Selegiline (Systemic)

Brand Names : Carbex, Eldepryl, Apo-Selegiline, Gen-Selegiline, Novo-Selegiline, Nu-Selegiline, SD Deprenyl, Selegiline-5, deprenil, deprenyl

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 selegiline, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to selegiline. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - Selegiline has not been studied in pregnant women. However, this medicine has not been shown to cause birth defects or other problems in animal studies.

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether selegiline passes into the breast milk.

Children - Studies on this medicine have been done only in adult patients and there is no specific information about its use in children. Therefore, be sure to discuss with your doctor the use of this medicine in children.

Older adults - In studies done to date that included elderly people, selegiline did not cause different side effects or problems in older people than it did in younger adults.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases 2 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 taking selegiline, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Antidepressants, tricyclic (amitriptyline [e.g., Elavil], amoxapine [e.g., Asendin], clomipramine [e.g., Anafranil], desipramine [e.g., Norpramin], doxepin [e.g., Sinequan], imipramine [e.g., Tofranil], nortriptyline [e.g., Pamelor], protriptyline [e.g., Vivactil], trimipramine [e.g., Surmontil]) or
• Fluoxetine (e.g., Prozac) or
• Fluvoxamine (e.g., Luvox) or
• Meperidine (e.g., Demerol) or
• Nefazodone (e.g., Serzone) or
• Paroxetine (e.g., Paxil) or
• Sertraline (e.g., Zoloft) or
• Venlafaxine (e.g., Effexor) - Using these medicines together may increase the chance of serious side effects

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

• Stomach ulcer (history of) - Selegiline may make the condition worse