Etretinate (Systemic)

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For etretinate, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to etretinate, isotretinoin, tretinoin, or vitamin A-like preparations. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - Etretinate must not be taken during pregnancy, because it causes birth defects in humans. In addition, since it is not known how long pregnancy should be avoided after treatment stops, you must plan on never having children if you are treated with etretinate . If you are able to bear children, you must have a pregnancy test within 2 weeks before beginning treatment with etretinate to make sure you are not pregnant. Therapy with etretinate will then be started on the second or third day of your next normal menstrual period. Also, etretinate must not be taken unless an effective form of contraception (birth control) is used for at least 1 month before beginning treatment. Contraception must be continued during treatment and for as long as you are able to become pregnant after etretinate is stopped. Be sure you have discussed this information with your doctor .

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether etretinate passes into the breast milk. However, etretinate is not recommended during breast-feeding or if you plan to breast-feed in the future, because it may cause unwanted effects in nursing babies.

Children - It is recommended that etretinate not be used to treat children, unless all other forms of treatment have been tried first and have failed. Etretinate may interfere with bone growth. In addition, children may be more sensitive to the side effects of the medicine.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing use of etretinate in the elderly with use in other age groups.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are using etretinate, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are using any of the following:

• Abrasive or medicated soaps or cleansers or
• Cosmetics or soaps that dry the skin or
• Medicated cosmetics or �cover-ups� or
• Topical acne preparation or preparation containing a peeling agent, such as benzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, salicylic acid, sulfur, or tretinoin (vitamin A acid), or
• Topical alcohol-containing preparation, such as after-shave lotion, astringent, cologne, perfume, or shaving cream or lotion, or
• Topical medicine for the skin, other - Use of etretinate with these products will increase the chance of dryness and other irritation of the skin

• Isotretinoin (e.g., Accutane) or
• Methotrexate (e.g., Mexate) or
• Tretinoin (vitamin A acid) (e.g., Retin-A) or
• Vitamin A or any preparation containing vitamin A (e.g., Alphalin) - Use of etretinate with these products will cause an increase in side effects

• Tetracyclines (medicine for infection) - Use of etretinate may increase the chance of the side effect called pseudotumor cerebri, which is a swelling of the brain

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of etretinate. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Alcoholism or excess use of alcohol (or history of) or
• Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) (or a family history of) or
• Heart or blood vessel disease (or history of increased risk of or family history of) or
• High triglyceride (a fat-like substance) levels in the blood (history of or a family history of) or
• Severe weight problems - Use of etretinate may increase blood levels of triglyceride (a fat-like substance), which may increase the chance of heart or blood vessel problems in patients who have a family history of high triglycerides, are greatly overweight, are diabetic, or use a lot of alcohol. For persons with diabetes mellitus, use of etretinate may also change blood sugar levels

• Liver disease (or history of or family history of) - Use of etretinate may make the condition worse