Eprosartan

Eprosartan is a prescription medication used to treat high blood pressure. Eprosartan belongs to a group of drugs called angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) which help lower blood pressure by blocking a natural substance that causes blood vessels to narrow. This allows blood to flow more smoothly and makes the heart more efficient at pumping blood.

This medication comes in tablet form and is usually taken once or twice a day. It can be taken with or without food.

Common side effects include upper respiratory infections, facial swelling, and runny or stuffy nose. Eprosartan can cause dizziness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how it affects you.

Eprosartan is a prescription medication used to treat high blood pressure. 

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

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

The recommended starting dose of eprosartan is usually 600 mg once daily. Your healthcare provider may increase your dose if necessary to achieve the desired blood pressure response. The usual recommended dosing range is between 400 mg and 800 mg a day. 

Based on how your body responds to the medication and side effects you experience, your healthcare provider may decide to increase or decrease your dose. The dose you receive is also based on the following factors:

• your age
• the medical condition you are being treated for
• other medical conditions you may have 
• other medications you are taking including diuretics

WARNING: FETAL TOXICITY

• When pregnancy is detected, discontinue eprosartan as soon as possible.
• Drugs that act directly on the renin-angiotensin system can cause injury and death to the developing fetus.

Serious side effects have been reported with eprosartan including:

• Angioedema (swelling under the skin). Tell your healthcare profession right away if you have signs or symptoms of angioedema, which include:
  • swelling of face, eyes, lips, tongue, larynx and extremities
  • difficulty in swallowing or breathing
  • hoarseness (having difficulty making sounds when trying to speak)
• Eprosartan can cause dizziness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how eprosartan affects you.
• Hypotension. Excessive perspiration and dehydration may lead to an excessive fall in blood pressure (hypotension). Vomiting or diarrhea may also lead to a fall in blood pressure.
• Hyperkalemia. Eprosartan may lead to increased levels of potassium, which could lead to side effects such as heart arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat) and nausea. Check with your doctor before using potassium supplements or salt substitutes that contain potassium.
• Decline in kidney function. Your doctor may need to perform tests to determine how well your kidneys are working, especially if you already have kidney disease.

Do not take eprosartan if you:

• are pregnant. See "FDA Warning" section.
• are allergic to any ingredient found in this medication
• have diabetes and are taking aliskiren (Tekturna)

Serious side effects have been reported with eprosartan. See “Drug Precautions” section.

Common side effects include:

• upper respiratory infections
• facial swelling
• runny or stuffy nose
• sore throat
• cough

This is not a complete list of eprosartan 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:

• potassium-sparing diuretics such as:
  • spironolactone (Aldactone)
  • triamterene (Dyrenium)
  • amiloride (Midamor)
• aliskiren (Tekturna)
• angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors such as:
  • benazepril (Lotensin, Lotensin HCT)
  • captopril (Capoten, Capozide)
  • enalapril (Vasotec, Vaseretic)
  • fosinopril (Monopril, Monopril HCT)
  • lisinopril (Prinivil, Prinzide, Zestril, Zestoretic)
  • moexipril (Univasc, Uniretic)
  • quinapril (Accupril, Accuretic, Quinaretic)
  • ramipril (Altace)
  • trandolapril (Mavik, Tarka)
• other angiotensin receptor II blockers such as:
  • azilsartan (Edarbi)
  • candesartan (Atacand)
  • irbesartan (Avapro)
  • losartan (Cozaar)
  • olmesartan (Benicar)
  • telmisartan (Micardis, Twynsta)
  • valsartan (Diovan)
• aspirin and other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as:
  • celecoxib (Celebrex)
  • diclofenac (Cambia, Cataflam, Flector, Voltaren, Zipsor and others)
  • etodolac (Lodine)
  • ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin)
  • indomethacin (Indocin, Indocin SR)
  • ketoprofen (Orudis, Actron, Oruvail)
  • ketorolac (Toradol)
  • meloxicam (Mobic)
  • nabumetone (Relafen)
  • naproxen (Naprosyn)
  • naproxen sodium (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprelan)
  • oxaprozin (Daypro)
  • piroxicam (Feldene)
• potassium supplements

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

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Eprosartan is usually not recommended for use during pregnancy. See "FDA Warning" section.

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.

Eprosartan falls into category D. It has been shown that use of eprosartan in pregnant women caused some babies to be born with problems. More specifically, it has been shown that use of drugs like eprosartan during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy harms the unborn baby’s kidneys and increases the risk of deformities or death to the unborn baby.

However, in some situations the benefit of using this medication may be greater than the risk of harm to the baby.

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

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

Eprosartan should be taken at the same time each day to maintain an even level of the medicine in your blood.

Do not use salt substitutes containing potassium without talking to your doctor. Eprosartan can cause increased potassium levels in your blood.

If you get pregnant while taking eprosartan, tell your doctor right away.