{"id":13750,"date":"2021-09-20T08:22:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T08:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/?p=13750"},"modified":"2021-11-02T10:11:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T10:11:50","slug":"heracillin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/medicines\/heracillin\/","title":{"rendered":"Heracillin &#8211; Flucloxacillin uses, dose and side effects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>125 mg, 500 mg, and 1 g&nbsp;film-coated tablets<br>flucloxacillin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. What Heracillin is and what it is used for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The active substance in Heracillin, flucloxacillin, is penicillin&nbsp;(antibacterial drug), which prevents the bacterium from building a normal cell wall.&nbsp;Without a functioning cell wall, the bacterium dies quickly.&nbsp;Heracillin differs from regular penicillin in that it is stable against an&nbsp;enzyme&nbsp;(&nbsp;beta-lactamase&nbsp;), which has the ability to break down regular&nbsp;penicillin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heracillin is used in&nbsp;infections&nbsp;of the skin and soft tissues and&nbsp;infections&nbsp;of the joints, bones, and lungs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flucloxacillin contained in Heracillin may also be approved for the treatment of other conditions not mentioned in this product information.&nbsp;Ask your doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional if you have any further questions, and always follow their instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. What you need to know before you use Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do not use Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If you \/ your child are allergic to&nbsp;penicillin&nbsp;or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Warnings and cautions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before using Heracillin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If you \/ your child are hypersensitive to&nbsp;cephalosporins&nbsp;(another group of&nbsp;antibacterial&nbsp;drugs), consult your doctor before using Heracillin.<\/li><li>There is a risk of diarrhea and colon infection.&nbsp;If you have problems with diarrhea, you should therefore consult a doctor.<\/li><li>There is a risk of liver damage, it is rare but probably increases with older age and with longer treatment.<\/li><li>If you are taking or will be taking&nbsp;paracetamol&nbsp;.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The use of flucloxacillin, especially in high&nbsp;doses, may lower blood potassium levels (&nbsp;hypokalaemia&nbsp;).&nbsp;Your doctor may want to measure your potassium levels regularly during treatment with higher&nbsp;doses&nbsp;of flucloxacillin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With concomitant use of flucloxacillin and&nbsp;paracetamol, there is a risk of blood and fluid disturbances (metabolic&nbsp;acidosis&nbsp;due to high anion gap, so-called HAGMA), which occurs when the acidity in&nbsp;plasma&nbsp;increases, especially in certain patient groups who have an increased risk, e.g.&nbsp;patients with severe renal impairment, sepsis or malnutrition and especially when using maximum daily doses of&nbsp;paracetamol.&nbsp;HAGMA is a serious condition that requires urgent treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other drugs and Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you \/ your child have recently taken or might take any other medicines.&nbsp;The effects of certain medicines can affect or be affected by the treatment with Heracillin, for example, some medicines for&nbsp;tumors&nbsp;and disorders of the immune system (methotrexate), for gout (probenecid), and some blood thinners (&nbsp;warfarin&nbsp;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Heracillin with food and drink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Heracillin has the best effect if the medicine is taken between meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pregnancy and breastfeeding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, think you may be pregnant, or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No known risks when used during pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flucloxacillin passes into breast milk but is unlikely to affect breastfed infants.&nbsp;However, consult a physician if more than occasional use of Heracillin during breastfeeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Driving and using machines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Heracillin has no or negligible effect on the ability to drive and use machines.&nbsp;If you get dizzy, do not drive or use machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are responsible for assessing whether you are fit to drive a motor vehicle or perform work that requires sharpened attention.&nbsp;One of the factors that can affect your ability in these respects is the use of drugs due to their effects and\/or&nbsp;side effects.&nbsp;Descriptions of these effects and&nbsp;side effects&nbsp;can be found in other sections.&nbsp;Read all the information in this leaflet for guidance.&nbsp;If you are not sure, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Heracillin contains sodium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 125 mg tablet contains less than 1 mmol (23 mg)&nbsp;sodium, ie it is essentially &#8216;sodium-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 500 mg tablet contains 29 mg of&nbsp;sodium, (the main ingredient in table salt\/table salt).&nbsp;This corresponds to 1.5% of the highest recommended daily intake of&nbsp;sodium&nbsp;for adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1 g tablet contains 58 mg&nbsp;sodium.&nbsp;This corresponds to 3% of the maximum recommended daily intake of&nbsp;sodium&nbsp;for adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This should be considered by patients on a low-salt diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. How to use Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Always take this medicine exactly as your doctor has told you.&nbsp;Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your doctor will decide on a&nbsp;dose&nbsp;that suits you \/ your child.&nbsp;Even if you \/ your child feels better already after a few days, it is important that the entire treatment is completed according to the&nbsp;prescription.&nbsp;Otherwise, some bacteria may survive for a while, grow and cause a new outbreak of&nbsp;infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take flucloxacillin tablets at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reduce the risk of esophageal pain, swallow the tablets with a full glass of water (250 ml).&nbsp;Do not lie down immediately after taking the tablets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you take more Heracillin than you should<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you \/ your child has ingested too much medicine or if, for example, a child has ingested the medicine by mistake, contact a doctor, hospital, or the Poison Information Center for risk assessment and advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you forget to take Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you forget to take a&nbsp;dose&nbsp;, take it as soon as possible.&nbsp;Then continue as before.&nbsp;Do not take a double&nbsp;dose&nbsp;to make up for a forgotten tablet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have any further questions on the use of this product, ask your doctor or pharmacist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Possible side effects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Like all medicines, this medicine can cause&nbsp;side effects,&nbsp;although not everybody gets them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contact a doctor immediately if any of the following serious&nbsp;side effects&nbsp;occur:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heracillin can in rare cases affect the white&nbsp;blood cells&nbsp;so that the defense of infection deteriorates.