Levomed Side Effects

Side effects that occur frequently in patients receiving LEVOMED are those due to the central neuropharmacologic activity of dopamine. These reactions usually can be diminished by dosage reduction. The most common are choreiform, dystonic, and other involuntary movements.
Muscle twitching and blepharospasm may be taken as early signs to consider dosage reduction.
Less common are mental changes including paranoid ideation and psychotic episodes; depression with or without development of suicidal tendencies; and dementia. Convulsions have occurred; however, a causal relationship with LEVOMED has not been established.
Less frequent side effects are cardiac irregularities and/or palpitations, orthostatic hypotensive episodes, bradykinetic episodes (the "on-off" phenomenon), anorexia, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
Gastrointestinal bleeding, development of duodenal ulcer, hypertension, phlebitis, leukopenia, and agranulocytosis have occurred rarely.
Positive Coombs test have been reported both with LEVOMED and with Levodopa alone, but hemolytic anemia is extremely rare.
Other side effects that have been reported include: Psychiatric: Euphoria, lethargy, sedation, stimulation, fatigue and malaise, confusion, insomnia, nightmares, hallucinations and delusions, agitation and anxiety.
Neurologic: Ataxia, faintness, headache, increased hand tremor, trismus, oculogyric crisis, weakness, numbness, bruxism.
Gastrointestinal: Constipation; diarrhoea, epigastric and abdominal distress and pain; flatulence; hiccups, sialorrhea; difficulty in swallowing; bitter taste, dry mouth; burning sensation of the tongue.
Dermatologic: Sweating, edema, hair loss, rash, bad odor, dark sweat.
Respiratory: Hoarseness, bizarre breathing pattern.
Urogenital: Urinary retention, incontinence, hematuria, dark urine, priapism.
Special Senses: Blurred vision, diplopia, dilated pupils, activation of latent Horner's syndrome.
Other: Hot flashes, weight gain or loss, flushing, abnormalities in laboratory tests.