DRUG INTERACTIONS: Your doctor or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for them. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with your doctor or pharmacist first.

This drug should not be used with the following medications because very serious interactions may occur: certain anti-seizure medicines (carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin), other HIV NNRTIs (e.g., efavirenz, nevirapine, delavirdine), certain HIV protease inhibitors (atazanavir, amprenavir, fosamprenavir, tipranavir/ritonavir), rifampin, rifapentine, St John's wort.

If you are currently using any of these medications listed above, tell your doctor or pharmacist before starting etravirine.

Make sure your doctor is aware of all the HIV drugs you are taking. This medication may interact with other HIV medications. Your doctor may need to change your treatment or monitor you more closely if you are taking a certain combination of HIV medications. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.

Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use, especially of: drugs affecting liver enzymes that remove etravirine from your body (such as rifabutin, azole antifungals including itraconazole, macrolide antibiotics including erythromycin/clarithromycin).

This drug can speed up or slow down the removal of other drugs from your body by affecting certain liver enzymes. These affected drugs include clopidogrel, medications for heart rhythm (e.g., amiodarone, disopyramide, quinidine), "blood thinners" (e.g., warfarin), certain "statin" cholesterol medications (atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin), organ transplant drugs (e.g., cyclosporine, sirolimus, tacrolimus), drugs for male sexual ability problems (e.g., sildenafil, vardenafil, tadalafil), among others.

This document does not contain all possible interactions. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share the list with your doctor and pharmacist.

OVERDOSE: If overdose is suspected, contact your local poison control center or emergency room immediately. US residents can call the US National Poison Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center.

NOTES: Do not share this medication with others.

To reduce the risk of spreading HIV to others, always use effective barrier protections (e.g., latex or polyurethane condoms, dental dams) during all sexual activity. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.

Laboratory and/or medical tests (e.g., viral load, T-cell counts) should be performed periodically to monitor your progress or check for side effects. Consult your doctor for more details.

Keep all medical and laboratory appointments.

MISSED DOSE: If you miss a dose and it is within 6 hours of the time you usually take the dose, take it after a meal as soon as you remember. If it is more than 6 hours from the time you usually take the dose, skip the missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not double the dose to catch up.

STORAGE: Store at room temperature at 77 degrees F (25 degrees C) away from light and moisture. Brief storage between 59-86 degrees F (15-30 degrees C) is permitted. Store this drug in its original bottle, and keep the bottle tightly closed. Each bottle should contain small pouches of a substance (desiccant) that help keep moisture in the air from damaging the drug. Do not remove desiccant pouches from bottle. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep all medicines away from children and pets.

Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product.

MEDICAL ALERT: Your condition can cause complications in a medical emergency. For information about enrolling in MedicAlert, call 1-800-854-1166 (USA) or 1-800-668-1507 (Canada).

Information last revised January 2012. Copyright(c) 2012 First Databank, Inc.