Colesevelam Hydrochloride

May 14, 2020

Medicine

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Colesevelam Hydrochloride is used to treat primary hypercholesterolemia. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved this medication.

Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells. But, high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease.

With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, those deposits can break suddenly and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke. Cholesterol is carried through your blood and attached to proteins. This combination of proteins and cholesterol is called a lipoprotein. There are different types of cholesterol, based on what the lipoprotein carries. A lipid profile also typically measures triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood. Having a high triglyceride level can also increase your risk of heart disease. Factors you can control such obesity, inactivity, and an unhealthy diet. It contributes to high cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol. Factors beyond your control might play a role as well. Your genetic makeup might keep cells from removing LDL cholesterol from your blood efficiently or cause your liver to produce too much cholesterol.

The same heart-healthy lifestyle changes that can lower your cholesterol can help prevent you from having high cholesterol in the first place. To help prevent high cholesterol, you can:

• Limit the amount of animal fats and use good fats in moderation

• Eat a low-salt diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables and whole grains

• Manage stress

• Lose extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight

• Exercise on most days of the week for at least 30 minutes

• Quit smoking

• Drink alcohol in moderation

Lifestyle changes such as exercising and eating a healthy diet are the first line of defense against high cholesterol. But, if you’ve made these important lifestyle changes and your cholesterol levels remain high, your doctor might recommend medication. The choice of medication or combination of medications depends on various factors, including your personal risk factors, your health, and possible drug side effects. Common choices include:

• Statins – it blocks a substance your liver that needs to make cholesterol. This causes your liver to remove cholesterol from your blood. Statins can also help your body reabsorb cholesterol from built-up deposits on your artery walls, potentially reversing coronary artery disease.

• Bile-acid-binding resins – your liver uses cholesterol to make bile acids, a substance needed for digestion. There are certain medications that lowers cholesterol indirectly by binding to bile acids. This prompts your liver to use excess cholesterol to make more bile acids, which reduces the level of cholesterol in your blood.

• Cholesterol absorption inhibitors – your small intestine absorbs the cholesterol from your diet and releases it into your bloodstream. There is a certain drug that helps reduce blood cholesterol by limiting the absorption of dietary cholesterol. It can be used with a statin drug.

How does Colesevelam Hydrochloride work?

Colesevelam Hydrochloride is a type of medicine called a bile acid sequestrant. It lowers blood cholesterol levels. This is not absorbed into the bloodstream. It works in the intestines, where it binds to bile acids.

Bile is a fluid that is produced by the liver. It is released into the intestine through the bile duct as part of digestion. Bile contains substances called bile acids which the liver makes from cholesterol in the blood. Bile acids aid the digestion of fats consumed in the diet. Following digestion, the bile acids are reabsorbed into the bloodstream and are then returned to the liver. Colesevelam Hydrochloride binds to the bile acids in the intestine and prevents them being reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Instead, they pass through the intestine with the Colesevelam and are excreted in the faeces. This triggers the liver to produce more bile acids from the cholesterol in the blood, which lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood.

High cholesterol levels increase the risk of heart disease by clogging and narrowing the arteries. Colesevelam Hydrochloride is used to lower cholesterol levels and thus decreases the risk of hardening of the arteries and the problems this can cause. Medicines are used to lower high cholesterol levels when a low-cholesterol diet and exercise regime have not done this sufficiently. However, it is important to continue to follow your cholesterol-lowering diet while taking this medicine.

How to use Colesevelam Hydrochloride?

Take this medication as directed by your doctor. Drink a full glass of water with it unless your doctor tells you otherwise. Do not lie down for at least 10 minutes after taking this drug.

If stomach upset occurs while taking this medication, take it with food, milk, or an antacid. The dosage is based on your medical condition and response to the treatment. The lowest effective dosage should always be used and only for the prescribed length of time. Do not take more of this medication than prescribed. Use this medication regularly to get the most benefit from it. Remember to use it at the same time each day. If you missed a dose, call your doctor for instructions. Do not double the dose to make up for the missed dose. Tell your doctor if your condition does not improve or if it gets worse.

What are the side effects of Colesevelam Hydrochloride?

Common side effects:

• Constipation

• Upset stomach

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Gas

• Indigestion

• Feeling weak or tired

• Headache

• Muscle pain

• Runny nose

• Sore throat

• Flu symptoms

Tell your doctor if you have unlikely but serious side effects of this drug such as:

• Trouble swallowing

• Unusual bleeding or bruising

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction including:

• Hives

• Difficult breathing

• Swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat

Warnings and Precautions

• The safety of this medicine for use during pregnancy has not been established. The manufacturer states that it should be used with caution in pregnancy.

• Use this drug with caution in people with liver failure, any swallowing disorder, with severe disorders of the stomach, or with inflammatory bowel disease.

• This is not recommended for use un people with blockage of the bile duct and blockage of the bowel.

• This should also not be used in children and adolescents.

• Let your doctor know if you have any allergies especially of this drug.