Horizant Information and Uses

Horizant

Horizant Overview

Horizant (generic: gabapentin enacarbil) is a prescription medication used to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS) and pain from damaged nerves caused by shingles in adults. Horizant belongs to a group of drugs called anticonvulsants, which can alter the way pain is sensed by the body. It is not known how Horizant works in treating restless legs syndrome.

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken once or twice daily, with food. Swallow tablets whole.

Common side effects of Horizant include sleepiness, dizziness, and headache. Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how Horizant will affect you.

Uses of Horizant

Horizant is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with:

moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).
pain from damaged nerves (postherpetic pain) that follows healing of shingles (a painful rash that comes after a herpes zoster infection).

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Side Effects of Horizant

See "Drug Precautions".

The most common side effects of Horizant include:

sleepiness
dizziness
headache

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

These are not all the possible side effects of Horizant. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

Horizant Interactions

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

medications containing gabapentin (Neurontin, Gralise)
narcotic pain medicines
medicines for sleep
alcohol

This is not a complete list of Horizant drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Horizant Precautions

Horizant can cause serious side effects:

Call a healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you:

1. Do not drive after taking your dose of Horizant until you know how Horizant affects you, including the morning after you take your dose.: Do not operate heavy machinery or do other dangerous activities until you know how Horizant affects you. Horizant can cause sleepiness, dizziness, slow thinking, and can affect your coordination. Ask your healthcare provider when it would be okay to do these activities.
2. Horizant may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people, about 1 in 500.

Call a healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you:

thoughts about suicide or dying
attempt to commit suicide
new or worse depression
new or worse anxiety
feeling agitated
new or worse restlessness
panic attacks
new or worse trouble sleeping (insomnia)
new or worse irritability
acting aggressive, being angry, or violent
acting on dangerous impulses
an extreme increase in activity and talking (mania)
other unusual changes in behavior or mood

Watch for early symptoms of suicidal thoughts and actions:

Pay attention to any changes, especially sudden changes, in mood, behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.
Keep all follow-up visits with your healthcare provider as scheduled.
Call your healthcare provider between visits as needed, especially if you are worried about symptoms.

Do not stop Horizant without first talking to a healthcare provider.

Suicidal thoughts or actions can be caused by things other than medicines. If you have suicidal thoughts or actions, your healthcare provider may check for other causes.

Horizant may cause a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction that may affect your skin or other parts of your body such as your liver or blood cells. You may or may not have rash with these types of reactions. Call a healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms:

skin rash
hives
fever
swollen glands that do not go away
swelling of your lips or tongue
yellowing of your skin or eyes
unusual bruising or bleeding
severe fatigue or weakness
unexpected, severe muscle pain
frequent infections

These symptoms may be the first signs of a serious reaction. A healthcare provider should examine you to decide if you should continue taking Horizant.

Do not take other medicines that make you sleepy or dizzy while taking Horizant without first talking with your healthcare provider. Taking Horizant with medicines that cause sleepiness or dizziness may make your sleepiness or dizziness worse.
Do not take other gabapentin drugs (for example, Neurontin or Gralise) while you take Horizant.

Horizant Food Interactions

Medicines can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of Horizant there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving Horizant.

Inform MD

Before taking Horizant, tell your healthcare provider if you:

have or have had kidney problems or are on hemodialysis.
have or have had depression, mood problems, or suicidal thoughts or behavior.
have or have had seizures.
have a history of drug abuse.
have any other medical conditions.
if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

Horizant and Pregnancy

Tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if Horizant will harm your unborn baby. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant while taking Horizant. You and your healthcare provider will decide if you should take Horizant while you are pregnant.

Horizant and Lactation

Tell your healthcare provider if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Your body turns Horizant into another drug (gabapentin) that passes into your milk. It is not known if this can harm your baby. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will take Horizant or breastfeed.

Horizant Usage

Take Horizant exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. Your healthcare provider will tell you how much Horizant to take and when to take it.
Take Horizant tablets whole. Do not cut, crush, or chew your tablet.
Take Horizant tablets with food.
Do not stop taking Horizant without talking to your healthcare provider first. If you stop taking Horizant suddenly, you may develop side effects.
If you forget to take your medicine at the time recommended by your healthcare provider, just skip the missed dose. Take the next dose at your regular time. Do not take 2 doses at one time.
If you take too much Horizant, call your healthcare provider or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away.

Horizant Dosage

Take Horizant exactly as prescribed. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully.

Restless Legs Syndrome

The recommended dosage for Horizant is 600 mg once daily at about 5 PM.

Postherpetic Neuralgia

The recommended dosage of Horizant is 600 mg twice daily. The usual starting dose is 600 mg in the morning for 3 days of therapy, then the dose is increased to 600 mg twice daily (1,200 mg/day) on day four.

Horizant Overdose

If you take too much Horizant, call your healthcare provider or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away.

Forms of Horizant

Horizant is available as 300 mg and 600 mg extended-release tablets.

Active ingredients: gabapentin enacarbil

Inactive ingredients: Both the 300 mg and 600 mg tablets contain colloidal silicon dioxide, dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate, glyceryl behenate, magnesium stearate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and talc. The 300 mg tablets also contain red ferric oxide.