Prazosin and Polythiazide (Systemic)

Brand Names : Minizide

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For prazosin and polythiazide, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to prazosin, sulfonamides (sulfa drugs), bumetanide, furosemide, acetazolamide, dichlorphenamide, methazolamide, or any of the thiazide diuretics. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substance, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - When polythiazide (contained in this combination medicine) is used during pregnancy, it may cause side effects including jaundice, blood problems, and low potassium in the newborn infant. The combination of prazosin and polythiazide has not been shown to cause birth defects.

Breast-feeding - Polythiazide passes into breast milk. Prazosin passes into breast milk in small amounts. However, prazosin and polythiazide combination has not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.

Children - Although there is no specific information about the use of this medicine in children, it is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in children than it does in adults. However, extra caution may be necessary in infants with jaundice, because these medicines can make the condition worse.

Older adults - Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting or symptoms of too much potassium loss may be more likely to occur in the elderly, who are more sensitive to the effects of prazosin and polythiazide. In addition, this medicine may reduce tolerance to cold temperatures in elderly patients.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking prazosin and polythiazide, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Cholestyramine or
• Colestipol - Use with thiazide diuretics may prevent the diuretic from working properly; take the diuretic at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after cholestyramine or colestipol

• Digitalis glycosides (heart medicine) - Polythiazide may cause low potassium in the blood, which can lead to symptoms of digitalis toxicity

• Lithium (e.g., Lithane) - Risk of lithium overdose, even at usual doses, may be increased

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of prazosin and polythiazide. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Angina (chest pain) or
• Heart disease (severe) - Prazosin may make these conditions worse

• Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) - Polythiazide may increase the amount of sugar in the blood

• Gout (history of) or
• Lupus erythematosus (history of) or
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) - Thiazide diuretics may make these conditions worse

• Kidney disease - Effects of this combination medicine may be increased because of increased sensitivity to the effects of prazosin and slower removal of polythiazide from the body. If kidney disease is severe, polythiazide may not work

• Liver disease - If polythiazide causes loss of too much water from the body, liver disease can become much worse