Reglan

Description

Reglan is the brand name version of a drug called metoclopramide, which is mainly used in order to help treat heartburn as well as ulcers in patients who have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD is a form of digestive disorder that happens when a person’s stomach acid flow back into the esophagus. Reglan is also able to help people who are diabetic and have a condition called as gastroparesis (poor emptying of the stomach). In addition to these things it can help with nausea with specific patients as well as slowed stomach emptying in people who are getting over surgery.

Reglan is a drug that’s not designed to be used long term, usually for about 4 to 12 weeks. It’s a part of a class of medications known as prokinetic agents. These are drugs that operate by heightening muscle contractions inside the upper digestive track in order to quicken the movement through the intestines and stomach.

What are some of the common potential side affects you might be at risk for if you use this medication?

 Excessive fatigue
 Drowsiness
 Weakness
 Headache
 Dizziness
 Diarrhea
 Nausea or vomiting
 Breast enlargement or discharge
 Decreased sexual ability
 Frequent urination or inability to control urination
 Missed menstrual periods

What are some of the more serious potential side affects you might be at risk for if you use this medication?

 Problems with speech
 Tightening of the muscles, especially in the jaw or neck
 Muscle stiffness
 Slow or stiff movements
 Uncontrollable shaking of a part of the body
 Depression or thoughts of harming/killing yourself
 Fever
 Confusion
 Agitation
 Slow, fast, or irregular heartbeat
 Sweating
 Restlessness, nervousness, pacing, foot tapping, or jitteriness
 Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
 Difficulty with balance
 Rash or hives
 Swelling of the face, eyes, lips, tongue, mouth, throat, arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
 Difficulty breathing or swallowing
 Sudden weight gain
 Vision trouble
 High-pitched sounds while breathing

What will a doctor monitor while you’re using this medication and how can you help them make your experience on this drug better?

In order to know if a drug like Reglan is going to work well for your condition, then a doctor can’t just rely on what it has done for other patients in the past who they prescribed it out to. A doctor has to focus on how well you come along once they’ve given it to you. This is important, because any reputable medical professional will care about this.

Some of the things they’ll monitor when they give you this drug or any drug would be as follows:

 How do you react to the drug right away? This is focusing more on how you feel generally and not how your condition improves after taking the drug. If you feel relatively fine this is a good thing. It shows you don’t have any serious negative interactions.

 How well does your condition improve after a short trial period? A doctor is going to have a good idea of what to expect after they’ve given you Reglan and you’ve been using it for a certain period of time. The goal would be for you to reach certain levels of improvement by certain times. If this isn’t happening then reevaluations would have to take place. Maybe the dose has to be increased or you might be doing something wrong and it has to be examined.

The best way for you to help out your doctor in this regard is to write everything down. This is going to help a lot. Track how you feel before and after taking Reglan. Track what you do during the day (mainly what you put in your body as well). All this makes it easier to answer the questions a doctor will ask when evaluating your progress on this treatment.