AXALID

4). Treatment should be given for the shortest possible duration. If this medicine is being used for the treatment of epilepsy this medicine should be used for as long as the prescriber considers it necessary. Posology The dose range is 150 to 600 mg per day given in either two or three divided doses.

Neuropathic pain Pregabalin treatment can be started at a dose of 150 mg per day given as two or three divided doses. Based on individual patient response and tolerability, the dose may be increased to 300 mg per day after an interval of 3 to 7 days, and if needed, to a maximum dose of 600 mg per day after an additional 7-day interval.

Epilepsy Pregabalin treatment can be started with a dose of 150 mg per day given as two or three divided doses. Based on individual patient response and tolerability, the dose may be increased to 300 mg per day after 1 week. The maximum dose of 600 mg per day may be achieved after an additional week.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder The dose range is 150 to 600 mg per day given as two or three divided doses. The need for treatment should be reassessed regularly. Pregabalin treatment can be started with a dose of 150 mg per day. Based on individual patient response and tolerability, the dose may be increased to 300 mg per day after 1 week.

Following an additional week the dose may be increased to 450 mg per day. The maximum dose of 600 mg per day may be achieved after an additional week. 8). Patients with renal impairment Pregabalin is eliminated from the systemic circulation primarily by renal excretion as unchanged drug.

2), dose reduction in patients with compromised renal function must be individualised according to creatinine clearance (CLcr), as indicated in Table 1 determined using the following formula: Pregabalin is removed effectively from plasma by haemodialysis (50% of drug in 4 hours).

For patients receiving haemodialysis, the pregabalin daily dose should be adjusted based on renal function. In addition to the daily dose, a supplementary dose should be given immediately following every 4 hour haemodialysis treatment (see Table 1).

Table 1. 2). Paediatric population The safety and efficacy of Axalid in children below the age of 12 years and in adolescents (12-17 years of age) have not been established. 2 but no recommendation on a posology can be made. Elderly (over 65 years of age) population Elderly patients may require a dose reduction of pregabalin due to a decreased renal function (see patients with renal impairment).

Method of administration Axalid may be taken with or without food. Axalid is for oral use only.

The pregabalin clinical programme involved over 8,900 patients who were exposed to pregabalin, of whom over 5,600 were in double-blind placebo controlled trials. The most commonly reported adverse reactions were dizziness and somnolence.

Adverse reactions were usually mild to moderate in intensity. In all controlled studies, the discontinuation rate due to adverse reactions was 12% for patients receiving pregabalin and 5% for patients receiving placebo. The most common adverse reactions resulting in discontinuation from pregabalin treatment groups were dizziness and somnolence.

In the table below all adverse reactions, which occurred at an incidence greater than placebo and in more than one patient, are listed by class and frequency (very common (≥1/10); common (≥1/100 to <1/10); uncommon (≥1/1,000 to <1/100); rare (≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000); very rare (< 1/10,000), not known (cannot be estimated from the available data).

Within each frequency grouping, undesirable effects are presented in order of decreasing seriousness. The adverse reactions listed may also be associated with the underlying disease and/or concomitant medicinal products. 4). Additional reactions reported from post-marketing experience are included in italics in the list below.

After discontinuation of short-term and long-term treatment with Gabapentinoids withdrawal symptoms have been observed. The following symptoms have been reported: insomnia, headache, nausea, anxiety, diarrhoea, flu syndrome, convulsions, nervousness, depression, suicidal ideation, pain, hyperhidrosis and dizziness.

These symptoms may indicate drug dependence. The patient should be informed about this at the start of the treatment. 4). Paediatric population The pregabalin safety profile observed in five paediatric studies in patients with partial seizures with or without secondary generalisation (12-week efficacy and safety study in patients 4 to 16 years of age, n=295; 14-day efficacy and safety study in patients 1 month to younger than 4 years of age, n=175; pharmacokinetic and tolerability study, n=65; and two 1 year open label follow on safety studies, n=54 and n=431) was similar to that observed in the adult studies of patients with epilepsy.

The most common adverse events observed in the 12-week study with pregabalin treatment were somnolence, pyrexia, upper respiratory tract infection, increased appetite, weight increased, and nasopharyngitis. 2). Reporting of suspected adverse reactions Reporting suspected adverse reactions after authorisation of the medicinal product is important.

