Pregabalin 300mg Capsules

Description

Pregabalin 300mg Capsules are used to treat epilepsy and anxiety.

It’s also taken to treat nerve pain. Nerve pain can be caused by different conditions including diabetes and shingles, or an injury.

Pregabalin works in different ways:

• in epilepsy it stops seizures by reducing the abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
• with nerve pain it blocks pain by affecting the pain messages traveling through the brain and down the spine.
• in anxiety it stops your brain from releasing the chemicals that make you feel anxious.

Key facts

• You’ll usually take pregabalin 2 or 3 times a day. You can take it with or without food.
• Pregabalin is often used for epilepsy, but you can also take it to help with pain or anxiety if you do not have epilepsy.
• It takes at least a few weeks for pregabalin to work.
• The side effects of pregabalin are usually mild and go away by themselves. The most common ones are feeling sleepy, dizziness and headaches.
• If you have epilepsy it’s important to take pregabalin regularly. Missing doses could trigger a seizure.

Find out how Pregabalin 300mg Capsules work, their treatment uses, and essential safety precautions.

Side Effects

Like all medicines, pregabalin can cause side effects although not everyone gets them.

Common side effects

These common side effects may happen in more than 1 in 100 people. They are usually mild and go away by themselves.

Keep taking the medicine but tell your doctor if these side effects bother you or do not go away:

• headaches
• feeling sleepy, tired or dizzy
• diarrhoea
• mood changes
• feeling sick
• swollen hands, arms, legs and feet
• blurred vision
• difficulties with getting an erection
• weight gain – because pregabalin can make you feel hungry
• memory problems

If you have diabetes, pregabalin can upset your blood sugar control. Monitor your blood sugar more often for the first few weeks of treatment with pregabalin and adjust your diabetes treatment if you need to. Talk to your doctor or diabetes nurse if you want more advice on what to do.

Serious side effects

Very few people taking pregabalin have serious problems.

Call a doctor or call 111 straight away if you get:

• thoughts of harming or killing yourself – a small number of people taking pregabalin have had suicidal thoughts, sometimes after only a week of treatment
• severe dizziness or you pass out
• hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not real)
• problems going to the toilet, including blood in your pee, needing to pee more often, or constipation

Serious allergic reaction

In rare cases, it’s possible to have a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to pregabalin.

Information Leaflet

Pregabalin 300mg – Patient Information Leaflet

Dosage Recommendation

Pregabalin is a prescription medicine. It’s important to take it as instructed by your doctor.

Dosage

The usual dose of pregabalin is between 150mg and 600mg a day, split into 2 or 3 separate doses.

If you are taking pregabalin as a liquid, 2.5ml is usually the same as taking a single 50mg capsule. Always check the label.

How to take it

You can take pregabalin with or without food, but it’s best to take it in the same way each day. Try to space your doses evenly through the day.

Swallow pregabalin tablets or capsules whole with a drink of water or juice. Do not chew them.

If you are taking pregabalin as a liquid, it will come with a syringe or spoon to measure your dose. If you do not have a measuring spoon or syringe, ask your pharmacist for one. Do not use a kitchen teaspoon as it will not measure the right amount.

How long to take it for

If you have epilepsy, it’s likely that once your condition is under control you will continue to take pregabalin for many years.

If you’re taking pregabalin for nerve pain or anxiety it’s likely that once your symptoms have gone you will continue to take it for several months to stop them coming back.

Changes to your dose

To prevent side effects, your doctor will prescribe a low dose to start with and then increase it over a few days.

Once you find a dose that suits you, it will usually then stay the same.

If you forget to take it

If you forget a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If it’s within 2 hours of your next dose, skip the missed dose and take your next dose at the usual time.

Never take 2 doses at the same time. Never take an extra dose to make up for a forgotten one.

If you have epilepsy, it’s important to take this medicine regularly. Missing doses may trigger a seizure.

If you often forget doses, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to help you remember to take your medicine.

If you take too much

Taking too much pregabalin may cause unpleasant side effects.