is not recommended for use in pregnancy. Like other similar medicines, it could affect your unborn baby.
Do not take EXFORGE if you have any of the following medical conditions:
Severe kidney disease or are having dialysis
Severe liver disease including biliary cirrhosis
Cholestasis, which is reduced or stopped bile flow
Do not take EXFORGE after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering.
In that case, return it to your pharmacist.
Before you start to take it
Tell your doctor if you have/have had any of the following health problems/medical conditions:
severe kidney problems or received a kidney transplant
liver problems
heart problems
a condition known as primary hyperaldosteronism
suffering from several episodes of vomiting or diarrhoea or are taking a diuretic (a drug increasing the amount of urine).
Your doctor may want to take special precautions if you have any of the above conditions.
Tell your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby. Ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking EXFORGE in this case.
It is not known if valsartan or amlodipine, the active ingredients of EXFORGE, pass into the breast milk and could affect your baby.
Tell your doctor if you are allergic to any other medicines, foods, dyes or preservatives.
Your doctor will want to know if you are prone to allergies.
If you have not told your doctor about any of these things, tell him/her before you take EXFORGE.
Taking other medicines
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines that you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop.
Some medicines and EXFORGE may interfere with each other. Your doctor may need to change the dose or take other precautions. In some cases you may have to stop taking one of the medicines. This applies especially to the medicines listed below. These include:
medicines used to treat high blood pressure and some other heart conditions including fluid tablets or diuretic medicines, ACE-inhibitors and beta blockers
tablets, preparations or supplements which increase the potassium levels in your blood (such as certain types of diuretics, potassium supplements, salt substitutes etc) lithium (a medicine used to treat some types of depression)
anticonvulsant agents (e.g. carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, fosphenytoin, primidone), rifampicin, St. John's wort
nitroglycerin and other nitrates, or other substances called "vasodilators"
medicines used for HIV/AIDS (e.g. ritonavir) or for treatment of fungal infections (e.g. ketoconazole)
certain type of pain killers called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) or Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors (Cox-2 Inhibitors). Your doctor may also check your kidney function.
Your doctor and pharmacist have a more complete list of medicines to be careful of while taking EXFORGE.
How to take EXFORGE
Follow carefully all directions given to you by your doctor and pharmacist.
These instructions may differ from the information contained in this leaflet.
If you do not understand the instructions on the label, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.
