{"id":5539,"date":"2020-12-21T15:27:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T15:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/?p=5539"},"modified":"2021-07-18T17:07:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-18T17:07:05","slug":"arava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeepedia.com\/medical\/medicines\/arava\/","title":{"rendered":"Arava – Leflunomide uses, dose and side effects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
1. What Arava is and what it is used for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Arava belongs to a group of medicines called anti-rheumatic medicines. Arava contains the active substance leflunomide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arava is used to treat adult patients with active rheumatoid arthritis or with active psoriatic arthritis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include inflammation of the joints, swelling, difficulty moving, and pain. Other symptoms that can affect the whole body include decreased appetite, fever, decreased energy, and anemia (lack of red blood cells ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis include inflammation of the joints, swelling, difficulty moving and pain, and red and scaly patches on the skin (skin damage). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. What you need to know before using Arava<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do not use Arava<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
if you have ever had an allergic<\/strong> reaction to leflunomide (especially a severe skin reaction, often accompanied by fever, joint pain, red spots on the skin, or blisters, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome) or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6 ), or if you are allergic to teriflunomide (used to treat multiple sclerosis ).<\/li>
if you have liver problems<\/strong>,<\/li>
if you have moderate to severe renal impairment<\/strong>,<\/li>
if you have a sharp drop in your blood protein (egg white) concentration<\/strong>(hypoproteinemia),<\/li>
if you suffer from any disease that weakens your immune system<\/strong> (ex AIDS),<\/li>
if you have impaired bone marrow function<\/strong> or if the number of red or white blood cells or the number of platelets is low,<\/li>
if you suffer from a serious infection<\/strong>,<\/li>
if you are pregnant<\/strong>, think you may be pregnant or breastfeeding.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Warnings and cautions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse before using Arava<\/p>\n\n\n\n
if you have ever had inflammation of the lungs<\/strong> (interstitial lung disease).<\/li>
if you have ever had tuberculosis<\/strong> or if you have been in close contact with someone who has or has had tuberculosis. Your doctor may take samples to see if you have tuberculosis.<\/li>
if you are a man<\/strong> and want to have children. As it cannot be ruled out that Arava passes into the semen, a reliable contraceptive should be used during treatment with Arava. Men who wish to have children should contact their doctor who may advise them to discontinue treatment with Arava and take certain medications to quickly remove Arava from the body. A blood test will confirm that Arava has been secreted enough. After that, you should wait at least another 3 months before trying to have children.<\/li>
if you are going to take a specific blood test (calcium level). Measurements can show falsely low calcium levels.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Arava can affect your blood, your liver, your lungs, or the nerves in your arms or legs. Arava can also cause severe allergic reactions (including drug reactions with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms [DRESS]), or increase the risk of developing serious infections. For further information, see section 4 (Possible side effects ). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
DRESS initially appears with flu-like symptoms and rashes on the face, followed by widespread rashes and high fever, increased liver enzyme levels seen in blood tests, and an increase in a type of white blood cell ( eosinophilia ) and enlarged lymph nodes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your doctor will regularly take blood samples<\/strong>, before and during treatment with Arava, to check your blood and your liver. Your doctor will also regularly check your blood pressure as Arava may cause high blood pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell your doctor if you have diarrhea that lasts for a long time for no particular reason. Your doctor may need to perform additional tests to find out what this is causing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Children and young people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Arava is not recommended for children and adolescents under 18 years of age.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other medicines and Arava<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken, or might take any other medicines. This also applies to over-the-counter medicines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is especially important if you are using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
other drugs for rheumatoid arthritis such as antimalarial drugs (eg chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine); intramuscular or oral gold, D-penicillamine, azathioprine, and other immunosuppressive drugs (eg methotrexate) as these combinations are not recommended.<\/li>
warfarin and other oral blood thinners, as monitoring is necessary to reduce the risk of side effects of this medicine<\/li>
teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis<\/li>
repaglinide, pioglitazone, nateglinide, or rosiglitazone in diabetes<\/li>