Patient/caregiver was educated on precautions to be exercised while taking remular as follows:
- Remular has some potential for addiction, especially after prolonged use and/or in individuals with history of substance/drug abuse. This makes remular a risky drug and so, must be avoided for a safer alternative in individuals with history of drug abuse. Individuals who are active drug abusers or sober currently with history of drug abuse must discuss this issue and their safety with remular with their physician. Keep a count on your pills, when taking this medication, to help prevent abuse by others. Do not share this medication with any friends and family.
- Due to the addiction potential, remular is usually prescribed for a limited duration of time. If you are taking this medication for longer periods of time, set enough reminders to help yourself pick the refill before you run out on the medication. Also, you can avoid the unpleasant withdrawal response from sudden discontinuation of medication due to running out on the medication. Follow closely on the expiration date of the medication. If using a pillbox, check the expiration date on the medication container every time you fill the pillbox.
- Do not pull off from taking this medication suddenly or without notifying your physician. Individuals on sudden withdrawal from remular, especially after prolonged use or use in high doses, can present with unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, such as, listlessness, lack of energy, exacerbation of depressive symptoms and anxiety in individuals with history, agitation, sleep disturbances, confusion, appetite changes, delusions, hallucinations, mania, rebound bad muscle spasms, and seizures. Discontinuation on remular use must be slow and gradual, using tapering doses, and only on your physician recommendation.
- If you miss a dose, try taking it at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the dose scheduled. Do not take an extra dose to try making up for the missed dose, which can result in toxicity. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.
