WHAT IS Arcoxia/Etoricoxib?

Arcoxia tablets contain the active ingredient etoricoxib/Arcoxia , which is a type of medicine known as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is used for treating Acute gout, Rheumatoid arthritis, Osteoarthritis.

WARNING!

• This medicine may cause fatigue and dizziness. You should take care when performing potentially hazardous activites, such as driving or operating machinery, until you know how this medicine affects you and are sure you can perform such activities safely.
• People with impaired kidney, liver or heart function should have their kidney function monitored while taking this medicine.
• This medicine may hide fever, which is a sign of infection. This may make you think mistakenly that an infection is getting better when it isn't, or that an infection is less serious than it is. For this reason you should tell your doctor if you get an infection while you are taking this medicine.
• COX-2 inhibitors may carry an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke when compared to placebo (no treatment). If you have risk factors for heart disease or stroke, such as diabetes, high cholesterol or smoking, your doctor will need to assess the overall benefits and risks before deciding if this medicine is suitable for you. In general, if this medicine is suitable, your doctor will prescribe the lowest effective dose for as short a time as possible to control your symptoms, because the risks may increase with higher doses and the longer the medicine is taken. Do not exceed the prescribed dose. Tell your doctor if you experience shortness of breath, chest pains or ankle swelling while taking the medicine. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for further information.
• During long-term treatment your doctor may want to take regular blood tests to monitor your liver function. Consult your doctor promptly if you develop unexplained itching, yellowing of the skin or eyes, unusually dark urine, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pains, loss of appetite or flu-like symptoms while taking this medicine, as they may be signs of a liver problem.
• Very rarely, NSAIDS may cause serious blistering or peeling skin reactions (eg Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, exfoliative dermatitis). For this reason, you should stop taking this medicine and consult your doctor if you get a skin rash or sores inside your mouth while taking this medicine. This side effect is very rare, but if it occurs, is most likely to happen in the first month of treatment.
• Your blood pressure should be regularly monitored while you are taking this medicine.
• NSAIDs can occasionally cause serious side effects on the gut, such as ulceration, bleeding or perforation of the stomach or intestinal lining. This type of side effect is more likely to occur in elderly people and in people taking high doses of the medicine. The risk can also be increased by taking certain other medicines (see below). It is important that these people, as well as people with a history of disorders affecting the stomach or intestines, are closely monitored by a doctor while taking this medicine. All people taking this medicine should stop treatment and consult their doctor immediately if they experience any sign of bleeding from the stomach or intestine during treatment, for example vomiting blood and/or passing black/tarry/bloodstained stools.

PREGNANCY AND BREASTFEEDING

Certain medicines should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. However, other medicines may be safely used in pregnancy or breastfeeding providing the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to the unborn baby. Always inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, before using any medicine

• It is not known whether this medicine passes into breast milk. Mothers who need to take this medicine should not breastfeed. Seek medical advice from your doctor.
• This medicine should not be used in pregnancy, particularly the third trimester, as it may delay labour, increase the length of labour and cause complications in the newborn baby. Some evidence suggests that NSAIDs should also be avoided by women attempting to conceive, as they may temporarily reduce female fertility during treatment and may also increase the risk of miscarriage or malformations. Seek medical advice from your doctor.

NOT TO BE USED IN

• Disease of the blood vessels in and around the brain (cerebrovascular disease), eg history of stroke
• Pregnancy
• Heart failure
• Children and adolescents under 16 years of age
• Poor circulation in the arteries of the legs or feet (peripheral arterial disease)
• People in whom aspirin or other NSAIDs, eg ibuprofen/Motrin, cause allergic reactions such as asthma attacks, itchy rash (urticaria), nasal polyps, nasal inflammation (rhinitis) or swelling of the lips, tongue and throat (angioedema)
• Severely decreased liver function
• Breastfeeding.
• Heart disease caused by inadequate blood flow to the heart (ischaemic heart disease), eg angina or history of heart attack
• Moderate to severely decreased kidney function
• Inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
• Active peptic ulcer or bleeding from the gut
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension)
• Rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, the Lapp lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malsorption ( Arcoxia tablets contain lactose).

This medicine should not be used if you are allergic to one or any of its ingredients. Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if you have previously experienced such an allergy.

If you feel you have experienced an allergic reaction, stop using this medicine and inform your doctor or pharmacist immediately.

SIDE EFFECTS

Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Because a side effect is stated here, it does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect

• Nosebleeds (epistaxis)
• Chest pain
• Blurred vision
• Heart attack or stroke
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Shortness of breath (dyspnoea)
• Ulceration or bleeding of the stomach or intestine
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Disturbances of the gut such as diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, indigestion, flatulence or abdominal pain
• Weight gain
• Excessive fluid retention in the body tissues, resulting in swelling (oedema)
• Difficulty in sleeping (insomnia)
• Muscle cramps
• Headache
• Skin reactions such as rash and itch
• Weakness or loss of strength (asthenia)
• Anxiety
• Dizziness
• Cold or flu-like symptoms
• Liver or kidney disorders

The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the drug's manufacturer.

For more information about any other possible risks associated with this medicine, please read the information provided with the medicine or consult your doctor or pharmacist.

What is the shelf life of the pills?

• The expiry date is mentioned on each blister. It is different for different batches. The shelf life is 2 years from the date of manufacture and would differ from batch to batch depending on when they were manufactured.