Tizanidineside effects
tizanidine 4 MG Oral Tablet
Adverse reactions
The following clinically significant adverse reactions are described elsewhere in other sections of the prescribing information:
Hypotension
Liver Injury
Sedation
Hallucinosis/Psychotic-Like Symptoms
Hypersensitivity Reactions
Withdrawal Adverse Reactions The most common adverse reactions (greater than 10% of patients taking tizanidine and greater than in patients taking placebo) were dry mouth, somnolence, asthenia, and dizziness. To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Apotex Corp. at 1-800-706-5575 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch
6.1 Clinical
Trials Experience Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice. The safety of tizanidine has been evaluated in three double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical studies. Two studies were conducted in patients with multiple sclerosis and one in patients with spinal cord injury. Each study had a 13-week active treatment period which included a 3-week titration phase to the maximum tolerated dose up to 36 mg/day in three divided doses, a 9-week plateau phase where the dose of tizanidine was held constant and a 1-week dose tapering period. In all, 264 patients received tizanidine and 261 patients received placebo. Across the three studies approximately 51% of patients were women, and the median dose during the plateau phase ranged from 20 to 28 mg/day. The most common adverse reactions (>10% of patients treated with tizanidine) reported in multiple dose, placebo-controlled clinical studies involving 264 patients with spasticity were dry mouth, somnolence/sedation, asthenia (weakness, fatigue and/or tiredness), and dizziness. Three-quarters of the patients rated the reactions as mild to moderate and one-quarter of the patients rated the reactions as being severe. These adverse reactions appeared to be dose related. Table 1 lists adverse reactions that were reported in greater than 2% of patients in three multiple dose, placebo-controlled studies who received tizanidine where the frequency in the tizanidine group was greater than the placebo group.
Table 1: Multiple Dose, Placebo-Controlled Studies—Adverse Reactions Reported in >2% of Patients Treated with Tizanidine Tablets and Incidence Greater than Placebo Adverse Reaction Placebo N = 261 % Tizanidine Tablet N = 264 % Dry mouth 10 49 Somnolence 10 48 Asthenia 16 41 Dizziness 4 16 UTI 7 10 Infection 5 6 Liver test abnormality 2 6 Constipation 1 4 Vomiting 0 3 Speech disorder 0 3 Amblyopia (blurred vision) <1 3 Urinary frequency 2 3 Flu syndrome 2 3 Dyskinesia 0 3 Nervousness <1 3 Pharyngitis 1 3 Rhinitis 2 3 *includes weakness, fatigue, and/or tiredness In the single dose, placebo-controlled study involving 142 patients with spasticity due to multiple sclerosis (Study 1), the patients were specifically asked if they had experienced any of the four most common adverse reactions: dry mouth, somnolence (drowsiness), asthenia (weakness, fatigue and/or tiredness), and dizziness. In addition, hypotension and bradycardia were observed. The occurrence of these reactions is summarized in Table 2. Other events were, in general, reported at a rate of 2% or less.
Table 2: Single Dose, Placebo-Controlled Study—Common Adverse Reactions Reported Adverse Reaction Placebo N = 48 % Tizanidine Tablet, 8mg, N = 45 % Tizanidine Tablet, 16 mg, N = 49 % Somnolence 31 78 92 Dry mouth 35 76 88 Asthenia 40 67 78 Dizziness 4 22 45 Hypotension 0 16 33 Bradycardia 0 2 10 *includes weakness, fatigue, and/or tiredness
6.2 Postmarketing
Experience The following adverse reactions have been identified during post approval use of tizanidine. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.
Cardiac Disorders: Ventricular tachycardia, decreased blood pressure Hepatobiliary Disorders: Hepatotoxicity, hepatitis Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders: arthralgia Nervous System Disorders: Convulsion, paresthesia, tremor, muscle spasms Psychiatric Disorders: Hallucinations, depression Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue Disorders: Stevens Johnson Syndrome, anaphylactic reaction, exfoliative dermatitis, rash
Text above is quoted in full from the FDA-approved drug label published by openFDA, effective March 11, 2025. Matched to this product by RxNorm code. Cross-references to other sections of the full prescribing information have been removed, since they point to a document not shown here. Nothing else is changed: no sentence is shortened, reworded or summarised.
