MEDROL 4 mg. 30 tablets

WHAT MEDROL AND WHAT IT IS USED
Drug is methylprednisolone. Medrol belongs to a group of medicines called corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are hormones which are produced naturally by your adrenal glands, which are located above your kidneys. They help the body deal with inflammation, allergic reactions and other stress conditions. Your medicine is a synthetic corticosteroid, similar to the natural hormone, and have the same effect. It has two main actions. First, it interrupts inflammation (pain, swelling, redness and warmth) in your body. Another effect is a decrease in activity of the immune system. This is useful, for example, in conditions in which the immune system attacks its own body of the patient (an autoimmune response), causing damage to, or when causing a strong reaction to the substance with which the patient is contacted (eg. An allergy). It is not "anabolic steroid" which some abuse in order bodybuilding.

Your tablets may be used for treatment of:
Rheumatic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis inflammation affecting the joints and / or other parts of the body in adults or children; ankylosing spondylitis (ligaments of the spine and pelvis ossification and coalesce with each other), psoriatic arthritis (joint inflammation in psoriasis), acute and subacute bursitis (inflammation of periarticular bag), acute nonspecific tenosynovitis (inflammation of the vagina muscle tendon), acute gouty arthritis (joint inflammation in gout), posttraumatic osteoarthritis (inflammation occurs after trauma), osteoarthritis synovitis (inflammation of any joint lining), epicondylitis (inflammation of the terminal portion of some bones);
Collagen, muscle inflammation (such as dermatomyositis or polymyositis); inflammation of the arteries (such as giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica); systemic lupus erythematosus (rash accompanied by fever, arthritis, inflammation of the blood vessels, renal disorders and disorders affecting the brain);
Skin diseases: pemphigus vulgaris (blisters on the skin), other skin diseases (bullous dermatitis herpetiformis, severe erythema multiforme (Syndrome Stevens Johnson), exfoliative dermatitis, mukozis fungoides, severe psoriasis, severe seborrheic dermatitis);
Allergic conditions, asthma, inflammation of the lungs and respiratory tract; severe forms of hay fever and other allergies, accompanied by fever; allergies to certain drugs (such as penicillin) and serum sickness (allergy vaccines produced from animal serum); skin allergy due to contact with certain substances;
Ocular inflammation, iritis or iridocyclitis (inflammation of the front part of the eye); posterior uveitis (inflammation of the back of the eye); optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve), and other ocular diseases (allergic corneal ulcers edge, herpes zoster ophthalmicus, inflammation of the anterior segment, choroiditis, ophthalmia SIMPATIKO, allergic conjunctivitis, keratitis, chorioretinitis);
Pulmonary inflammation, pulmonary sarcoid (inflammation of the tissues and the lymphatic glands of the lungs); tuberculosis, which progresses rapidly or has spread to other areas (both with anti-tuberculosis drugs); inflammation caused by aspiration of gastric contents or vomit into the lungs when the unconscious;
Blood disorders: idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (bleeding into the skin or other body parts due to the low number of blood cells that help blood clotting); autoimmune hemolytic anemia (when the immune system attacks its own red blood cells) and other anemias;
Bowel disease: ulcerative colitis (inflammation and ulceration of the colon); Disease Crohn (inflammation of the different parts of the intestine);
Malignancies: Leukemia (excessive formation of white blood cells in the bone marrow); cancer of the lymphatic system, which usually affects the lymph nodes (glands) and spleen;
Other conditions: tuberculosis infection causing inflammation of the meninges (lining of the brain). In these cases Medrol should be administered with anti-tuberculosis agents; Brake Assist rejection of transplanted organs or tissue edema associated with brain tumor;
Hormonal disorders: eg., If the adrenal glands are not working properly for some reason, so that the body does not produce enough of its own natural steroids, hypercalcemia (elevated calcium levels in the blood) in relation to cancer, negnoen thyroiditis (inflammation of the thyroid gland).
Your doctor could apply Medrol to treat conditions other than those listed above. Ask your doctor if you are unsure of the reason why he giving it to you.

2. BEFORE YOU TAKE MEDROL
Do not take Medrol:
if you are allergic (hypersensitive) to methylprednisolone, a glucocorticoid or any of the other ingredients of Medrol;
have generalized (systemic) infection, which is not treated with antibiotics or antiviral agents, or if you have distributed (systemic) fungal infections.
Tell your doctor if any of the above events apply to your case.

