Fosinopril Side Effects

Serious Adverse Side Effects

Fosinopril has many serious adverse side effects associated with it, such as:

Cardiovascular side effects such as hypotension, or low blood pressure
Endocrine metabolic side effects such as hyperkalemia, or elevated levels of potassium in the blood
Gastrointestinal side effects such as intestinal angioedema, or swelling of the wall of the bowels
Hematological side effects such as agranulocytosis, in which there’s a dangerously low levels of white blood cells
Immunological side effects such as anaphylactoid reactions, a serious and deadly allergic reaction to the drug
Renal side effects such as kidney failure, azotemia (elevation of blood level urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels), and oliguria, or low urine flow
Other side effects such as angioedema, a serious and deadly allergic reaction to the drug

Common Adverse Side Effects

Fosinopril has more common and less severe adverse side effects, such as:

Gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and vomiting
Neurological side effects such as dizziness
Respiratory side effects such as cough

Warnings & Recalls for Fosinopril

Black Box Warning

ACE inhibitors display the tendency to cause injury or death to a developing fetus when used during the 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters of a pregnancy. Upon conception, therapy with Fosinopril should be stopped immediately.

Contraindications

The only contraindication of Fosinopril is when a patient has a hypersensitivity to this drug, or has displayed a hypersensitivity to other ACE inhibitors.

Who Should Not Take This Drug

The following preexisting conditions and precautions hinder a patient’s ability to take Fosinopril. These include:

Patients with aortic stenosis
Patients with autoimmune disorders
Patients with collagen vascular disease
Patients with cough
Patients with excessive hypotension
Patients with febrile illness
Patients with head and neck angioedema
Patients who are undergoing hemodialysis with high-flux membrane
Patients with a liver dysfunction
Patients with hyperkalemia
Patients who are undergoing immunosuppressant drug therapy
Patients with insect venom allergy
Patients with intestinal angioedema
Patients with neutropenia
Patients with proteinuria
Patients with renal artery stenosis
Patients with renal insufficiency
Patients undergoing surgery with anesthesia

Pregnancy Warning

Fosinopril has a varying pregnancy category rating established by the FDA which largely depends upon the specific trimester in which the mother is expecting.

1^st trimester: C
2^nd trimester: D
3^rd trimester: D

ACE inhibitors have the ability to cause immense damage to the fetus while taken during pregnancy. Upon knowledge of conception, Fosinopril should be discontinued immediately.

Fosinopril Treatment and Use

Fosinopril is a drug that’s prescribed to treat hypertension and certain types of chronic heart failure. The drug classification of Fosinopril is that of an ACE inhibitor. This drug is the only phosphinate-containing ACE inhibitor currently available in the market. This drug is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb under then name Monopril. It is worth noting that this drug comes as a tablet to take orally.

The FDA-labeled indications for Monopril | Fosinopril are for:

Chronic heart failure
Hypertension

The non-FDA labeled indications for Monopril | Fosinopril are for:

Diabetic nephropathy
Erythrocytosis
Non-diabetic kidney disease
Heart attacks

See the “warnings and recalls” tab to get more information about the “black box” warning for this drug.

How This Drug Works

Fosinopril is known as an ester prodrug belonging to a competitive and specific ACE inhibitor called fosinoprilat. ACE inhibition can prevent conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II. This leads to decreased levels of kidney absorption activity and decreased levels of aldosterone, which is the steroid responsible for increases of absorption of ions and water in the kidneys which leads to higher blood pressure.

Dosage Information

The dosage information for Fosinopril is largely dependent upon the nature and the severity of the illness that the patient is suffering. The following are the dosage administrations for each exclusive diagnosis.

For adult heart failure patients, Fosinopril is started at 5mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 40mg daily
For adult hypertension patients, Fosinopril is started at 10mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 80mg daily
For adult heart attack patients, Fosinopril is started at 5mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 20mg daily
For pediatric hypertension patients (ages 6-16 and weighing more than 110lbs.), Fosinopril is started at 5mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 40mg daily