&nbsp;If you get an&nbsp;infection&nbsp;with symptoms such as fever with severe general deterioration or fever with local infection symptoms such as sore throat\/throat\/mouth or problems urinating, you should see a doctor as soon as possible so that blood tests can rule out a lack of&nbsp;white blood cells&nbsp;(&nbsp;agranulocytos&nbsp;).&nbsp;It is important that you then inform about your medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heracillin may in rare cases give rise to a severe&nbsp;acute&nbsp;allergic reaction&nbsp;(&nbsp;anaphylactic reaction&nbsp;).&nbsp;Such a reaction can be life-threatening.&nbsp;If one or more of the following symptoms occur, contact a doctor or emergency room immediately.&nbsp;The symptoms of such a reaction may be reddening of the skin, itchy hives (&nbsp;urticaria&nbsp;), shortness of breath and dizziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell your doctor immediately if you have prolonged or severe diarrhea.&nbsp;This may be a sign of colon inflammation caused by the&nbsp;<em>Clostridium difficile<\/em>&nbsp;bacterium and may require treatment.&nbsp;This side effect is rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Serious skin side effects have been reported (occurring in an unknown number of users).&nbsp;Red scaly rash with bumps under the skin and blisters (exanthematous&nbsp;pustulosis&nbsp;).&nbsp;Contact a doctor immediately if you get any of these symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other side effects:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Common (may affect up to 1 in 10 people):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Stomach upset, mainly nausea or diarrhea<\/li><li>Rash<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 100 people):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hives<\/li><li>Hematopoiesis (&nbsp;eosinophilia&nbsp;)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rare (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Liver effects<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Very rare (may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Itching<\/li><li>Blood and fluid disturbances (metabolic&nbsp;acidosis&nbsp;due to high anion gap), which occurs when the acidity of blood plasma increases, with concomitant use of flucloxacillin and&nbsp;paracetamol&nbsp;, usually in patients with risk factors (see section 2).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Has been reported (occurs in unknown number of users):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Low potassium levels in the blood (&nbsp;hypokalaemia&nbsp;) that can cause muscle weakness, twitching or abnormal heart rhythm.&nbsp;Dizziness, abdominal pain, vomiting.&nbsp;Pain in the esophagus and other related symptoms, such as difficulty swallowing, heartburn, throat irritation and chest pain.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Itching&nbsp;in the abdomen can be caused by fungal overgrowth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White coating in the mouth mainly on the tongue can also be caused by fungal infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a risk of liver damage, it is rare but probably increases with older age and longer treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Reporting of side effects<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse.&nbsp;This also applies to any side effects not mentioned in this information.&nbsp;You can also report side effects directly to the Medical Products Agency.&nbsp;By reporting side effects, you can help increase drug safety information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. How to store Heracillin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>1 g tablet: Do not store above 30 \u00b0 C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep this medicine out of the sight and reach of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not use this medicine after the expiry date which is stated on the carton or label after EXP or EXP.&nbsp;The expiration date is the last day of the specified month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tablets in pressure packing (single dose) have a shelf life limited to 6 months after the outer aluminum bag has been opened.&nbsp;After &#8220;OPENING DATE&#8221;, the date of opening is written, both on the aluminum bag and on the cartons that enclose the printing packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste.&nbsp;Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines no longer required.&nbsp;These measures will help to protect the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Contents of the packaging and other information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content declaration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The active substance is flucloxacillin.&nbsp;One tablet contains flucloxacillin sodium monohydrate equivalent to flucloxacillin 125 mg, 500 mg and 1 g respectively.<\/li><li>The other ingredients are: Magnesium stearate, povidone, croscarmellose sodium, microcrystalline cellulose.&nbsp;Film coating: dye (titanium dioxide E 171), macrogol, paraffin, hypromellose.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the medicine looks like and contents of the pack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>125 mg: White, oblong tablet, 5.2 x 10 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>500 mg: White, oblong tablet, with a score line on one side, 8 x 17 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1 g: White, elliptical, tablet with a score line and marked<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>with<\/td><td><em>A<\/em><\/td><td>on one side, 9.6 x 21 mm.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><em>HAVE<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 500 mg and 1 g tablets can be divided into two equal parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pack sizes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>125 mg: 30 tablets in a plastic jar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>500 mg: 30, 50 and 100 tablets in a plastic jar and 98 (2 x 49) x 1 tablets in a pressure pack (single dose).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1 g: 21, 30, 50 and 75 tablets in a plastic jar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not all pack sizes may be marketed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Marketing Authorisation Holder:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Meda AB<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Box 906<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>170 09 Solna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Phone 08-630 19 00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The active substance in Heracillin, flucloxacillin, is penicillin (antibacterial drug), which prevents the bacterium from building a normal cell wall. Without a functioning cell wall, the bacterium dies quickly. Heracillin differs from regular penicillin in that it is stable against an enzyme ( beta-lactamase ), which has the ability to break down regular penicillin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2200,2208],"tags":[13813,13818,2676,2679,13812,13814,13819,13817,13811,13816,13810,13815],"class_list":["post-13750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medicines","category-h","tag-benefits-of-flucloxacillin","tag-benefits-of-heracillin","tag-flucloxacillin","tag-flucloxacillin-side-effects","tag-flucloxacillin-tablet","tag-heracillin","tag-heracillin-side-effects","tag-heracillin-tablet","tag-what-flucloxacillin-is-used-for","tag-what-heracillin-is-used-for","tag-what-is-flucloxacillin","tag-what-is-heracillin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13750"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15293,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13750\/revisions\/15293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}