◾If you have had depression or are depressed or previously had thoughts of suicide. Your doctor will closely monitor you during treatment. If your depression and/or suicidal thoughts are severe, you will not be prescribed Extavia (see also ?Do not use Extavia?).

◾If you have ever had seizures or if you are taking medicines to treat epilepsy(anti-epileptics) (see also ?Using other medicines? and section 4, ?Possible side effects?), you doctor will monitor your treatment carefully.

◾If you havesevere kidney problems, your doctor may monitor your kidney function during treatment.

Tell your doctor if any of these applies to you.

Your doctor also needs to know the following whilst you are using Extavia:

◾If you experience symptoms such as itching all over your body, swelling of your face and/or your tongue or sudden shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of a serious allergic reaction (hypersensitivity), which may become life threatening.

◾If you feel noticeably more sad or hopeless than before the treatment with Extavia, or if you develop thoughts of suicide. If you become depressed while you are on Extavia, you may need special treatment and your doctor will closely monitor you and may also consider stopping your treatment. If you suffer from severe depression and/or suicidal thoughts, you will not be treated with Extavia (see also ?Do not use Extavia?).

◾If you notice any unusual bruising, excessive bleeding after injury or if you seem to be catching a lot of infections. These may be symptoms of a fall in your blood cell count or in the number of platelets in your blood (cells, which help the blood to clot). You may need extra monitoring by your doctor.

◾If you have loss of appetite, fatigue, feeling sick(nausea), repeated vomiting, especially if you notice widespread itching, yellowing of the skin or of the whites of the eyes, or easy bruising. These symptoms may suggest problems with your liver. Changes to liver function values occurred in patients treated with Extavia during clinical studies. As for other beta interferons, severe liver damage, including cases of liver failure, have been reported rarely in patients taking Extavia. The most serious were reported in patients taking other medicines or who were suffering from diseases that can affect the liver (e.g. alcohol abuse, severe infection).

◾If you experience symptoms such as irregular heart beat, swelling such as of the ankles or legs, or shortness of breath. This may suggest a disease of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy) which has been reported rarely in patients using Extavia.

◾If you notice pain in your belly which is radiating to your back , and/or you feel sick or have a fever. This may suggest an inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which has been reported with Extavia use. This is often associated with an increase of certain blood fats (triglycerides).

Stop using Extavia and tell your doctor immediately if any of these happens to you.

Other things to consider when using Extavia: