LOFIBRA® Is a Good Choice
Talk to Your Doctor
If you are concerned about your lipid levels or think you may be at risk for heart disease, talk to your doctor and get tested right away. Your doctor will decide whether you need treatment and whether LOFIBRA® is right for you.
Before You Get Started
Before beginning treatment with LOFIBRA®, your doctor may advise you to change your diet, exercise, lose weight, and drink less alcohol. If you have any other medical problems that may affect your lipid levels, you should treat them first. If your doctor believes medications (such as estrogen, diuretics, or beta-blockers) can be the cause of your problem, he/she may discontinue them or change your drug regimen.
Important Safety Information
In most patients, LOFIBRA® is generally well tolerated. The most common complaints include upset stomach, back pain, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal discomfort.
LOFIBRA® should not be used if you have gallbladder disease, liver disease, or severe kidney disease. If you've ever had a bad reaction to LOFIBRA® or fenofibrate, you should not take this medication.
Your doctor will check periodically throughout therapy to make sure your liver tests are normal. If your liver test results increase above normal during treatment, your doctor may decide to stop your therapy or test more frequently. In rare cases, LOFIBRA® may cause unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or soreness. Let your doctor know right away if you have these symptoms, especially if you also are tired or have a fever.
Fenofibrate may lead to gallstones. If this happens, you should stop taking LOFIBRA®.
Use With Other Medications
Caution should be used when blood thinners are taken together with LOFIBRA® because the combination may make it take longer for blood to clot, increasing your risk of bleeding. Your doctor may need to adjust your dosage.
The use of LOFIBRA® with other cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins should be avoided unless your doctor is aware that you are taking both medications and believes it is beneficial.
Be sure to mention any other medications you are taking. Your healthcare professional will decide if LOFIBRA® and your medications can be taken together.
Please see accompanying prescribing information.
Indication
LOFIBRA® (fenofibrate capsules [micronized] and fenofibrate tablets) is a prescription medicine that, along with diet, reduces “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides and increases “good” cholesterol (HDL) in your blood. While taking LOFIBRA®, a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol should be followed. The long term effect of LOFIBRA® on cardiovascular events and mortality has not been determined.
Important Safety Information
The use of LOFIBRA® should be considered only when non-drug methods, such as diet, exercise, and weight loss, have failed to obtain satisfactory results.
Tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking. Some medications are known to cause an increase in triglycerides in the blood.
You should not take LOFIBRA® if you have severe kidney disease, have liver or gallbladder disease, are nursing, or are allergic to LOFIBRA®.
LOFIBRA® can cause liver or gallbladder problems. Your doctor may do blood tests to monitor your liver function or studies to check for gallstones.
Tell your doctor if you are taking any medications to slow the clotting of your blood (anticoagulants or blood thinners). LOFIBRA® may increase the effect of these medications, so your doctor may do frequent blood tests and may need to adjust your dose.
Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness as these can be signs of a rare, but serious, side effect.
The most common side effects of LOFIBRA® are abdominal pain, abnormal liver tests, and respiratory symptoms.
Please see accompanying full prescribing information. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 800.FDA.1088.
