Consumer medicine information

Glaumox Powder for Injection

Acetazolamide (as sodium) 500mg


Consumer Medicine Information

What is in this leaflet

This leaflet answers some common questions about Glaumox. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor.

All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you being given Glaumox against the benefits they expect it will have for you.

If you have any concerns about being given this medicine, ask your doctor.

Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.

What Glaumox is used for

Glaumox is used to lower raised pressure in the eye and to treat glaucoma. Glaucoma is a condition in which the pressure of fluid in the eye may be high. However, some people with glaucoma may have normal eye pressure.

Glaucoma is usually caused by a build up of the fluid which flows through the eye. This build up occurs because the fluid drains out of your eye more slowly than it is being pumped in. Since new fluid continues to enter the eye, joining the fluid already there, the pressure continues to rise. This raised pressure may damage the back of the eye resulting in gradual loss of sight. Damage can progress so slowly that the person is not aware of this gradual loss of sight. Sometimes even normal eye pressure is associated with damage to the back of the eye.

There are usually no symptoms of glaucoma. The only way of knowing that you have glaucoma is to have your eye pressure, optic nerve and visual field checked by an eye specialist or optometrist. If glaucoma is not treated it can lead to serious problems, including total blindness. In fact, untreated glaucoma is one of the most common causes of blindness.

Glaumox is used, either alone or in combination with other eye drops/medicines, to lower raised pressure within your eyes.

Glaumox lowers the pressure in the eye by decreasing the fluid produced and helping the flow of fluid out of the eye chamber.

Glaumox is also used to treat some other conditions such as epilepsy and fluid build up due to heart failure or medicines.

Glaumox belongs to a family of medicines called sulphonamides.

Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Glaumox has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason.

Before you are given Glaumox

When it must not be given

You should not be given Glaumox if you have an allergy to:

  • any medicine containing acetazolamide
  • any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet
  • any other similar medicines such as sulphonamide medicines.

The active ingredient of Glaumox is a sulphur-containing medicine (a sulphonamide). Therefore, if you are allergic to sulphur medicines, such as some antibiotics, you may be allergic to Glaumox. Check with your doctor if you are not sure whether you are allergic to sulpha medicines.

Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include:

  • shortness of breath
  • wheezing or difficulty breathing
  • swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body
  • rash, itching or hives on the skin.

You should not be given Glaumox if you have:

  • liver problems
  • kidney disease
  • a deficiency of the adrenal gland (eg, Addison’s disease)
  • a condition which lowers the levels of potassium or sodium in your blood
  • high levels of chloride in your blood.

Glaumox should not be given for long term use in patients with chronic noncongestive angle-closure glaucoma. Glaumox is only to be used for a short term.

You should not be given this medicine if you are pregnant. It may affect your developing baby if you take it during pregnancy.

Glaumox should not be given to children. Safety and effectiveness in children has not been established.

You should not be given Glaumox Injection if, when dissolved in sterile water, it causes the solution to become discoloured, cloudy, turbid, or particles or a precipitate is present. The solution is normally a clear, colourless to slight yellow liquid.

The doctor or nurse will check to ensure the medicine is not past its expiry date and has not been tampered with.

If you are not sure whether you should be given this medicine talk to your doctor.

Before you are given Glaumox

Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes.

Tell your doctor if you have or have had any of the following medical conditions:

  • hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, a condition which causes periodic muscle weakness and high potassium levels in the blood
  • diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance
  • any breathing difficulties or lung problems
  • any electrolyte imbalances, a condition which causes an unusual amount of salt in the body
  • too much or not enough acid in the blood which may cause an increased rate of breathing.

Tell your doctor if you are breast-feeding. Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits involved.

If you have not told your doctor any of the above, tell him/her before you are given Glaumox.

Taking other medicines

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket, health food shop, naturopath or herbalist.

Some medicines and Glaumox may interfere with each other. These include:

  • amphetamine, a stimulant
  • cyclosporine, a medicine used after an organ transplant to prevent rejection
  • folic acid antagonists, medicines used during cancer chemotherapy
  • tablets used to treat diabetes
  • lithium, a medicine used to treat emotional disorders
  • methenamine compounds used to treat urinary tract infections
  • phenytoin and primidone, medicines used to treat epilepsy
  • quinidine, a medicine used to treat heart problems
  • aspirin, in high doses
  • salicylate-containing medicines which are used to relieve pain
  • sodium bicarbonate
  • digoxin, a medicine used to treat heart failure
  • warfarin, a medicine used to prevent blood clots
  • medicines to treat high blood pressure
  • medicines used to treat glaucoma.

These medicines may be affected by Glaumox, or may affect how well it works. You may need different amounts of your medicines, or you may need to take different medicines.

Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while being given this medicine.

