Health & Care Information Tamiflu is prescribed medicine and doctors usually recommend this medicine when they treat patients with flu, also termed as influenza. To use this medicine, it’s necessary to have 2 weeks old flu. Tamiflu is also often prescribed for patients who are at least a year old. For babies younger than one year, this medicine is not suitable.
There are also some circumstances in which you should avoid Tamifluif , even though you have flu. These include different kind of allergies especially if you are allergic to its main active ingredient oseltamivir phosphate.
Besides its active ingredients, if you are allergic to the inactive ingredients, avoid it. Each type of Tamiflu capsule including its oral version, has different inactive ingredients and if you are allergic to them, do not take even oral dose. It’s important to inform your doctor if you have certain conditions which you can read in this article below, before you take Tamiflu so that the true Tamiflu cost does not include complications.You should also tell your doctor if you are fructose intolerant, because this medication contains sorbitol, which may cause diarrhea and stomach upset in fructose-intolerant patients.
Some people have concerns about interaction that the medicine could have with others. According to studies, any clinically significant drug interaction is unlikely. The only chance is that taking Tamiflu may interfere with a nasal-spray flu vaccine. Due to this fact, it is recommended that Tamiflu should be taken only after 2 weeks have passed after receiving the intranasal flu vaccine. You also need 48 hours after taking Tamiflu before you can receive the nasal spray vaccine. But you should inform your doctor about any medication, you are taking before or while you take Tamiflu.
Tamiflu Cost, Dosing, Side effects, Over the Counter Availability
Below you can find all relevant information about Tamiflu including its cost, dosing, side effects, and other. So keep reading.
Cost of Tamiflu
Although Tamiflu website doesn’t mention a suggested retail price, but a careful estimation can be made by looking at similar medicines as well as the company prices pattern. Besides all other things, from where you get this medicine will be the most determining factor of its price. One pharmacy will charge a different price than another. It can be said that if you will pay the full price for a single 75mg capsule, cost may reach $10. While buying 10 all at once may cost you only a little more than $70 and a 30-capsule purchase may cost less than $175.
When you should avoid Tamiflu
Following are some conditions in which you should avoid this medication like if you:
- have trouble swallowing capsules.
- have a kidney condition.
- are pregnant, or breastfeeding. Although not definitely known whether it harm unborn babies or not but better to avoid risk.
Possible Side Effects
The most common side effects of Tamiflu are following:
- nausea and vomiting
- stomach pain and diarrhea
- a serious skin or allergic reaction but it’s rare
- itching, blisters, or rashes
- confusion, seizures, or even hallucinations
Tamiflu Dosing
Tamiflu works by preventing the flu from growing, it’s the main function of this medicine. It is actually not effective against the flu virus. The oseltamivir, an active ingredient of it, needs to be hydrolyzed in the liver, and then it blocks a viral enzyme which helps the virus infect other cells.
But remember, you should take Tamiflu only if prescribed by your doctor. It’s up to you, if you take it without food or with food, although if you take it with food, there are less chances that your stomach becomes upset. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. However, if it is only 2 hours or less before your next scheduled dose, you should skip that missed dose. Take your next dose at the scheduled time and do not take two doses at once. If you miss several scheduled doses, inform your doctor as soon as possible.
Over the Counter Availability
Tamiflu can be purchased over-the-counter, yes its possible. Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug that is used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus B infection. Like zanamivir, oseltamivir, which is active ingriedients of Tamiflu , is a neuraminidase inhibitor.
