Nucynta ER

Uses of Nucynta ER

Nucynta ER is used to help relieve ongoing severe pain. Tapentadol is an opioid pain reliever. It acts on certain centers in the brain to give you pain relief. Tapentadol may also be used to help relieve nerve pain (peripheral neuropathy) in people with diabetes.

Precautions and Warnings

MISUSE OF OPIOID MEDICINE CAN CAUSE ADDICTION, OVERDOSE, OR DEATH. Keep the medicine where others cannot get to it.

Fatal side effects may occur if you also drink alcohol or use other drugs that cause drowsiness or slow breathing.

You should not use Nucynta ER if you are allergic to it, or if you have:

• severe asthma or breathing problems;
• a stomach or bowel obstruction (including paralytic ileus); or
• if you have used an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days, such as isocarboxazid, linezolid, methylene blue injection, phenelzine, or tranylcypromine.

Tell your doctor if you have ever had:

• other breathing problems, sleep apnea (breathing that stops during sleep);
• low blood pressure, other heart or circulation problems;
• a head injury, brain tumor, high pressure inside the skull, or seizures;
• a drug or alcohol addiction, or mental illness;
• urination problems, problems with your gallbladder, pancreas, thyroid, or adrenal gland; or
• liver or kidney disease.

Tell your doctor if you also use stimulant medicine, other opioid medicine, herbal products, or medicine for depression, mental illness, Parkinson’s disease, migraine headaches, serious infections, or prevention of nausea and vomiting. An interaction with Nucynta ER could cause a serious condition called serotonin syndrome.

Long-term Nucynta ER may affect fertility in men or women. Pregnancy could be harder to achieve while either parent is using Nucynta ER.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you use Nucynta ER during pregnancy, your baby could be born with life-threatening withdrawal symptoms, and may need medical treatment for several weeks.

Nucynta ER in breast milk can cause life-threatening side effects in a nursing baby.

Dosage

The starting dose of Nucynta ER is 50 mg orally twice daily (approximately every 12 hours).

Side Effects

Common side effects:

• constipation, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
• fever, itching;
• headache, feeling tired; or
• drowsiness, dizziness.

Serious side effects:

• slow heart rate, weak pulse, fainting, slow breathing (breathing may stop);
• chest pain, fast or pounding heartbeats;
• extreme drowsiness, feeling like you might pass out;
• a seizure; or
• decreased adrenal gland hormones–nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite, feeling tired or light-headed, muscle or joint pain, skin discoloration, craving salty foods.