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Cesamet (Nabilone) - Warnings and Precautions

 
 



WARNINGS

  • The effects of Cesamet may persist for a variable and unpredictable period of time following its oral administration. Adverse psychiatric reactions can persist for 48 to 72 hours following cessation of treatment.
  • Cesamet has the potential to affect the CNS, which might manifest itself in dizziness, drowsiness, euphoria “high”, ataxia, anxiety, disorientation, depression, hallucinations and psychosis.
  • Cesamet can cause tachycardia and orthostatic hypotension.
  • Because of individual variation in response and tolerance to the effects of Cesamet, patients should remain under supervision of a responsible adult especially during initial use of Cesamet and during dose adjustments.
  • Patients receiving treatment with Cesamet should be specifically warned not to drive, operate machinery, or engage in any hazardous activity while receiving Cesamet.
  • Cesamet should not be taken with alcohol, sedatives, hypnotics, or other psychoactive substances because these substances can potentiate the central nervous system effects of nabilone.

PRECAUTIONS

General

The benefit/risk ratio of Cesamet use should be carefully evaluated in patients with the following medical conditions because of individual variation in response and tolerance to the effects of Cesamet.

  • Since Cesamet can elevate supine and standing heart rates and cause postural hypotension, it should be used with caution in the elderly, and in patients with hypertension or heart disease.
  • Cesamet should also be used with caution in patients with current or previous psychiatric disorders, (including manic depressive illness, depression, and schizophrenia) as the symptoms of these disease states may be unmasked by the use of cannabinoids.
  • Cesamet should be used with caution in individuals receiving concomitant therapy with sedatives, hypnotics, or other psychoactive drugs because of the potential for additive or synergistic CNS effects.
  • Cesamet should be used with caution in patients with a history of substance abuse, including alcohol abuse or dependence and marijuana use, since Cesamet contains a similar active compound to marijuana.
  • The safety aspects of the effects of hepatic and renal impairment have not been investigated.
  • Nabilone is purportedly highly bound to plasma proteins and undergoes extensive first pass hepatic metabolism. Those properties have the potential to lead to drug-drug interactions affecting the pharmacokinetics of similar behaving co-administered drugs or of Cesamet itself.
  • The effects of QT prolongation potential by Cesamet have not been determined.
  • Cesamet should be used with caution in pregnant patients, nursing mothers, or pediatric patients because it has not been studied in these patient populations.

Information for Patients

Persons taking Cesamet should be alerted to the potential for additive central nervous system depression resulting from simultaneous use of Cesamet and alcohol or other central nervous system depressants such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates. This combination should be avoided. Patients receiving treatment with Cesamet should be specifically warned not to drive, operate machinery, or engage in any hazardous activity. Patients using Cesamet should be made aware of possible changes in mood and other adverse behavioral effects of the drug so as to avoid panic in the event of such manifestations. Patients should remain under supervision of a responsible adult while using Cesamet.

Drug Interactions

Potential interactions between Cesamet 2 mg, and diazepam 5 mg; sodium secobarbital 100 mg; alcohol 45 mL (absolute laboratory alcohol); or codeine 65 mg, were evaluated in 15 subjects. Only a single combination was utilized at any one time. The subjects were evaluated according to physiologic (i.e., heart rate and blood pressure), psychometric, psychomotor, and subjective parameters. In this study, as expected, the depressant effects of the combinations were additive. Psychomotor function was particularly impaired with concurrent use of diazepam. Caution must thus be used when administering nabilone in combination with any CNS depressant.

Nabilone is purportedly highly bound to plasma proteins, and therefore, might displace other protein-bound drugs. Therefore, practitioners should monitor patients for a change in dosage requirements when administering nabilone to patients receiving other highly protein-bound drugs. Published reports of drug-drug interactions involving cannabinoids are summarized in the following table.

CONCOMITANT DRUG CLINICAL EFFECT(S)
Amphetamines, cocaine, other sympathomimetic
agents
Additive hypertension, tachycardia, possibly cardiotoxicity
Atropine, scopolamine, antihistamines, other
anticholinergic agents
Additive or super-additive tachycardia, drowsiness
Amitriptyline, amoxapine, desipramine, other
tricyclic antidepressants
Additive tachycardia, hypertension, drowsiness
Barbiturates, benzodiazepines, ethanol, lithium,
opioids, buspirone, antihistamines, muscle relaxants,
other CNS depressants
Additive drowsiness and CNS depression
Disulfiram A reversible hypomanic reaction was reported in a 28 y/o
man who smoked marijuana; confirmed by dechallenge and
rechallenge
Fluoxetine A 21 y/o female with depression and bulimia receiving 20
mg/day fluoxetine X 4 wks became hypomanic after
smoking marijuana; symptoms resolved after 4 days
Antipyrine, barbiturates Decreased clearance of these agents, presumably via
competitive inhibition of metabolism
Theophylline Increased theophylline metabolism reported with smoking of
marijuana; effect similar to that following smoking tobacco
Opioids Cross-tolerance and mutual potentiation
Naltrexone Oral THC effects were enhanced by opioid receptor
blockade.
Alcohol Increase in the positive subjective mood effects of smoked
marijuana

Animal Pharmacology and/or Toxicology

Monkeys treated with Cesamet at doses as high as 2 mg/kg/day for a year experienced no significant adverse events. This result contrasts with the findings in a planned 1-year dog study that was prematurely terminated because of deaths associated with convulsions in dogs receiving as little as 0.5 mg/kg/day. The earliest deaths, however, occurred at 56 days in dogs receiving 2 mg/kg/day. The unusual vulnerability of the dog to Cesamet is not understood; it is hypothesized, however, that the explanation lies in the fact that the dog differs markedly from other species in its metabolism of Cesamet.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

No long-term studies in animals have been performed to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of nabilone.

Nabilone was not genotoxic in the Ames test, the rat hepatocyte unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) test, the Chinese hamster bone marrow cell sister chromatid exchange (SCE) test, the male rat dominant lethal tests nor the rat micronucleus test.

Dietary administration of nabilone up to 4 mg/kg/day (about 6 times the recommended maximum human dose based on body surface area) was found to have no effect on fertility and reproductive performance of male and female rats.

Pregnancy: Teratogenic Effects. Pregnancy Category C

Teratology studies conducted in pregnant rats at doses up to 12 mg/kg/day (about 16 times the human dose on a body surface area basis) and in pregnant rabbits at doses up to 3.3 mg/kg/day (about 9 times the human dose on a body surface area basis) did not disclose any evidence for a teratogenic potential of nabilone. However, there was dose related developmental toxicity in both species as evidenced by increases in embryo lethality, fetal resorptions, decreased fetal weights and pregnancy disruptions. In rats, postnatal developmental toxicity was also observed. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal studies cannot rule out the possibility of harm, Cesamet should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether this drug is excreted in breast milk. Because many drugs including some cannabinoids are excreted in breast milk it is not recommended that Cesamet be given to nursing mothers.

Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness have not been established in patients younger than 18 years of age. Caution is recommended in prescribing Cesamet to children because of psychoactive effects.

Geriatric Use

Clinical studies of Cesamet did not include sufficient numbers of subjects aged 65 and over to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects. In general, dose selection for an elderly patient should be cautious, usually starting at the low end of the dosing range, reflecting the greater frequency of decreased hepatic, renal, or cardiac function, and of concomitant disease or other drug therapy. Cesamet should be used with caution in elderly patients aged 65 and over because they are generally more sensitive to the psychoactive effects of drugs and Cesamet can elevate supine and standing heart rates and cause postural hypotension.

Page last updated: 2012-08-03

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