Travel, Vertigo and Motion Sickness Tablets

What is Vertigo?
Vertigo feels like you or everything around you is spinning – enough to affect your balance. It’s more than just feeling dizzy. A vertigo attack can last from a few seconds to hours. If you have severe vertigo, it can last for many days or months.

What can cause Vertigo?
There are a number of possible causes for vertigo but the most common problem is linked to Inner ear problems, which affect balance, other possible common causes:

• benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) – where specific head movements cause vertigo
• labyrinthitis – an inner ear infection caused by a cold or flu virus
• vestibular neuronitis – inflammation of the vestibular nerve
• Ménière’s disease – a rare inner ear condition, which sometimes involves ringing in the ear (tinnitus) or loss of hearing

Other things that can cause vertigo:

• Migraine
• Some types of medicine – check the leaflet to see if it’s listed as a side effect
• Sometimes the cause is unknown.

Travel, Motion Sickness
Motion sickness, sometimes referred to as sea sickness or car sickness, is a very common disturbance of the inner ear that is caused by repeated motion such as from the swell of the sea, movement of a car, or the motion of turbulent air on a plane. The symptoms of motion sickness are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, and a sense of feeling unwell. These symptoms arise from the inner ear (labyrinth) due to changes in one’s sense of balance and equilibrium.

Causes of travel motion sickness
Motion sickness is caused by repeated movements when travelling, like going over bumps in a car or moving up and down in a boat. Often reading, watching a film or sitting with your head down while travelling can all cause you to feel unwell. The inner ear sends different signals to your brain from those your eyes are seeing. These confusing messages could cause you to feel unwell.

There are various treatments which can help in managing the feeling of Motion Sickness and Vertigo;

• Tablets – dissolvable tablets are available for children
• Patches – can be used by adults and children over 5
• Acupressure bands – these do not work for everyone

What Avomine is and what it is used for Avomine 25mg Tablets (hereinafter referred to as Avomine) are an anti-emetic (anti-sickness drug) which helps to prevent, and treat nausea and vomiting, including travel sickness, and vertigo.
Avomine contains promethazine which belongs to a group of medicines called phenothiazines. Your doctor may prescribe this medicine for giddiness or light-headedness (vertigo), or for sickness after an operation, and in such cases the tablets should be taken as instructed by your doctor.

Before you take Avomine
Do not give to a child under 2 years old.

Do not take Avomine if you have:
ever had an allergic reaction to promethazine, any phenothiazine or any of the ingredients, taken medicines for depression, known as Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) within the last 14 days CNS depression. People with CNS depression will seem sleepy or unconscious (including coma).

• Take special care with Avomine and tell your doctor or pharmacist if you suffer with:
• glaucoma (increased pressure in the eye)
• epilepsy
• heart problems
• liver problems
• kidney or bladder problems
• a chest condition such as asthma or bronchitis
• severe headaches with blurred vision, severe stomach pains with vomiting, dizziness, difficulty with keeping your balance, ringing in the ears or other ear problems as well as feeling sick a bad cough
• Reye’s Syndrome or symptoms of Reye’s Syndrome (including persistent vomiting, feeling tired or sleepiness).

Do not take Avomine for more than 7 days without contacting your doctor.

Taking other medicines
Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription.

• You must tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are already taking any of the following medicines:
• anticholinergic agents
• medicines to help you sleep (hypnotics)
• medicines for depression, mental illness or anxiety (tricyclic antidepressants, sedatives)
• medicines for crampy stomach pains, Parkinson’s disease or bladder problems.

If you are having skin tests for allergy, do not take this medicine as it interferes with the results. You should stop taking this medicine at least 72 hours before the skin tests.

Taking Avomine with food and drink
While taking Avomine, you should avoid drinking alcohol as the tablets will add to the effects of alcohol.
Pregnancy and breast-feeding If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are breast-feeding your baby, you should not take Avomine, unless they have been recommended for you by a doctor.
If you are breast-feeding your baby, Avomine may cause your baby to be irritable and excited.
If you are having a pregnancy test, do not take this product as it interferes with the results.

Driving and operating machinery
These tablets may make you feel dizzy, sleepy, disorientated or confused or cause you to have a headache. You should not drive or operate machinery for the first few days, and until you are sure that you are not affected by these unwanted effects.

How to take Avomine
Always take Avomine exactly as your doctor has told you.
You should check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure. The usual dose is:

Adults
For the prevention of travel sickness on long journeys
Take one tablet each night at bedtime starting the night before you travel.

For the prevention of travel sickness on short journeys
Take one tablet one or two hours before travelling.

Treatment of travel sickness
Take one tablet as soon as you feel sick followed by a second tablet the same evening. Take a third tablet the next evening if necessary.

Nausea and vomiting due to other causes
One tablet each night is usually enough, but two or three tablets may be required by some patients. These can be taken at intervals during the day, but it is often not necessary for more than 4 tablets to be needed in any 24 hour period.

Children over 10 years old
Give the lower adult dose (one tablet).
Children 5 – 10 years old
Give half the lower adult dose (half a tablet).
Children 2 – 5 years old
Avomine Tablets are not suitable for children 2 – 5 years old. An oral liquid is recommended.
Do not give to a child under 2 years old.

Do not take Avomine for more than seven days. Should symptoms persist for or do not improve after 7 days, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Avoid strong sunlight while taking this product as your skin may be more sensitive to the effect of the sun.
If you take more Avomine than you should:
Talk to your doctor, pharmacist or go to the nearest hospital casualty department immediately.
If you forget to take Avomine
If you forget to take a tablet, take one as soon as you remember. Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten dose.

What Avomine contains
Each tablet contains the active ingredient promethazine teoclate 25mg.
Avomine also contains: lactose, sodium metabisulphite (E223), potato starch, dextrin, microcrystalline cellulose, stearic acid and magnesium stearate.

Important information about some of the ingredients in this product.
These tablets contain sodium metabisulphite which may rarely cause hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions and bronchospasm (difficulty breathing). These tablets contain lactose. If you have been told by your doctor that you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before taking this product.

What Avomine looks like and contents of the pack
Avomine are white to pale cream, plain, circular biconvex tablets marked ‘AVOMINE’ on one side with a score line on
the reverse. They are available in cartons of 10 or 28 tablets.

Possible side effects
Like all medicines Avomine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.

If you experience any of the following side effects, stop taking this medicine and speak to your doctor immediately:

• severe rash, itching, swelling of the face, lips or mouth
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• irregular heartbeats, low blood pressure (light-headed feeling when standing).

If you notice any of the following side effects speak to your doctor or pharmacist infections, fevers or sore throats which seem to go on a long time
unexplained bruising or nose-bleeds if you develop a yellow colour of your skin, dark urine and yellowing of the whites of the eyes.

Other side effects may include:

• headache, dizziness, restlessness, confusion, you may feel tired or sleepy
• children may become over excited while taking this product
• occasionally some people, especially the elderly, may
• experience blurred vision, dry mouth or have difficulty passing water
• loss of appetite, upset stomach, nightmares
• cramp or muscles twitching or jerking, or the muscles become rigid
• unusual movements of the head and face muscles.

How to store Avomine
Keep this product out of the sight and reach of children.
Do not use after the expiry date printed on your pack.
Store in the original container.
Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste.
Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines no longer required.
These measures will help to protect the environment.

If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed here You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at:

www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard

By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this product.