Rifapentine (Systemic)

Brand Names : Priftin

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 rifapentine, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to rifabutin (e.g., Mycobutin), rifampin (e.g., Rifadin), or rifapentine. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - Use of rifapentine during the last few weeks of pregnancy may rarely result in bleeding in the mother and newborn.

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether rifapentine passes into the breast milk.

Children - Safety and efficacy have not been established in infants and children younger than 12 years of age. For children 12 years of age and older, rifapentine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems than it does in adults.

Older adults - Rifapentine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.

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 rifapentine, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Alcohol - Alcohol may increase the chance of liver damage if taken with rifapentine

• Antidiabetic agents, oral (diabetes medicine you take by mouth) or
• Chloramphenicol (e.g., Chloromycetin) or
• Ciprofloxacin (e.g., Cipro) or
• Clarithromycin (e.g., Biaxin) or
• Corticosteroids (cortisone-like medicine) or
• Delavirdine (e.g., Rescriptor) or
• Digitalis glycosides (heart medicine) or
• Diltiazem (e.g., Cardizem) or
• Disopyramide (e.g., Norpace) or
• Doxycycline (e.g., Vibramycin) or
• Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives (birth control pills) or
• Fluconazole (e.g., Diflucan) or
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (medicines for the treatment of HIV infection) or
• Itraconazole (e.g., Sporanox) or
• Ketoconazole (e.g., Nizoral) or
• Methadone (e.g., Dolophine) or
• Mexiletine (e.g., Mexitil) or
• Nifedipine (e.g., Procardia) or
• Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin) or
• Quinidine (e.g., Quinidex) or
• Theophylline (e.g., Theo-dur) or
• Tocainide (e.g., Tonocard) or
• Verapamil (e.g., Calan) or
• Warfarin (e.g., Coumadin) or
• Zidovudine (e.g., AZT, Retrovir) - Rifapentine may decrease the effects of these medicines. If you are taking oral contraceptives, this may increase the chance of pregnancy.

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

• Alcohol abuse (or history of) or
• Liver disease - There may be an increased chance of side effects affecting the liver in patients with a history of alcohol abuse or liver disease