Uptravi should only be prescribed by a doctor experienced in the treatment of PAH. Always take this medicine exactly as your doctor has told you. Check with your doctor if you are in doubt or have any questions.
Tell your doctor if you experience side effects, as your doctor may recommend that you change your Uptravi dose.
Tell your doctor if you have problems with your liver not working properly or are taking other medicines as your doctor may recommend that you take a lower dose of Uptravi twice daily or take it only once daily.
If you have poor vision or experience any type of blindness, get help from another person when taking Uptravi during the titration period (process of gradually increasing your dose).
If your doctor prescribes 200-microgram tablets
At the start of treatment, most patients will take a 200-microgram tablet in the morning and another 200-microgram tablet in the evening, about 12 hours apart. It is recommended to initiate treatment in the evening. Your doctor will instruct you to gradually increase your dose. This is called titration. It lets your body adjust to the new medicine. The goal of titration is to reach the most appropriate dose. This will be the highest dose you can tolerate, which may reach the maximum dose of 1 600 micrograms in the morning and in the evening.
The first pack of tablets you receive will contain the light-yellow 200-microgram tablets.
Your doctor will tell you to increase your dose in steps, usually every week but the interval between increases could be longer.
With each step, you will add one 200-microgram tablet to your morning dose and another 200-microgram tablet to your evening dose. The first intake of the increased dose is recommended to be in the evening. The diagram below shows the number of tablets to take every morning and every evening for the first 4 steps.
A visual dosing guide shows how the medicine dose increases step by step. Each step lasts about 1 week.
Step 1 (starting dose):
- Morning: 1 tablet of 200 micrograms
- Evening: 1 tablet of 200 micrograms
- Total daily dose: 400 micrograms
Step 2:
- Morning: 2 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Evening: 2 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Total daily dose: 800 micrograms
Step 3:
- Morning: 3 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Evening: 3 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Total daily dose: 1,200 micrograms
Step 4:
- Morning: 4 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Evening: 4 tablets of 200 micrograms
- Total daily dose: 1,600 micrograms
A note indicates that the yellow tablet represents a 200 microgram tablet.
If your doctor tells you to increase your dose further, you will add one 200-microgram tablet to your morning dose and one 200-microgram tablet to your evening dose with each new step. The first intake of the increased dose is recommended to be in the evening.
If your doctor instructs you to further increase your dose and move to step 5, this may be done by taking one green 800-microgram tablet and one light-yellow 200-microgram tablet in the morning and one 800-microgram tablet and one 200-microgram tablet in the evening.
The maximum dose of Uptravi is 1 600 micrograms in the morning and 1 600 micrograms in the evening. However, not every patient will reach this dose, because different patients require different doses.
The diagram below shows the number of tablets to take every morning and every evening at each step, starting with step 5.
The guide showing increasing doses using two strengths of tablet:
- Yellow tablet: 200 micrograms
- Green tablet: 800 micrograms (used from Steps 5–8 to reduce the number of tablets)
Step 5:
- Morning: One 800 microgram tablet and one 200 microgram tablet
- Evening: One 800 microgram tablet and one 200 microgram tablet
- Total daily dose: 2,000 micrograms
Step 6:
- Morning: one 800 microgram tablet and two 200 microgram tablets
- Evening: One 800 microgram tablet and two 200 microgram tablets
- Total daily dose: 2,400 micrograms
Step 7:
- Morning: One 800 microgram tablet and three 200 microgram tablets
- Evening: One 800 microgram tablet and three 200 microgram tablets
- Total daily dose: 2,800 micrograms
Step 8 (highest dose shown):
- Morning: One 800 microgram tablet and four 200 microgram tablets
- Evening: One 800 microgram tablet and four 200 microgram tablets
- Total daily dose: 3,200 micrograms
If your doctor prescribes 100-microgram tablets
If your liver is not working properly or you are taking certain medicines, your doctor may prescribe 100-microgram tablets as your starting dose.
At the start of treatment, you will take one 100-microgram tablet in the morning and another 100-microgram tablet in the evening, about 12 hours apart. It is recommended to initiate treatment in the evening. Your doctor will instruct you to gradually increase your dose. This is called titration. It lets your body adjust to the new medicine. The goal of titration is to reach the most appropriate dose. This will be the highest dose you can tolerate, which may reach the maximum dose of 800 micrograms in the morning and in the evening.
