Merbentyl

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Certain medicines should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. However, other medicines may be safely used in pregnancy or breastfeeding providing the benefits to the mother outweigh the risks to the unborn baby. Always inform your doctor if you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, before using any medicine.

- This medicine should be used with caution during pregnancy, and only if the expected benefit to the mother is greater than any possible risk to the foetus. Seek medical advice from your doctor.
- This medicine should be used with caution during pregnancy, and only if the expected benefit to the mother is greater than any possible risk to the foetus. Seek medical advice from your doctor.

Side effects

Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Because a side effect is stated here, it does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect.

- Dry mouth
- Confusion
- Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
- Headache
- Constipation
- Blurred vision
- Difficulty in passing urine (urinary retention)

The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the drug's manufacturer. For more information about any other possible risks associated with this medicine, please read the information provided with the medicine or consult your doctor or pharmacist.

How can this medicine affect other medicines?

You should tell your doctor or pharmacist what medicines you are using, particularly those listed below, before you start treatment with this medicine. This includes those bought without a prescription and herbal medicines. Likewise, check with your doctor or pharmacist before starting any new medicines while you are taking this medicine. If this medicine is taken with other medicines that have antimuscarinic effects there may be an increased risk of side effects such as blurred vision, dry mouth and constipation. Other medicines with antimuscarinic effects include the following: - antihistamines, eg promethazine, chlorpheniramine - other antispasmodics, eg atropine, propantheline, oxybutynin - antimuscarinic medicines for Parkinson's symptoms, eg procyclidine - antipsychotics, eg chlorpromazine, clozapine, thioridazine - antiarrhythmics, eg disopyramide, propafenone - certain antidepressants, eg amitriptyline, maprotiline - muscle relaxants, eg baclofen - antisickness medicines, eg meclozine, cyclizine - amantadine. The effects of dicycloverine are increased if the patient is also taking: nefopam and disopyramide. If this medicine is taken with domperidone or metoclopramide the actions of the medicines may cancel each other out, as metoclopramide and domperidone increase the motility of the gut whereas dicycloverine reduces it. If you experience a dry mouth as a side effect of this medicine you may find that medicines that are designed to dissolve and be absorbed from under the tongue, eg sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) tablets, become less effective. This is because the tablets do not dissolve properly in a dry mouth. To resolve this, drink a mouthful of water before taking sublingual tablets. Dicycloverine may decrease the effects of the following drugs: ketoconazole, certain antipsychotics, cisapride, levodopa and parasympathomimetics.