Precautions
Drug information provided by: Merative, Micromedex®
It is very important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits to see if the medicine is working properly and to allow for changes in the dose.
Deutetrabenazine may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed, especially if they have a condition called Huntington's disease. If you or your caregiver notice any of these side effects, tell your doctor right away.
Do not take this medicine if you are also taking a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan®), phenelzine (Nardil®), selegiline (Eldepryl®), or tranylcypromine (Parnate®) within 14 days of each other. If you have questions, check with your doctor.
Do not take this medicine if you are also taking reserpine (Serpalan® or Renese®-R). Wait at least 20 days after stopping reserpine before starting deutetrabenazine. If you have questions, check with your doctor.
Do not take this medicine if you are also taking tetrabenazine (Xenazine®) or valbenazine (Ingrezza®). If your doctor plans to switch your treatment from tetrabenazine to deutetrabenazine, take your first dose of deutetrabenazine one day after your last dose of tetrabenazine. If you have questions, check with your doctor.
Contact your doctor right away if you have any changes to your heart rhythm. You might feel dizzy or faint, or you might have a fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeat. Make sure your doctor knows if you had a heart rhythm problem, such as QT prolongation.
Check with your doctor right away if you have difficulty with breathing, a fast heartbeat, a high fever, high or low blood pressure, increased sweating, loss of bladder control, seizures, severe muscle stiffness, unusually pale skin, or tiredness. These could be symptoms of a serious condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS).
Check with your doctor right away if you have an inability to sit still, need to keep moving, or restlessness. These could be symptoms of a movement disorder called akathisia.
This medicine may cause parkinsonism (a movement disorder). Check with your doctor right away if you have difficulty swallowing, loss of balance control, mask-like face, shuffling walk, slowed movements, slurred speech, stiffness of the arms and legs, tic-like or jerky movements of the head, face, mouth, and neck, or trembling and shaking of the fingers and hands.
This medicine may cause drowsiness, trouble with thinking, or trouble with controlling movements. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how this medicine affects you.
Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting may occur, especially when you get up from a lying or sitting position. Getting up slowly may help. Also, lying down for a while may relieve dizziness or lightheadedness. If the problem continues or worsens, check with your doctor.
Check with your doctor before using this medicine with alcohol or other medicines that affect the central nervous system (CNS). This medicine will add to the effects of alcohol and other central nervous system (CNS) depressants. CNS depressants are medicines that slow down the nervous system, which may cause drowsiness or make you less alert. Some examples of CNS depressants are antihistamines or medicine for hay fever, allergies, or colds, sedatives, tranquilizers, or sleeping medicine, prescription pain medicine or narcotics, barbiturates or medicine for seizures, muscle relaxants, or anesthetics (numbing medicines), including some dental anesthetics. This effect may last for a few days after you stop taking this medicine.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.
Portions of this document last updated: July 01, 2024
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