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Sporanox capsules are administered to treat four types of acute fungal infection: blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, aspergillosis, and onychomycosis. Blastomycosis can distress the lungs, bones, and skin. Histoplasmosis can distress the lungs, heart, and blood. Aspergillosis can distress the lungs, kidneys, and other organs. Onychomycosis distresses the nails. Sporanox is also taken to fight against fungal infections in individual with weak immune systems, such as AIDS patients.
Sporanox oral emulsion is used to treat candidiasis (fungal infection) of the mouth, throat, and gullet (esophagus), and for other fungal infections in individuals with weakened immunity and fever.
Be sure to take Sporanox for as long as your physician recommends. It will take 3 months or more to cure some infections completely. If you stop taking Sporanox too soon, the infection may return.
How should you take this medication?
Use Sporanox precisely as prescribed. To ensure that the capsules are correctly absorbed, you should take them after a full meal; the oral solution should be taken without food. A soft drink can help some people absorb the capsules better. Resume using Sporanox until all the medication is gone. Do not take antacids within 1 hour prior to or 2 hours after taking Sporanox.
Swish the oral solution, 10 milliliters at a time, in your mouth for a few seconds prior to swallowing it.
Mouth and throat candidiasis should clear up in several days.
The oral solution and capsules cannot be used interchangeably.
If you skip a dose or forget to take your medication, take it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, wait until then to use the medicine and skip the missed dose. Do not use extra medication to make up for a missed dose.
Side effects cannot be predicted. If any result or vary in intensity, talk to your physician ASAP. Only your physician can decide if it is safe for you to resume taking Sporanox.
- The more common side effects may include:
Anxiety, bursitis, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, gas, headache, high blood pressure, indigestion, injury, muscle pain, nasal and sinus inflammation, nausea, pain, rash, respiratory infection, swelling due to water retention, urinary infection, vomiting
- The less common side effects may include:
Abdominal pain, abnormal dreams, allergic reaction, decreased sexual drive, dizziness, extreme sleepiness, feeling of general discomfort, gum inflammation, hives, increased appetite, inflamed stomach and intestines, itching, loss of appetite, reproductive disorders such as male impotence, sleepiness, sore throat, tremor, weakness
- The rare side effects may include:
Blood abnormalities, congestive heart failure, constipation, depression, fluid in the lungs, hair loss, hepatitis, high triglyceride levels, liver failure, male breast development, male breast pain, menstrual disorders, nerve disorders, ringing in the ears, severe allergic reaction, skin peeling, sleeplessness
- The other side effects that may be noticed with the oral solution are:
Back pain, blood in the urine, breathing difficulty, chest pain, cough, dehydration, difficulty swallowing, hemorrhoids, hot flushes, impaired speech, inflamed mouth, insomnia, pneumonia, shivering, sweating, vision problems, weight loss
Individuals being treated for onychomycosis could suffer stomach and intestinal disorders or rash, or, less commonly, headache, light-headedness upon standing up, low blood pressure, muscle pain, a sick feeling, or vertigo.
If you are sensitive to or have ever had an allergic reaction to Sporanox or similar antifungal drugs such as Nizoral, you should not take this medication. Make sure that your doctor is aware of any drug reactions that you have experienced.
Sporanox can have a negative effect on the heart. It should not be used for fungal nail infections in people with cardiac problems such as congestive heart failure.
Acute heart problems, such as erratic heartbeats and even death, have happened in individuals who have taken Sporanox at the same time as Orap or Quinidex. By no means take these medications with Sporanox, and avoid Halcion, Versed, Mevacor, Tikosyn, and Zocor capsules as well.
During pregnancy, Sporanox should not be used for treatment of fungal nail infections.
Special warnings about this medication:
In unusual cases, Sporanox has been known to cause liver failure and even death. If you have liver disease, or if you take Sporanox continuously for more than a month, your doctor should monitor your liver function periodically. If you develop such symptoms of liver disease as unusual fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, jaundice, dark urine, or pale stool, stop taking Sporanox and contact your doctor immediately.
Individuals with cardiac problems such as congestive heart failure should steer clear of Sporanox unless the benefit clearly outweighs the risks. Actually, anyone who is even at risk of heart failure should use Sporanox with caution. Risk factors consist of heart and lung disorders and kidney failure. If you suffer swelling--especially in the feet and ankles--or difficulty breathing while taking Sporanox, stop taking this medication and contact your physician right away.
If you form any nerve disorders while taking Sporanox, see your physician. Treatment will probably need to be terminated.
Potential food and drug interactions when using this medication
If Sporanox is taken with certain other medications, the effects of both could be amplified, decreased, or altered. It is particularly important to check with your physician before combining Sporanox with any of the following:
Acid-blocking drugs such as Tagamet, Pepcid, and Zantac
Alprazolam (Xanax)
Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
Blood-thinning drugs such as Coumadin
Buspirone (BuSpar)
Busulfan (Myleran)
Calcium channel blockers such as Cardene, Norvasc, and Procardia
Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
Clarithromycin (Biaxin)
Cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral)
Diazepam (Valium)
Dofetilide (Tikosyn)
Digoxin (Lanoxin)
Docetaxel (Taxotere)
Erythromycin (E-Mycin, Ery-Tab, and others)
Indinavir (Crixivan)
Isoniazid
Lovastatin (Mevacor)
Methylprednisolone (Medrol)
Midazolam (Versed)
Nevirapine (Viramune)
Oral diabetes medications such as DiaBeta, Diabinese, Glucotrol, Micronase, Orinase, and Tolinase
Phenobarbital
Phenytoin (Dilantin)
Pimozide (Orap)
Quinidine (Quinidex)
Rifabutin (Mycobutin)
Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane)
Ritonavir (Norvir)
Saquinavir (Invirase)
Simvastatin (Zocor)
Sirolimus (Rapamune)
Tacrolimus (Prograf)
Triazolam (Halcion)
Trimetrexate (Neutrexin)
Vinblastine (Velban)
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