What is vardenafil?

• Vardenafil belongs to the group of the drugs which enlarge afflux of the blood to particular parts of the body.
• Vardenafil is medication for treatment of the so called erectile dysfunction, or impotence.
• Vardenafil allowed to be used for other purposes, different to those specified by this medicine guidance.

What should I talk over with my physician before the beginning of the treatment with vardenafil?

• Do not start treatment with vardenafil if you take nitrate – containing drugs used for treatment of chest pain. Nitrate —containing drugs are those ones which is used for treatment of coronary disease. There are two groups of nitrate – based medications: nitroglycerin itself - Nitro – Bid, Minitran, Nitro – Dur, Nitrolingual, Deponit, Nitrostat, Transderm – Nitro, Nitrol, Nitrodisc, and so on - and long lasting nitrates of isosorbite: isosorbide mononitrate - Monoket, ISMO, Imdur - and isosorbide dinitrate - Sorbitrate, Isordil, Dilatrate – SR. Some kinds of recreational pills, so called "poppers", include nitrogen compounds, such as amyl nitrite, butyl nitrate, or amyl nitrate, which work similar to nitroglycerin and should be avoided during the treatment with vardenafil. Simultaneous usage of vardenafil and mentioned above drugs can produce the drop of the blood pressure which may cause fainting, heart attack, or stroke.
• Sometimes, after taking vardenafil, in a small number of patients a temporal loss of eyesight may suddenly happen. The reason of this kind of vision loss is insufficient blood perfusion of the optic nerve. There is no data to say this lost of the vision is caused directly by vardenafil. Most often sudden loss of the vision occurs in patient with diabetes, coronary insufficiency, high blood pressure, pre – existing eye diseases,or high level of cholesterol, when they take vardenafil in usual dose without individual adjustment. Also this condition may develop in older people and in heavy smokers
• Before start the treatment with Vardenafil, inform your doctor if you have listed below diseases or conditions:
• coronary heart disease with or without heart rhythm problems;
• a history of a coronary disease attack within last half of the year, heart failure with congestion, or angina (chest pain);
• a history of blood clots or stroke;
• an individual or family history of prolonged repolarization syndrome;
• abnormal (high or low) blood pressure;
• kidney disease (or dialysis demanding condition);
• severe forms of liver diseases;
• a bleeding disorder such as hemophilia;
• hematopoetic system diseases, such as, multiple myeloma, leukemia, or sickle cell anemia;
• a duodenal or stomach ulcer;
• retina diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa (an inherited condition of the eye);
• an anatomical distortion of the penis, such as Peyronie's disease or traumatic scar;
• if sexual intercourse is contraindicated for you because of your poor health condition.
• In case of having any of these diseases or conditions, some special tests have to be done to adjust the dose of vardenafil for your personal treatment.
• FDA pregnancy category B: As far as vardenafil was not designed for use in women, it was not tested for its influence on the unborn baby. Anyhow, vardenafil is not expected to be harmful for fetus. If you are pregnant, or going to be pregnant, talk to your doctor before start treatment with vardenafil.
• As far as vardenafil is not designed for use in women, there are no data about its ability to penetrate into the breast milk or about its harmfulness for the nursed baby. If you feed your baby with your breast milk, tell your doctor before start the treatment with vardenafil.
• The treatment of older people with vardenafil has to be performed with precautions. If you are older then 65, the lower dose of the medication may be needed, so you have to follow your doctor’s instructions strictly.

How should I take vardenafil?

• Each dose of the vardenafil has to be followed by glassful of water.
• Do not take fatty food before taking vardenafil, because the fat slows down absorption of the drug, thus delaying it action.
• Vardenafil should be taken as needed, about one hour before sexual activity. Its action appears in sexual stimulation only and does not induce erection without it. Simple taking of the tablet will not provoke erection.
• Vardenafil should not be taken more then one tablet per day. Take care to separate doses by 24 hours interval.
• Vardenafil should be kept away from heat and moisture, at room temperature.

