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Precautions
It is important that your doctor check your progress after treatment. This is to make sure that the infection is cleared up completely, and to allow your doctor to check for any unwanted effects. Blood tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects.
If your symptoms do not improve within a few days, or if they become worse, check with your doctor.
Do not take halofantrine (Halfan®) or ketoconazole (Nizoral®) with mefloquine or within 15 weeks after the last dose of this medicine. This may increase the risk for more serious problems.
This medicine can cause changes in heart rhythms, such as a condition called QT prolongation. It may change the way your heart beats and cause fainting or serious side effects in some patients. Call your doctor right away if you have any symptoms of heart rhythm problems, such as fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeats.
Check with your doctor right away if you have flu-like symptoms (such as chills, fever, headache, or muscle pains) again after treatment with this medicine.
Use birth control pills while you are taking this medicine and for 3 months after you stop mefloquine therapy. If you think you have become pregnant while using this medicine, tell your doctor right away.
This medicine may cause serious allergic reactions. Call your doctor right away if you have a rash; itching; hives; hoarseness; trouble with breathing; trouble with swallowing; or any swelling of your hands, face, or mouth while you are using this medicine.
Mefloquine may cause vision problems. It may also cause some people to become dizzy or lightheaded or to have hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there). Make sure you know how you react to this medicine before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are dizzy or are not alert or able to see well. This is especially important for people whose jobs require fine coordination. If these reactions are especially bothersome, check with your doctor.
Check with your doctor immediately if blurred vision, difficulty in reading, or any other change in vision occurs during or after treatment. Your doctor may want you to have your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist (eye doctor).
While you are being treated with mefloquine, do not have any immunizations (vaccinations) without your doctor's approval. Live virus vaccines should be completed 3 days before the first dose of this medicine.
Malaria is spread by the bites of certain kinds of infected female mosquitoes. If you are living in or will be traveling to an area where there is a chance of getting malaria, the following mosquito-control measures will help to prevent infection:
- If possible, avoid going out between dusk and dawn because it is at these times that mosquitoes most commonly bite.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts or blouses and long trousers to protect your arms and legs, especially from dusk through dawn when mosquitoes are out.
- Apply insect repellant, preferably one containing DEET, to uncovered areas of the skin from dusk through dawn when mosquitoes are out.
- If possible, sleep in a screened or air-conditioned room or under mosquito netting sprayed with insecticide to avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
- Use mosquito coils or sprays to kill mosquitoes in living and sleeping quarters during evening and nighttime hours.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor (especially medicines that prolong QT interval). This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.
