Consumer medicine information

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection

Contains 500 mg/mL Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate


Consumer Medicine Information

What is in this leaflet

This leaflet answers some common questions about Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor.

All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you being given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection against the benefits they expect it will have for you.

If you have any concerns about being given this medicine, ask your doctor.

Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.

What Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is used for

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is used to quickly increase the amount of magnesium in your body. Other reasons for treatment with Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection are:

  • the prevention and treatment of life-threatening seizures associated with high blood pressure during pregnancy
  • low potassium levels in the blood
  • to act as a source of nutrition for a patient fed only by intravenous means.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection works by providing a source of magnesium for your body to use.

Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection for another reason.

Before you are given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection

When you must not be given it

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if have an allergy to:

  • any medicine containing magnesium or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate
  • any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet.

Some 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
  • rash, itching or hives on the skin.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if you are breast-feeding. Magnesium passes into breast milk and there is a possibility your baby may be affected.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if you have slow or irregular heart beat.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if you have kidney disease.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if you have liver disease.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if the solution is discoloured, cloudy, turbid, or a precipitate is present. The solution is normally a clear, colourless solution.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection if, when diluted with another solution, it causes the solution to precipitate, become cloudy, turbid, discolour, or particles are visible.

You should not be given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection after the expiry date printed on the package or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. If you are given this medicine after the expiry date has passed, it may not work as well.

If you are not sure whether you should be given this medicine talk to your doctor.

Before you are given it

Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes.

Tell your doctor if you have or have had any of the following medical conditions:

  • kidney problems
  • liver problems
  • myasthenia gravis, a condition in which the muscles become weak and tire easily.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or are experiencing any symptoms of labour. Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits involved. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell him/her before you are given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection.

Taking other medicines

Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket, health food shop, naturopath or herbalist. Some medicines may interfere with magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. These include:

  • medicines used to treat heart failure called cardiac glycosides such as digoxin
  • medicines used to treat heart disease such as nifedipine
  • medicines used as central nervous system depressants
  • medicines used with anaesthetics to relax the muscles called neuromuscular blocking agents.

These medicines may be affected by magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, or may affect how well it works. You may need different amounts of your medicine, or you may need to take different medicines.

Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while being given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection.

How Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is given

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection must only be given by a doctor or nurse.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is given by mixing it with other fluids and then infusing it into a vein.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection can also be injected into a muscle.

Your doctor will decide what dose of Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection you will receive and how long you will receive it for. This depends on your medical condition and other factors, such as your weight.

Sometimes only a single dose of Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is required.

If you are given too much (overdose)

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection must only be given by a doctor or nurse so an overdose is not likely to occur. Some medical conditions may result in too much magnesium in your blood. Your doctor or nurse will monitor the level of magnesium in your blood.

Symptoms of an overdose are the same as the symptoms of the side effects experiences with this medicine but may be more severe. The symptoms of a side effect are listed under Side Effects.

While you are being given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection

Things you must do

If you are about to be started on any new medicine, remind your doctor and pharmacist that you have been given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection.

Tell any other doctors, dentists, and pharmacists who treat you that you have been given this medicine.

If you are going to have surgery, tell the surgeon or anaesthetist that you have been given this medicine. It may affect other medicines used during surgery.

If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you have been given this medicine. It may interfere with the results of some tests.

If you plan to become pregnant, tell your doctor that you have been given this medicine. Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits involved.

Things to be careful of

Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection affects you. This medicine may cause drowsiness, dizziness or light-headedness in some people.

If you feel light-headed, dizzy or faint when getting out of bed or standing up, get up slowly. Standing up slowly, especially when you get up from bed or chairs, will help your body get used to the change in position and blood pressure. If this problem continues, or gets worse, talk to your doctor.

Side Effects

Tell your doctor or nurse as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are being given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection.

Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate helps most people with low levels of magnesium in their bodies, but it may have unwanted side effects in a few people. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects.

Do not be alarmed by the following list of side effects. You may not experience any of them.

Ask your doctor to answer any questions you may have.

Tell your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following:

  • drowsiness, dizziness or light-headedness
  • nausea and vomiting
  • a feeling of weakness in the muscles or loss of muscle movement
  • breathing difficulties
  • blurred vision or double vision
  • irregular or slow heartbeat
  • chest pain
  • redness of the face and neck.

The above list includes very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. These side effects are very rare.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything that is making you feel unwell.

Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some people.

Some of these side effects can only be found when your doctor does tests from time to time to check your progress.

After being given Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection

Storage

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection will be stored in the pharmacy, or on the ward of a hospital. The injection is kept in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25°C.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection will be opened for use on you. It will be used only once and then it will be discarded. It will never be stored after it is opened or used for more than one person.

Product description

What it looks like

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection 50% is a clear, colourless solution in a clear glass vial with a grey rubber stopper and aluminium seal with a blue plastic flip off cap.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is available in either a 5 mL vial or a 10 mL vial.

The vial stopper is not made with natural rubber latex.

Ingredients

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection contains 500 mg/mL magnesium sulfate heptahydrate in water for injections.

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection does not contain lactose, sucrose, gluten, tartrazine, alcohol, dyes or any other preservatives.

Manufacturer

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection is made in Australia by:

Phebra Pty Ltd
19 Orion Road
Lane Cove West, NSW 2066
Australia

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection 5 mL vial
AUST R 23076
Phebra product code INJ056

Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate 50% Concentrated Injection 10 mL vial
AUST R 160885
Phebra product code INJ011

This leaflet was updated in Oct 2019.

Published by MIMS December 2019