Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking entacapone must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For entacapone, the following should be considered:

Allergies—Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to entacapone. Also tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy—Entacapone has not been studied in pregnant women. However, studies in animals have shown that entacapone causes problems with the development of offspring. Before taking this medicine, make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant.

Breast-feeding— It is not known whether entacapone passes into breast milk.

Children—Studies on this medicine have been done only in adult patients. There is no identified potential use of entacapone in children.

Older adults— Many medicines have not been tested in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. In studies done to date that included elderly people, entacapone did not cause different side effects or problems in older people than it did in younger adults.

Other medicines—Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking entacapone, it is especially important that your doctor and pharmacist know if you are taking any of the following:

• Apomorphine (e.g., Zydis) or
• Bitolterol (e.g., Tornalate) or
• Epinephrine (e.g., Adrenalin) or
• Isoetherine (e.g., Bronkosol) or
• Isoproterenol (e.g., Isuprel) or
• Methyldopa (e.g., Aldomet)—Taking these medications with entacapone may cause a fast or irregular heartbeat and excessive changes in blood pressure.

• Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors (furazolidone [e.g., Furoxone]. isocarboxazid [e.g., Marplan], phenelzine [e.g., Nardil], procarbazine [e.g., Matulane], tranylcypromine [e.g., Parnate])—Taking these medicines with entacapone may cause serious unwanted effects.

Other medical problems—The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of entacapone. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Liver problems—Side effects of entacapone may be increased because of a slower removal from the body.