Maldemar

Scopolamine is a prescription medication used to prevent the nausea and vomiting of motion sickness. It also helps to prevent the nausea and vomiting associated with the use of anesthesia and certain analgesics used during or after many types of surgery.

Scopolamine belongs to a group of drugs called anticholinergic medications, which help block the activity of certain nerve fibers in the brain that would otherwise trigger the sensation of nausea or vomiting

This medication comes in patch form and is applied behind the ear once every three days.

Common side effects of scopolamine include dry mouth, blurry vision, dizziness, and drowsiness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how scopolamine affects you.

Scopolamine is a prescription medication used to prevent the nausea and vomiting of motion sickness for up to 3 days. It also helps to prevent the nausea and vomiting associated with the use of anesthesia and certain analgesics used during or after many types of surgery.

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

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

The scopolamine dose your doctor recommends will be based on the condition being treated.

The recommended dose range for 1 patch worn for up to 3 days. Wear only one patch at a time. Remove old patch before replacing with a new one.

Serious side effects have been reported with scopolamine including the following:

• eye effects: Temporary blurring of vision and dilation (widening) of the pupils may occur, especially if the drug is on your fingers or hands and comes into contact with the eyes. Dry, itchy, or reddened whites of the eye and eye pain have been reported infrequently. In the unlikely event that you experience pain in the eye and reddened whites of the eye, which may be accompanied by widening of the pupil and blurred vision, remove the patch and consult your doctor promptly. Widening of the pupils and blurred vision without pain, or reddened whites of the eye, is usually temporary.
• drug withdrawal/post-removal symptoms: Symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, and disturbances of equilibrium have been reported by some people following stopping use of the scopolamine patch. These symptoms have occurred most often in people who have used the patches for more than 3 days, and frequently do not appear until 24 hours or more after the patch has been removed.
• skin burn. This has been reported at the patch site in several patients wearing aluminized transdermal systems during a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. Because scopolamine contains aluminum, it is recommended to remove the system before undergoing an MRI.

Scopolamine can cause blurry vision, dizziness, and drowsiness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how scopolamine affects you.

In addition, if you plan to participate in underwater sports while wearing the patch, you should discuss with your doctor the potentially disorienting effects of scopolamine.

Scopolamine should not be used in children. The safety of its use in children has not been determined. Children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to the effects of scopolamine.

Do not take scopolamine if you:

• are allergic to scopolamine or to any of its ingredients
• are allergic to medications that contain belladonna alkaloids such as Donnatal tablets and elixir, PB Hyos elixir, Quadrapax elixir, Lomotil, atropine (Atropen, Sal-Tropine, Ocu-Tropine), and hyoscyamine (Levsinex)
• have angle-closure (narrow angle) glaucoma

Serious side effects have been reported with scopolamine. See the “Scopolamine Precautions” section.

Common side effects of scopolamine include the following:

• dry mouth
• blurry vision
• drowsiness
• dizziness
• disorientation
• memory disturbances
• restlessness
• hallucinations
• confusion
• difficulty urinating
• skin rashes or redness
• temporary changes in heart rate such as palpitations

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

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:

• alcohol
• barbiturates such as secobarbital (Seconal), amobarbital (Amytal), pentobarbital (Nembutal), butabarbital (Butisol), and phenobarbital (Luminal)
• antipsychotics such as haloperidol (Haldol), clozapine (Clozaril), and risperidone (Risperdal)
• antihistamines such as meclizine (Antivert, Bonine, Dramamine, Verticalm), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), desloratadine (Clarinex), olopatadine (Pataday, Patanol), and azelastine (Astelin, Astepro)
• other anticholinergics such as atropine (Atropen, Sal-Tropine, Ocu-Tropine), oxybutynin (Ditropan), hyoscyamine (Levsinex), solifenacin (Vesicare), and trospium (Sanctura)
• benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), temazepam (Restoril), and triazolam (Halcion)
• monoamine oxidase (MAO) blockers such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar) or tranylcypromine (Parnate)
• muscle relaxants such as carisoprodol (Soma), dantrolene (Dantrium), metaxalone (Skelaxin), cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril, Amrix), tizanidine (Zanaflex), and methocarbamol (Robaxin)

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

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.

Scopolamine falls into category C. In animals studies, pregnant animals were given this medication and had some babies born with problems. There are no well-controlled studies that have been done in humans with scopolamine, though. Therefore, this medication may be used if the potential benefits to the mother outweigh the potential risks to the unborn child.

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

Scopolamine has been detected in human breast milk. Because of the possibility for adverse reactions in nursing infants from this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or to stop use of scopolamine. The importance of the drug to the mother should be considered.

For the prevention of motion sickness, plan to apply one scopolamine patch at least 4 hours before you need it.

Do not cut the patch.

Keep the patch dry, if possible, to prevent it from falling off. Limited contact with water, however, as in bathing or swimming, will not affect the system.

Since the patch will still contain some active ingredient after use, and to avoid accidental contact or ingestion by children or pets, fold the used patch in half with the sticky side together and dispose in the trash out of the reach of children and pets.