Fibricor

Fibricor is a prescription medication used to lower cholesterol and triglycerides (a type of fat) and to increase HDL ("good") cholesterol in the blood. It may be used alone or with other cholesterol-lowering medications. Fibricor belongs to a group of drugs called fibrates. These work by increasing the activity of an enzyme involved in removing triglycerides and cholesterols from the body.

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken once a day, with or without food.

Common side effects of Fibricor include headaches, heartburn, nausea, and muscle aches.

Fibricor is a prescription medicine used to lower cholesterol in the blood by lowering the total amount of triglycerides and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and increasing the HDL ("good") cholesterol.

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

Take Fibricor 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
• other medical conditions you have
• other medications you are taking
• how you respond to this medication

The recommended dose of Fibricor for the treatment of high cholesterol is 105 mg daily.

The recommended dose range of Fibricor for the treatment of high triglycerides is 35 mg to 105 mg daily.

Serious side effects have been reported with Fibricor, including:

• weakness
• muscle pain or tenderness
• joint pain
• fever
• blistering or peeling skin
• rash
• hives
• pain in the upper back or under the right shoulder
• stomach pain, especially in the upper right part of the stomach
• nausea
• vomiting
• shortness or breath
• pain when breathing
• coughing up blood

Do not take Fibricor if you:

• are allergic to Fibricor or to any of its ingredients
• have severe kidney disease or are receiving dialysis
• have liver disease
• have gallbladder disease
• are breastfeeding

Serious side effects have been reported with Fibricor. See the "Fibricor Precautions" section.

Common side effects of Fibricor include:

• constipation
• diarrhea
• heartburn
• pain in the back, arm, or legs

This is not a complete list of Fibricor 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:

• anticoagulants ("blood thinners") such as warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven)
• colchicine (Colcrys, in Col-Probenecid)
• diuretics ('water pills')
• beta blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin), labetalol (Normodyne), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), nadolol (Corgard), and propranolol (Inderal)
• HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (cholesterol-lowering agents) such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), and simvastatin (Zocor)
• hormone replacement therapy
• hormonal contraceptives (birth control pills, patches, implants, rings, and injections)
• immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral) and tacrolimus (Prograf)

This is not a complete list of Fibricor 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 this mediation is taken during pregnancy.

Fibricor falls into category C. In animal studies, pregnant animals were given this medication and had some babies born with problems. No well-controlled studies have been done in humans. 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.

Fibricor should not be used by nursing mothers. A decision should be made whether to stop nursing or to stop using Fibricor, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.

Fenofibrate can be used with other cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins.

You should be on a low fat and low cholesterol diet while you take fenofibrate.

Your healthcare provider may do blood tests before you start taking fenofibrate and during treatment.

See your healthcare provider regularly to check your cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to check for side effects.