Description
Xenical 120mg (Orlistat)
What is Xenical 120mg (Orlistat) ?
Xenical 120mg (Orlistat) is combined with a reduced-calorie diet to promote weight loss. it also may be used to prevent weight gain after weight has been lost.
Xenical 120mg (Orlistat) is used to aid in weight loss, or to help reduce the risk of regaining weight already lost. This medicine must be used together with a reduced-calorie diet and is to used only by adults.
Xenical 120mg (Orlistat) is a gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor for obesity management that acts by inhibiting the absorption of dietary fats.
Side effects of Xenical 120mg
The most common side effects of orlistat are:
oily spotting on underwear,
flatulence,
urgent bowel movements,
fatty or oily stools,
increased number of bowel movements,
abdominal pain or discomfort, and
inability to control stool (incontinence).
From 1 in 250 and 1 in 70 patients experienced one or more of these symptoms in the first year. Generally, the side effects occurred within three months of starting therapy. In about 50% of patients, the side effects resolved within one to four weeks, but the effects in some patients lasted six months or longer. To reduce the occurrence of these side effects, meals should contain no more than 30% fat because it is the unabsorbed fat that causes most of the symptoms. alli causes fewer side effects because it contains half the dose of prescription-strength orlistat. Patients receiving orlistat with a history of oxalate kidney stones may develop increased levels of oxalate in their urine, which may increase the risk of kidney stones.
Liver failure has been reported in patients treated with orlistat. Orlistat should be discontinued if symptoms of liver failure (loss of appetite, anorexia, itching, jaundice, dark urine, light colored stools, or right upper abdominal pain) occur while taking orlistat.
Other serious side effects of orlistat include:
Serious allergic reactions
Angioedema
Deficiency in fat-soluble vitamins
Dosage
The recommended adult dose is 120 mg three times daily with each main meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) or up to 1 hour after the meal. If you occasionally miss a meal or the meal does not contain fat, do not take the dose of orlistat. Swallow the capsule whole with some water.
Orlistat should be taken with a mildly reduced-calorie diet that contains no more than 30% of calories from fat, as recommended by your doctor, dietitian, or other health care professional.
Some dietary vitamins bind to fat (vitamins A, D, E and beta- carotene). When orlistat is taken, these vitamins are not absorbed and are eliminated in the stool in increased amounts along with the fat. Therefore, patients taking orlistat should take a multivitamin containing these “fat-soluble” vitamins to ensure that adequate amounts of the vitamins are available for absorption. To ensure that the vitamins in the multivitamins are not bound to fat like the vitamins in the diet, the multivitamin should be taken at least two hours before or several hours after the orlistat.
Interactions
The blood thinning effect of warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven) depends on the amount of vitamin K in the body, and vitamin K is one of the vitamins that binds to fat. Patients receiving warfarin who begin orlistat should have their blood clotting monitored closely because the orlistat may cause levels of vitamin K to decline. This will increase the effects of warfarin and lead to abnormal bleeding from the warfarin. There is no evidence that a deficiency of vitamin K occurs in patients who are taking orlistat.
Orlistat may reduce the absorption and blood levels of cyclosporine (Sandimmune) when both drugs are administered together. Therefore, cyclosporine should be administered two hours before or after orlistat, and more frequent monitoring of cyclosporine levels may be needed.
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