Cisapride (oral): What Should I Discuss With My Healthcare Provider Before Taking Cisapride

Content provided by Cerner Multum, Inc.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking cisapride?

Do not take cisapride if you

• have bleeding, an injury, or an obstruction in your stomach;
• have heart disease or hardening of the arteries;
• have heart failure;
• have an irregular heartbeat or a history of irregular heartbeats;
• have a history of prolonged QT intervals;
• have a family history of congenital long QT syndrome;
• have a slow heart rate that is considered a medical condition;
• have a structural heart defect;
• have heart block or other conduction disturbances;
• have severe dehydration (loss of water), vomiting, malnutrition, an eating disorder;
• have kidney failure; or
• have severe lung problems or advanced cancer.

The conditions listed above may increase the risk of dangerous side effects including irregular heartbeats, heart attack, and death while taking cisapride.

Do not take cisapride with any of the following drugs:

• antibiotics such as clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (Ery-Tab, E.E.S., E-Mycin, others), troleandomycin (TAO), and sparfloxacin (Zagam);
• antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil), maprotiline (Ludiomil), and nefazodone (Serzone);
• antifungal medications such as fluconazole (Diflucan), itraconazole (Sporanox), and ketoconazole (Nizoral);
• phenothiazines such as prochlorperazine (Compazine, others) and promethazine (Phenergan, others);
• antihistamines such as astemizole (Hismanal); blood pressure medications such as bepridil (Vascor);
• heart medications such as procainamide (Procan SR, Procanbid, Pronestyl) and quinidine (Quinidex, Quinaglute); or
• HIV medications such as indinavir (Crixivan) and ritonavir (Norvir).

Taken with any of the drugs listed above, cisapride may cause irregular heartbeats that could lead to death. This is not a complete list of drugs that may interact with cisapride and cause heart problems. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any other medications.

Before taking cisapride, tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver disease. You may not be able to take cisapride, or you may require a lower dose or special monitoring during treatment.

Cisapride is in the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether cisapride will harm an unborn baby. Do not take cisapride without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant.

Cisapride passes into breast milk. It is not known whether cisapride will harm a nursing infant. Do not take cisapride without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

Last updated:	July 29, 2004