What is Furazolidone?
Furazolidone is an antibacterial agent and inhibitor of monoamine oxidase in nitrofuran. It is sold as Dependal-M by Roberts Laboratories under the Furoxone brand name and by GlaxoSmithKline.
Furazolidone Uses
It operates by destroying protozoa and bacteria (tiny, one-celled animals). Some protozoa are parasites that can cause infections in the body of several different kinds.
Furazolidone is given orally. It works to treat cholera, colitis, and/or bacteria-induced diarrhea, and giardiasis within the intestinal tract. Often this drug is given with other bacterial infection drugs.
When taken with certain foods, drinks, or other medicines, furazolidone can cause some serious side effects. For a list of items that should be avoided, consult with your health care provider.
Furazolidone is only available with a prescription from your doctor.
How to take
Take this medicine by mouth, normally four times a day, as directed. If a disturbed stomach happens, this drug may be taken with food. Take each dose at uniformly spaced intervals around the clock for the best performance. This will ensure that your blood has a steady dosage level. Taking this drug for the maximum prescribed period of time. Stopping therapy too early can lead to reinfection.
Furazolidone oral suspension
The antibiotic used to treat infectious diarrhea is FURAZOLIDONE (Furoxone®). Generic suspensions of furazolidone are available.
Take oral furazolidone suspension through the mouth. Before using it, shake well. Measure the oral suspension by using a specially labeled spoon or jar. If you do not have one, ask your pharmacist; household spoons are not always accurate. On the drug bottle, follow the instructions. It is possible to take furazolidone with or without food. Do not take this drug with food containing tyramine (see below). At daily intervals, take your doses. Do not take your medicine more often than needed. And if you think your condition is improved, complete the full course recommended by your prescriber or health care provider. Do not quit taking it unless told by your prescriber.
Furazolidone Side Effects
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Muscle weakness
- Mental/mood changes
- Drowsiness
- Sweating
- Shaking
- Fast heartbeat
- Hunger
- Dizziness
- Tingling hands/feet)
- Headache
- Neck stiffness
- Slow/irregular heartbeat
- Skin rash
- Blister
- Itching
- Swelling ( face/tongue/throat)
- Persistent sore throat
- Fever
- Chest pain
- Breathing issues
Precautions
Tell your doctor your medical history before using this medicine, especially: blood disorders (deficiency of G6PD), allergies (especially drug allergies). Stop alcohol consumption during recovery and for 4 days after this drug is administered. There may be a reaction that induces flushing, fever, tightness of the chest, and trouble breathing. If this drug makes you feel dizzy, use caution in performing tasks that require alertness. This medication should not be given to children less than one month of age. Only when specifically needed during pregnancy should this drug be used. Discuss with your doctor the risks and advantages. Whether this drug occurs in breast milk is not understood. Before breastfeeding, consult the doctor.
Drug Interactions
Apraclonidine, brimonidine, bethanidine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, dextromethorphan, entacapone, herbal products (e.g., ma huang), indoramin, meperidine, papaverine, sibutramine, SSRI antidepressants (e.g., fluoxetine, citalopram), sympathomimetics (e.g., methyl phosphate) should not be used with the following medications because very serious interactions may occur (e.g., sumatriptan, zolmitriptan). Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are already using either of these drugs before you begin taking furazolidone.
Tell the doctor about the other medications you use before taking this drug (both prescription and nonprescription), including levodopa, insulin, and oral diabetes medicines, other MAO inhibitors (e.g., linezolid, moclobemide, phenelzine, tranylcypromine), sedatives, sleeping pills, blood pressure medicines.
Consult a doctor on the need to monitor the consumption of tyramine-containing foods. When using this drug, eating tyramine-containing foods can cause headaches and/or elevated blood pressure and may lead to a medical emergency. It is best to follow tyramine food precautions for at least 2 weeks after you quit using this drug.
Warnings
Pregnancy use: The use of Furoxone (furazolidone) during childbearing age has not been established, furazolidone must be administered carefully during pregnancy, as with any potent antibacterial. However, animal breeding experiments have shown no results of teratogenicity after long-term administration of Furoxone (furazolidone) and at doses well above those recommended for human administration. No clinical reports have been produced about this potential adverse effect on the fetus or the newborn child.
- Alcohol consumption should be avoided during or within four days after Furoxone (furazolidone) therapy to prevent an Antabus® (disulfiram)-like the reaction that may occur in some patients.
- In general, M.O. Medications, tyramine- containing and indirectly containing foods- acting sympathomimetic amines contraindicated or should be used with caution in furoxone patients (see precautions).
- Infants do not obtain furoxone for less than 1 month (see- adverse reactions and dosage for children). furoxone (furazolidone) concentration in the breast milk of lactating women has not been determined, the protection has not been identified in this situati
- A contraindication is previous exposure to Furoxone (furazolidone).
