Loxapine, Inhalation

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KEY POINTS

• This medicine is inhaled through your mouth to treat the symptoms schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Use it exactly as directed.
• This medicine may cause severe trouble breathing, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath, especially if you already have a lung disease.
• Older adults with dementia are at greater risk for life-threatening side effects.
• This medicine may cause unwanted side effects. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that are serious, continue, or get worse.
• Tell all healthcare providers who treat you about all the prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, supplements, natural remedies, and vitamins that you take.

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What are other names for this medicine?

Type of medicine: antipsychotic

Generic and brand names: loxapine succinate, inhalation; Adasuve

What is this medicine used for?

This medicine is inhaled through your mouth to treat the symptoms of mental disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

This medicine may cause severe breathing problems and is only available through a special program. Talk with your healthcare provider about this.

This medicine may be used to treat other conditions as determined by your healthcare provider.

What should my healthcare provider know before I take this medicine?

Before taking this medicine, tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had:

• An allergic reaction to any medicine
• A stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), brain tumor, or head injury
• Alzheimer’s disease or dementia
• Asthma, COPD, or other lung problems (You should not receive this medicine if you are also taking medicines to treat lung or breathing problems.)
• Glaucoma
• Heart disease or an irregular heartbeat
• High or low blood pressure
• Kidney or liver disease
• Problems with alcohol or drug abuse
• Problems with dehydration
• Seizures
• Trouble swallowing
• Trouble urinating or an enlarged prostate gland

Females of childbearing age: Talk with your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known whether this medicine will harm an unborn baby. Do not breast-feed while taking this medicine without your healthcare provider's approval.

How do I take it?

Read the Medication Guide that comes in the medicine package when you start using this medicine and each time you get a treatment.

This medicine is given by a healthcare provider. You will be monitored closely while you are receiving this medicine and for a period of time after you receive this medicine. Your provider will show you how to inhale the medicine.

What should I watch out for?

This medicine may cause severe trouble breathing, chest tightness, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath, especially if you already have a lung disease. If you have these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider right away.

Older adults with dementia are at greater risk for life-threatening side effects. Talk with your provider about this.

This medicine increases the effects of alcohol and other drugs that slow down your nervous system. Do not drink alcohol or take other medicines unless your healthcare provider approves.

This medicine may cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, especially when you first start taking it. You may feel dizzy or faint when you get up quickly after sitting or lying down. Getting up slowly may help. If you feel dizzy or faint while you are standing, lie down for a while and then get up slowly.

This medicine may make you dizzy or drowsy. Do not drive or operate machinery unless you are fully alert.

While taking this medicine, be careful when you exercise, especially when it is hot. This medicine affects your body's ability to cool down, and you may get too hot. If you get too hot, you might vomit, feel dizzy, have a fast heartbeat, get very stiff muscles, or be confused. Contact your provider right away if you have these symptoms.

If you need emergency care, surgery, lab tests, or dental work, tell your healthcare provider or dentist you are taking this medicine.

What are the possible side effects?

Along with its needed effects, your medicine may cause some unwanted side effects. Some side effects may be very serious. Some side effects may go away as your body adjusts to the medicine. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that continue or get worse.

Life-threatening (Report these to your healthcare provider right away. If you cannot reach your healthcare provider right away, get emergency medical care or call 911 for help.): Allergic reaction (hives; itching; rash; trouble breathing; chest pain or tightness in your chest; swelling of your lips, tongue, and throat).

Serious (Report these to your healthcare provider right away.): Tremors, muscle twitching or stiffness, high fever, severe sweating, confusion, trouble breathing, unusual tiredness or weakness, extreme dizziness or drowsiness, fainting, trouble speaking or swallowing, seizures, fast or irregular heartbeat, loss of balance or trouble walking, trouble controlling body movements, trouble urinating, vision problems.

Other: Dry mouth, mild drowsiness or dizziness, blurred vision, constipation, lightheadedness, change in sense of taste, sore throat.

What products might interact with this medicine?

When you take this medicine with other medicines, it can change the way this or any of the other medicines work. Nonprescription medicines, vitamins, natural remedies, and certain foods may also interact. Using these products together might cause harmful side effects. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are taking:

