Galantamine Side Effects
Brand Names: Razadyne, Razadyne ER
Please note - some side effects for Galantamine may not be reported. Always consult your doctor or healthcare specialist for medical advice. You may also report side effects to the FDA.
Side Effects of Galantamine - for the Consumer
Galantamine
All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Galantamine:
Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Galantamine:Diarrhea; dizziness; headache; loss of appetite; nausea; stomach upset; tiredness; vomiting; weight loss.
Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody, black, or tarry stools; chest pain; decreased urination; depression; fainting; fever; seizures; severe or persistent tiredness or weakness; slow or irregular heartbeat; tremor.
This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur. If you have questions about side effects, contact your health care provider. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. To report side effects to the appropriate agency, please read the Guide to Reporting Problems to FDA.
Galantamine Extended-Release Capsules
All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Galantamine Extended-Release Capsules:
Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Galantamine Extended-Release Capsules:Diarrhea; dizziness; headache; loss of appetite; nausea; stomach upset; tiredness; vomiting; weight loss.
Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody, black, or tarry stools; chest pain; decreased urination; depression; fainting; fever; seizures; severe or persistent tiredness or weakness; slow or irregular heartbeat; tremor.
This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur. If you have questions about side effects, contact your health care provider. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. To report side effects to the appropriate agency, please read the Guide to Reporting Problems to FDA.
Galantamine Solution
All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Galantamine Solution:
Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Galantamine Solution:Diarrhea; dizziness; headache; loss of appetite; nausea; stomach upset; tiredness; vomiting; weight loss.
Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody, black, or tarry stools; chest pain; decreased urination; depression; fainting; fever; seizures; severe or persistent tiredness or weakness; slow or irregular heartbeat; tremor.
This is not a complete list of all side effects that may occur. If you have questions about side effects, contact your health care provider. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. To report side effects to the appropriate agency, please read the Guide to Reporting Problems to FDA.
TopGalantamine Side Effects - for the Professional
Galantamine
Pre-Marketing Clinical Trial Experience:
Adverse Events Leading To Discontinuation:
In two large scale, placebo-controlled trials of 6 months duration in which patients were titrated weekly from 8 to 16 to 24, and to 32 mg/day, the risk of discontinuation because of an adverse event in the Galantamine group exceeded that in the placebo group by about threefold. In contrast, in a 5-month trial with escalation of the dose by 8 mg/day every 4 weeks, the overall risk of discontinuation because of an adverse event was 7%, 7%, and 10% for the placebo, Galantamine 16 mg/day, and Galantamine 24 mg/day groups, respectively, with gastrointestinal adverse effects the principle reason for discontinuing Galantamine. Table 1 shows the most frequent adverse events leading to discontinuation in this study.
| 4-Week Escalation |
|||
| Adverse Event |
Placebo |
16 mg/day |
24 mg/day |
| N=286 |
N=279 |
N=273 |
|
| Nausea |
<1% |
2% |
4% |
| Vomiting |
0% |
1% |
3% |
| Anorexia |
<1% |
1% |
<1% |
| Dizziness |
<1% |
2% |
1% |
| Syncope |
0% |
0% |
1% |
Adverse Events Reported in Controlled Trials:
The reported adverse events in trials using Galantamine tablets reflect experience gained under closely monitored conditions in a highly selected patient population. In actual practice or in other clinical trials, these frequency estimates may not apply, as the conditions of use, reporting behavior and the types of patients treated may differ.
The majority of these adverse events occurred during the dose-escalation period. In those patients who experienced the most frequent adverse event, nausea, the median duration of the nausea was 5 to 7 days.
Administration of Galantamine with food, the use of anti-emetic medication, and ensuring adequate fluid intake may reduce the impact of these events.
