What special precautions should I follow?
Before taking Lepirudin:
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to lepirudin, bivalirudin, or if you have any other allergies.
Moreover, please inform your doctor about your medical history, especially regarding kidney or liver problems, recent surgery/major medical procedures or biopsies, bleeding problems (e.g. clotting difficulty, any stomach, eye, brain, or lung bleeding), stroke, heart infections (bacterial endocarditis), or high blood pressure (hypertension).
It is also important that your doctor knows of all prescription and non-prescription medication you may use, especially other "blood- thinning" drugs (e.g. aspirin, warfarin, or thrombolytics such as tPA or streptokinase).
Caution is advised when using this drug in the elderly because they may be more sensitive to its effects.
Additionally, this medication should be used only when clearly needed during pregnancy. Moreover, it is not known whether this drug passes into breast milk, so please discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to breast-feed.
Why is this medication prescribed?
Dosage and using this medicine
What should I do if I forget a dose?
What side effects can this medication cause?