• Store in a refrigerator. Do not freeze.
• Protect from light.
• Do not shake.
• Throw away any unused portion of opened vial after use.
Created: 2006-10-13 14:53:08.0
Modified: 2010-04-07 11:35:14.0
Lexi-PALS TM © (1977)-(2007) Lexi-Comp, Inc. All rights reserved.
• If you have a life-threatening allergy, wear allergy identification at all times.
• Do not share your medicine with others and do not take anyone else's medicine.
• Keep all medicine out of the reach of children and pets.
• Most medicines can be thrown away in household trash after mixing with coffee grounds or kitty litter and sealing in a plastic bag.
• Keep a list of all your medicines (prescription, natural products, supplements, vitamins, over-the-counter) with you. Give this list to healthcare provider (doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, physician assistant).
• Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or in Canada to Health Canada's Canada Vigilance Program at 1-866-234-2345.
• Talk with healthcare provider before starting any new medicine, including over-the-counter, natural products, or vitamins.
• If you have drug or alcohol addiction, talk with healthcare provider.
• Tell dentists, surgeons, and other healthcare providers that you use this medicine.
• If you have diabetes, talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have heart disease, talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have kidney disease, talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have lung disease, talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have mental illness, talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have thyroid disease, talk with healthcare provider.
• Check medicines with healthcare provider. This medicine may not mix well with other medicines.
• You may not be alert. Avoid driving, doing other tasks or activities until you see how this medicine affects you.
• Avoid alcohol (includes wine, beer, and liquor) or other medicines and natural products that slow your actions and reactions.
• Use birth control that you can trust to prevent pregnancy while taking this medicine.
• Flu-like symptoms. These include headache, weakness, fever, shakes, aches, pains, and sweating. Mild pain medicine may help.
• Feeling lightheaded, sleepy, having blurred vision, or a change in thinking clearly. Avoid driving, doing other tasks or activities that require you to be alert or have clear vision until you see how this medicine affects you.
• Headache.
• Nausea or vomiting. Small frequent meals, frequent mouth care, sucking hard, sugar-free candy, or chewing sugar-free gum may help.
• Belly pain.
• Diarrhea.
• Not hungry.
• Hair loss. Hair usually grows back when medicine is stopped.
• Inability to sleep.
• Anemia, low white blood cell count, and low platelet count.
• Irritation where the shot is given.
• If you suspect an overdose, call your local poison control center or emergency department immediately.
• Signs of a life-threatening reaction. These include wheezing; chest tightness; fever; itching; bad cough; blue skin color; fits; or swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• Signs or symptoms of depression, suicidal thoughts, nervousness, emotional ups and downs, abnormal thinking, anxiety, or lack of interest in life.
• Chest pain or pressure or fast heartbeat.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Change in strength on one side greater than the other, difficulty speaking or thinking, change in balance, or blurred vision.
• Severe belly pain or bloody diarrhea.
• Severe nausea or vomiting.
• Unusual bruising or bleeding.
• Feeling extremely tired or weak.
• Sudden change in vision, eye pain, or irritation.
• Any rash.
• No improvement in condition or feeling worse.
• Alpha interferons may cause or worsen diseases of the mind. Suicide, ideas of suicide or homicide, depression, aggressive behavior, hallucinations, psychoses, and relapse of drug addiction have occurred with use. Alpha interferons may cause or worsen infections, circulation problems, and certain autoimmune diseases. If you suspect any of these problems, call healthcare provider right away. Side effects such as low blood pressure, fast heartbeats, and heart attacks have occurred while taking alpha interferons. In patients with severe or worsening signs and symptoms of these conditions, the medicine should be stopped. Problems are usually corrected after you stop the medicine.
• This medicine does not mix well with some medicines. Serious reactions may occur. Check all medicines with healthcare provider.
• Please read the medication guide.
• Do not give this medicine to a child. Talk with healthcare provider.
• If you have an allergy to peginterferon alfa-2a or any other part of this medicine.
• Tell healthcare provider if you are allergic to any medicine. Make sure to tell about the allergy and how it affected you. This includes telling about rash; hives; itching; shortness of breath; wheezing; cough; swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat; or any other symptoms involved.
• If you have any of the following conditions: Autoimmune disease, autoimmune hepatitis, confusion caused by liver disease, fluid in your belly, liver disease, low platelet count, low white blood cell count, or severe depression.
• If you have been treated with interferon.
• If you are pregnant or may be pregnant.
• If you are breast-feeding.
• Take a missed dose as soon as possible.
• If it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and call healthcare provider for instructions.
• Do not take a double dose or extra doses.
• Do not change dose or stop medicine. Talk with healthcare provider.
• This medicine is given as a shot into the fatty part of the skin.
• Your healthcare provider may teach you how to give the shot.
• The shot is usually given once a week.
• Drink plenty of noncaffeine-containing liquid unless told to drink less liquid by healthcare provider.
• If a response is not seen after 3 months of therapy, the medicine is usually stopped.
• Follow instructions closely if you or a family member are giving the shot at home.
• Wash hands before and after use.
• Throw syringe away after single use. Do not reuse.
• Throw away needles in needle/sharp disposal box and return box to healthcare provider when full.
• Change in condition being treated. Is it better, worse, or about the same?
• If you are diabetic, you will need to monitor blood sugars closely.
• Check blood work regularly. Talk with healthcare provider.
• Check weight weekly. Report a weight loss to healthcare provider.
• Follow up with healthcare provider.
