Before Using This Medicine

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

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

Pregnancy—

Note:

The combination of stavudine and didanosine should be used with caution during pregnancy.

Stavudine has not been studied in pregnant women. However, studies in animals have shown that stavudine causes birth defects when given in very high doses. 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 stavudine passes into the breast milk. However, if your baby does not already have the AIDS virus, there is a chance that you could pass it to your baby by breast-feeding. Talk to your doctor first if you are thinking about breast-feeding your baby.

Children—This medicine has been tested in children from birth through adolescence and, in effective doses, has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems than it does in adults.

Older adults—Stavudine has not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it is not known whether it causes different side effects or problems in the elderly than it does in younger adults. Elderly patients should be closely monitored for signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

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 stavudine, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Chloramphenicol (e.g., Chloromycetin) or
• Cisplatin (e.g., Platinol) or
• Dapsone or
• Didanosine (e.g., ddI, Videx) or
• Ethambutol (e.g., Myambutol) or
• Ethionamide (e.g., Trecator-SC) or
• Hydralazine (e.g., Apresoline) or
• Isoniazid or
• Lithium (e.g., Eskalith, Lithobid) or
• Metronidazole (e.g., Flagyl) or
• Nitrofurantoin (e.g., Macrodantin) or
• Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin) or
• Vincristine (e.g., Oncovin) or
• Zalcitabine (e.g., ddC, HIVID)—Use of these medicines with stavudine may increase the chance of peripheral neuropathy (tingling, burning, numbness, or pain in your hands or feet)

• Didanosine (e.g., ddI, Videx) or
• Hydroxyurea (e.g., Hydrea)—Use of these medicines with stavudine may increase the chance of liver toxicity or pancreatitis

• Zidovudine (e.g., Retrovir)—May prevent stavudine from working effectively; using stavudine and zidovudine at the same time is not recommended

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

• Alcohol abuse, active or a history of, or
• Liver disease—Stavudine may make liver disease worse in patients with liver disease, active alcohol abuse, or a history of alcohol abuse

• Kidney disease—Patients with kidney disease may have an increased chance of side effects

• Peripheral neuropathy—Stavudine may make this condition worse