didanosine

Brand name(s):

Videx, Videx EC

What is the most important information I should know about didanosine?

Didanosine can cause life-threatening effects on your liver or pancreas. Call your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms: severe pain in your upper stomach spreading to your back, fast heart rate, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, low fever, dark urine, clay-colored stools, or jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes). Do not take didanosine without telling your doctor if you are pregnant. Didanosine may be harmful to an unborn baby, and may also be more likely to cause pancreatitis in a pregnant woman. Didanosine may also cause a build up of lactic acid in the body. Symptoms include unusual muscle pain and weakness, trouble breathing, fast or uneven heart rate, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and numbness or cold feeling in your arms or legs. Contact your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms, even if they are only mild.

There are many other medicines that can interact with didanosine. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor. Keep a list with you of all the medicines you use and show this list to any doctor or other healthcare provider who treats you.

HIV/AIDS is usually treated with a combination of different drugs. To best treat your condition, use all of your medications as directed by your doctor. Do not change your doses or medication schedule without advice from your doctor. Every person with HIV or AIDS should remain under the care of a doctor.

Taking didanosine will not prevent you from passing HIV to other people through unprotected sex or sharing of needles. Talk with your doctor about safe methods of preventing HIV transmission during sex, such as using a condom and spermicide. Sharing drug or medicine needles is never safe, even for a healthy person.

What is didanosine?

Didanosine is an antiviral medication that prevents human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cells from multiplying in your body.

Didanosine is used to treat HIV, which causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Didanosine is not a cure for HIV or AIDS.

Didanosine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking didanosine?

Didanosine can cause severe or life-threatening effects on your liver or pancreas. Call your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms while taking didanosine: severe pain in your upper stomach spreading to your back, fast heart rate, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, low fever, dark urine, clay-colored stools, or jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes). Didanosine may also cause lactic acidosis (the build up of lactic acid in the body). Lactic acidosis can start slowly and gradually get worse. Symptoms include unusual muscle pain and weakness, trouble breathing, fast or uneven heart rate, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and numbness or cold feeling in your arms or legs. Contact your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms, even if they are only mild. Early signs of lactic acidosis generally get worse over time and this condition can be fatal. Do not use this medication if you are allergic to didanosine.

Before taking didanosine, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:

liver disease;
kidney disease (or if you are on dialysis);
a history of pancreatitis; or
a history of peripheral neuropathy (numbness or tingling in your hands or feet).

Do not take didanosine without telling your doctor if you are pregnant. Didanosine may be harmful to an unborn baby, and may also be more likely to cause pancreatitis in a pregnant woman.

HIV can be passed to a baby if the mother is not properly treated during pregnancy. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. Take all of your HIV medicines as directed to control your infection while you are pregnant.

Your name may need to be listed on an antiviral pregnancy registry when you start using didanosine. The purpose of this registry is to track the outcome of the pregnancy and delivery to evaluate whether didanosine had any effect on the baby.

You should not breast-feed while you are using didanosine. Women with HIV or AIDS should not breast-feed at all. Even if your baby is born without HIV, you may still pass the virus to the baby in your breast milk.

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