Tretinoin (Systemic)

Brand Names : Vesanoid

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 tretinoin, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to tretinoin or to acitretin, etretinate, isotretinoin, or vitamin A preparations. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy - Tretinoin must not be taken during pregnancy because there is a very high risk of causing severe birth defects in the infant. In addition, tretinoin must not be taken if there is a chance that you may become pregnant during treatment or within 1 month after treatment is ended . Women who are able to have children, and even some women who have started the menopause, must have a pregnancy test done within 1 week before starting tretinoin, to make sure they are not pregnant. The pregnancy test must be repeated once a month during treatment. During treatment with tretinoin, and for a month after treatment is over, you must use two effective forms of birth control at the same time . If you have any questions about what kinds of birth control to use, check with your health care professional. Be sure that you have discussed this information with your doctor. You will be asked to sign an informed consent form stating that you have received and understand the above information .

Breast-feeding - It is not known whether tretinoin passes into the breast milk. However, because this medicine can cause serious side effects, women should stop breast-feeding before starting treatment.

Children - Studies in a limited number of children between 1 and 16 years of age have shown that children may be especially sensitive to the effects of this medicine, and may be more likely than adults to experience severe headaches and some other side effects during treatment.

Older adults - Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing use of tretinoin in the elderly with use in other age groups.

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

• Corticosteroids (cortisone-like medicine) or
• Cimetidine (e.g., Tagamet) or
• Cyclosporine (e.g., Sandimmune) or
• Diltiazem (e.g., Cardizem) or
• Erythromycin (e.g., E-Mycin, Ilotycin) or
• Ketoconazole (e.g., Nizoral) or
• Pentobarbital (e.g., Nembutal) or
• Phenobarbital (e.g., Luminal) or
• Rifampin (e.g., Rifadin) or
• Verapamil (e.g., Calan) - These medicines may increase or decrease the metabolism (breakdown) of tretinoin, leading to higher-than-usual or lower-than-usual amounts of tretinoin in the body