Monopril Side Effects

Serious Adverse Side Effects

Monopril | 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

Monopril | 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 Monopril

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 Monopril | Fosinopril should be stopped immediately.

Contraindications

The only contraindication of Monopril | Fosinopril is when a patient has a hypersensitivity to any components of this drug such as Fosinopril, 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 Monopril | 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

Monopril Treatment and Use

Monopril | Fosinopril is a drug that is used for the treatment of hypertension and certain types of chronic heart failure. This drug has the distinction of being the only phosphinate-containing ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitor and is marketed and produced by Bristol-Myers Squibb. It is worth noting that Monopril | Fosinopril comes as a tablet to take orally.

Whereas other ACE inhibitors are usually excreted through the kidneys, Monopril | Fosinopril is eliminated from the body of the patient through both the kidneys and the liver pathways. This attribute of Monopril | Fosinopril makes it a safer alternative than other ACE inhibitors for chronic heart failure patients who’ve displayed impaired kidney function and this is bolstered by the fact that Monopril | Fosinopril is prevented by the body to accumulate for a long duration.

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

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

Dosage Information

The dosage information for Monopril | Fosinopril is dependent upon the severity of the certain impairment the patient is having.

For adult heart failure patients, Monopril | Fosinopril is started at 5mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 40mg daily
For adult hypertension patients, Monopril | Fosinopril is started at 10mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 80mg daily
For adult heart attack patients, Monopril | 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.), Monopril | Fosinopril is started at 5mg once daily but can progress to a maximum of 40mg daily