The most frequent adverse events, defined as those occurring at a frequency of at least 5% and at least twice the rate on placebo with the recommended maintenance dose of either 16 or 24 mg/day of Galantamine under conditions of every 4-week dose-escalation for each dose increment of 8 mg/day, are shown in Table 2. These events were primarily gastrointestinal and tended to be less frequent with the 16 mg/day recommended initial maintenance dose.
| Adverse Event |
Placebo |
Galantamine 16 mg/day |
Galantamine 24 mg/day |
| N=286 |
N=279 |
N=273 |
|
| Nausea |
5% |
13% |
17% |
| Vomiting |
1% |
6% |
10% |
| Diarrhea |
6% |
12% |
6% |
| Anorexia |
3% |
7% |
9% |
| Weight decrease |
1% |
5% |
5% |
Table 3: The most common adverse events (adverse events occurring with an incidence of at least 2% with Galantamine treatment and in which the incidence was greater than with placebo treatment) are listed in Table 3 for four placebo-controlled trials for patients treated with 16 or 24 mg/day of Galantamine.
| Body System Adverse Event |
Placebo (N=801) |
Galantamine * (N=1040) |
|
||
| Body as a whole - general disorders |
||
| Fatigue |
3% |
5% |
| Syncope |
1% |
2% |
| Central & peripheral nervous system disorders |
||
| Dizziness |
6% |
9% |
| Headache |
5% |
8% |
| Tremor |
2% |
3% |
| Gastrointestinal system disorders |
||
| Nausea |
9% |
24% |
| Vomiting |
4% |
13% |
| Diarrhea |
7% |
9% |
| Abdominal pain |
4% |
5% |
| Dyspepsia |
2% |
5% |
| Heart rate and rhythm disorders |
||
| Bradycardia |
1% |
2% |
| Metabolic and nutritional disorders |
||
| Weight decrease |
2% |
7% |
| Psychiatric disorders |
||
| Anorexia |
3% |
9% |
| Depression |
5% |
7% |
| Insomnia |
4% |
5% |
| Somnolence |
3% |
4% |
| Red blood cell disorders |
||
| Anemia |
2% |
3% |
| Respiratory system disorders |
||
| Rhinitis |
3% |
4% |
| Urinary system disorders |
||
| Urinary tract infection |
7% |
8% |
| Hematuria |
2% |
3% |
Adverse events occurring with an incidence of at least 2% in placebo-treated patients that was either equal to or greater than with Galantamine treatment were constipation, agitation, confusion, anxiety, hallucination, injury, back pain, peripheral edema, asthenia, chest pain, urinary incontinence, upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis, coughing, hypertension, fall, and purpura.
There were no important differences in adverse event rates related to dose or sex. There were too few non-Caucasian patients to assess the effects of race on adverse event rates. No clinically relevant abnormalities in laboratory values were observed.
Other Adverse Events Observed During Clinical Trials:
Galantamine tablets were administered to 3055 patients with Alzheimer’s disease. A total of 2357 patients received Galantamine in placebo-controlled trials and 761 patients with Alzheimer’s disease received Galantamine 24 mg/day, the maximum recommended maintenance dose. About 1000 patients received Galantamine for at least one year and approximately 200 patients received Galantamine for two years.
To establish the rate of adverse events, data from all patients receiving any dose of Galantamine in 8 placebo-controlled trials and 6 open-label extension trials were pooled. The methodology to gather and codify these adverse events was standardized across trials, using WHO terminology. All adverse events occurring in approximately 0.1% are included, except for those already listed elsewhere in labeling, WHO terms too general to be informative, or events unlikely to be drug caused. Events are classified by body system and listed using the following definitions: frequent adverse events - those occurring in at least 1/100 patients; infrequent adverse events - those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients; rare adverse events - those occurring in 1/1000 to 1/10000 patients; very rare adverse events – those occurring in fewer than 1/10000 patients. ; infrequent adverse events - those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients; rare adverse events - those occurring in fewer than 1/1000 patients. These adverse events are not necessarily related to Galantamine treatment and in most cases were observed at a similar frequency in placebo-treated patients in the controlled studies. Additional adverse events observed in other clinical trials are also included below.