Adminstration and Dosage
- TABLETS FUROX-ONE, 100 mg each, are green and scored to encourage dose adjustment
- Normal Adult Dosage: One tablet of 100 mg four times a day.
- Average Dose for Children: 25 to 50 mg (1⁄4 to 1⁄2 tablets) should be given four times daily to those 5 years of age or older. The dosage of the tablet may be crushed and administered in a spoonful of corn syrup
- Furoxone (furazolidone) LIQUID composition: every 15 ml tablespoonful of Furoxone (furazolidone) in a light-yellow aqueous vehicle contains 50 mg per 15 ml (3. 33 mg per ml). Complete the mixture with appropriate flavoring, suspending, and preservative agents. (See Inactive Ingredients.) In storage, it is stable. Shake the liquid bottle vigorously before administering Furoxone (furazolidone). In amber bottles, it should be dispensed.
- Normal adult dosage: four times a day, two teaspoons.
- Average Infant Dosing:
- 5 years of age or older ⁇ 1⁄2 to 1 tablespoonful 4 times a day (7.515. 0 ml)
- 1 to 4 years of age, 1 to 11⁄2 teaspoons four times a day (5.07.5 ml)
- This dosage is based on an average dose of 5 mg per kg (2.3 mg per lb) of body weight of furoxone (furazolidone) administered at four equivalent doses over 24 hours. Due to the risk of causing nausea or emesis, the maximum dosage of 8.8 mg of Furoxone (furazolidone) per Kg (4 mg per lb) of body weight per 24 hours should probably not be exceeded. If these are serious, it is important to reduce the dose.
- The typical case of Furoxone-treated diarrhea (furazolidone) will respond within 2 to 5 days of treatment. A longer therapy term may be needed for occasional patients. In the absence of a sufficient clinical response within 7 days, the pathogen is indicated to be refractory to Furoxone (furazolidone) and the medication should be discontinued. Adjunctive therapy is not contraindicated with other antibacterial agents or bismuth salts.
Important information
If your symptoms don't start to change after a few days or get worse, notify your prescriber or health care provider.
Since furazolidone can interact with many over-the-counter medications, before taking any non-prescription medicines while on this antibiotic, you must consult with your prescriber. You should not care for coughs, colds, or allergies. Do not take any weight loss medicine. Possible side effects can be enhanced by certain ingredients in these products.
Furazolidone can interact with certain tyramine-containing foods to cause serious headaches, an increase in blood pressure, or an irregular heartbeat. Foods containing substantial amounts of tyramine include aged cheeses; meat and fish (especially aged, charred, pickled, or processed); beer and ale; alcohol-free beer; wine (especially red); sherry; hard liquor; liqueurs; avocados; bananas; figs; raisins; soy sauce; miso soup; yeast/protein extracts; bean curd; meat and fish (especially aged, smoked, pickled or processed), fava or large pods of beans; or any fruit that is over-ripe. Ask for a full list of tyramine-containing foods from your prescriber or health care professional, pharmacist, or nutritionist. Also, avoid caffeine-containing beverages, including tea, coffee, chocolate, or cola. During the course of treatment, these dietary guidelines should be enforced and should be maintained for 4 days after discontinuing therapy.
Alcohol should be avoided during and for up to 4 days after the administration of furazolidone. There may be a severe syndrome (flushing, low blood pressure, moderate elevation in temperature, trouble breathing, chest pain, or discomfort).
If you are expected to undergo some surgery, operation or medical tests (including myelography), alert your healthcare provider; tell your prescriber or health care professional that you have been taking furazolidone.
Overdose
If overdosed, this drug can be harmful. When someone has taken an overdose some extreme signs such as passing out or respiratory problems can occur.
Note
- Do not share the drug with anyone.
- In order to monitor the progress or check for side effects, laboratory and/or medical tests (such as a lung/breathing test, blood pressure) should be conducted regularly. For more info, contact your doctor.
Missing Dose
If you are using this product on a daily basis and forget a dose, take it as soon as you recall it. If it is near the next dose, don’t take the skipped dose. Using the next dose on a regular basis. Do Not double the dose to recover the missed or forgotten dose.
Storage
Store this medication at room temperature only and try to keep away from moisture, heat, and light. Do not freeze it. Do not store it in the bathroom or washroom.
Do not flush the drug in the sink or dump it into the sink unless told to do. Disposal of this product is necessarily important when it has expired or is no longer required to you. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more information and guidance about how to safely dispose of your product.
Furazolidone Vs Loperamide
Furazolidone |
Loperamide |
|---|---|
| Formula: C8H7N3O5 | Formula: C29H33ClN2O2 |
| Molar mass: 225.158 g/mol | Molecular Weight 477 g/mol |
| Brand name Furoxone | Brand name Imodium |
| Used to treat infectious diarrhea caused by bacteria | Used to decrease the frequency of diarrhea |