What to do in case of missed dose?

• There is no dosing schedule for vardenafil, because it shall be taken as needed only.

What to do in case of overdose?

• If you suspect you overdosed vardenafil, look for immediate medical attention.
• Main symptoms of the vardenafil over dosage are muscle pain, back pain, or vision distortion.

What kind of precautions shall be taken during the treatment with vardenafil?

• Be careful with alcohol, better avoid drinking it, because alcohol can enlarge some of the vardenafil side effects.
• Sometimes an interaction between grapefruit or grapefruit juice and vardenafil may occur. Avoid the use of grapefruit products while taking vardenafil or talk it over with your doctor. Do not change the amount of grapefruit or grapefruit products in your diet without discussing it with your doctor.

What side effects may be induced with vardenafil?

• A small number of patients may feel nausea or dizziness, tingling, pain in the chest, neck, jaw, shoulder, or arm during sexual activity. If it will happen, stop and immediately call your doctor to avoid serious consequences of vardenafil side effects.
• In case of sudden vision loss stop taking vardenafil and instantly get medical help.
• Instantly get medical attention in case of appearance of any sign of allergic reaction, such as swelling of lips, tongue and face, feeling of throat stricture, difficulties in breathing.
• If any of listed below serious side effects appears, stop taking vardenafil and immediately get medical help:
• pain in the chest, or feeling of heaviness in the chest, pain in the chest, spreading to the shoulder or arm, feeling of general illness, sweating, nausea;
• heart rhythm disorder;
• swelling of feet or ankles;
• difficulties in breathing;
• sudden loss of the vision;
• acute dizziness, fainting;
• painful erection, erection which lasts longer then 4 hours.
• If side effect is mildly expressed, you may continue treatment with vardenafil if your doctor allows it. Such conditions are listed below.
• redness or feeling of the heat in the face, neck, or upper chest;
• colour vision changes
• stuffy nose;
• headache;
• nausea;
• back pain;
• upset stomach.
• There may appear other then listed above side effects. Inform your doctor if anything during the treatment with vardenafil will seem unusual to you.

Vardenafil’s possible interaction with other drugs.

• Some medication may interact with vardenafil and distort, amplify, or reduce its work, so if you are treated with any of listed below medication, you have to withhold from treatment with vardenafil:
• Any nitrate or nitrite containing medication, used for treatment of coronary disease, in spite of occasional way of the treatment with them, such as nitriglucerin, isosorbid mono – or dinitrate, amyl nitrite, butyl nitrate, or amyl nitrite (so called poppers).

Vardenafil also interacts with the following medicines and food stuffs:

• antibiotics such as troleandomycin, erythromycin, clarithromycin;
• alpha blockers, such as terazosin (Hytrin®), alfuzosin (UroXatral®), doxazosin (Cardura®), or prazosin (Minipress®) used for high blood pressure treatment and prostate enlargement;
• cimetidine;
• bosentan;
• diltiazem;
• cizapride;
• carbamazepine;
• phenobarbital;
• phenitoin;
• fluconazole;
• itraconazole;
• ketoconazole;
• voriconazole;
• mibefradil;
• nicardipine;
• verapamil;
• rifapentine;
• rifampin;
• rifabutin;
• fluvoxamine;
• fluoxetine;
• nefazodone;
• quinidine;
• some drugs for HIV treatment, such as delavirdine or ritonavir and saquinavir;
• grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and other grapefruit products.

How long vardenafil may be stored?

• Each blister of vardenafil tablets bears expiry date on it. It may be different for each batch. Shelf life of vardenafil is 2 years from the manufacture date, and, depending on the manufacture date, would differ from batch to batch.

What is the shelf life of the pills?

• The expiry date is mentioned on each blister. It is different for different batches. The shelf life is 2 years from the date of manufacture and would differ from batch to batch depending on when they were manufactured.