Clozapine Accord
Clozapine Accord is a medicine used to treat severe mental health disorders like schizophrenia when other treatments haven't worked, and also severe thought, emotional, and behavioral problems in Parkinson's disease.
Form
tabletti
Strength
100 mg
Active Ingredient
Clozapine
Manufacturer
Accord Healthcare B.V.
How to Use
Dosage
Your doctor will start you on a low dose, often 12.5 mg (half of a 25 mg tablet) once or twice a day, and slowly increase it over weeks. The usual effective dose for schizophrenia is 200-450 mg per day, taken in divided doses. For Parkinson's-related issues, the usual effective dose is 25-37.5 mg once daily in the evening.
Method
Swallow the tablet whole with water. Your doctor will tell you how to divide your daily dose.
Important
For schizophrenia, the maximum daily dose is 900 mg. For Parkinson's-related issues, the maximum daily dose is 100 mg. Always use the lowest effective dose.
Possible Side Effects
COMMON
- •Severe constipation, requiring medical treatment.
- •Fast heartbeat.
- •Drowsiness or feeling sleepy.
- •Dizziness.
- •Increased saliva production.
- •Flu-like symptoms, fever, sore throat, or other signs of infection (a blood test may be needed).
- •Seizures.
- •Sudden fainting or losing consciousness with muscle weakness.
- •High white blood cell count (leukocytosis).
- •High levels of a specific type of white blood cells (eosinophilia).
- •Weight gain.
- •Blurred vision.
- •Headache.
- •Tremors (shaking).
- •Stiffness.
- •Restlessness.
- •Muscle twitching.
- •Unusual movements or difficulty starting movements.
- •Difficulty staying still.
- •Changes in heart's electrical activity (ECG changes).
- •High blood pressure.
- •Feeling faint or unsteady when changing position.
- •Nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.
- •Dry mouth.
- •Minor changes in liver function tests.
- •Urinary incontinence or difficulty urinating.
- •Increased sweating or elevated body temperature.
- •Speech problems (e.g., slurred speech).
RARE
- •Sudden high fever and stiff muscles that can lead to unconsciousness (neuroleptic malignant syndrome), which requires immediate medical treatment.
- •Feeling strange or unreal, lightheadedness, or fainting when standing up from sitting or lying down, which increases the risk of falling.
- •Low white blood cell count (agranulocytosis).
- •Speech problems (e.g., stuttering).
- •Signs of respiratory infection or pneumonia, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, or wheezing.
- •Severe, burning pain in the upper abdomen that spreads to the back, with nausea and vomiting (due to pancreas inflammation).
- •Fainting and/or muscle weakness due to a significant drop in blood pressure (circulatory collapse).
- •Difficulty swallowing (which can cause food to go down the wrong way).
- •Nausea, vomiting, and/or loss of appetite; your doctor will need to check your liver.
- •Signs of obesity or increased obesity.
- •Breathing pauses during sleep, possibly with snoring.
- •Fast or irregular heartbeat, even at rest, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, or unexplained tiredness (your doctor must check your heart).
- •Low red blood cell count (anemia).
- •Restlessness, agitation, confusion, delirium.
- •Irregular heartbeat, inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) or the membrane surrounding the heart (pericarditis), fluid buildup around the heart (pericardial effusion).
- •High blood sugar levels, diabetes mellitus.
- •Blood clots in the lungs (thromboembolism).
- •Liver inflammation (hepatitis), liver disease causing yellow skin/dark urine/itching.
- •Elevated levels of an enzyme called creatine phosphokinase in the blood.
- •Persistent painful erection of the penis (priapism), if it lasts more than 4 hours, immediate medical treatment is needed.
- •Spontaneous bleeding or bruising, which may indicate a decreased number of platelets.
- •Symptoms from uncontrolled blood sugar levels, such as nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, increased thirst, excessive urination, confusion.
- •Abdominal pain, cramps, swollen abdomen, vomiting, constipation, and difficulty passing gas (signs of bowel obstruction).
- •Loss of appetite, swollen abdomen, stomach pain, yellow skin, severe weakness, and feeling unwell (signs of liver disease that can lead to acute liver failure).
- •Nausea, vomiting, tiredness, or weight loss (signs of kidney inflammation).
