EMEND (APREPITANT)

Emend Information

Emend is a popular medicine that is also generically known under the name of Aprepitant. This drug is known to block the actions of some harmful chemicals that are found in the patient’s organism and that usually trigger vomiting and nausea. Therefore, this medicine is widely used to prevent vomiting and nausea (these might be caused by cancer chemotherapy or surgery). This drug is unable to treat vomiting and nausea (it can only prevent them).

Emend Indications

Emend is a medicine that is usually prescribed to patients who are suffering from severe nausea and vomiting. However, this medicine might also be used to treat or to prevent some other medical disorders that have not been listed here.

Emend Warnings

Before you start taking Aprepitant, you must alert your doctor if you are suffering from liver disease. In this case, you may not be allowed to start taking this drug, or you might have to take in a lower dose of Emend. This drug is known to sometimes decrease the effectiveness of several birth-control pills, thus enabling the patient to become pregnant. During your treatment with this drug, you should use a non-hormonal birth control method (for example a diaphragm, spermicides or condoms).
Emend is a category B FDA pregnancy drug. Therefore, even if it is taken during pregnancy, this medicine should not have harmful effects on a growing fetus. However, it is highly recommended that you consult with your personal physician before you start taking this medicine if you are pregnant or if you are planning to be pregnant soon. It is not known whether Emend’s main ingredients are able to pass into breast milk or not. You should consult with your doctor before you start a treatment with this medicine if you are currently breastfeeding your child.

Emend Intake Guidelines

You should take this drug according to your personal doctor’s instructions. If you fail to understand some of them, you should ask a pharmacist, a doctor or a nurse for further explanations. You should carefully read the information in the medicine’s label for further instructions and advice. You must accompany each dose of Emend with a glass of water (8 ounces of liquid). The first dose of Aprepitant should be taken 3 hours before a major surgery or 1 hour before a chemotherapy treatment. Sometimes this drug is combined with some other medicines, in order to increase its effectiveness. Emend should be kept out of the children’s reach, away from heat, direct sunlight and moisture.

Emend Dosage

You should ask your doctor to tell you the dose of Emend that should work best for you. This drug’s dosage is known to vary from one case to another, because it depends on a variety of factors such as age, general health condition, etc. You must not make any adjustments to the dose that you have been prescribed without asking your physician first.

Emend Overdose

If you suspect that you are suffering from overdose with Emend, you are in need of medical care. Overdose symptoms with this medicine usually include headache and drowsiness.

Emend Missed Dose

If you happen to miss one of your Emend doses, take it as soon as you remember. If it is time for another Aprepitant dose, you should skip the one that you have missed and proceed with your regular treatment. Do not take a double dose of this medicine without your physician’s approval.

Emend side effects

You should seek emergency medical help if you are experiencing any of these symptoms of an allergic reaction: difficulty breathing; hives; swelling of your face, tongue, lips, or throat. Alert your physician if you have any of these severe side effects:

slow heart rate;
light-headedness, fainting;
pale skin, easy bleeding or bruising;
burning or pain when you urinate.

Some other, less severe side effects are also more common; these include:

tiredness or weakness;
nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, heartburn;
diarrhea or constipation;
hiccups;
loss of appetite;
dizziness;
headache;
increased thirst or dry, hot skin;
ringing in your ears;
fever, chills, flu-like symptoms, body aches;
Insomnia.

Other side effects might also be triggered by a prolonged treatment with Emend. You should alert your physician if you experience anything unusual during your treatment with it.

Emend Drug Reactions

Before you start taking Emend, you should tell your personal doctor if you are also taking any of the following medicines:

certain cancer drugs such as irinotecan (Camptosar), etoposide (VePesid), imatinib (Gleevec), ifosfamide (Ifex), vinblastine (Velban), vinorelbine (Navelbine), or vincristine (Oncovin, Vincasar);
tolbutamide (Orinase);
blood thinners like warfarin (Coumadin);
phenytoin (Dilantin);
steroid drugs such as methylprednisolone (Medapred, Solu-Medrol) , or dexamethasone (Decadron, Hexadrol);
midazolam (Versed) or other similar drugs like Tranxene, Valium, Xanax, etc;
antibiotics for example clarithromycin (Biaxin), ketoconazole (Nizoral), itraconazole (Sporanox), troleandomycin (Tao), rifampin (Rifater, Rifamate), etc;
HIV drugs such as lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), nelfinavir (Viracept), atazanavir (Reyataz), ritonavir (Norvir), or nelfnavir (Viracept);
seizure drugs such as phenytoin (Dilantin) or carbamazepine (Tegretol, Carbatrol);
antidepressants such as paroxetine (Paxil) or nefazodone (Serzone);
diltiazem (Cardizem, Tiazac, Cartia).

You should ask for your doctor’s consent before taking any other medicines, even if they are simple over-the-counter drugs like vitamins, minerals, herbal products, cold or cough medicines, etc.