• Alpha blockers such as alfuzosin (Uroxatral), doxazosin (Cardura), prazosin (Minipress), silodosin (Rapaflo), and terazosin
• Alzheimer’s disease medicines such as donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne), and rivastigmine (Exelon)
• Antianxiety medicines such as alprazolam (Xanax), buspirone, chlordiazepoxide, clorazepate (Gen-Xene, Tranxene), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), midazolam (Versed), and oxazepam
• Anticholinergic medicines such as atropine/diphenoxylate (Lomotil), dicyclomine (Bentyl), hyoscyamine (HyoMax, Levbid, Levsin), methscopolamine (Pamine), propantheline, and trihexyphenidyl
• Antidepressants such as amitriptyline, duloxetine (Cymbalta), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), imipramine (Tofranil), nefazodone, nortriptyline (Pamelor), sertraline (Zoloft), trazodone, and venlafaxine (Effexor)
• Antihistamines such as azelastine (Astelin, Astepro), brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and hydroxyzine (Vistaril)
• Antiseizure medicines such as carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Epitol, Equetro, Tegretol), phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek), and primidone (Mysoline)
• Barbiturates such as butabarbital (Butisol), pentobarbital (Nembutal), and phenobarbital
• Beta blockers such as acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol (Tenormin), bisoprolol (Zebeta), carvedilol (Coreg), labetalol (Trandate), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), nadolol (Corgard), nebivolol (Bystolic), pindolol, and sotalol (Betapace, Sorine)
• Blood pressure medicines such as hydralazine, methyldopa, minoxidil, and reserpine
• Calcium channel blockers such as amlodipine (Norvasc), amlodipine/atorvastatin (Caduet), diltiazem (Cardizem, Cartia, Tiazac), felodipine, isradipine (DynaCirc), nicardipine (Cardene), nifedipine (Adalat CC, Procardia), nisoldipine (Sular), and verapamil (Calan, Covera, Verelan)
• Dextromethorphan, an ingredient in many cough, cold, or allergy medicines such as Robitussin-DM
• Diuretics (water pills) such as amiloride, bumetanide, chlorothiazide (Diuril), chlorthalidone, furosemide (Lasix), hydrochlorothiazide (Microzide), spironolactone (Aldactone), torsemide (Demadex), and triamterene (Dyrenium)
• Doxepin (Silenor)
• Lithium (Lithobid)
• Lorcaserin (Belviq)
• MAO inhibitors such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), and tranylcypromine (Parnate) (Do not take this medicine and an MAO inhibitor within 14 days of each other.)
• Medicines to treat breathing or lung problems such as aclidinium (Tudorza), albuterol (ProAir, Proventil, Ventolin), ipratropium (Atrovent), levalbuterol (Xopenex), pirbuterol (Maxair), tiotropium (Spiriva), umeclidinium (Incruse Ellipta), zafirlukast (Accolate), and zileuton (Zyflo)
• Migraine medicines such as almotriptan (Axert), dihydroergotamine (D.H.E. 45, Migranal), eletriptan (Relpax), ergotamine (Ergomar), frovatriptan (Frova), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Alsuma, Imitrex, Sumavel), and zolmitriptan (Zomig)
• Muscle relaxants such as baclofen (Gablofen, Lioresal), carisoprodol (Soma), cyclobenzaprine (Amrix), dantrolene (Dantrium), methocarbamol (Robaxin), orphenadrine (Norflex), and tizanidine (Zanaflex)
• Natural remedies such as DHEA, gotu kola, kava, St. John's wort, and valerian
• Nausea medicines such as metoclopramide (Metozolv, Reglan), prochlorperazine (Compro), and promethazine
• Other antipsychotic medicines such as chlorpromazine, clozapine (Clozaril, FazaClo), fluphenazine, haloperidol (Haldol), olanzapine (Zyprexa), perphenazine, pimozide (Orap), thioridazine, and trifluoperazine
• Pain medicines such as codeine, fentanyl (Abstral, Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora, Sublimaze), hydrocodone (Hysingla, Zohydro), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo), meperidine (Demerol), methadone (Dolophine, Methadose), morphine (Kadian, MS Contin), oxycodone (OxyContin, Roxicodone), oxycodone/acetaminophen (Percocet, Roxicet), pentazocine (Talwin), tapentadol (Nucynta), and tramadol (ConZip, Ultram)
• Parkinson’s disease medicines such as benztropine (Cogentin), bromocriptine (Cycloset, Parlodel), entacapone (Comtan), levodopa/carbidopa (Duopa, Rytary, Sinemet), pramipexole (Mirapex), and ropinirole (Requip)
• Paroxetine (Brisdelle, Paxil, Pexeva)
• Sleeping pills such as flurazepam, suvorexant (Belsomra), temazepam (Restoril), triazolam (Halcion), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien, Edluar, Intermezzo)
• Thalidomide (Thalomid)

Do not drink alcohol while taking this medicine unless your healthcare provider approves.

If you are not sure if your medicines might interact, ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider. Keep a list of all your medicines with you. List all the prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, supplements, natural remedies, and vitamins that you take. Be sure that you tell all healthcare providers who treat you about all the products you are taking.

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This advisory includes selected information only and may not include all side effects of this medicine or interactions with other medicines. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information or if you have any questions.

Ask your pharmacist for the best way to dispose of outdated medicine or medicine you have not used. Do not throw medicine in the trash.

Keep all medicines out of the reach of children.

Do not share medicines with other people.