Securon Sr
1. What is Securon SR and what is it used for?
2. What should you know before taking your tablets?
3. How should you take your tablets?
PACKAGE LEAFLET: INFORMATION FOR THE USER SECURON®SR240MG
(verapamil hydrochloride)
This product will be referred to as Securon SR throughout this leaflet. This product is available in another strength (Half Securon SR tablets) and all strengths will be referred to throughout this leaflet
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine
• Keep this leaflet as you may need to read it again
• This leaflet provides a summary of the information currently available about Securon SR
• For further information or advice ask your doctor or pharmacist
• This medicine is for you only and should never be given to anyone else, even if they appear to have the same symptoms as you
• Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you experience any side effects
Leaflet contents:
1. What is Securon SR and what is it used for?
2. What should you know before taking your tablets?
3. How should you take your tablets?
4. Possible side effects.
5. How should you store your tablets?
6. Further information.
Securon SR and Half Securon SR tablets belong to a group of medicines called calcium channel blockers.
Calcium channel blockers change the amount of calcium getting into the muscle cells in your heart and blood vessels. This can change the strength and speed with which your heart beats. It also opens up the blood vessels so blood can be pumped around the body more easily. This helps more oxygen to get to your heart muscle and can lower your blood pressure.
Securon SR and Half Securon SR tablets are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) and to prevent angina (chest pain) attacks. The tablets may also be prescribed following a heart attack, to prevent another attack occurring.
The active ingredient in Securon SR and Half Securon SR tablets is verapamil hydrochloride.
If the answer to any of the following questions is ‘YES’ please tell
your doctor or pharmacist BEFORE taking any tablets:
• Are you sensitive (allergic) to verapamil or any of the ingredients in the tablets? (See Section 6).
• Are you pregnant or planning to become pregnant, or are you breast feeding?
• Do you have very low blood pressure?
• Do you have or have you ever suffered from heart problems such as heart failure?
• Do you have an abnormally slow or irregular heart beat?
• Have you recently had a heart attack?
• Do you have liver or kidney problems?
• Do you have or have you ever suffered from heart problems such as heart failure or the heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome?
• Do you have a condition where the nerve to muscle transmission is affected e.g. myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy?
• Are you being treated with ivabradine (for heart conditions)?
Taking other medicines.
Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any
medicines with or without a prescription or have recently taken any
of the following medicines:
• beta-blockers used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions (these include atenolol, propranolol and metoprolol)
• alpha blockers used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions (these include prazosin and terazosin)
• diuretics (also called “water pills”)
• medicines known as “statins” such as atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin used to lower cholesterol levels
• any other medicine for high blood pressure or an abnormal heart beat (arrhythmia) such as quinidine, flecainide, digoxin and digitoxin
• dabigatran, (medicine to prevent the formation of blood clots)
• medicines containing ivabradine for the treatment of certain heart diseases
• medicines used to treat depression (including the herbal product St John's Wort), anxiety or psychosis.
These may include imipramine, buspirone and lithium.
• medicines known as immunosuppressants such as ciclosporin, sirolimus, everolimus and tacrolimus.
These are used to prevent organ transplant rejection.
• glibenclamide, used to treat certain types of diabetes
• aspirin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller (NSAID) used to relieve pain and reduce fever
• almotriptan, used to treat migraine
• midazolam, used as a sedative or anaesthetic
• theophylline, used to treat asthma
• doxorubicin, an anti-cancer medicine
• cimetidine, used to treat indigestion or stomach ulcers
• carbamazepine, phenytoin or phenobarbital (phenobarbitone). These medicines are used as anti-convulsants.
• rifampicin, used to treat tuberculosis and other types of infection
• ritonavir, used to treat HIV
• erythromycin, clarithromycin and telithromycin, used to treat certain types of infection
• colchicine or sulfinpyrazone, used to treat gout.
Tell your surgeon or dentist that you are taking Securon SR or Half Securon SR if surgery is planned as it may affect the anaesthetic used.
Driving and operating machines
Do NOT drive, operate machinery or do anything that requires you to be alert, until you know how the tablets affect you.
Securon SR and Half Securon SR can make some people feel dizzy, especially when they first start to take the tablets.
Other important information
Do NOT drink grapefruit juice whilst taking your tablets as it can affect the absorption of this medicine. This does not occur with other fruit juices such as orange, apple or tomato juice.
Drinking alcohol
Securon SR and Half Securon SR will increase the time your body takes to get rid of alcohol. This means that you may not have to drink as much for your blood alcohol levels to be above the legal limit to drive. It will also take you longer to sober up.
Taking Securon SR and Half Securon SR with food and drink
Your tablets can be taken with a glass of water to help you swallow them. It does not matter if you have eaten, so they can be taken with or without food.
Pregnancy and breast feeding
Please discuss with your doctor if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or are breast feeding.
ALWAYS take your tablets exactly as your doctor has told you. If you are not sure refer to the label on the carton or check with your doctor or pharmacist.
TAKE YOUR TABLETS with a glass of water. You should swallow the tablets without chewing or crushing them. It does not matter if you have not eaten.
The number of tablets that you will need to take will depend on what you are being treated for:
ADULTS:
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
The usual dose is one Securon SR 240 mg tablet a day. If you have not taken Securon SR 240 mg before, your doctor may prescribe a lower dose such as a Half Securon SR 120 mg tablet each day. The maximum dose to treat high blood pressure is 480 mg each day.
This is usually taken as one Securon 240 mg tablet in the morning and one in the evening, leaving a gap of about 12 hours between each dose.
Angina (chest pain)
The usual starting dose for angina is one Securon SR 240 mg tablet taken twice a day. You should take one tablet in the morning and one in the evening, with a gap of about 12 hours in between them. Your doctor may prescribe a lower dose according to your symptoms.
Following a heart attack
The usual dose following a heart attack is 360 mg each day. This may be taken as one Securon SR 240 mg tablet in the morning and a Half Securon SR 120 mg tablet in the evening or as one Half Securon SR 120 mg tablet taken three times a day. The doctor will usually wait at least a week after your heart attack before prescribing these tablets.
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