Contains the active ingredient escitalopram oxalate
Consumer Medicine Information
What is in this leaflet
This leaflet contains answers to some common questions about Escitalopram-DRLA.
It does not contain all the information that is known about Escitalopram-DRLA. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist.
All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risk of you using this medicine against the benefits he/she expects it will have for you.
If you have any concerns about using this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again.
What Escitalopram-DRLA is used for
Escitalopram-DRLA is used to treat depression.
It belongs to a group of medicines called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). They are thought to work by their actions on brain chemicals called amines which are involved in controlling mood.
Depression is longer lasting or more severe than the “low moods” everyone has from time to time due to the stress of everyday life. It is thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in parts of the brain. This imbalance affects your whole body and can cause emotional and physical symptoms such as feeling low in spirit, loss of interest in activities, being unable to enjoy life, poor appetite or overeating, disturbed sleep, often waking up early, loss of sex drive, lack of energy and feeling guilty over nothing.
Escitalopram-DRLA corrects this chemical imbalance and may help relieve the symptoms of depression.
Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why it has been prescribed for you. Your doctor, however may have prescribed it for another reason.
This medicine is only available with a doctor’s prescription.
Escitalopram-DRLA is not addictive. However, if you suddenly stop taking it, you may get side effects.
Tell your doctor if you get any side effects after stopping Escitalopram-DRLA.
Before you take it
When you must not take it
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA if you are allergic to it, to any medicine containing citalopram, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet.
Do not take this medicine if you are intolerant or allergic to lactose – the tablets contain lactose.
Symptoms of an allergic reaction may include shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, or rash, itching or hives on the skin.
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA at the same time as the following other medicines:
- pimozide, a medicine used to treat mental disorders
- monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), which are also used for the treatment of depression.
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA when you are taking a MAOI or when you have been taking a MAOI within the last 14 days. Taking Escitalopram-DRLA with MAOIs or the reversible MAOI (RIMA), moclobemide, and on discontinuation of SSRI with immediate start of MAOI may cause a serious reaction such as potentially life-threatening serotonin syndrome (characterised by neuromuscular excitation, altered mental status and autonomic dysfunction). Your doctor will know when it is safe to start Escitalopram-DRLA after the MAOI has been stopped.
Do not take it after the expiry date printed on the pack. If you take it after the expiry date has passed, it may not work as well. The expiry date refers to the last day of the month.
Do not take it if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering.
Before you start to take it
Tell your doctor if:
- you have allergies to:
– any other medicines
– any other substances such as foods, preservatives or dyes.
you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant.
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA if you are pregnant unless you and your doctor have discussed the risks and benefits involved. If you take this medicine until or shortly before birth of newborn, discontinuation effects in the newborn are possible. Use of SSRIS particularly in late pregnancy, may increase the risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn (PPHN) - you are breast-feeding or planning to breast-feed.
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA if you are breast-feeding unless you and your doctor have discussed the risks and benefits involved. It is not recommended that you breast-feed while taking Escitalopram-DRLA as it is excreted in breast milk. - you have, or have had, the following medical conditions:
– a tendency to bleed or bruise easily
– diabetes
– heart disease
– kidney disease
– liver disease
– bipolar disorder (manic depression)
– a history of seizures or fits
– restlessness and/or a need to move often. - you are receiving electroconvulsive therapy.
Do not give Escitalopram-DRLA to a child or adolescent. There is no experience with its use in children or adolescents under 18 years old.
Escitalopram-DRLA can be given to elderly patients over 65 years of age with reduced dose. The effects of Escitalopram-DRLA in elderly patients are similar to that in other patients.
Use of SSRIs in patients 50 years of age and older may show an increased risk of bone fractures.
If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you use Escitalopram-DRLA.
Taking other medicines
Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines and Escitalopram- DRLA may interfere with each other. These include:
- bupropion, a medicine helping to treat nicotine dependence
- medicines used to treat reflux and ulcers, such as cimetidine, omeprazole, esomeprazole and lansoprazole
- medicines known to prolong bleeding, eg. aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- ticlopidine and warfarin, medicines used to prevent blood clots
- mefloquine, an anti-malaria medicine
- sumatriptan, used to treat migraines
- tramadol, used to relieve pain
- medicines affecting the chemicals in the brain
- some heart medications, eg. flecainide, propafenone, metoprolol
- tryptophan, an amino acid
- lithium, used to treat mood swings and some types of depression
- antipsychotics, a class of medicines used to treat certain mental and emotional conditions, eg. risperidone, thoridazine and haloperidol
- tricyclic antidepressants, eg. imipramine, desipramine
- St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), a herbal remedy
- any other medicines for depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder or pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder
These medicines may be affected by Escitalopram-DRLA, or may affect how well it works. You may need to use different amounts of your medicines, or take different medicines. Your doctor will advise you.
In addition, do not take escitalopram if you are taking the following other medicines:
- pimozide, a medicine used to treat mental disorders
- monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or Reversible MAOIs (RIMA) eg. Moclobemide, used for treating depression
(see also “when you must not take it” on page 2 of this leaflet)
Some combinations of medicines may increase the risk of serious side effects and are potentially life threatening.