It allows continued monitoring of the benefit/risk balance of the medicinal product. uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store.

Diabetic patients In accordance with current clinical practice, some diabetic patients who gain weight on pregabalin treatment may need to adjust hypoglycaemic medicinal products. Hypersensitivity reactions There have been reports in the postmarketing experience of hypersensitivity reactions, including cases of angioedema.

Pregabalin should be discontinued immediately if symptoms of angioedema, such as facial, perioral, or upper airway swelling occur. Dizziness, somnolence, loss of consciousness, confusion, and mental impairment Pregabalin treatment has been associated with dizziness and somnolence, which could increase the occurrence of accidental injury (fall) in the elderly population.

There have also been post-marketing reports of loss of consciousness, confusion and mental impairment. Therefore, patients should be advised to exercise caution until they are familiar with the potential effects of the medicinal product.

Vision-related effects In controlled trials, a higher proportion of patients treated with pregabalin reported blurred vision than did patients treated with placebo which resolved in a majority of cases with continued dosing. 1). In the post-marketing experience, visual adverse reactions have also been reported, including loss of vision, visual blurring or other changes of visual acuity, many of which were transient.

Discontinuation of pregabalin may result in resolution or improvement of these visual symptoms. Renal failure Cases of renal failure have been reported and in some cases discontinuation of pregabalin did show reversibility of this adverse reaction.

Withdrawal of concomitant antiepileptic medicinal products There are insufficient data for the withdrawal of concomitant antiepileptic medicinal products, once seizure control with pregabalin in the add-on situation has been reached, in order to reach monotherapy on pregabalin.

Drug withdrawal syndrome Prior to starting treatment with pregabalin, a discussion should be held with patients to explain the risk of dependence, addiction, and drug withdrawal syndrome. A withdrawal strategy for ending treatment with pregabalin should also be put in place with the patient before starting treatment (there may be exceptions to this in specific clinical situations such as symptom management in end of life palliative care, and for use in epilepsy).

Drug withdrawal syndrome may occur upon abrupt cessation of therapy or dose reduction. When a patient no longer requires therapy, it is advisable to taper the dose gradually to minimise symptoms of withdrawal. Tapering from a high dose may take in excess of weeks or months.

Patients should be informed of this when the medication is first prescribed. The reduction schedule for a patient should be tailored to the individual and should be modified to allow intolerable withdrawal symptoms to improve before making the next reduction.

If using a published withdrawal schedule, apply it flexibly to accommodate the person’s preferences, changes to their circumstances and the response to dose reductions. Reduce the dose by a fixed amount at each decrement, unless clinical risk is such that rapid withdrawal is needed.

If a patient develops withdrawal reactions, consider pausing the taper or increasing the dosage to the previous tapered dosage level. If women take this drug during pregnancy, there is a risk that their newborn infants will experience neonatal withdrawal syndrome.

Congestive heart failure There have been post-marketing reports of congestive heart failure in some patients receiving pregabalin. These reactions are mostly seen in elderly cardiovascular compromised patients during pregabalin treatment for a neuropathic indication.

Pregabalin should be used with caution in these patients. Discontinuation of pregabalin may resolve the reaction. Treatment of central neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury In the treatment of central neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury the incidence of adverse reactions in general, central nervous system adverse reactions and especially somnolence was increased.

g. anti-spasticity agents) needed for this condition. This should be considered when prescribing pregabalin in this condition. Respiratory depression There have been reports of severe respiratory depression in relation to pregabalin use.

Patients with compromised respiratory function, respiratory or neurological disease, renal impairment, concomitant use of CNS depressants and the elderly may be at higher risk of experiencing this severe adverse reaction. Dose adjustments may be necessary in these patients.

2) Suicidal ideation and behaviour Suicidal ideation and behaviour have been reported in patients treated with anti- epileptic agents in several indications. A meta-analysis of randomised placebo- controlled studies of anti-epileptic drugs has also shown a small increased risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour.

The mechanism of this risk is not known. 8). An epidemiological study using a self-controlled study design (comparing treatment periods with non-treatment periods within an individual) showed evidence of an increased risk of new onset of suicidal behaviour and death by suicide in patients treated with pregabalin.

Therefore patients should be monitored for signs of suicidal ideation and behaviours and appropriate treatment should be considered. Patients (and caregivers of patients) should be advised to seek medical advice should signs of […]

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