Take special care with Medrol
If you answer "YES" or are not sure about the answer, talk to your doctor. Your doctor may want to follow more closely your condition or may decide that treatment with Medrol not be suitable for you:
Are you pregnant; is there a possibility that you are pregnant? Do you trying to conceive? You must use effective contraception and not trying to become pregnant before the drug is transmitted from your body. If this medicine you will be given during pregnancy, your baby is subject to further testing shortly after birth in order to ascertain whether his / her adrenal glands are working normally. Remind them to your doctor;
Breast-feeding you? If you continue to breast-feed during treatment, your baby will be further research to see if the drug did not have any influence on him / her;
Do you have liver failure or other serious liver disease, for example. cirrhosis (in these cases there may be yellowing of the skin or jaundice) ?;
Do you have kidney problems (leading to increased or decreased urine output) ?;
Do you suffer from high blood pressure ?;
Do you have heart failure (you have swollen ankles, shortness of breath and palpitations) ?;
Do you have thrombosis (clots in the veins) or phlebitis (red, swollen painful veins) or problems that predispose them as overweight, smoking or varicose veins ?;
Do you have problems with the digestive tract, such as ulcers of the stomach or intestines (can lead to stomach pain, even if you do not worry at the moment), diverticulitis (inflamed pockets in the inner wall of the digestive tract, causing left-sided abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea) or ulcerative colitis (swelling and ulceration of the gut)? Although steroids are very effective for the treatment of inflammation in ulcerative colitis, they can also increase the risk of bleeding or perforation (tearing) of the ulcerated intestine;
Are you soon stomach surgery, appendix, gall bladder, pancreas or small or large intestine ?;
Do you have you or someone in your family diabetes (problems with balance sugar) or glaucoma (increased eye pressure) ?;
Do you have osteoporosis (brittle bones)? For women: if you're after menopause, when you might be at increased risk of osteoporosis and even now you may have no symptoms;
Do you have decreased activity of the thyroid gland (causing weight gain and tiredness) ?;
Do you have myasthenia gravis (when some or all of your muscles are affected by weakness or tire easily) ?;
Have you ever myopathy (muscle problems weakness or pain, especially in the lower extremities and buttocks) in steroids ?;
Do you have suffered and you ever from severe mental illness (eg, emotional instability, depression, hallucinations)? If before you are being treated with steroids, was it caused psychosis (mental illness, which was to be conducted on an outpatient or inpatient treatment) ?;
Do you abscesses ?;
Do you currently have any infections ?;
Have you ever had an eye infection caused by herpes simplex virus? Do you currently ocular herpes (ulcers of the eye that has emerged recently, or inflammation of the eye) ?;
Do you have tuberculosis, even one that seems long healed, have you test positive for tuberculosis ?;
Will you be vaccination Are you a recent vaccination? (Tell your doctor or nurse that you are taking Medrol if you require vaccinations. During treatment with this medicine should not receive live vaccines and other vaccines may be less effective).
Be sure to tell your doctor if you have any of these problems or if you have not had chickenpox before starting treatment with these tablets.
If you must do some research, notify your doctor that you are taking Medrol.

infections
Medrol may mask some signs of infection, reduce your resistance to infection and to modify the signs and symptoms of infection so that they become difficult to diagnose in its early stages. It also increases the likelihood of development to a severe infection. If you think you have an infection, report it immediately to your doctor.

tuberculosis
If you test positive for tuberculosis or have suffered in the past from tuberculosis Your doctor will monitor carefully whether it would be ill again of tuberculosis. He may prescribe anti-tuberculosis agents to prevent this possibility, if necessary to take a long time Medrol. Your medicine is applied only when tuberculosis is very advanced or has spread throughout the body and combined with anti-tuberculosis agents.

Taking other medicines
Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription.
Methylprednisolone can be reacted with certain drugs and cause problems. Tell your doctor if you are taking other medicines before starting treatment with Medrol, including medicines you bought yourself. Provided that already take this medication, tell your doctor immediately if you are taking and any of the medicines listed below, or if you think maybe you are taking any of them. Before you get a new medicine, tell your doctor about all the medicines you already take. If you think that while taking your tablets may have themselves to buy some medicine from the pharmacy, ask your doctor if there are any medicines you should avoid, and also tell the pharmacist that you are taking Medrol before buying any medicine.

