Monthly Archives: November 2011

Medications potentially affecting Cialis

Your doctor will ask you if you are taking other drugs before prescribing you Cialis. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you are being treated with, this may include prescription and non-prescription medications, vitamins and food supplements. If you are using any of the following medications, you may need special dose adjustment or tests evaluating how Cialis and any medication from this list interact:
• antidepressants;
• barbiturates;
• heart or blood pressure medications;
• rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane, Rifater, Rifamate), rifapentine (Priftin);
• antibiotics – clarithromycin (Biaxin), dalfopristin/quinupristin (Synercid), erythromycin (E.E.S., EryPed, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin, Pediazole);
• antifungal medications – itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), miconazole (Oravig), voriconazole (Vfend);
• antihypertensive drugs and drugs for prostate disorder – alfuzosin (Uroxatral), doxazosin (Cardura), prazosin (Minipress), terazosin (Hytrin), tamsulosin (Flomax);
• HIV or AIDS medications – darunavir (Prezista), efavirenz (Sustiva), etravirine (Intelence), nevirapine (Viramune), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), indinavir (Crixivan), ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra);
• seizure medications.
It is necessary to make sure that Cialis and medication you are taking do not have contraindications and can be safely taken together. If you need more information, ask your doctor.

Cialis contraindications

Cialis contradicts with medications which can lower blood pressure. Cialis should not be administered with nitrate-based organic medications for heart diseases either they are taken regularly or periodically. The clinical studies of coadministration of Cialis with nitrate containing drugs have demonstrated that Cialis can potentiate the hypotensive effect of nitrate medications. This effect is supposed to result from the combined effect of Cialis and nitrates on the nitric oxide and the production of cyclic GMP which follows a meaningful and dangerous drop in blood pressure.
Cialis is contraindicated in males with hypersensitivity to the main component of the medication Tadalafil. The hypersensitivity events have been reported during post marketing experience of Cialis and included exfoliative dermatitis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. Though these events happen very rare, such patients are not recommended to use Cialis as a treatment for ED condition.

Uncommon adverse reactions of Tadalafil

Other not common adverse reactions reported during Tadalafil studies and post marketing experiences, occur usually in patients having medical conditions contributing to the development of these rare side effects.

Rare reports of prolonged and painful erections (priapism) were reported for this class of drugs. Priapism condition usually appeared in men with blood cell problems and physical deformity of the penis, so these patients should be carefully examined and in serious cases of other conditions not recommended to take Tadalafil.

Sudden hearing loss or decrease of hearing. This adverse event is not directly associated with Cialis use and may be provoked by other medical conditions.

Cialis like other PDE type 5 inhibitors may rarely affect vision and cause vision changes. Some patients (less than 0.1 %) taking Cialis may experience difficulty in color discrimination (usually blue and green colors).

FDA alerts doctors prescribing Cialis to warn their patients about such serious side effect as sudden vision loss. In case this adverse reaction occurs a patient should stop taking Tadalafil immediately and seek medical help. Several cases of permanent vision loss associated with Cialis use were reported postmarketing, still these events could be the signs of nor-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The patients who have risk of developing NAION and hereditary degenerative retinal disorders could be affected by vasolidators such as Tadalafil and thus are not recommended to use this medication.

Tadalafil common adverse reactions

Tadalafil is usually well tolerated and causes no side effects in most males. Still if a person has other serious conditions, is over 65 years of old or takes the medication improperly, he may have greater chance of experiencing side effects of Tadalafil. Follow your doctor’s instructions on how to use Cialis to get the beneficial result from the treatment and avoid developing of side effects.

Most common side effects which can appear after oral administration of Cialis are:

  • face, neck, or chest flashing;
  • stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat;
  • headaches;
  • diarrhea, upset stomach;
  • muscle pain, back pain.

These side effects do not require medical attention and may disappear when some time passes after the starting of the treatment.

More serious side effects include allergic reactions, chest pain, heavy feeling, pain spreading to the arm or shoulder, nausea, sweating, general ill feeling, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, swelling in different parts of the body and seizures.

These side effects may cause life threatening conditions and demand emergency medical help.