Body as a Whole – General Disorders:
Frequent: chest pain, asthenia, fever, malaise
Cardiovascular System Disorders:
Infrequent: postural hypotension, hypotension, dependent edema, cardiac failure, myocardial ischemia or infarction
Central & Peripheral Nervous System Disorders:
Infrequent: vertigo, hypertonia, convulsions, involuntary muscle contractions, paresthesia, ataxia, hypokinesia, hyperkinesia, apraxia, aphasia, leg cramps, tinnitus, transient ischemic attack or cerebrovascular accident
Gastrointestinal System Disorders:
Infrequent: gastritis, melena, dysphagia, rectal hemorrhage, dry mouth, saliva increased, diverticulitis, gastroenteritis, hiccup;
Rare: esophageal perforation
Heart Rate & Rhythm Disorders:
Infrequent: AV block, palpitation, atrial arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation and supraventricular tachycardia, QT prolonged, bundle branch block, T-wave inversion, ventricular tachycardia;
Rare: severe bradycardia
Metabolic & Nutritional Disorders:
Infrequent: hyperglycemia, alkaline phosphatase increased
Platelet, Bleeding & Clotting Disorders:
Infrequent: purpura, epistaxis, thrombocytopenia
Psychiatric Disorders:
Infrequent: apathy, paroniria, paranoid reaction, libido increased, delirium;
Rare: suicidal ideation, suicide
Urinary System Disorders:
Infrequent: hematuria, micturition frequency, cystitis, urinary retention, nocturia, renal calculi
Post-Marketing Experience:
Other adverse events from post-approval controlled and uncontrolled clinical trials and post-marketing experience observed in patients treated with Galantamine include:
Body as a Whole – General Disorders:
dehydration (including rare, severe cases leading to renal insufficiency and renal failure)
Psychiatric Disorders:
Gastrointestinal System Disorders:
Metabolic & Nutritional Disorders:
These adverse events may or may not be causally related to the drug.
TopSide Effects by Body System - for Healthcare Professionals
Gastrointestinal
Gastrointestinal side effects including nausea (24%), vomiting (13%), diarrhea (9%), abdominal pain (5%), and dyspepsia (5%) have been reported.
General
General side effects including weight decrease (7%), fatigue (5%), and syncope (2%) have been reported. Chest pain, asthenia, fever, and malaise have been reported frequently.
In two randomized, placebo-controlled trials of two years duration in subjects with mild cognitive impairment, a total of 13 subjects on galantamine (n=1026) and 1 subject on placebo (n=1022) died. The deaths were due to various causes which could be expected in an elderly population. About half of the galantamine deaths appeared to result from various vascular causes (myocardial infarction, stroke), and sudden death.
Nervous system
Nervous system side effects including dizziness (9%), headache (8%), and tremor (3%) have been reported. Leg cramps, tinnitus, transient ischemic attacks and cerebrovascular accidents have been reported infrequently.
Psychiatric
Psychiatric side effects including anorexia (9%), depression (7%), insomnia (5%), and somnolence (4%) have been reported. Apathy, paroniria (disagreeable or terrifying dreams), paranoid reaction, increased libido, and delirium have been reported infrequently. Suicidal ideation and suicide have been reported rarely.
Genitourinary
Genitourinary side effects including urinary tract infection (8%) and hematuria (3%) have been reported.
Respiratory
Respiratory side effects including rhinitis (4%) have been reported.
Hematologic
Hematologic side effects including anemia (3%) have been reported.
Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular side effects including bradycardia (up to 3%) have been reported. Postural hypotension, hypotension, dependent edema, cardiac failure, and myocardial ischemia or infarction, AV block, palpitation, atrial arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation and supraventricular tachycardia, QT prolonged, bundle branch block, T-wave inversion, and ventricular tachycardia have been reported infrequently. Severe bradycardia has rarely been reported.
TopMore Galantamine resources
- galantamine Advanced Consumer (Micromedex) - Includes Dosage Information
- galantamine Concise Consumer Information (Cerner Multum)
- Galantamine MedFacts Consumer Leaflet (Wolters Kluwer)
- Galantamine Prescribing Information (FDA)
- Galantamine Hydrobromide Monograph (AHFS DI)
- Razadyne Prescribing Information (FDA)
- Razadyne ER Extended-Release Capsules MedFacts Consumer Leaflet (Wolters Kluwer)
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