Your doctor will tell you to increase your dose in steps, usually every week but the interval between increases could be longer.
With each step, you will add one 100-microgram tablet to your morning dose and another 100-microgram tablet to your evening dose. The first intake of the increased dose is recommended to be in the evening. Please refer to the Patient titration guide included in the titration pack, for instructions on how to step up your dose.
Tell your doctor if you stop taking or might stop taking any medicines, as your dose of selexipag may need to be adjusted.
If your doctor tells you to increase your dose further, you will add one 100-microgram tablet to your morning dose and one 100-microgram tablet to your evening dose with each new step. The first intake of the increased dose is recommended to be in the evening.
If your doctor instructs you to further increase your dose above 400 micrograms, this may be done by taking one red 400-microgram tablet and one light-yellow 100-microgram tablet in the morning and one 400-micrograms tablet and one 100-microgram tablet in the evening. Please refer to the patient titration guide included in the titration pack, for instructions on how to step up your dose.
When uptitrating with the 100-micrograms tablets, the maximum dose of Uptravi is 800 micrograms in the morning and 800 micrograms in the evening. However, not every patient will reach this dose, because different patients require different doses.
Using the titration guide during titration
You will receive the titration pack which contains a titration guide and patient leaflet. The titration guide is providing information on the titration process and is allowing you to record the number of tablets you take every day.
Remember to record the number of tablets you take every day in your titration diary. The titration steps usually last about 1 week. If your doctor instructs you to prolong each titration step longer than 1 week, there are additional diary pages to allow you to track this. Remember to talk to your PAH doctor or nurse regularly during titration.
Stepping down to a lower dose due to side effects
During titration, you may experience side effects such as headache, diarrhoea, feeling sick (nausea), being sick (vomiting), jaw pain, muscle pain, leg pain, joint pain, or reddening of the face (see section 4). If these side effects are difficult for you to tolerate, talk to your doctor about how to manage or treat them. There are treatments available that can help relieve the side effects. For example, painkillers such as paracetamol may help treat pain and headache.
If the side effects cannot be treated or do not gradually get better on the dose you are taking, your doctor may adjust your dose by reducing the number of light-yellow tablets you take by one in the morning and by one in the evening. The diagram below shows stepping down to a lower dose. Do this only if instructed to do so by your doctor.
Titration with 200-microgram tablets
A simplified diagram explains how to increase or decrease the dose:
- Start - Step 1:
- Morning: One 200 microgram tablet
- Evening: One 200 microgram tablet
- Total daily dose: 400 micrograms
- Step up - Steps 2–5:
- Increase your dose about every week by adding a 200 microgram tablet to your morning and evening dose
- Step 6:
- The goal is to reach the highest dose with side effects that you can tolerate
- Step down:
- Step down if side effects cannot be tolerated - go back to step 5
If you are titrating with 100-microgram tablets, please refer to the patient titration guide included in the titration pack for instructions for stepping down.
If your side effects are manageable after stepping down your dose, your doctor may decide that you should stay on that dose. Please see section Maintenance dose below for more information.
The highest dose that you can tolerate during titration will become your maintenance dose. Your maintenance dose is the dose you should continue to take on a regular basis.
Your doctor will prescribe suitable tablet strength(s) for your maintenance dose. This may allow you to take one tablet in the morning and one in the evening, instead of multiple tablets each time.
For a full description of Uptravi tablets, including colours and marking, please see section 6 of this leaflet.
Over time, your doctor may adjust your maintenance dose as needed.
If, at any time, after taking the same dose for a long time, you experience side effects that you cannot tolerate or side effects that have an impact on your normal daily activities, contact your doctor as your dose may need to be reduced. The doctor may then prescribe you a lower dose. Please remember to dispose of unused tablets (see section 5).
Take Uptravi once in the morning and once in the evening, about 12 hours apart.
Take the tablets with meals as you might tolerate your medicine better. The tablet coating provides protection. Swallow the tablets whole with a glass of water. Do not split or crush the tablets.
If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor or nurse.