Your doctor or pharmacist has more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while taking Escitalopram-DRLA.
How to take it
How much to take
Your doctor will decide what dose you will receive.
The standard dose for this medicine is 10 mg per day. This may be increased by your doctor to 20 mg per day. The recommended maximum dose in elderly patients is 10 mg per day.
It is recommended that patients with liver disease receive an initial dose of 5 mg daily for the first two weeks. Your doctor may increase the dose to 10 mg daily.
Your doctor may have prescribed a different dose.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure of the correct dose for you. They will tell you exactly how much to take.
Follow the instructions they give you. If you take the wrong dose, Escitalopram-DRLA may not work as well and your condition may not improve.
How to take it
Swallow the tablets whole with a full glass of water.
Do not chew them.
When to take it
Take Escitalopram-DRLA as a single dose either in the morning or in the evening.
Take Escitalopram-DRLA with or without food.
How long to take it
Continue to take Escitalopram-DRLA even if it takes some time before you feel any improvement in your condition. As with other medicines for the treatment of these conditions it may take a few weeks before you feel any improvement.
Individuals will vary greatly in their response to Escitalopram-DRLA. Your doctor will check your progress at regular intervals. The duration of treatment may vary for each individual, but is usually at least 6 months.
In some cases the doctor may decide that longer treatment is necessary.
Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you, even if you begin to feel better. The underlying illness may persist for a long time and if you stop your treatment too soon, your symptoms may return.
Do not stop taking this medicine suddenly. If Escitalopram-DRLA is stopped suddenly you may experience mild, but usually temporary, symptoms such as dizziness, pins and needles, electric shock sensations, sleep disturbances (vivid dreams, inability to sleep), feeling anxious or agitated, headaches, feeling sick (nausea), vomiting, sweating, tremor (shaking), feeling confused, feeling emotional or irritable, diarrhoea, visual disturbances, or fast or irregular heart beats.
When you have completed your course of treatment, the dose of Escitalopram-DRLA is gradually reduced over a couple of weeks rather than stopped abruptly.
Your doctor will tell you how to reduce the dosage so that you do not get these unwanted effects.
If you forget to take it
If you miss a dose and remember in less than 12 hours, take it straight away, and then go back to taking it as you would normally.
Otherwise, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the dose you missed and take the next dose when you are meant to.
Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you have missed.
If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
If you have trouble remembering when to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist for hints.
If you take too much (overdose)
Immediately telephone your doctor, or the Poisons Information Centre (Tel: 13 11 26 for Australia), or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital, if you think you or anyone else may have taken too much Escitalopram-DRLA.
Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention.
Symptoms of an overdose may include dizziness, low blood pressure, nausea (feeling sick), vomiting, agitation, tremor (shaking) and rarely convulsions and coma.
While you are taking it
Things you must do
If you are about to be started on any new medicine, remind your doctor and pharmacist that you are taking Escitalopram-DRLA. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine.
If you become pregnant while taking Escitalopram-DRLA, tell your doctor immediately.
Persons taking Escitalopram-DRLA may be more likely to think about killing themselves or actually trying to do so, especially when Escitalopram-DRLA is first started or the dose is changed. Tell your doctor immediately if you have thoughts about killing yourself or if you are close to or care for someone using Escitalopram-DRLA who talks about or shows signs of killing him or herself. All mentions of suicide or violence must be taken seriously.
Occasionally, the symptoms of depression may include thoughts of suicide or self-harm. It is possible that these symptoms continue or get worse until the full antidepressant effect of the medicine becomes apparent. This is more likely to occur if you are a young adult, i.e. 18 to 24 years of age, and you have not used antidepressant medicines before.
Patients and care givers should pay attention for any of the following warning signs of suicide-related behaviour while taking Escitalopram-DRLA. Tell your doctor immediately, or even go to the nearest hospital for treatment:
- thoughts or talk of death or suicide
- thoughts or talk of self-harm or harm to others
- any recent attempts of self-harm
- increase in aggressive behaviour, irritability or agitation.
Do not stop taking this medicine or change the dose without consulting your doctor, even if you experience increased anxiety at the beginning of treatment. At the beginning of treatment, some patients may experience increased anxiety which will disappear during continued treatment.
Tell your doctor immediately if you experience symptoms such as restlessness or difficulty in sitting or standing still. These symptoms can occur during the first weeks of treatment.
Contact your doctor as soon as possible if you suddenly experience an episode of mania. Some patients with bipolar disorder (manic depression) may enter into a manic phase. This is characterised by profuse and rapidly changing ideas, exaggerated gaiety and excessive physical activity.
Sometimes you may be unaware of the above-mentioned symptoms and therefore you may find it helpful to ask a friend or relative to help you to observe the possible signs of change in your behaviour.
Things you must not do
Do not give the tablets to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you.
Do not take Escitalopram-DRLA to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to.
