List of brands containing acamprosate   

This page contains lists of brands of approved medicinal products of the active ingredient acamprosate in the countries listed below:

[ Australia] [ Brazil] [ Canada] [ France] [ Germany] [ India] [ Italy] [ Japan] [ Mexico] [ Pakistan] [ Puerto Rico] [ Spain] [ Turkey] [ United Kingdom] [ USA]

Given the nature of the pharmaceutical market, some medicinal products may not be commercially available, may have been suspended or have changed their name or composition. Therefore, in no case can decisions be made based on the information contained in this website. MEDIZZINE is not responsible for any damage arising from the information provided, which may be incomplete or outdated.

The active ingredient acamprosate is a medicine with effects on the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord). It acts on certain substances in the brain — the chemical mediators of brain tissue — related to the emergence and persistence of alcohol dependence.

This medication helps alcohol dependent patients to stay away from alcohol consumption. Acamprosate should be administered together with appropriate psychotherapeutic measures for relapse prevention.

Medizzine recommends consulting your doctor if you are unsure (or you do not know) why you have been given acamprosate.

Other ingredients of available commercial presentations:

Tablets:

Each tablet contains 333 mg of active ingredient. The remaining components are: microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium silicate, eudragit L 30 D, crospovidone, sodium starch glycolate (potato), magnesium stearate, talcum and propylene glycol.

Warning:

The composition of the various presentations may vary from one country to another. We recommend you refer to the information provided by your local supplier.

Do not use acamprosate

If you are allergic (hypersensitive) to acamprosate, or any of the other ingredients of the medicinal product prescribed to you. If you think you may be allergic, ask your doctor.

Allergy symptoms may include:

- Asthma attacks with shortness of breath, audible wheezing or rapid breathing.
- More or less sudden swelling of the face, lips, tongue or elsewhere in the body. It is especially critical if it affects the vocal cords.
- Hives, itching, rash
- Anaphylactic shock (loss of consciousness, paleness, sweating, etc.).

Nor you should take this medicine:

- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding,

- if you have a severe liver or kidney disease.

Be specially careful with acamprosate

- If you are under 18 years of age or over 65 years old. This medication is not recommended for children or the elderly.

- If you suffer from liver failure.

- You should not drink alcohol when you start acamprosate treatment, as the medication will be less effective if you continue to drink alcoholic beverages..

- When you stop drinking you may experience some unpleasant symptoms known as alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which can last up to weeks Treatment with acamprosate should be started as soon as possible after cessation of the withdrawal syndrome..

- Treatment should only be started once the withdrawal syndrome has ended and the patient no longer consumes alcohol..

- This medication is not a treatment for withdrawal syndrome nor does it counteract the negative effects of alcohol on the body..

- Depression and suicide risk:

Patients who suffer from alcohol dependence often also suffer from depression. Your doctor will closely monitor your situation to detect possible depressive symptoms. If you notice that you are sad, unmotivated, have negative feelings or mood swings, insomnia, have self-harm or even suicidal ideas, consult your doctor immediately, as you may suffer from depression.

Consult your doctor, if any of the above circumstances has ever happened.

Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medicine only for you. Never give it to someone else.

When in doubt, consult your doctor.

Taking other medicines

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including herbal products or drugs obtained without a prescription.

The administration of acamprosate together with other medications, used to treat alcohol dependence or to maintain abstinence from alcohol, does not seem to result in interactions between the two drugs.

However, you should check with your doctor if you are receiving diuretics.

Use with food and beverages

The administration of acamprosate with meals may reduce the efficacy of the medication, since it decreases its bioavailability in comparison with the administration on an empty stomach. Although it can be taken without considering the meals, it is usually recommended to take acamprosate during meals as an aid for a better compliance in those patients who eat regularly three times a day..

Although there is no direct interference between alcohol and acamprosate, drinking alcoholic beverages together with this medicine is not recommended, as it can jeopardize the success of the treatment, even with small amounts of alcohol, which could cause patients to relapse again from their dependence on alcohol.

Special physiological situations

Pregnancy and lactation:

Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking any medicine during pregnancy or if you are breastfeeding.

If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, you should not take acamprosate without first consulting your doctor.

There are no adequate randomized, well-controlled studies on the use of acamprosate in pregnant women, although there is no evidence of possible adverse effects on the fetus or pregnancy itself, so the doctor should assess whether the possible benefits of its use exceed the risks of the treatment.

If you are breastfeeding you should not take this medication.

It is not known if the drug is eliminated through the milk of a woman

Driving and using machines

Acamprosate is not expected to affect your ability to drive or use machines.

Consult your doctor or pharmacist before taking any medicine.

Follow carefully instructions of use of acamprosate provided by your doctor. Consult your doctor or pharmacist when in doubt. Follow the instructions of the physician in preference to those given in this website, which may be different. Ask your doctor to explain any aspect in the package insert that you do not understand.

The recommended doses are:

Patients weighing more than 60 kg:

6 tablets a day (2 in the morning, 2 at noon and 2 in the evening, with meals).

Patients weighing less than 60 kg:

4 tablets a day (2 in the morning, 1 at noon and 1 at night, with meals).

Although taking the medication can be done outside of meals, in those patients who eat three times a day, it is recommended to take the medication along with the meals.

Start and duration of treatment:

Treatment with acamprosate should be started as soon as possible, once the alcohol withdrawal symptoms have been overcome and the patient has achieved abstinence. The treatment must be maintained if the patient relapses.

