What you should know about

Celance tablets

14-day Starter Pack

Please read this leaflet carefully before you start to take your medicine It does not contain all the information about your medicine that you may need to know, so please ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions. This leaflet only applies to Celance tablets

What is in your medicine?

Your medicine is called Celance Its active ingredient is pergolide (as pergolide mesylate). The tablets are ivory or green and are shaped like pillows The tablets have a line across the middle to show you where to break them.

Each ivory tablet has 50 micrograms (mcg) of pergolide mesylate in it and each green tablet has 250mcg. The tablets also contain the inactive ingredients lactose, croscarmellose sodium, povidone and magnesium stearate. The ivory tablets are coloured with E172 and L-methionine and the green ones with E172 and E132. The tablets are packed in four wallets.

Celance also comes in packs of 100 tablets containing either 50mcg, 250mcg or 1milligram )mg) of pergolide mesylate in each tablet. The 1mg tablets are pink.

Celance is one in a group of medicines called dopamine agonists. 11 is used al the same time as other medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.

Celance is made by Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, USA. The product licence is held by Eli Lilly and Company Limned, Dextra Court, Chapel Hill, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 5SY.

Why Celance?

Celance is used to reduce the symptoms and problems of Parkinson's disease . It is used with other medicines that have levodopa in them, such as Sinemet and Madopar.

Before taking your medicine

Make sure it is safe for you to take Celance. It should not be given to children.

It you answer YES to any of the following questions or you are not sure about the answer, tell your doctor or pharmacist and do not take any Celance tablets.

Have you ever had a rash or other allergic reaction to Celance or to an 'ergot' medicine such as bromocriptine or lysuride?

Have you ever had heart trouble?

Are you pregnant or could you be, or are you breast-feeding?

Are you taking any medicine that thins the blood, such as warfarin?

Are you taking any medicine for high blood pressure, nausea or a psychiatric condition?

Tell your doctor about any other medicines you are taking and which other medical problems you are being treated for.

Please read the back of this leaflet

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What you should know about Celance - continued

Taking your medicine

Follow your doctor's instructions. The starter pack is only for your first 14 days of treatment. When you have finished the pack, your doctor will tell you what to do next.

It is important to start at a low dose and increase it slowly.

Follow the instruction in the pack, unless your doctor tells you something different.

Each wallet is marked in days, showing the time of day and how many tablets to take for each dose. You will take one tablet for the first two days, then step up the dose every third day.

We provide a spare ivory tablet in the wallet labelled ‘Days 11 and 12’. You must only take this if you lose one of your ivory tablets from days 1 to 12. The green tablets are only for days 13 and 14.

Swallow the tablets with water. It does not matter whether you take the tablets with or without food.

If you are not sure how many tablets to take, ask your doctor.

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If you miss several doses, ask your doctor what to do. Do not stop taking your medicine without telling your doctor first.

Even though you are taking Celance, you should go on taking any other medicines that your doctor has told you to.

If you ever take too many tablets, tell your doctor at once or go to your nearest hospital casualty department.

While taking your medicine

You and your family should talk to your doctor or pharmacist about how Celance may affect you. Celance tablets can cause side-effects, such as:

shaking and twitching

stomach ache

hallucinations

sleepiness

pains

feeling sick

confusion

You may also faint or feel faint, dizzy or lightheaded when you get up or stand up. You may feel sick when you first start to take your medicine. This usually wears off but your doctor may give you something to help this.

Some patients have not been able to sleep, or have had constipation, diarrhoea, indigestion, a runny nose, difficulty in breathing, a racing heart or double vision. (But these symptoms are rare )

Some of the symptoms may be caused by Parkinson's disease, or by medicines you are already taking, or by other medical conditions. Tell your doctor if you have any side-effects when you are taking Celance tablets. Your doctor has more information about Celance and will tell you what to do He or she may change the amount of any medicines that you are taking.

How to store your medicine

Do not take the tablets after the 'Use before' date.

Keep your tablets at room temperature (15° to 30°C). Keep them in a dry place and out of the sun.

Keep all medicines where children cannot see or reach them. Your medicines could harm them.

If your doctor tells you to stop taking the tablets, please take any you have left back to the pharmacist.

REMEMBER: This medicine is for you. Only a doctor can prescribe it for you. Never give it to others. It may harm them, even if their symptoms are the same as yours.

‘Celance’ is a trademark of Eli Lilly and Company limited

Date this leaflet was written: April 1996