Ranolazine

What is ranolazine?

Ranolazine is an anti-anginal medication. It works by improving blood flow to help the heart work more efficiently.

Ranolazine is used to treat chronic angina (chest pain).

Ranolazine may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Precautions

You should not take ranolazine if you have liver disease. Ranolazine should not be taken together with certain medicines to treat heart rhythm disorders, infections, HIV or AIDS, seizures, mental illness, pain, cancer, or stomach disorders. Before you take ranolazine, tell your doctor about all other medications you are using.

Ranolazine is not for use during an acute (emergency) attack of angina. Continue using any other medicines prescribed by your doctor (such as nitroglycerin) to treat acute angina.

If you have certain conditions or take certain medications, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely use this medication. Before you take ranolazine, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions, especially if you have a personal or family history of "Long QT syndrome.” Also tell your doctor about all other medications you use regularly.

FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether ranolazine is harmful to an unborn baby. Before taking this medication, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment.

It is not known if ranolazine passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

Ranolazine can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with ranolazine and lead to potentially dangerous effects. Discuss the use of grapefruit products with your doctor. Do not increase or decrease the amount of grapefruit products in your diet without first talking to your doctor.

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Instructions

Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.

Overdose can cause nausea, vomiting, numbness or tingling, dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, or fainting.

If you miss a dose or forget to take your medicine, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at the next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

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Side Effects

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

feeling like you might pass out;
swelling in your hands, ankles, or feet;
slow, fast, or pounding heartbeats;
tremors or shaking;
blood in your urine;
urinating less than usual or not at all;
shortness of breath; or
skin rash, bruising, severe tingling, numbness, pain, and muscle weakness.

Less serious side effects may include:

dizziness, spinning sensation, headache;
dry mouth;
mild nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, constipation;
weakness; or
blurred vision, ringing in your ears.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

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Interactions

Many drugs can interact with ranolazine. Below is just a partial list. Tell your doctor if you are using:

aprepitant (Emend);
cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune, Gengraf);
digoxin (Lanoxin);
diltiazem (Cardizem, Tiazac);
seizure medicine such as carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Tegretol), phenytoin (Dilantin);
simvastatin (Zocor);
St. John's wort;
verapamil (Verelan, Calan, Isoptin, Covera);
an antibiotic such as azithromycin (Zithromax), clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E-Mycin, E.E.S., Ery-Tab), rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifadin, Rifamate), rifapentin (Priftin), or troleandomycin (Tao);
an antifungal medication such as fluconazole (Diflucan); itraconazole (Sporanox), or ketoconazole (Nizoral);
an antidepressant such as amitriptyline (Elavil), doxepin (Adapin, Sinequan), nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor), imipramine (Tofranil), or paroxetine (Paxil);
a barbiturate such as amobarbital (Amytal), butabarbital (Butisol), mephobarbital (Mebaral), secobarbital (Seconal), or phenobarbital (Solfoton);
medicine to treat a mental illness, such as thioridazine (Mellaril), ziprasidone (Geodon);
heart rhythm medicine such as amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone), quinidine (Cardioquin, Quinidex, Quinaglute), dofetilide (Tikosyn), sotalol (Betapace, Sorine); or
HIV medicines such as amprenavir (Agenerase), tipranavir (Aptivus), indinavir (Crixivan), saquinavir (Invirase, Fortovase), lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), ritonavir (Norvir), atazanavir (Reyataz), or nelfinavir (Viracept).

This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with ranolazine. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.

Other Names

Ranexa and ranolazine

Available Strengths & Dosages

Route	Form	Strength
oral	tablet, extended release	500 mg
oral	tablet, extended release	1000 mg

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Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.