Description
Potassium-sparing diuretics are commonly used to help reduce the amount of water in the
body. Unlike some other diuretics, these medicines do not cause your body to lose
potassium.
Amiloride and spironolactone are also used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure adds to the workload of the heart and arteries. If the condition continues for a long time, the heart and arteries may not function properly. This can damage the blood vessels of the brain, heart, and kidneys, resulting in a stroke, heart failure, or kidney failure. High blood pressure may also increase the risk of heart attacks. These problems may be less likely to occur if blood pressure is controlled.
Spironolactone is also used to help increase the amount of potassium in the body when it is getting too low.
Potassium-sparing diuretics help to reduce the amount of water in the body by acting on the kidneys to increase the flow of urine. This also helps to lower blood pressure.
These medicines can also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.
Potassium-sparing diuretics are available only with your doctor's prescription, in the following dosage forms:
Oral
Proper Use of This Medicine
This medicine may cause you to have an unusual feeling of tiredness when you begin to take
it. You may also notice an increase in the amount of urine or in your frequency of
urination. After you have taken the medicine for a while, these effects should lessen. In
general, to keep the increase in urine from affecting your sleep:
However, it is best to plan your dose or doses according to a schedule that will least affect your personal activities and sleep. Ask your health care professional to help you plan the best time to take this medicine.
To help you remember to take your medicine, try to get into the habit of taking it at the same time each day.
If this medicine upsets your stomach, it may be taken with meals or milk. If stomach upset (nausea, vomiting, stomach pain or cramps) continues, check with your doctor.
For patients taking this medicine for high blood pressure :
Dosing - The dose of potassium-sparing diuretics will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of potassium-sparing diuretics. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The number of capsules or tablets that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are taking potassium-sparing diuretics .
For amiloride
For spironolactone
For triamterene
Missed dose - If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Storage - To store this medicine:
Additional Information
Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show
that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in
product labeling, spironolactone is used in certain patients with the following medical
conditions:
Other than the above information, there is no additional information relating to proper use, precautions, or side effects for these uses.
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
potassium-sparing diuretics, the following should be considered:
Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to amiloride, spironolactone, or triamterene. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.
Pregnancy - Studies have not been done in pregnant women. However, this medicine has not been shown to cause birth defects or other problems in animals.
In general, diuretics are not useful for normal swelling of feet and hands that occurs during pregnancy. Diuretics should not be taken during pregnancy unless recommended by your doctor.
Breast-feeding - Although amiloride, spironolactone, and triamterene may pass into breast milk, these medicines have not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.
Children - This medicine has been tested in children and, in effective doses, has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems in children than it does in adults.
Older adults - Signs and symptoms of too much potassium are more likely to occur in the elderly, who are more sensitive than younger adults to the effects of this medicine.
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 potassium-sparing diuretics, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:
Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of potassium-sparing diuretics. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
Precautions While Using This Medicine
It is important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits to make sure that
this medicine is working properly.
This medicine does not cause a loss of potassium from your body as some other diuretics (water pills) do. Therefore, it is not necessary for you to get extra potassium in your diet, and too much potassium could even be harmful. Since salt substitutes and low-sodium milk may contain potassium, do not use them unless told to do so by your doctor.
Check with your doctor if you become sick and have severe or continuing nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. These problems may cause you to lose additional water, which could be harmful, or to lose potassium, which could lessen the medicine's helpful effects.
Before having any kind of surgery (including dental surgery) or emergency treatment, tell the medical doctor or dentist in charge that you are taking this medicine.
Before you have any medical tests, tell the doctor in charge that you are taking this medicine. The results of some tests may be affected by this medicine.
For patients taking this medicine for high blood pressure :
For patients taking triamterene:
In rats, spironolactone has been found to increase the risk of tumors. It is not known if spironolactone increases the chance of tumors in humans.
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Rare
For amiloride, spironolactone, and triamterene
Skin rash or itching, shortness of breath
For spironolactone and triamterene only (in addition to effects listed above)
Cough or hoarseness, fever or chills , lower back or side pain, painful or difficult urination
For triamterene only (in addition to effects listed above)
Black, tarry stools, blood in urine or stools, bright red tongue, burning, inflamed feeling in tongue, cracked corners of mouth, lower back pain (severe), pinpoint red spots on skin, unusual bleeding or bruising, weakness
Signs and symptoms of too much potassium
Confusion, irregular heartbeat, nervousness, numbness or tingling in hands, feet, or lips, shortness of breath or difficult breathing, unusual tiredness or weakness, weakness or heaviness of legs
Other side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. However, check with your doctor if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome:
More common (less common with amiloride and triamterene)
Nausea and vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea
Less common
For amiloride, spironolactone, and triamterene
Dizziness, headache
For amiloride and spironolactone only (in addition to effects listed above)
Decreased sexual ability
For amiloride only (in addition to effects listed above)
Constipation, muscle cramps
For spironolactone only (in addition to effects listed above for spironolactone)
Breast tenderness in females, clumsiness , deepening of voice in females, enlargement of breasts in males, inability to have or keep an erection, increased hair growth in females , irregular menstrual periods, sweating
For triamterene only (in addition to effects listed above for triamterene)
Increased sensitivity of skin to sunlight
Signs and symptoms of too little sodium
Drowsiness, dryness of mouth, increased thirst, lack of energy
For male patients:
Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your doctor. Last Reviewed: 04/26/2000
It is a synthetic mixture. It is used as diuretic and against elevated blood pressure
Characteristics are:
It inhibits the union of the DHT and other hormones androgens, between which DHEA and the androstandiole (that it provokes the seborrea), with the receptors of the pilifer follicles. Topically is usually used at 1-5%.
It is one of the most powerful antiandrogen, more powerful to es. of the progesterone, of the ciproterone acetate and of the flutamide, in how much and it would prevent many androgens to unite with their receptors (studies in vitro). In fact it is not used in the men orally while it is being it of frequent in the women.
The topical spironolactone is one of the choices improves in the cases of female androgenetic alopecia : he must not be used in pregnancy and is necessary to use it after a careful analysis of the physician.
It is well absorbed from the skin and practically absorbed not systematically (from the rest of the body), therefore it is one of the best substances from to topical apply.
It is also used with progesterone. Have an odor a few
unpleasant of sulphur particularly if mixed together with the minoxidil.
It seems rational therefore the use of systemic finasteride that decreases the
testosterone conversion in DHT and the topical use of spironolattone that it stops the
remainder DHT to level of the follicles.
It is also possible to use the canreonato, molecule similar to the spironolattone but deprived of the group tiazoico, which doesn't have the problem of the odor.
According to Dr. Proctor, associating in solution the minoxidil with an antiandrogen as the spironolactone, the effectiveness of the minoxidil has increased of a lot
Spironolactone is a known antiandrogen (lowers or inhibits male hormones) which has been available for years. It probably the most commonly used oral antiandrogen in women for treating hair loss or excess facial hair. It is also frequently used by men to treat their hair loss. Many men buy a premixed spironolactone solution, or buy the tablets and add them to their minoxidil to improve results. Spironolactone works similarly to Propecia/Proscar, in that it inhibits the male hormone DHT. By adding 12 100mg spironolactone tablets to a 60mL 2% minoxidil bottle, you end up with roughly a 2% spironolactone, 2% minoxidil solution. Spironolactone can also be mixed with ethyl alcohol. We recommend refrigerating the combination to keep the solution fresh. If left at room temperature it may develop some odor but will still be effective.
Remox is a product that also contais spironolactone.
