WARNINGS
As with other CNS-acting drugs, patients should be cautioned against driving automobiles or operating dangerous machinery until it is known that they do not become drowsy or dizzy on oxazepam therapy.
Patients should be warned that the effects of alcohol or other CNS-depressant drugs may be additive to those of oxazepam, possibly requiring adjustment of dosage or elimination of such agents.
Physical and Psychological Dependence
Withdrawal symptoms, similar in character to those noted with barbiturates and alcohol (convulsions, tremor, abdominal and muscle cramps, vomiting, and sweating), have occurred following abrupt discontinuance of oxazepam. The more severe withdrawal symptoms have usually been limited to those patients who received excessive doses over an extended period of time. Generally milder withdrawal symptoms (e.g., dysphoria and insomnia) have been reported following abrupt discontinuance of benzodiazepines taken continuously at therapeutic levels for several months. Consequently, after extended therapy, abrupt discontinuation should generally be avoided and a gradual dosage-tapering schedule followed. Addiction-prone individuals (such as drug addicts or alcoholics) should be under careful surveillance when receiving oxazepam or other psychotropic agents because of the predisposition of such patients to habituation and dependence.
USE IN PREGNANCY
An increased risk of congenital malformations associated with the use of minor tranquilizers (chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, and meprobramate) during the first trimester of pregnancy has been suggested in several studies. Oxazepam, a benzodiazepine derivative, has not been studied adequately to determine whether it, too, may be associated with an increased risk of fetal abnormality. Because use of these drugs is rarely a matter of urgency, their use during this period should almost always be avoided. The possibility that a woman of childbearing potential may be pregnant at the time of institution of therapy should be considered. Patients should be advised that if they become pregnant during therapy or intend to become pregnant they should communicate with their physician about the desirability of discontinuing the drug.
PRECAUTIONS
General
Although hypotension has occurred only rarely, oxazepam should be administered with caution to patients in whom a drop in blood pressure might lead to cardiac complications. This is particularly true in the elderly patient.
Information for Patients
To assure the safe and effective use of oxazepam, patients should be informed that, since benzodiazepines may produce psychological and physical dependence, it is advisable that they consult with their physician before either increasing the dose or abruptly discontinuing this drug.
Pediatric Use
Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients under 6 years of age have not been established. Absolute dosage for pediatric patients 6 to 12 years of age is not established.
Geriatric Use
Clinical studies of oxazepam were not adequate to determine whether subjects aged 65 and over respond differently than younger subjects. Age (<80 years old) does not appear to have a clinically significant effect on oxazepam kinetics (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY).
Clinical circumstances, some of which may be more common in the elderly, such as hepatic or renal impairment, should be considered. Greater sensitivity of some older individuals to the effects of oxazepam (e.g., sedation, hypotension, paradoxical excitation) cannot be ruled out (see PRECAUTIONS, General; see ADVERSE REACTIONS). In general, dose selection for oxazepam for elderly patients should be cautious, usually starting at the lower end of the dosing range (see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).
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