- •Strong chest pain, feeling of tightness, pressure or squeezing in the chest (may spread to the left arm, jaw, neck, upper abdomen), shortness of breath, sweating, weakness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, and heart palpitations (symptoms of a heart attack), which can be life-threatening. Seek immediate emergency care.
- •Pressure, heaviness, tightness, burning or suffocating feeling in the chest (signs of insufficient blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle), which can be life-threatening. Your doctor must check your heart.
- •Intermittent
- •"pounding", "throbbing" or "fluttering" feeling in the chest (heart palpitations).
- •Fast and irregular heartbeats (atrial fibrillation).
- •Symptoms of low blood pressure such as lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting, blurred vision, unusual tiredness, cold/clammy skin, and nausea.
- •Signs of blood clots in the veins, especially in the legs (swelling, pain, and redness in the legs); these can travel to the lungs, causing chest pain and difficulty breathing.
- •Confirmed or suspected infection with fever or low body temperature, abnormally fast breathing, rapid heart rate, altered alertness and consciousness, low blood pressure (symptoms of sepsis).
- •Heavy sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (symptoms of cholinergic syndrome).
- •Significantly reduced urine output (sign of kidney failure).
- •Allergic reaction (swelling mostly of the face, mouth, throat, and tongue, which can be itchy or painful).
- •Loss of appetite, swollen abdomen, stomach pain, yellow skin, severe weakness, and feeling unwell (signs of liver disease where normal liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue, leading to liver failure, liver damage, and liver transplant).
- •Burning pain in the upper abdomen, especially between meals, early in the morning, or after acidic drinks; tar-like, black, or bloody stool; bloating, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, early fullness (stomach and/or intestinal ulcer), which can be life-threatening.
- •Severe abdominal pain worsened by movement, nausea, vomiting including blood (or coffee-ground like) vomit; rigid abdomen with tenderness spreading across the abdomen from the rupture site; fever and/or chills (ruptured stomach and/or intestine), which can be life-threatening.
- •Constipation, abdominal pain, tenderness in the abdomen, fever, bloating, bloody diarrhea. These can be signs of megacolon (enlarged intestine) or intestinal infarction/ischemia/necrosis (blood clot in the intestines), which can be life-threatening. Your doctor will need to examine you.
- •Sharp chest pain with shortness of breath, possibly with coughing.
- •Increased or new muscle weakness, muscle spasms, muscle pain. These can be signs of a possible muscle disorder (rhabdomyolysis). Your doctor will need to examine you.
- •Very strong and severe skin reactions, such as drug eruption with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS syndrome). Skin side effects can appear as rashes with or without blisters, skin irritation, swelling, fever, and flu-like symptoms. DRESS syndrome symptoms usually appear about 2–6 weeks (possibly up to 8 weeks) after starting treatment.
- •Changes in brain electrical activity (EEG).
- •Diarrhea, unpleasant feeling in the stomach, heartburn, stomach pain after meals.
- •Nasal congestion.
- •Bedwetting at night.
- •Sudden uncontrolled increase in blood pressure (pseudopheochromocytoma).
- •Uncontrolled twisting of the body to one side (pleurototonus).
- •Ejaculation disorder in men where semen enters the bladder instead of exiting through the penis (dry orgasm or retrograde ejaculation).
- •Rash, purplish-red spots, fever or itching due to blood vessel inflammation.
- •Diarrhea due to large intestine inflammation, abdominal pain, fever, changes in skin color, facial redness, joint pain, muscle pain, fever, and weakness (lupus erythematosus).
- •Restless legs syndrome (an irresistible urge to move your legs or arms, usually with unpleasant sensations during rest, especially in the evening or at night, and relieved temporarily by movement).
Important Warnings
- Do not take Clozapine Accord if you are allergic to clozapine or any other ingredients, or if you cannot have regular blood tests.
- Do not take this medicine if you have previously had low white blood cell count due to medication, severe side effects like agranulocytosis or heart problems from Clozapine Accord.
- Contact your doctor immediately if you have flu-like symptoms, fever, sore throat, or other signs of infection, as a blood test may be needed.
- Seek immediate medical help if you experience a sudden high fever, stiff muscles, or unconsciousness, as this could be a serious side effect.
- Tell your doctor if you have a fast or irregular heartbeat, even at rest, or if you feel heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, or unusual tiredness.