Main use Active ingredient Manufacturer
Relieve fluid retention Xipamide Meda Pharmaceuticals
How does it work?
Diurexan tablets contain the active ingredient xipamide, which is a type of medicine known as a thiazide-related diuretic.
Diuretics are sometimes referred to as 'water tablets'. They remove excess fluid from the body by increasing the production of urine.
Diuretics act in the kidneys. They work by causing the kidneys to increase the amount of salts, such as potassium and sodium, that are filtered out of the blood and into the urine. When these salts are filtered out of the blood by the kidneys, they draw water alongside them. As diuretics increase the removal of salts from the blood, they also cause more water to be drawn out of the blood and into the urine.
Removing water from the blood decreases the volume of fluid circulating through the blood vessels. This subsequently decreases the pressure within the blood vessels. Diuretics such as xipamide can therefore be used to lower high blood pressure.
Xipamide is also used to treat conditions where excess fluid has been retained in the body (oedema). For example, in heart failure, the pumping mechanism of the heart is less effective. This can cause fluid to build up in the ankles and the lungs (pulmonary oedema), which makes it difficult to breathe. Xipamide helps the body to remove this excess fluid. Removing fluid from the blood vessels also decreases the pressure within the blood vessels. This makes it easier for a weak heart to pump blood around the body.
Xipamide can also be used to remove excess fluid that accumulates in the body in people with conditions such as kidney disease or cirrhosis of the liver. In liver cirrhosis this fluid may accumulate in the abdomen (ascites) or in the legs (oedema).
What is it used for?
High blood pressure (hypertension).
Excess fluid retention (oedema), for example in heart failure, liver cirrhosis or kidney disease.
How do I take it?
Diurexan tablets can be taken either with or without food.
Diurexan tablets should be swallowed with a drink of water. The number of tablets to be taken daily will vary depending on your symptoms, but the prescribed dose should be taken once daily, in the morning. For the treatment of high blood pressure the usual dose is one tablet every morning.
As diuretics cause your kidneys to produce more urine, you may find that if you take a dose too late in the day that you need to get up in the night to visit the toilet. This is why it is recommended that you take this medicine in the morning. Seek further advice from your doctor or pharmacist.
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Diuretics can sometimes increase blood glucose levels and people with diabetes may therefore need increases in their dose of insulin or antidiabetic tablets while taking this medicine. If you have diabetes you should talk to your doctor about this. You may need to monitor your blood sugar levels more frequently.
Xipamide reduces the ability of the body to remove the medicine lithium, which can cause the level of lithium in the blood to rise too high. If you are taking lithium your lithium level should be checked after you start and stop treatment with this medicine, as well as after any dose changes. Your lithium dose may need adjusting.
The following medicines may reduce the blood pressure lowering effect of this medicine:
corticosteroids, such as dexamethasone or prednisolone
oestrogens, such as those in the contraceptive pill
regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, diclofenac or indomethacin (occasional painkilling doses are unlikely to have a significant effect).
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