Fulove Special Precautions

A medical history and physical examination should be undertaken to diagnose erectile dysfunction and determine potential underlying causes, before pharmacological treatment is considered.
Cardiovascular risk factors: Prior to initiating any treatment for erectile dysfunction, physicians should consider the cardiovascular status of their patients, since there is a degree of cardiac risk associated with sexual activity. Sildenafil has vasodilator properties, resulting in mild and transient decreases in blood pressure. Prior to prescribing sildenafil, physicians should carefully consider whether their patients with certain underlying conditions could be adversely affected by such vasodilatory effects, especially in combination with sexual activity. Patients with increased susceptibility to vasodilators include those with left ventricular outflow obstruction (e.g. aortic stenosis, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy), or those with the rare syndrome of multiple system atrophy manifesting as severely impaired autonomic control of blood pressure.
Sildenafil potentiates the hypotensive effect of nitrates.
Serious cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, unstable angina, sudden cardiac death, ventricular arrhythmia, cerebrovascular haemorrhage, transient ischaemic attack, hypertension and hypotension have been reported post-marketing in temporal association with the use of sildenafil. Most, but not all, of these patients had pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors. Many events were reported to occur during or shortly after sexual intercourse and a few were reported to occur shortly after the use of sildenafil without sexual activity. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to these factors or to other factors.
Priapism: Agents for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, including sildenafil, should be used with caution in patients with anatomical deformation of the penis (such as angulation, cavernosal fibrosis or Peyronie's disease), or in patients who have conditions which may predispose them to priapism (such as sickle cell anaemia, multiple myeloma or leukaemia).
Prolonged erections and priapism have been reported with sildenafil in post-marketing experience. In the event of an erection that persists longer than 4 hours, the patient should seek immediate medical assistance. If priapism is not treated immediately, penile tissue damage and permanent loss of potency could result.
Concomitant use with other PDE5 inhibitors or other treatments for erectile dysfunction: The safety and efficacy of combinations of sildenafil with other PDE5 Inhibitors, or other pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatments containing sildenafil, or other treatments for erectile dysfunction have not been studied. Therefore the use of such combinations is not recommended.
Effects on vision: Cases of visual defects have been reported spontaneously in connection with the intake of sildenafil and other PDE5 inhibitors. Cases of non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy, a rare condition, have been reported spontaneously and in an observational study in connection with the intake of sildenafil and other PDE5 inhibitors. Patients should be advised that in the event of any sudden visual defect, they should stop taking sildenafil and consult a physician immediately.
Concomitant use with ritonavir: Co-administration of sildenafil with ritonavir is not advised.
Concomitant use with alpha-blockers: Caution is advised when sildenafil is administered to patients taking an alpha-blocker, as the co-administration may lead to symptomatic hypotension in a few susceptible individuals. This is most likely to occur within 4 hours post sildenafil dosing. In order to minimise the potential for developing postural hypotension, patients should be hemodynamically stable on alpha-blocker therapy prior to initiating sildenafil treatment. Initiation of sildenafil at a dose of 25 mg should be considered. In addition, physicians should advise patients what to do in the event of postural hypotensive symptoms.
Effect on bleeding: Studies with human platelets indicate that sildenafil potentiates the antiaggregatory effect of sodium nitroprusside in vitro. There is no safety information on the administration of sildenafil to patients with bleeding disorders or active peptic ulceration. Therefore sildenafil should be administered to these patients only after careful benefit-risk assessment.
Women: Sildenafil is not indicated for use by women.
Effects on ability to drive and use machines: No studies on the effects on the ability to drive and use machines have been performed.
As dizziness and altered vision were reported in clinical trials with sildenafil, patients should be aware of how they react to sildenafil, before driving or operating machinery.