How Glaumox is given

Glaumox must only be given by a doctor or nurse.

Glaumox must be dissolved in sterile water before it is used. It should be used as soon as possible after the water has been added.

It is injected directly into a vein.

Your doctor will decide what dose of Glaumox you will receive and for how long you will receive it. This depends on your medical condition and other factors, such as your weight.

Glaumox must only be used for a short time.

If you are given too much (overdose)

Glaumox must only be given by a doctor or nurse so an overdose is not likely to occur.

Symptoms of an overdose are similar to side effects and are listed under the Side effects section below.

While you are being given Glaumox

Things you must do

If you are about to be started on any new medicine tell your doctor and pharmacist that you are being given Glaumox.

Tell any other doctors, dentists or pharmacists who are treating you that you are being given this medicine.

If you become pregnant while being given Glaumox tell your doctor immediately.

If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are being given this medicine. It may interfere with the results of some tests.

Keep all of your doctor’s appointments so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may do some tests from time to time to make sure the medicine is working and to prevent unwanted side effects.

Things to be careful of

Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how Glaumox affects you. This medicine may cause drowsiness, tiredness and short sightedness in some people. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, operate machinery or do anything else that could be dangerous.

If you feel light-headed, dizzy or faint when getting out of bed or standing up, get up slowly. Standing up slowly, especially when you get up from bed or chairs, will help your body get used to the change in position and blood pressure.If this problem gets worse or continues, talk to your doctor.

Side effects

Tell your doctor or nurse as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are being given Glaumox.

This medicine helps most people with high eye pressure and glaucoma, but it may have unwanted side effects in a few people. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects.

If you are over 65 years of age you may have an increased chance of getting some side effects.

Do not be alarmed by the following list of side effects. You may not experience any of them.

Ask your doctor to answer any questions you may have.

Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following and they worry you:

  • short sightedness
  • headache
  • nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
  • dizziness
  • tiredness
  • numbness or tingling in the fingers or toes, face or mouth
  • changes in sensation of taste or smell
  • ringing or buzzing in the ears
  • loss of appetite, loss of weight
  • excessive thirst
  • mood changes such as depression
  • pain at the injection site.

These side effects are usually mild.

Tell your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following:

  • flushing, skin rash
  • yellowing of the skin
  • need to urinate more often than usual
  • sudden severe back pain, which may be caused by kidney stones
  • bruising or bleeding more easily than normal, nosebleeds
  • signs of frequent or worrying infections such as fever, sore throat, severe chills or mouth ulcers
  • breathlessness
  • blood in the urine, black tar-like stools
  • confusion, lack of co-ordination, unsteadiness when walking
  • sensitivity to sunlight.

The above list includes serious side effects that may require medical attention.

If any of the following happen, tell your doctor immediately or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital:

  • severe skin reaction which starts with painful red areas, then large blisters and ends with peeling of layers of skin. This is accompanied by fever and chills, aching muscles and generally feeling unwell
  • bleeding in the lips, eyes, mouth, nose and genitals
  • sudden life threatening allergic reaction such as swelling of face, lips, tongue, shortness of breath, wheezing or trouble breathing.

The above list includes very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention.

Tell your doctor if you notice anything that is making you feel unwell.

Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients.

Some side effects can only be found when your doctor does tests from time to time to check your progress.

After being given Glaumox

Storage

Glaumox will be stored in the surgery, pharmacy or ward of a hospital. It will be kept in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25°C.

Glaumox will be opened for use on you. It will be used only once and then it will be discarded. It will never used for more than one person.

After sterile water has been added to Glaumox it may be stored in the fridge for no more than 24 hours.

Product description

What it looks like

Glaumox is a white to a yellowish white powder in a clear glass vial with a plastic top.

Glaumox is available in a 10mL vial.

Ingredients

Glaumox contains acetazolamide sodium equivalent to 500mg acetazolamide as the active ingredient.

Sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid are added when required for pH adjustment.

This medicine does not contain lactose, sucrose, gluten, alcohol, tartrazine, dyes or preservatives.

Supplier

Glaumox is supplied in Australia by:

Phebra Pty Ltd
19 Orion Road, Lane Cove West,
NSW 2066, Australia.
Telephone: 1800 720 020

Glaumox is distributed in New Zealand by:

AFT Pharmaceuticals Ltd
PO Box 33-203, Auckland.
Telephone: +64 9 4880232

Glaumox Powder for Injection, 500mg acetazolamide (as sodium). 10mL vial.

AUST R 142075

Phebra Product Code- INJ192

Date of most recent amendment: 18th September 2015

Phebra and the Phi symbol are trademarks of Phebra Pty Ltd, 19 Orion Road, Lane Cove West, NSW 2066, Australia.

Published by MIMS September 2017