The name of your medicine is Chemmart Lercanidipine. It contains the active ingredient, lercanidipine (as lercanidipine hydrochloride).
Lercanidipine belongs to a group of medicines called dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers.
Lercanidipine helps lowers high blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension.
This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.
There is no evidence that this medicine is addictive.
This medicine works by relaxing some of the blood vessels in the body and reducing resistance to the flow of blood through the blood vessels.
Everyone has blood pressure. This pressure helps get your blood all around your body. Your blood pressure may be different at different times of the day, depending on how busy or worried you are. If your blood pressure stays higher than is needed, even when you are calm and relaxed, you have hypertension (high blood pressure).
There are usually no symptoms of hypertension. The only way of knowing that you have hypertension is to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis. If high blood pressure is not treated it can lead to serious health problems. You may feel fine and have no symptoms, but hypertension can cause stroke, heart disease and kidney failure.
This medicine should not be used in children.
Do not take this medicine if:
Symptoms of an allergic reaction may include shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing; swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or other parts of the body, itching or hives on the skin.
If you think you are having an allergic reaction, contact your doctor immediately or go to the Accident and Emergency department at the nearest hospital.
Before you start taking this medicine, tell your doctor if:
1. You have allergies to:
2. You have or have had any medical conditions, especially the following:
3. You are taking other drugs for high blood pressure, such as beta-blockers, diuretics, ACE-inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists.
4. You are currently pregnant or breastfeeding or you plan to become pregnant or breast-feed.
5. You are planning to have surgery.
6. You are currently receiving or are planning to receive dental treatment.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop.
Some medicines may interfere with the way lercanidipine works, or may be affected by lercanidipine. You may need different amounts of your medicine, or you may need to take different medicines. Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you what to do if you are taking of these medicines.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist what to do if you are taking, or are about to take the following medicines:
If you have not told your doctor about any of the medicines listed above, tell them before you start taking lercanidipine.
Other medicines not listed above may also interact with this medicine.
Follow carefully all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist. Their instructions may be different to the information in this leaflet.
Your doctor or pharmacist will tell you how much of this medicine you should take. This will depend on your condition and whether you are taking any other medicines.
The usual dose is one 10 mg tablet taken once daily, but may be increased to 20 mg once daily.
Do not stop taking your medicine or change your dosage without first checking with your doctor.
If you do not understand the instructions on the box, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.
Swallow the tablet whole with a glass of water.
Take this medicine at about the same time each day, at least 15 minutes before a meal.
This medicine will have the best effect if it is taken at the same time each day. This will also help you remember when to take the tablets.
Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you.
This medicine helps control your condition but does not cure it therefore you must not stop taking it unless your doctor tells you to.
Make sure you have enough to last over weekends and holidays.
If you forget to take a dose but remember within 12 hours from when the dose was due, take it straight away, then continue as normal the next day. Otherwise skip that day's dose and take the next day's dose when it is due.
If you are not sure what to do, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Do not take a double dose to make up for missed doses. This may increase the chance of unwanted side effects.
If you have trouble remembering to take your tablets, ask your pharmacist for some hints to help you remember.
If you have missed several doses, consult your doctor.
If you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much of this medicine, immediately telephone your doctor or the Poisons Information Centre (Tel: 13 11 26 in Australia) for advice. Alternatively go to the Accident and Emergency Department at your nearest hospital,
Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. Keep telephone numbers of these places/services handy.
If you take too much of this medicine, it may cause your blood pressure to become too low and you may feel your heart beat becomes irregular and faster. It may also lead to unconsciousness.
Use this medicine exactly as your doctor has prescribed.
If you do not follow your doctor's instructions correctly, your blood pressure may not be well controlled.
Tell your doctor that you are taking this medicine if:
Your doctor may occasionally do tests to make sure the medicine is working and to prevent side effects. Be sure to keep all of your doctor's appointments so that your progress can be checked.
Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who are treating you that you take this medicine.
Do not:
Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how this medicine affects you.
This medicine generally does not affect your ability to drive a car or operate machinery. However, as with other medicines used to treat high blood pressure, some people may feel dizzy, light-headed or faint, especially when first taking this medicine or changing your dose.
Your doctor may also ask you to limit or stop your alcohol intake while taking medicines used to control your blood pressure as alcohol may increase these effects.
If you feel light-headed, dizzy or faint when getting out of bed or standing up, get up slowly.
Grapefruit juice can increase the effects of some medicines including lercanidipine. If you are taking lercanidipine speak to your doctor or pharmacist before drinking grapefruit juice or changing your intake of grapefruit juice. As with some medicines, used to treat high blood pressure (such as lercanidipine), you should avoid drinking grapefruit juice as grapefruit juice may increase the effects of these medicines.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking lercanidipine or if you have any questions or concerns.
Do not be alarmed by the following lists of side effects. You may not experience any of them. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious but most of the time they are not.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you.
This list includes the more common side effects. Mostly, these are mild:
If you experience any of the following, stop taking your medicine and contact your doctor immediately or go to the Accident and Emergency department at your nearest hospital.
These are very serious side effects and are usually rare. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation:
Other side effects not listed above may occur in some patients.
If you think you are having an allergic reaction to lercanidipine, tell your doctor immediately or go to the Accident and Emergency department at your nearest hospital.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction may include some or all of the following:
Keep your medicine in the original packaging until it is time to take them. If you take your medicine out of the original packaging, it may not keep well.
Keep your medicine in a cool dry place where the temperature will stay below 30°C.
Do not store your medicine, or any other medicine, in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a window sill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines.
Keep this medicine where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.
If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine or they have passed their expiry date, your pharmacist can dispose of the remaining medicine safely.
Chemmart Lercanidipine is available in 10 mg or 20 mg tablets.
10 mg Tablets:
Yellow coloured, film coated, round shaped, biconvex tablets, engraved 'APO' on one side and score line on the other side.
20 mg Tablets:
Pink coloured, film coated, round shaped, biconvex tablets, engraved 'APO' on one side and score line on the other side.
Chemmart Lercanidipine comes in blister packs of 14*, 28 and 30* tablets.
* not available.
Each tablet contains 10 mg or 20 mg of lercanidipine (as lercanidipine hydrochloride) as the active ingredient.
It also contains the following inactive ingredients:
This medicine is gluten-free, sucrose-free, tartrazine-free and free of other azo dyes.
Chemmart Lercanidipine 10 mg tablets (blister pack):
AUST R 163763.
Chemmart Lercanidipine 20 mg tablets (blister pack):
AUST R 163764.