Make sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any of the medicines listed below:
If you are being treated for diabetes (high blood sugar), high blood pressure or fluid retention (edema), your tablet can make treatment less effective. This means that it may be necessary for your doctor to change the dose of these drugs;
Methylprednisolone enhances emission of aspirin and related drugs (called salicylates) from the body. If you stop taking your tablets, aspirin concentrations may suddenly rise and cause side effects such as tinnitus. If you hipotrombinemiya (increased bleeding), your doctor will be more cautious if you need to prescribe steroids simultaneously with aspirin, salicylates or NSAIDs.
If you are not sure if any of the medicines you take, included in the above list, ask about your doctor, nurse or pharmacist. If you visit your doctor on the occasion of another medical problem, remind him (her) that you are taking Medrol.

Driving and using machines
Although visual disturbances belong to rare side effects, you should be with caution in driving a motor vehicle and / or operate machinery.

3. HOW TO TAKE MEDROL
Always take Medrol exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
If you are not sure, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Your doctor will decide what dose you should receive. The amount depends on your illness and its severity. Your doctor will always endeavor to apply the lowest possible dose that leads to a good result. Always take your tablets exactly the way your doctor appointed them. He or she can prescribe you to take the daily dose in a single dose, distribute daily dose several times or you appoint intake day (minimum dose will be doubled and you will be told to take it once every other day at 08.00 pm) . If you are unsure, ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Swallow the tablets whole. Drink them with water, if it will help you swallow them. Your doctor usually appoints a high dose for a few days to control your condition. If your condition is not under control, he or she may change your treatment. It is possible that your doctor makes frequent inspections to ensure that you feel better. If Medrol was appointed because your body is unable to produce its own corticosteroids, your doctor may also prescribe a second type of steroid to help salt balance.
The initial dose chosen by your doctor will be continued while he or she determines that your condition has improved; This usually occurs after 3-7 days in rheumatic diseases (except rheumatic carditis - heart inflammation), allergic diseases involving the skin or respiratory system and eye diseases. If the doctor finds that your condition has not improved after seven days, he / she will re-evaluate your case. If the doctor finds that your condition has improved, he / she will gradually reduce the dosage. Your treatment may be stopped (the occurrence of seasonal asthma, skin and eye irritation expressed) or reduced to a minimum dose (in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, bronchial asthma and a tendency to skin damage). It is assumed that the dose of your medicine should not be lowered by more than 2 mg every 7-10 days.

Use in children
Medrol may be prescribed for children. Usually prescribed a lower dose than that of adults, but it depends on the severity of the condition and response to treatment. Because corticosteroids suppress growth in infants, children and adolescents, which can be irreversible, treatment should be limited to the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible period of time. If possible, the doctor will order the child a single dose every other day.

If you take more dose Medrol
Tell your doctor immediately if you think you have taken too much Medrol. It can be removed from your body by dialysis (filtering of the blood) if you have received too much, but this is usually not necessary. To protect you from the probability overdose suppress normal activity of your adrenal glands, your doctor will reduce your dose gradually over a period of time. In case of infection, surgery or accident within 2 years of the adoption of overdose may need to take corticosteroids again.

If you forget to take Medrol
Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten tablet.
If the delay is within a few hours, take your dose as soon as you remember. If the delay is one day or more, immediately tell your doctor. If you can not contact your doctor, take your tablets as usual until you get medical advice.

If you stop taking Medrol
Your doctor will decide when it is time to stop treatment.
Medrol treatment should not be stopped abruptly, but with gradual dose reduction, as will determine your doctor. This is because too rapid reduction in steroid dose can lead to acute adrenal insufficiency (your adrenal glands do not produce enough corticosteroids own), very low blood pressure (causing dizziness and fainting) and potentially fatal. This is more likely to occur when they were received repeated doses.
If you think your symptoms returned while reduce the dose of Medrol, report it to your doctor as soon as possible. If you get an infection or have an accident or need surgery, you may need a temporary increase in the dose. If you stop taking your tablets just prior to infection, injury or surgery, you may need to re-start to take them for a short time. If you stop taking the drug suddenly may suffer shock. Symptoms are dizziness, pallor and sweating due to a drop in blood pressure.