Side Effects of Stromectol
Most individuals who receive a prescription for Stromectol suffer from the parasitic skin infection scabies. The Merck product contains the medication ivermectin and has specific U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved indications for treating worm infections that cause river blindness (onchocerciasis) and severe diarrhea (strongyloidiasis). When Stromectol kills the parasites in a patient's body, the patient can have an allergic-type reaction to chemicals released from the decaying worms. Patients can also rarely experience severe eye problems and must be careful to avoid overdoses.
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Mazzotti Reaction Warning
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Patients who take Stromectol to kill worms can experience what physicians call a Mazzotti reaction. This happens most often in patients treated for river blindness, and it would likely happen even if patients went untreated, as the parasitic worms would mature and die off naturally. When patients have a Mazzotti reaction, their immune systems are overreacting to toxic chemicals released from decaying worms. The signs of a Mazzotti reaction include fever, rash, lymph node swelling, itchiness and joint pain and swelling. None of these problems were noted in more than 27.5 percent of patients participating in clinical trials of Stromectol, according to the drug's prescribing information.
Common Side Effects
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According to the clinical trials summarized in the prescribing information for Stromectol, the most common side effects from taking the medication that were not related to a Mazzotti reaction were diarrhea, dizziness, slight decreases or increases in white blood cell counts, elevations in liver enzymes, racing heartbeat and increased hemoglobin counts.
Other Side Effects
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Fewer than 1 percent of patients taking Stromectol during clinical trials experienced all-over weakness, abdominal pain, complete loss of appetite, constipation, somnolence, vertigo, rash or muscle aches.
Side Effects of Unknown Frequency
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Outside of clinical trials, an unknown number of patients taking Stromectol have reported experiencing a worsening of asthma and the development of hepatitis. Patients using Stromectol have also reported bleeding under the outermost layer of the eye (i.e., conjunctival hemorrhage), pink eye, swelling of the cornea, swelling of the iris and other parts of the uvea and inflammation of the retina. In some patients, these eye problems have led to blindness.
Overdose
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The active ingredient in Stromectol, ivermectin, also appears in several veterinary medications, such as Heartgard from Merial and Ivomec from Merial. Accidental overexposures to those veterinary drugs have accounted for most overdoses in humans, and patients taking Stromectol should follow their dosing instructions carefully. People who have received overdoses of Stromectol or one of its veterinary formulations have experienced dangerous drops in blood pressure, hives, swelling, seizures, discoordination and breathing difficulties. Patients should induce vomiting when these symptoms of Stromectol overdose occur, and they may need to have their stomachs pumped. Overdose patients may also need to take vomit-inducing medications for a day or two, receive intravenous fluids or receive supplemental oxygen.
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- Photo Credit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