Do not stop taking Escitalopram-DRLA, or lower the dosage, without checking with your doctor.
Do not let yourself run out of medicine over the weekend or on holidays. Suddenly stopping Escitalopram-DRLA may cause unwanted discontinuation symptoms such as dizziness, headache and nausea. Your doctor will tell you when and how Escitalopram-DRLA should be discontinued. Your doctor will gradually reduce the amount you are using, usually over a period of one to two weeks, before stopping completely.
Things to be careful of
Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how Escitalopram-DRLA affects you. It may cause nausea, fatigue and dizziness in some people, especially early in the treatment. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, operate machinery, or do anything else that could be dangerous.
Avoid alcohol while you are taking this medicine. It is not advisable to drink alcohol while you are being treated for depression.
Side effects
All medicines may have some unwanted side effects. Sometimes they are serious, but most of the time they are not. Your doctor has weighed the risks of using this medicine against the benefits he/she expects it will have for you.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking Escitalopram-DRLA. It helps most people with depression but it may have unwanted side effects in a few people.
The side effects of Escitalopram-DRLA are, in general, mild and disappear after a short period of time.
Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following and they worry you:
- decreased appetite or loss of appetite
- dry mouth
- diarrhoea
- nausea (feeling sick)
- sleeplessness
- fatigue, sleepiness or drowsiness, yawning
- increased sweating
- sexual disturbances (decreased sexual drive; problems with ejaculation or erection; women may experience difficulties achieving orgasm).
Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of the following:
diarrhoea, fever, trembling, shivering, incoordination*
- agitation, confusion, panic attacks*, anxiety, restlessness*
- dizziness
- dizziness when you stand up due to low blood pressure*
- low sodium levels in the blood (the symptoms are feeling sick and unwell with weak muscles or feeling confused)*
- abnormal liver function tests (increased amounts of liver enzymes in the blood)*
- difficulties urinating*
- unusual secretion of breast milk*
- increased tendency to develop bruises*
- rash, itching, patches of circumscribed swellings.
These may be serious side effects of Escitalopram-DRLA. You may need urgent medical attention.
Tell your doctor immediately, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital, if you notice any of the following:
- serious allergic reaction (symptoms of an allergic reaction may include swelling of the face, lips, mouth or throat which may cause difficulty in swallowing or breathing, or hives)
- high fever, agitation, confusion, trembling and abrupt contractions of muscles (these symptoms may be signs of a rare condition called serotonin syndrome)*
- mania*, hallucinations
- seizures, tremors, movement disorders (involuntary movements of the muscles)*.
These are very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation.
*The side effects marked with an asterisk (*) are a number of rare side effects that are known to occur with medicines that work in a similar way to Escitalopram-DRLA.
Tell your doctor if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed above may occur in some people.
Do not be alarmed by this list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them.
After taking it
Storage
Keep Escitalopram-DRLA tablets in its original packaging until it is time to take them. If you take the tablets out of the original packaging they may not keep well.
Keep Escitalopram-DRLA tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 30°C.
Do not store it or any other medicine in the bathroom, near a sink, or on a window-sill. Do not leave it in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines.
Keep it where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.
Disposal
If your doctor tells you to stop taking Escitalopram-DRLA, or the medicine has passed its expiry date, ask your pharmacist what to do with any that is left over.
Return any unused medicine to your pharmacist.
Product description
What it looks like
Escitalopram-DRLA tablets comes in two strengths:
- Escitalopram-DRLA 10 mg film-coated tablets White, round, biconvex, film coated tablets debossed ‘ECT’ on one side and ‘1’, breakline and ‘0’ on the other side;
- Escitalopram-DRLA 20 mg tablets: White, round, biconvex, film coated tablets debossed ‘ECT’ on one side and ‘2’, breakline and ‘0’ on the other side.
Available in blisters of 7, 10 and 28 tablets and bottles of 30 tablets.
Ingredients
Active ingredient(s):
- Escitalopram-DRLA 10 mg tablets – 12.775mg of escitalopram (as oxalate) equivalent to Escitalopram 10mg per tablet
- Escitalopram-DRLA 20 mg tablets – 25.550mg of escitalopram (as oxalate) equivalent to Escitalopram 20mg per tablet
Inactive ingredients:
- Microcrystalline cellulose,
- colloidal anhydrous silica,
- purified talc,
- croscarmellose sodium,
- magnesium stearate,
- lactose,
- povidone,
- Opadry OY 58900 White (PI 3446)
Escitalopram-DRLA does not contain gluten, sucrose, tartrazine or any other azo dyes.
Manufacturer/Sponsor
Escitalopram-DRLA is supplied in Australia by
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Australia Pty Ltd
Level 1, 181 Bay Street
Brighton VIC 3186
This leaflet was prepared in February 2011.
Australian Registration Numbers:
Escitalopram-DRLA tablets:
- 10mg (Blister) AUST R 165129
20mg (Blister) AUST R 165130 - 10mg (Bottle) AUST R 165131
20mg (Bottle) AUST R 165132
Published by MIMS August 2014
