Adefovir bei Hepatitis B

About adefovir

Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Some viruses can cause hepatitis. Hepatitis B is a virus which is carried in your bloodstream to your liver, where it can affect and damage your liver. Following infection with hepatitis B, a few people develop a persistent infection called chronic hepatitis B.

People with chronic hepatitis B usually need treatment to stop or to reduce the activity of the virus. This limits damage to the liver, which is a complication of the infection. One of the types of treatment currently given is an antiviral medicine. Antiviral medicines like adefovir work by stopping the hepatitis B virus from multiplying (replicating); this reduces the amount of the virus in your body.

A doctor who is a liver specialist will usually start the treatment for you. Treatment for chronic hepatitis B usually continues for several years, but can be lifelong. It can include more than one antiviral medicine.

Before taking adefovir

Some medicines are not suitable for people with certain conditions, and sometimes a medicine can only be used if extra care is taken. For these reasons, before you start taking adefovir it is important that your doctor knows:

• Wenn Sie schwanger sind, ein Kind erwarten oder stillen.

• Wenn Sie ein Problem mit der Funktionsweise Ihrer Nieren haben.

• Wenn Sie andere Arzneimittel einnehmen. Dazu gehören alle Arzneimittel, die Sie einnehmen und die rezeptfrei erhältlich sind, sowie pflanzliche und ergänzende Arzneimittel.

• Wenn Sie schon einmal eine allergische Reaktion auf ein Arzneimittel hatten.

How to take adefovir

• Before you start the treatment, read the manufacturer's printed information leaflet from inside your pack. It will give you more information about adefovir, and it will also provide you with a full list of the side-effects which you could experience from taking it.

• Take adefovir exactly as your doctor tells you to. The usual dose is one 10 mg tablet daily. You can take the tablet either with or without food.

• Try to take your doses at the same time of day each day, as this will help you to remember to take adefovir regularly.

• If you are ever sick within one hour of taking a tablet, you should take a second tablet. This is because your body will not have absorbed a sufficient amount of the medicine. If, however, you are sick and it is more than one hour after taking a tablet, you do not need to take a second dose, as your body will have already absorbed the full dose.

• If you forget to take a dose at your usual time, take it as soon as you remember. However, if you do not remember until the following day, leave out the missed dose. Do not take two doses together to make up for a forgotten dose.
  

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• Halten Sie Ihre regelmäßigen Termine bei Ihrem Arzt ein. So kann Ihr Fortschritt überwacht werden. Von Zeit zu Zeit müssen Sie einige Bluttests machen lassen.

• It is important that you continue to take adefovir regularly. Treatment for hepatitis B can be long-term. Continue to take the tablets, even if you feel well. This is to keep your liver healthy.

• Treatment with adefovir does not stop you from passing the infection on to others through sexual contact, sharing needles to inject drugs, or from mother to baby. A vaccine is available which protects against hepatitis B and can be offered to your sexual and household contacts who are at risk of being infected. Do not have sex with anyone (especially any sex without using a condom) until they have been fully immunised and have had their blood checked to see that the immunisation has worked.

• Den meisten Menschen mit chronischer Hepatitis B wird geraten, eine normale, gesunde und ausgewogene Ernährung zu sich zu nehmen. Es ist jedoch wahrscheinlich, dass man Ihnen raten wird, keinen Alkohol zu trinken. Alkohol erhöht das Risiko und die Geschwindigkeit, mit der Sie einen Leberschaden entwickeln.

• Medicines similar to adefovir have been associated with a serious side-effect in a few people. This is known as lactic acidosis. It is a problem where there is too much lactic acid in the blood. The symptoms associated with it are listed in the next section 'Can adefovir cause problems?'. Although this has occurred in only a very few people, you must let your doctor know straightaway if you develop the symptoms listed below.

• You must avoid getting pregnant while you are taking adefovir. Make sure you have discussed with your doctor which types of contraception are suitable for you.

• If you buy any medicines, supplements or herbal remedies 'over the counter', check with a pharmacist that they are suitable to take with adefovir and your other medicines.

• Wenn Sie sich einer Operation oder einer zahnärztlichen Behandlung unterziehen müssen, teilen Sie der behandelnden Person mit, welche Arzneimittel Sie einnehmen.

Can adefovir cause problems?

Along with their useful effects, most medicines can cause unwanted side-effects although not everyone experiences them. The table below contains some of the more common ones associated with adefovir. The best place to find a full list of the side-effects which can be associated with your medicine, is from the manufacturer's printed information leaflet supplied with the medicine. Alternatively, you can find an example of a manufacturer's information leaflet in the reference section below. Speak with your doctor or pharmacist if any of the following continue or become troublesome.

Your doctor will discuss with you the possibility of this medicine causing a problem called lactic acidosis. Let your doctor know straightaway if you develop the following symptoms:

• Übelkeit (Brechreiz) oder Erbrechen, Bauchschmerzen, Appetitlosigkeit, Gewichtsverlust, Schwäche- oder Schwindelgefühle sowie schnelles oder röchelndes Atmen.

Wenn Sie andere Symptome haben, von denen Sie glauben, dass sie auf die Tabletten zurückzuführen sind, sprechen Sie mit Ihrem Arzt oder Apotheker, um weiteren Rat zu erhalten.

How to store adefovir

• Bewahren Sie alle Arzneimittel außerhalb der Reichweite und Sichtweite von Kindern auf.

• An einem kühlen, trockenen Ort aufbewahren, vor direkter Hitze und Licht schützen.

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