Warnings
SECTION LIMITED DATA BASE FOR CHRONIC USE OF SINGLE DOSES ABOVE 8 MG AND MULTIPLE DOSES ABOVE 24 MG PER DAY Clinical experience with long-term use of tizanidine at doses of 8 to 16 mg single doses or total daily doses of 24 to 36 mg (see Dosage and Administration) is limited. In safety studies, approximately 75 patients have been exposed to individual doses of 12 mg or more for at least one year or more and approximately 80 patients have been exposed to total daily doses of 30 to 36 mg/day for at least one year or more. There is essentially no long-term experience with single, daytime doses of 16 mg. Because long-term clinical study experience at high doses is limited, only those adverse events with a relatively high incidence are likely to have been identified (see WARNINGS, PRECAUTIONS and ADVERSE REACTIONS). HYPOTENSION Tizanidine is a α2-adrenergic agonist (like clonidine) and can produce hypotension. In a single dose study where blood pressure was monitored closely after dosing, two-thirds of patients treated with 8 mg of tizanidine had a 20% reduction in either the diastolic or systolic BP. The reduction was seen within 1 hour after dosing, peaked 2 to 3 hours after dosing and was associated, at times, with bradycardia, orthostatic hypotension, lightheadedness/dizziness and rarely syncope. The hypotensive effect is dose related and has been measured following single doses of ≥ 2 mg. The chance of significant hypotension may possibly be minimized by titration of the dose and by focusing attention on signs and symptoms of hypotension prior to dose advancement. In addition, patients moving from a supine to a fixed upright position may be at increased risk for hypotension and orthostatic effects. Caution is advised when tizanidine is to be used in patients receiving concurrent antihypertensive therapy and should not be used with other α2-adrenergic agonists. Clinically significant hypotension (decreases in both systolic and diastolic pressure) has been reported with concomitant administration of either fluvoxamine or ciprofloxacin and single doses of 4 mg of tizanidine. Therefore, concomitant use of tizanidine with fluvoxamine or with ciprofloxacin, potent inhibitors of CYP1A2, is contraindicated (see CONTRAINDICATIONS and CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Drug Interactions). RISK OF LIVER INJURY Tizanidine occasionally causes liver injury, most often hepatocellular in type. In controlled clinical studies, approximately 5% of patients treated with tizanidine had elevations of liver function tests (ALT/SGPT, AST/SGOT) to greater than 3 times the upper limit of normal (or 2 times if baseline levels were elevated) compared to 0.4% in the control patients. Most cases resolved rapidly upon drug withdrawal with no reported residual problems. In occasional symptomatic cases, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and jaundice have been reported. Based upon postmarketing experience, death associated with liver failure has been a rare occurrence reported in patients treated with tizanidine. Monitoring of aminotransferase levels is recommended during the first 6 months of treatment (e.g., baseline, 1, 3 and 6 months) and periodically thereafter, based on clinical status. Because of the potential toxic hepatic effect of tizanidine, the drug should ordinarily be avoided or used with extreme caution in patients with impaired hepatic function. SEDATION In the multiple doses, controlled clinical studies, 48% of patients receiving any dose of tizanidine reported sedation as an adverse event. In 10% of these cases, the sedation was rated as severe compared to < 1% in the placebo treated patients. Sedation may interfere with everyday activity. The effect appears to be dose related. In a single dose study, 92% of the patients receiving 16 mg, when asked, reported that they were drowsy during the 6 hour study. This compares to 76% of the patients on 8 mg and 35% of the patients on placebo. Patients began noting this effect 30 minutes following dosing. The effect peaked 1.5 hours following dosing. Of the patients who received a single dose of 16 mg, 51% continued to report drowsiness 6 hours following dosing compared to 13% in the patients receiving placebo or 8 mg of tizanidine. In the multiple dose studies, the prevalence of patients with sedation peaked following the first week of titration and then remained stable for the duration of the maintenance phase of the study. HALLUCINOSIS/PSYCHOTIC-LIKE SYMPTOMS Tizanidine use has been associated with hallucinations. Formed, visual hallucinations or delusions have been reported in 5 of 170 patients (3%) in two North American controlled clinical studies. These 5 cases occurred within the first 6 weeks. Most of the patients were aware that the events were unreal. One patient developed psychoses in association with the hallucinations. One patient among these 5 continued to have problems for at least 2 weeks following discontinuation of tizanidine. USE IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATIC IMPAIRMENT The influence of hepatic impairment on the pharmacokinetics of tizanidine has not been evaluated. Because tizanidine is extensively metabolized in the liver, hepatic impairment would be expected to have significant effects on the pharmacokinetics of tizanidine. Tizanidine should ordinarily be avoided or used with extreme caution in patients with hepatic impairment (See also RISK OF LIVER INJURY). POTENTIAL INTERACTION WITH FLUVOXAMINE OR CIPROFLOXACIN In a pharmacokinetic study, tizanidine serum concentration was significantly increased (Cmax 12-fold, AUC 33-fold) when the drug was given concomitantly with fluvoxamine. Potentiated hypotensive and sedative effects were observed. Fluvoxamine and tizanidine should not be used together. (See CONTRAINDICATIONS and CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Drug Interactions). In a pharmacokinetic study, tizanidine serum concentration was significantly increased (Cmax 7-fold, AUC 10-fold) when the drug was given concomitantly with ciprofloxacin. Potentiated hypotensive and sedative effects were observed. Ciprofloxacin and tizanidine should not be used together (See CONTRAINDICATIONS and CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Drug Interactions). POSSIBLE INTERACTION WITH OTHER CYP1A2 INHIBITORS Because of potential drug interactions, concomitant use of tizanidine with other CYP1A2 inhibitors, such as zileuton, other fluoroquinolones, antiarrythmics (amiodarone, mexiletine, propafenone, and verapamil), cimetidine, famotidine, oral contraceptives, acyclovir and ticlopidine (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Drug Interactions) should ordinarily be avoided. If their use is clinically necessary, they should be used with caution.
Text above is quoted in full from the FDA-approved drug label published by openFDA, effective March 11, 2025. Matched to this product by RxNorm code. Cross-references to other sections of the full prescribing information have been removed, since they point to a document not shown here. Nothing else is changed: no sentence is shortened, reworded or summarised.
Contraindications
Tizanidine is contraindicated in patients:
taking strong CYP1A2 inhibitors.
with a history of hypersensitivity to tizanidine or the ingredients in tizanidine tablets. Symptoms have included anaphylaxis and angioedema. Concomitant use with strong CYP1A2 inhibitors Patients with a history of hypersensitivity to tizanidine or the ingredients in tizanidine tablets
Text above is quoted in full from the FDA-approved drug label published by openFDA, effective March 11, 2025. Matched to this product by RxNorm code. Cross-references to other sections of the full prescribing information have been removed, since they point to a document not shown here. Nothing else is changed: no sentence is shortened, reworded or summarised.
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