Dobutamine

Dobutamine is a prescription medication used to improve heart function.

Dobutamine belongs to a group of drugs called synthetic catecholamines or inotropic agents. These help the heart pump better by strengthening the heart muscle. Dobutamine also improves blood flow and relieves symptoms of heart failure.

This medication is available in an injectable form to be given directly into a vein (IV) by a healthcare professional.

Common side effects of dobutamine include increased heart rate, blood pressure changes, and pain at the injection site.

Dobutamine is a prescription medication used to improve heart function.

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

Dobutamine may be found in some form under the following brand names:

• Dobutrex

Serious side effects have been reported with dobutamine. See the “Dobutamine Precautions” section.

Common side effects of dobutamine include the following:

• upset stomach
• vomiting
• tingling sensations
• fever
• leg cramps
• headache

This is not a complete list of dobutamine side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

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

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

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

• antidepressants such as citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), nefazodone (Serzone), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), sertraline (Zoloft), venlafaxine (Effexor), trimipramine (Surmontil), isocarboxazid (Marplan), amitriptyline (Elavil), nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl), protriptyline (Vivactil), and clomipramine (Anafranil)
• beta blockers such as metoprolol (Toprol XL, Lopressor), carvedilol (Coreg), bisoprolol (Zebeta), betaxolol (Kerlone), nebivolol (Bystolic), propranolol (Inderal)
• guanethidine (Ismelin)

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

Serious side effects have been reported with dobutamine including significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure and allergic reactions. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have some or all of the following symptoms:

• irregular heartbeat
• increases in blood pressure and heart rate
• chest pain
• shortness of breath
• swelling of the lower legs and ankles
• increasing fatigue
• lightheadedness, dizziness, or faintness
• skin rash

Do not receive dobutamine if you:

• are allergic to dobutamine or to any of its ingredients
• have idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis

Medications 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 dobutamine, there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving this medication.

Before taking dobutamine, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions. Especially tell your doctor if you:

• are allergic to dobutamine or to any of its ingredients
• have or have heart valve disease
• have high blood pressure
• are pregnant or breastfeeding

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

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X - are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

Dobutamine falls into category B.

There are no well-done studies that have been done in humans with dobutamine. In animal studies, pregnant animals were given this medication, and the babies did not show any medical issues related to this medication.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.

It is not known if dobutamine crosses into human milk. Because many medications can cross into human milk and because of the possibility for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or stop the use of this medication. Your doctor and you will decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of using dobutamine.

Receive dobutamine exactly as prescribed.

This medication is available in an injectable form to be given directly into a vein (IV) by a healthcare professional. It must be diluted before administration.

Do not stop the infusion on your own for any reason and do not change your dosing schedule without talking to your health care provider. Heart activity and blood pressure should be monitored continuously during administration of dobutamine.

Take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully.

The dose your doctor recommends may be based on the following:

• the condition being treated
• how you respond to this medication
• your weight

The recommended dose range of dobutamine is 2.5-15 mcg/kg/minute. Dose, rate of administration, and duration of therapy will depend on how you respond to this medication.

If you take too much dobutamine, call your healthcare provider or local Poison Control Center, or seek emergency medical attention right away.

If dobutamine is administered by a healthcare provider in a medical setting, it is unlikely that an overdose will occur. However, if overdose is suspected, seek emergency medical attention.

• Store dobutamine at room temperature.
• Keep this and all medicines out of the reach of children.