Catapres Side Effects
Serious Adverse Side Effects
Catapres | Clonidine has some serious adverse side effects associated with it, such as:
- Cardiovascular side effects such as atrioventricular block, or impairment of the atria and ventricles of the heart
Common Adverse Side Effects
More common and less severe adverse side effects of
Catapres | Clonidine include:
- Cardiovascular side effects such as low blood pressure
- Endocrine metabolic side effects such as increased body temperature
- Gastrointestinal side effects such as constipation, nausea, pain in the throat, upper abdominal pain, vomiting, and dry mouth
- Neurological side effects such as confusion, dizziness, insomnia, sedation, and drowsiness
- Otic side effects such as lack of hearing and ear pain
- Psychiatric side effects such as mood swings, irritability and nightmares
- Respiratory side effects such as nasal congestion and upper respiratory tract infection
- Other side effects such as fatigue
Warnings & Recalls for Catapres
Black Box Warning
There is an attached “black box” warning with
Catapres | Clonidine that denotes that the 500mcg/mL strength epidural solution should be diluted prior to use. It further goes on to say that the epidural solution of
Catapres | Clonidine is not recommended for use with obstetrical, post-partum and for use during surgery.
Contraindications
There are contraindications with this drug that hinder a patient’s ability to take it while being prescribed to other medications and treatments or having a hypersensitivity to its ingredients, such as:
- Bleeding diathesis
- Concurrent use with anticoagulants
- Hypersensitivity to Clonidine
- Injection site infection
Who Should Not Take This Drug
The following preexisting conditions hinder a patient’s ability to take
Catapres | Clonidine. These include:
- Abrupt discontinuation from Catapres | Clonidine
- Affective disorders
- Atrioventricular block
- Cardiovascular disease
- Catheter-related infections
- Stroke
- Concurrent use with sympatholytic drugs
- Coronary insufficiency
- Depression
- Heart attacks
- Kidney failure
- Not meant to be used during surgery
Catapres Treatment and Use
Catapres | Clonidine is a drug that is a sympatholytic prescription used to treat a variety of medical conditions such some pain conditions, high blood pressure, ADHD as well as generalized anxiety disorder. Its classification is that of a centrally acting α2 adrenergic agonist. An alternative take on Catapres | Clonidine has been to declare it as an imidazoline receptor agonist.
Non-FDA labeled indications for this drug include:
The company who manufactures and markets this drug is Boehrlinger-Ingelheim. This drug comes either in an extended release tablet, immediate release tablet, epidural injection or either as a transdermal patch and is approved for both children as well as adults.
Please refer to the “warnings and recalls” tab to get the “black box” warning associated with this drug.
How This Drug Works
Catapres | Clonidine is known to stimulate the alpha-2 adrenergic receptors of the brain which results in reduced outflow from the central nervous system. This is turn yields decreased peripheral resistance, decreased heart rates as well as blood pressure. The mechanism of action for ADHD in Catapres | Clonidine is still yet to be established. When administered trans-dermally, this drug produces anesthetic-like qualities by the prevention of pain-signal transmission to the brain at various receptors in the spinal cord.
Dosage Information
It is worth noting that the safety and efficacy of the extended-release tablets of Catapres | Clonidine for treating ADHD has not been established in adult and pediatric patients under the age of 6.
- For adult patients with cancer pain, 30mcg/hour as an epidural injection
- For adults with hot sweats, up to 200mcg orally daily
- For adults with hypertension, initial dosage of 0.1mg orally twice daily. Maximum 2.4mg.day
- For adults with hypertension discontinuing this drug, gradual decrease of dose over 2 to 4 days
- For adults with spasticity, 0.05 to 0.4mg orally daily in divided dosages
In treating pediatric patients:
- For pediatric patients with ADHD, initially 0.1mg orally at bedtime incrementally meant to get higher as time progresses. The dosage will be higher than 0.1mg/day in two divided doses (morning and bedtime). Maximum 0.4mg/day
- For pediatric patients with ADHD discontinuing this drug, decreases of 0.1mg every 3 to 7 days
- For pediatric patients with cancer pain, initial dosage of 0.5mcg/kg/hour as an epidural injection
- For pediatric patients experiencing opioid withdrawals, 1mcg/kg every 4 hours
