Seractil 300mg Film-Coated Tablets

Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine.

• Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
• If you have any more questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
• This medicine has been prescribed for you. Do not pass it on to others. It may harm them, even if they have the same symptoms as you.
• If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor.

This leaflet contains the following information.

1.What Seractil® is and what it is used for
2.Before you take Seractil® 300 mg film-coated tablets
3.How to take Seractil® 300 mg film-coated tablets
4.Possible side effects
5.How to store Seractil® 300 mg film-coated tablets
6.Further information

What is Seractil® used for?

Seractil® is used to relieve:

• pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis (when your joints become worn);
• period (menstrual) pain;
• mild to moderate pain, such as pains in the muscles and joints and toothaches.

Do not take Seractil® if:

• you are allergic to dexibuprofen or any of the other ingredients in Seractil®;
• you are allergic to acetylsalicylic acid or other painkillers (your allergy may cause you to have difficulty breathing, asthma, a runny nose, a skin rash or swelling to your face);
• you previously had bleedings or perforations in your gastrointestinal system caused by NSAIDs;
• you have, or have ever had, peptic ulceration (ulcer in your stomach or duodenum) or blee­ding in your digestive tract;
• you have bleedings in the brain (cerebrovas­cular bleedings) or other active bleedings;
• you currently have a flare up of an inflamma­tory disease of the intestine (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease);
• you have serious heart failure or serious liver or kidney disease;
• from the beginning of the 6th month of pregnancy.

Take special care with Seractil®

Other medical problems may affect how you should use dexibuprofen. Before you take this medicine, make sure your doctor knows if:

• you ever have had a stomach or duodenal ulcer;
• you have had bowel ulcers, ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease;
• you have liver or kidney disease or you are addicted to alcohol;
• you have blood clotting disorders (also see the ‘Taking other medicines' section);
• you have oedema (when fluid collects in your body tissues);
• you have a heart disease or high blood pres­sure;
• you have asthma or any other breathing problems;
• you suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus (a disease which affects joints, muscles and skin) or mixed collagenosis (a collagen disease which affects connective tissues).

Seractil may make it more difficult to become pregnant. You should inform your doctor if you are planning to become pregnant or if you have problems becoming pregnant. Your fertility will return to normal when you stop taking Seractil.

If you need higher doses, especially if you are over 60 or if you had stomach or duodenal ulcers, there is an increased risk of gastrointestinal side effects. Your doctor may consider to prescribe protective agents together with Seractil®.

Medicines such as Seractil® may be associated with a small increased risk of heart attack (,,myocardial infarction") or stroke. Any risk is more likely with high doses and prolonged treatment. Do not exceed the recommended dose or duration of treatment.

If you have heart problems, previous stroke or think that you might be at risk of these conditions (for example if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol or are a smoker) you should discuss your treatment with your doctor or pharmacist.

Your doctor may need to give you regular check-ups if:

• you have heart, liver or kidney problems;
• you are older than 60;
• you need to take this medicine for long-term treatment.

Your doctor will tell you how often you need these check-ups.

You can get a headache if you take high doses of painkillers for a long time (off label use). In this case you must not take more Seractil® for the headache.

Taking other medicines

Medicines can sometimes affect the way that other medicines work. Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines without a prescription.

You should not take the following medicines with Seractil® unless you are under close medi­cal supervision:

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (medi­cines for pain, fever and inflammation). There is an increased risk of ulcers and bleedings in the digestive system if you take Seractil® with other NSAIDs or acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). Do not take if you are taking aspirin at doses of above 75 mg daily.
• Warfarin or other medicines used to thin the blood or stop blood clots. If you take this medicine with Seractil® it can prolong blee­ding time or bleeding can occur.
• Lithium used to treat certain mood disorders. Seractil® can increase the effect of lithium.
• Methotrexate. Seractil® can increase the side effects of methotrexate.

You may take the following medicines but for safety reasons you should tell your doctor:

• Medicines used to treat high blood pressure or heart problems (for example, beta blockers). Seractil® may reduce the benefits of these medicines.
• Certain heart medicines called ACE-inhibitors or Angiotensin II receptor antagonists. They may increase the risk of kidney problems in rare cases.
• Diuretics (water tablets).
• Corticosteroids. The risk for ulcers and bleeding may increase.
• Certain antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) may increase the risk for gastrointestinal bleeding.
• Digoxin (a heart medicine). Seractil® can increase the side effects of digoxin.
• Immune suppressants like ciclosporin.
• Medicines that increase potassium levels in the blood. ACE inhibitors, angiotensin-II receptor antagonists, ciclosporin, tacrolimus, trimethoprim and heparins.
• Drugs used to stop or prevent blood clots. Seractil® may make your body take longer to stop bleeding.
• Phenytoin used to treat epilepsy. Seractil® may increase the side effects of phenytoin.
• Phenytoin, phenobarbital and rifampicin. Concomitant administration may lower the effects of dexibuprofen.
• Low dose aspirin (up to 75 mg). Seractil may interfere with the effect of aspirin to thin the blood.

