Furazolidone (Oral)

Brand Names : Furoxone, Furoxone Liquid

Precautions While Using This Medicine

It is important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits. This is to check whether or not the infection is cleared up completely.

If your symptoms do not improve within a week, or if they become worse, check with your doctor.

Drinking alcoholic beverages or taking other alcohol-containing preparations (for example, elixirs, cough syrups, tonics, or injections of alcohol) while taking furazolidone may rarely cause problems. These problems include increased side effects such as redness of the face, difficult breathing, fainting, and a feeling of tightness in the chest. These side effects usually go away within 24 hours without treatment. However, these effects may occur if you drink alcoholic beverages for up to 4 days after you stop taking furazolidone. Therefore, you should not drink alcoholic beverages or take other alcohol-containing preparations while you are taking furazolidone and for 4 days after stopping it .

Certain foods, drinks, or other medicines may cause very dangerous reactions, such as severe high blood pressure, when taken with furazolidone. Aged or fermented foods and drinks commonly contain tyramine or other substances that increase blood pressure. To avoid such reactions, the following measures are recommended:

• Do not eat foods that have a high tyramine content (most common in foods that are aged or fermented to increase their flavor), such as cheeses; yeast or meat extracts; fava or broad bean pods; smoked or pickled meat, poultry, or fish; fermented sausage (bologna, pepperoni, salami, summer sausage) or other fermented meat; or any overripe fruit. If a list of these foods is not given to you, ask your health care professional to provide one .
• Do not drink alcoholic beverages or alcohol-free or reduced-alcohol beer and wine .
• Do not eat or drink large amounts of caffeine-containing food or beverages such as chocolate, coffee, tea, or cola.
• Do not take any other medicines unless approved or prescribed by your doctor . This includes nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) appetite suppressants (diet pills) or medicine for colds, sinus problems, or hay fever or other allergies.
• Do not take any of the above-listed foods, drinks, or medicine for at least 2 weeks after you stop taking furazolidone . They may continue to react with this medicine during that time.
• Other foods may also contain tyramine or other substances that increase blood pressure. However, these products generally do not cause serious problems when taken with furazolidone, especially if eaten when fresh and in small amounts. These include yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, chocolate, and soy sauce. If you have any questions about this, ask your health care professional. Also ask for a list of foods, beverages, or medicines that may cause serious problems when taken with furazolidone.