It is recommended to maintain the treatment for one year.

If you think the effect of the medicine is too strong or too weak, consult your doctor.

If you have any further questions on the use of this product, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

If a doctor prescribes another medicine, tell her you are taking acamprosate.

Check with your doctor regularly any developments in the disorder that motivates the use of acamprosate. There may be some reason that has prevented you from properly receiving the indicated doses and may induce your doctor to draw erroneous conclusions about the treatment.

Do not restart treatment with acamprosate on your own initiative without first consulting your doctor, nor recommend it to other persons, even if they seem to have the same symptoms as you do. Nor is it advisable to interrupt or reduce the dose without first considering the opinion of your doctor.

If you feel unwell during treatment with acamprosate, consult your doctor immediately.

If you take more than you should:

In case of overdose or accidental ingestion, consult the Toxicology Information Service in your country, immediately consult your doctor or pharmacist or go to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. Take the package with you and the remaining of the unconsumed medicine. You may experience diarrhea and an increase of calcium blood levels.

If you forget to take acamprosate

If you forget to take a dose, take it as soon as you remember and then take the next dose at the usual time.

Do not take a double dose to make up for forgotten individual doses.

If you stop taking acamprosate

Do not stop treatment unless your doctor tells you so.

If you have any further questions on the use of this product, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Like all medicines, acamprosate can cause side effects although not everybody experiences them.

The frequency of side effects is classified into:

Very Common Side Effects: affecting 1 out of 1-10 patients
Common Side Effects: affecting 1 out of 10-100 patients
Uncommon Side Effects: affecting 1 out of 100-1.000 patients
Rare Side Effects: affecting 1 out of 1.000-10.000 patients
Very Rare Side Effects: affecting less than 1 in 10,000 patients
Incidence Not Known: Its incidence cannot be estimated from the available data.

If you experience any of the following side effects during treatment with acamprosate, stop taking the medication and consult your doctor immediately:

Severe allergic reaction , including angioedema (swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat) or anaphylaxis (causing difficulty to breathe, skin rash, swelling, wheezing, and feeling faint).

The following adverse effects have been reported:

Very Common Side Effects:

- Diarrhea,

Common Side Effects:

- Stomach pain,
- Flatulence,
- Discomfort,
- Vomiting,
- Skin rash with itching and spots,
- Decreased sex drive, frigidity,
- Impotence

Uncommon Side Effects:

- Increased sex drive

Incidence Not Known:

- Allergic reactions such as urticaria , angioedema and anaphylaxis
- Blistering rash characterized by skin patches filled with fluid .

This list does not include all adverse reactions associated with the use of acamprosate, either well established, under consideration or pending confirmation. In case you feel unwell, you should immediately consult the doctor who prescribed this medicine.

If you notice any other reaction not described on this website or in the package insert, consult your doctor or pharmacist.

If any of the side effects gets serious, tell your doctor or pharmacist.

This page contains list of brands of authorized pharmaceutical specialties of the active principle acamprosate in the countries listed below:

[ Australia] [ Brazil] [ Canada] [ France] [ Germany] [ India] [ Italy] [ Japan] [ Mexico] [ Pakistan] [ Puerto Rico] [ Spain] [ Turkey] [ United Kingdom] [ U.S.A]

Given the nature of the pharmaceutical market, some medicinal products may not be commercially available, may have been suspended or have changed their name or composition. Therefore, in no case can decisions be made based on the information contained in this website. MEDIZZINE is not responsible for any damage arising from the information provided, which may be incomplete or outdated.

Warning:

Except otherwise expressly indicated, these lists do not include associations of the active ingredient with other drugs or clinical use packagings.

Australia:       ▲

One or several brands

Brazil:       ▲

One or several brands

Canada:       ▲

One or several brands

France:       ▲

ACAMPROSATE BIOGARAN 333 mg, 60 gastro-resistant tablets

ACAMPROSATE BIOGARAN 333 mg, 120 gastro-resistant tablets

ACAMPROSATE BIOGARAN 333 mg, 180 gastro-resistant tablets

AOTAL 333 mg, 60 gastro-resistant tablets

AOTAL 333 mg, 120 gastro-resistant tablets

AOTAL 333 mg, 180 gastro-resistant tablets

Germany:       ▲

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 48 gastro-resistant tablets

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 84 gastro-resistant tablets

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 168 gastro-resistant tablets

India:       ▲

One or several brands

Italy:       ▲

One or several brands

Japan:       ▲

One or several brands

Mexico:       ▲

One or several brands

Pakistan:       ▲

One or several brands

Spain:       ▲

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 84 tablets

Turkey:       ▲

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 84 gastro-resistant tablets

United Kingdom:       ▲

ACAMPROSATE 333 mg, 84 gastro-resistant tablets

ACAMPROSATE 333 mg, 168 gastro-resistant tablets

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 84 gastro-resistant tablets

CAMPRAL 333 mg, 168 gastro-resistant tablets

U.S.A. and Puerto Rico:       ▲

ACAMPROSATE MYLAN 333 mg, 180 prolonged-release tablets
ACAMPROSATE GLENMARK 333 mg, 180 prolonged-release tablets
ACAMPROSATE AMERICAN HEALTH PACK 333 mg, 180 prolonged-release tablets
CAMPRAL 333 mg, 180 prolonged-release tablets

Last updated: April 9, 2010