Giapreza

Giapreza is a prescription medication used to treat low blood pressure in persons who are in septic or other types of shock.

Giapreza belongs to a group of drugs called vasoconstrictors. These help by increasing blood pressure in order to supply blood and oxygen to the body's tissues and organs.

This medication is available in an injectable form to be given directly into a vein (IV) by a healthcare professional.

The most common side effect of Giapreza is the formation of blood vessel clots.

Giapreza is a prescription medication used to treat low blood pressure in persons who are in septic or other types of shock.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Serious side effects have been reported with Giapreza. See the “Giapreza Precautions” section.

Common side effects of Giapreza include the following:

• clots like deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
• low red blood cell counts
• fast heart rate
• fungal infection
• delirium
• high acid in the blood
• high glucose (sugar) in the blood
• lack of blood to the hands, arms, feet, and legs.

This is not a complete list of Giapreza side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effects that bother you or that do not go away.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

• angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) blockers such as benazepril (Lotensin, Lotensin HCT), captopril (Capoten, Capozide), enalapril (Vasotec, Vaseretic), fosinopril (Monopril, Monopril HCT), lisinopril (Prinivil, Prinzide, Zestril, Zestoretic), moexipril (Univasc, Uniretic), quinapril (Accupril, Accuretic, Quinaretic), ramipril (Altace), and trandolapril (Mavik, Tarka)
• angiotensin receptor II blockers such as azilsartan (Edarbi), candesartan (Atacand), irbesartan (Avapro), losartan (Cozaar), olmesartan (Benicar), telmisartan (Micardis, Twynsta), and valsartan (Diovan)

This is not a complete list of Giapreza drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information

Serious side effects have been reported with Giapreza including the following:

• the risk of thrombosis or a clot. This mostly occurs as deep vein thrombosis. Your healthcare provider will decide if you need medications to prevent clotting.

Medications can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of Giapreza, there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving this medication.

Before taking Giapreza, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions. Especially tell your doctor if you:

• are allergic to Giapreza or to any of its ingredients
• have high blood pressure
• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant
• are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

No studies have been done in animals, and no well-controlled studies have been done in pregnant women. This medication may be used if the potential benefits to the mother outweigh the potential risks to the unborn child. Delaying treatment of low blood pressure in persons with septic shock and who are pregnant could result in the death of the pregnant women or fetus.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.

It is not known if Giapreza crosses into human milk. Because many medications can cross into human milk and because of the possibility for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or stop the use of this medication. Your doctor and you will decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of using Giapreza.

Giapreza comes in an injectable form to be given directly into a vein (IV) by a healthcare professional.

A healthcare provider monitors blood pressure while you are receiving Giapreza.

The recommended dose of Giapreza for the treatment of low blood pressure in persons with shock is based on weight. 

The length of time of which Giapreza is given is based on patient response and blood pressure.

If Giapreza is administered by a healthcare provider in a medical setting, it is unlikely that an overdose will occur. However, if overdose is suspected, seek emergency medical attention.