Active ingredient

HOW TO USE:

Tetracycline works best when taken on an empty stomach 1 hour before or 2 hours after meals. If stomach upset occurs, ask your doctor if you can take this medication with food. Take each dose with a full glass of water (8 ounces or 240 milliliters) unless your doctor directs you otherwise. Do not lie down for 30 minutes after taking this medication. For this reason, do not take it right before bedtime.

Take this medication 2-3 hours before or after taking any products containing magnesium, aluminum, or calcium. Some examples include antacids, quinapril, certain forms of didanosine (chewable/dispersible buffered tablets or pediatric oral solution), vitamins/minerals, and sucralfate. Follow the same instructions with dairy products (e.g., milk, yogurt), calcium-enriched juice, bismuth subsalicylate, iron, and zinc. These products bind with tetracycline, preventing its full absorption.

Sumycin (tetracycline) side effects

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. Stop using tetracycline and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

• severe headache, dizziness, blurred vision;
• fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms;
• severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash;
• urinating less than usual or not at all;
• pale or yellowed skin, dark colored urine, fever, confusion or weakness;
• severe pain in your upper stomach spreading to your back, nausea and vomiting, fast heart rate;
• loss of appetite, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes); or
• easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness.

Warnings/Precautions

Talk to your physician before taking this medicine if you are hypersensitive to tetracyclines. Using Sumycin in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection or a prophylactic indication is unlikely to provide benefit and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

Dosage

Dosage is based on your medical condition and response to therapy. For use in children older than 8 years of age, the dosage is also based on weight.

Antibiotics work best when the amount of medicine in your body is kept at a constant level. Therefore, take this drug at evenly spaced intervals.

Continue to take this medication until the full-prescribed amount is finished even if symptoms disappear after a few days. Stopping the medication too early may allow bacteria to continue to grow, which may result in a relapse of the infection.

Inform your doctor if your condition persists or worsens.

More Information

If you are undergoing long-term therapy, periodic laboratory evaluation of organ system function, including renal, hepatic, and hematopoietic systems, should be performed.