What Is Allopurinol?

Allopurinol seems to be a strong medication. It may help lower uric acid in an individual's body. Patients may be able to take it orally, though injections also appear to be available. There seem to be several oral doses out there, including one, three, and five hundred milligrams. One hundred milligrams seems to be the starting dose for most gout patients. Maintenance doses for this may be two to three hundred daily milligrams for mild cases. Intravenous doses appear to be common for chemotherapy patients. They may receive a typical dose of two to four hundred milligrams. However, the maximum each day seems to be six hundred milligrams.

This appears to be a common gout medicine. Certain individuals may experience immediate gout pain relief when they take it. However, there also seems to be other gout inflammation medicines out there. This may offer patients an alternative to allopurinol for gout. Some individuals may take it as a kidney stone treatment. It seems to help in chemotherapy treatment too. Natural remedies for gout pain may help patients reduce how much they rely on this medication. Ultimately, individuals should consider getting a full understanding of this medication first.

How It Should Work

Allopurinol seems to be a xanthine oxidase inhibitor. This type of medication may be able to block the effect of an enzyme called xanthine oxidase. This appears to lower how much uric acid is in the patient's body. This acid may be the result of purine metabolism.

This medication may also act quite similarly to a natural purine. This purine appears to be called hypoxanthine. It may stop the synthesis of purines. When patients consume this medication, their body seems to metabolize it in two hours. After this point, their kidneys should excrete the result for about eighteen to thirty hours. This result appears to be oxypurinol.

Learn about the potential uses for this medication next.

Potential Uses

Most patients seem to be prescribed this medication to treat gout. However, it may only prevent future gout attacks, not treat symptoms during one. Individuals may also take this medicine to treat kidney stones. It also appears to help chemotherapy patients reduce the amount of uric acid in their body. Some doctors may recommend it for individuals who experience seizures. This medication also seems to treat some types of infections.

Ulcer patients appear to be able to prevent relapses with this medication. It may help with some pancreatic conditions as well. Some kidney transplant patients seem to take this medicine to prevent organ rejection. It may help heart bypass operations also. In this case, it appears to increase patient survival rates after surgery.

Reveal the possible side effects next.

Possible Side Effects

Side effects appear to be fairly frequent on this medication. Patients seem to report certain effects more than others. This may include nausea, vomiting, and headaches. Other common side effects appear to be skin rashes, drowsiness, and diarrhea. Some individuals may deal with taste changes or an upset stomach on this medicine. It also seems that this medication can return abnormal liver function test results. Thus, patients may need to talk to their doctor if they experience certain side effects. These effects appear to include persistent or severe upset stomach, diarrhea, or drowsiness. Consulting a doctor for mild skin rashes seems to be important too.

Rare side effects of this medication are also possible. They may include tingling, numbness, and urinary issues. The urinary issues that seem to happen are decreased output and painful urination. This may also be bloody urine. There also appears to be rare liver problems on this medication. Patients may want to look for stomach pain, itching, fever, and chills. Appetite loss and unexplained weight loss can happen as well. These symptoms seem to need immediate attention. Patients may also need urgent help for the urinary side effects.

Get the details on possible precautions to consider next.

Possible Precautions To Consider

It seems that doctors need to help ensure that this medication is safe for each patient. This can be why patients should review their medical history with them. It seems that a history of kidney or liver disease may make this medication unsafe. Others with a history of high blood pressure or diabetes may not be able to take this medication also. It appears to be unsafe for individuals dealing with congestive heart failure too. Chemotherapy patients seem to require extra caution before taking this medication. This may apply to breastfeeding and pregnant women as well.

Avoiding alcohol appears to be vital for this medication. This seems to connect to the medicine's impairment of reaction time. It may also be why patients should consider avoiding driving. This medication could result in decreased white blood cells. Due to this, some patients may see more bleeding after an injury. This lower white blood cell count may trigger more infections also. Thus, individuals may want regular blood tests and appointments for this. Thankfully, they seem to be able to take this medication with or without food. However, it appears that a full glass of water is necessary. This may help them avoid kidney stones. Drinking sixty-four to eighty ounces of water daily seems to help on this medication.

Reveal some of the potential medication interactions next.

Potential Medication Interactions

Allopurinol seems to have many potential medication interactions. It may be over fifty of them. There also appears to be sixteen major ones out there. Thus, individuals may wish to list all of the medications they take. They should consider including all supplements and over-the-counter drugs on this list besides prescriptions. This medication list may help doctors avoid possible interactions.

Some antibiotics may interact with allopurinol. One example of this seems to be amoxicillin. Blood thinners appear to trigger interactions too, and certain chemotherapy drugs may do this as well. This can also apply to some immunosuppressants and diuretics. Those taking other medications for gout may need to check with their doctor first also. Some patients may only need their doses adjusted. Others, however, seem to require alternative medications.