What is Urso? How to Treat with Generic Ursodiol.

Generic Urso (Ursodiol 150 mg) Medication guide:

More facts about Generic Urso (Ursodiol 150 mg):

Urso (Generic Ursodiol) is a drug that has such pharmaceutical properties:
- Being a bile acid, it decreases the quantity of cholesterol, produced by the liver and slows down the rate of cholesterol absorbance in the intestines;
- Urso (ursodiol) is helpful for treating the gallstone disease on its early stages, as it destroys the cholesterol and consequently cholesterol gallstones;
- Due to its ability to improve bile flow, Generic Ursodiol is used in treating primary biliary cirrhosis.

Patients can choose this medicine for prophylaxis of gallstone formation when they lose weight rapidly and when the cholesterol gallstones have already formed, but surgery is contraindicated. Another major application of the drug is curing primary biliary cirrhosis.

When the gallstones are calcified already and can be found by means of radiography, Urso (ursodiol) cannot be used.

There are other purposes for usage of this medicine, not mentioned in our medication guide.

Before applying Urso (ursodiol) study the key information about the drug:

Always inform your doctor if you are going to use simultaneously with the described drug or are using now cholestyramine (Questran), colestipol (Colestid), or estrogens (oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy).

Take only prescribed by your doctor antacids. Do not use any other antacids types,  as some of them contain the substances which worsen the absorbance of Urso (ursodiol) in your organism.

Treating cholesterol gallstones may presuppose several months’ course, and still not all the cholesterol stones may be destroyed. The recurrent formation of gallstones has been observed among numerous patients during the next 5 years after they stopped treatment by ursodiol. You can ask your doctor about the risks of recurrent gallstones in your particular case.

You may have to undergo ultrasound examinations of the abdomen often during the course of treatment. Some patient will need to have their liver’s function tested. All this is for making sure the drug is helping you. Please do all the prescribed procedures and visit your doctor according to the schedule.

Always tell your pharmacist before using Urso (ursodiol) about the next things

- If you are allergic to any of the medicines;
- If your liver needs medical care;
- If you are pregnant, is going to be pregnant or are breast-feeding;
- If you have any contraindications for usage of the drug;
- Name all the medicines you are taking at the moment, including vitamins, food and herbal additives.

Urso (Generic Ursodiol) has FDA pregnancy category B. This means that the harm from using the drug by pregnant women is unknown or has not been proved experimentally. Thoroughly consider the pros and cons when deciding to take the medication during pregnancy. The property of ursodiol to penetrate into the mother’s milk and to harm through it a nursing baby has not been studied. Always inform your doctor if you are breast feeding before taking the drug.

Valuable advice for dosage, scheduling and taking the drug

Exactly follow the prescribed dose and times of intake per day. Perform the instructions on your prescription label – do not increase the dose or prolong the treatment period.

Take each pill with sufficient amount of water after or during meals without chewing.

Visit every scheduled meeting with your doctor and perform all the prescribed procedures, analyses, examinations. Sometimes you may need to have your abdomen examined with ultrasound or pass other analyses of your liver’s function quite often.

The medical effect for treating the gallstones may be achieved after a long period of taking ursodiol. Do not quit the course prematurely. Follow your pharmacists’ advice.

It is of primary importance not to interrupt the course of treatment to achieve the best effect. Refill your medication timely.

Ursodiol is stored at room temperature, protected from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight.

Can I overdose?

The overdose by Ursodiol isn’t likely to happen, as the larger amount of the drug you take, the less is its absorbance in the human body. Nevertheless, avoid doubling the dose when you forgot to take the pill. If it’s time for another intake, do not take two tablets, use only the scheduled dose. The overdose may be represented by diarrhea. Should you overdose, search for medical assistance and stop taking the drug immediately.

What is forbidden during using Urso?

Do not take antacids which aren’t prescribed to you. Some of them have the components which worsen the absorbance of the drug in your organism.

What are the side effects and their signs?

Known allergic reactions to ursodiol are the following: hives, swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat, difficulty breathing. Call emergency immediately if you observe these signs.

The drug may provoke less hazardous side effects, which may disappear after you body gets used to the new medicine. Among them are: fever, back pain, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, dizziness, tired feeling, stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, runny or stuffy nose, cold symptoms or headache. If any of these reactions are observed or you have some other major discomfort, consult with health care provider if you should go on using the drug.

Interaction with other drugs.

Care should be taken when using Urso together with:
- estrogens (oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy);
- antacids that contain aluminum, such as Rolaids, Mylanta, or Maalox;
- cholestyramine (Questran);
- colestipol (Colestid).

When taking some of these drugs, ursodiol is not recommended or can be used with specially defined dose and with special follow-up of your medical state.

Urso (Generic Ursodiol) may react with other medicines, not mentioned here. You should tell your doctor all the drugs and medical means (herbal and food additives, vitamins, etc.) you are currently using or are going to take.
Start using the drug only after your doctor has approved it.