Taking Seractil® with food and drink

You may take Seractil® without food, but it is better to take it with a meal as this may help to avoid stomach problems, particularly if you take it for long term use.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Ask your doctor for advice before taking any medicine if you are pregnant.

You must not take Seractil® from the beginning of the 6th month of pregnancy, as this may seriously harm your unborn baby, even at very low doses.

In the first five months of pregnancy you should only use Seractil® after consulting your doctor.

Only small amounts of Seractil® pass into breast milk. However, if you are breastfeeding, you should not take Seractil® for long periods or in high doses.

Driving and using machines

If you have side effects like feeling dizzy or tired after taking Seractil®, you should avoid driving or using any dangerous machines (see section 4 Possible side effects).

For osteoarthritis

The usual dose is 1 Seractil® 300 mg tablet 2 to 3 times a day. For acute symptoms, your doctor may increase the dose to 4 Seractil® 300 mg tablets a day.

For period (menstrual) pain

The usual dose is 1 Seractil® 300 mg tablet 2 to 3 times a day.

For mild to moderate pain

The usual dose is 1 Seractil® 300 mg tablet 2 times a day. If higher doses are needed your doctor may prescribe up to 4 Seractil® 300 mg tablets a day.

Patients with liver or kidney disease: Your doctor may have prescribed a lower than the nor­mal dose of Seractil®. You must not increase the dose your doctor has prescribed.

Elderly patients: If you are over 60 years old, your doctor may have prescribed a lower dose than normal. If you are not having problems taking Seractil®, your doctor may increase your dose.

Children and adolescents: As there is not enough experience in children and adolescents Seractil® should not be used below the age of 18.

If you feel that the effects of your Seractil® tablets are too strong or too weak, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

If you take more Seractil® than you should

If you have accidentally taken too many tablets, contact your doctor straight away.

If you forget to take Seractil®

Do not take a double dose to make up for a tablet you have forgotten to take. Take the next tablet as usual.

Other side effects are:

The following are common side effects. They may affect more than one in 100 people taking this medicine (but less than one in 10 people).

• feeling exhausted or drowsy, dizziness, headaches;
• a skin rash.

The following are uncommon side effects. They may affect more than one in 1000 people (but less than one in 100 people).

• ulcers in the mouth, gastritis;
• purpura (purple bruises), itching, a raised itchy rash;
• swelling of the face or throat (angioedema);
• problems with sleeping, restlessness, anxiety, blurred vision, buzzing or ringing in the ears (tinnitus);
• runny nose, difficulties breathing.

The following are rare side effects. They may affect more than in one in 10 000 people (but less than one in 1000 people).

• A strong allergic reaction;
• psychotic reactions, depression, feeling irritable
• feeling confused, disoriented or agitated;
• hearing problems;
• wind, constipation, an inflamed oesophagus, flare up of diverticular disease (small pouches in your bowels that may become infected or inflamed), colitis or Crohn's disease;
• problems with your liver, hepatitis (inflamed liver) and jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
• blood disorders, including disorders that reduce the number of white or red blood cells or platelets.

The following are very rare side effects. They affect less than one in 10 000 people.

• Hypersensitivity reactions, including symptoms like fever, a rash, pain in the abdomen, headaches, feeling sick and vomiting;
• photosensitivity;
• aseptic meningitis (symptoms are headache, fever, stiff neck, and generally feeling ill), serious allergic reactions (difficulty breathing, asthma, a fast heartbeat, low blood pressure and shock), allergic reaction with inflamed small blood vessels;
• reddened skin, mucous membranes or throat;
• blistering hands and feet (Stevens-Johnson syndrome);
• peeling skin (epidermal necrolysis);
• hair loss;
• inflamed kidney, kidney disease or kidney failure;
• systemic lupus erythematosus (auto immune disease);
• very rare bacterial infections, which attack the tissue covering the muscle can be aggrava­ted.

Oedema (swollen limbs), high blood pressure and heart failure may occur with NSAID treatment.

Medicines such as Seractil® may be associated with a small increased risk of heart attack (,,myocardial infarction”) or stroke.

What Seractil® contains

• The active substance is dexibuprofen. One film-coated tablet contains 300 mg of dexibuprofen.
• The other ingredients are as follows.
  Tablet: Hypromellose, microcrystalline cellu­lose, carmellose calcium, colloidal anhydrous silica, talc.
  Film coating: Hypromellose, titanium dioxide (E171), triacetin, talc, macrogol 6000.

What Seractil® 300 mg tablets look like, and the contents of the pack

The 300 mg tablets are white, round tablets.

Seractil® tablets are supplied in boxes of 60 tablets.

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Distributor: