•    moxisylyte (for Raynaud’s syndrome)

•    terfenadine (used in allergies)

•    baclofen or tizanidine (muscle relaxants). Pregnancy and breast-feeding Bendroflumethiazide is not recommended for use in pregnant or breast-feeding women. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking this medicine.

Taking bendroflumethiazide with alcohol Alcohol consumption should be kept to a minimum as this medicine increases the likelihood of dehydration after drinking alcohol.

Effects on driving or operating machinery This medicine may cause dizziness. Do not drive or operate machinery if it has this effect on you. Important information about an ingredient of this medicine

This medicine contains lactose. If you have been told by

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