Patient Information Leaflet

What is in your medicine?

Your medicine is called Isocarboxazid, which is also the name of the active ingredient.

Each Isocarboxazid tablet contains 10mg of the active ingredient Isocarboxazid, together with some other ingredients. These are included to aid the manufacture of the tablets, to help them disperse in your stomach and to give the tablets their characteristic pink colour. These other ingredients are:

• Lactose
• Starch
• Purified talc
• Magnesium stearate
• Gelatin
• Yellow and red iron oxides, E172

Each bottle of Isocarboxazid contains 56 tablets.

Isocarboxazid is one of the group of medicines known as "monoamine oxidase inhibitors". These are drugs that block the action of a substance (monoamine oxidase, an enzyme) which is present in the brain and which plays an important part in controlling mood.

What are Isocarboxazid Tablets for?

Isocarboxazid tablets are for the treatment of the symptoms of depression.

Before taking your medicine

Make sure that it is safe for you to take Isocarboxazid tablets. If you answer YES to any of the following questions, or are not sure, tell your doctor or pharmacist:

• Have you ever had a stroke?
• Do you have any problem with your liver or kidneys?
• Do you have a heart disorder?
• Is there anything wrong with your blood or circulation?
• Are you a diabetic?
• Do you suffer from epilepsy?
• Do you have a tumour on your adrenal gland (a condition known as phaeochromocytoma)?
• Are you, or could you be, pregnant?
• Are you breast-feeding?
• Are you allergic to any of the ingredients in this medicine?

You should be aware that Isocarboxazid tablets could affect your ability to drive or operate machinery safely, by making you feel drowsy or dizzy or by blurring your vision.

You must avoid taking certain foods, drinks and medicines whilst you are being treated with Isocarboxazid tablets and for two weeks after the course of treatment is completed. Otherwise a severe reaction such as sudden high blood pressure may occur. The most important foods and drinks to avoid are:-

Mature cheeses (including processed cheeses), yeast or meat extracts (such as Marmite, Oxo and Bovril), broad bean pods, pickled herring, salami sausage, pepperoni sausage, bologna sausage, overripe fruit, alcoholic drinks (especially heavy red wines such as Chianti), non-alcoholic beers, lagers and wines and other foods which are not fresh, particularly if they have been fermented, pickled, smoked, 'hung', or 'matured'.

Do not take any home remedies (other than plain paracetamol or aspirin) without checking with the pharmacist that it is safe to do so whilst taking Isocarboxazid tablets. Many treatments for coughs and colds would be hazardous. The following prescribed medicines may also interact with Isocarboxazid and if you are being treated with any of them please check with your doctor or pharmacist that it is safe for you to continue taking them:-

• other medicines for depression (including other monoamine oxidase inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants)
• pethidine or morphine (strong painkillers)
• sedatives and tranquillisers
• amphetamines (occasionally used to treat narcolepsy, a condition where the patient cannot stay awake) and other stimulants
• medicines for the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure) including diuretics, methyldopa and reserpine
• ephedrine, phenylephrine and phenylpropanolamine
• medicines for Parkinson's disease (such as levodopa)
• anticholinergic drugs
• insulin and other drugs for diabetes

Taking your medicine

Your doctor or pharmacist will have told you about this, and you should always follow their instructions carefully. The usual dose is between one and three tablets per day, taken at different times or together.

Sometimes this medicine must be taken for several weeks before you begin to feel better. Your symptoms should improve within a month but if no improvement is obtained in this time your doctor may increase the dose. It is very important to persist with the treatment course recommended by your doctor to obtain the maximum benefit from this medicine.

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember provided that this is on the same day. You can take the full day's dose in one go, but do not take more than this on any one day.

 

If you swallow too many tablets or someone else accidentally takes your medicine, contact your doctor, pharmacist or nearest hospital straight away.

Isocarboxazid tablets are not recommended for use in children.

While taking your medicine

If you need any other medical treatment or surgery whilst taking Isocarboxazid tablets, remember to tell the doctor or dentist treating you that you are taking this medicine. You should also tell them if you have taken Isocarboxazid tablets within the previous two weeks.

Most patients do not have side-effects from taking Isocarboxazid tablets. However, they can cause dizziness or fainting, especially on first standing up from a sitting or lying position. It may help to stand up slowly. Drowsiness or blurred vision may occur, in which case you should not drive or operate any machinery. Dryness of the mouth, heart palpitations, swelling of the feet or ankles, stomach upsets (nausea and vomiting), constipation, weakness, fatigue or difficulty in sleeping are sometimes caused by taking Isocarboxazid tablets. Less common side effects are mild headaches, sweating, abnormal sensations, pain in the limbs, increased reflexes, feeling agitated or hyperactive, muscle tremors, confusion, difficulty in passing urine, obtaining an erection or ejaculating, skin rashes, disorders of blood cells causing purple spots under the skin or increased susceptibility to infection, changes in appetite and putting on weight. If any of these happen to you, check with your doctor to see if you should continue to take Isocarboxazid, perhaps at a lower dosage, or if your medicine should be changed.

You should obtain medical help immediately if you experience all or some of the symptoms of unusually high blood pressure: severe chest pain, severe headache, enlarged pupils with sensitivity to light, sweating, stiff or sore neck, nausea and vomiting, fast or slow heartbeat.

If you think you have any other side-effect from taking this medicine, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.

How to store your medicine

• Do not take the tablets after the expiry date on the label.
• Keep the container tightly closed.
• Keep the tablets below 25°C in their original container.
• Keep all medicines out of the reach of children - preferably in a locked cupboard or medicine cabinet.