Zantac is used to manage stomach and intestinal ulcers. It can also treat Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (a condition in which your body makes too much acid). Zantac belongs to a class of medicines called histamine-2 blockers and helps to decrease stomach acid production, says Drugs.com. Zantac is available over the counter as a tablet and as a syrup. According to the National Library of Medicine, you will take 150 milligrams of the tablet or 10 milliliters of the syrup twice a day.
Common Side Effects
Zantac can typically cause a severe headache, nausea, vomiting and swollen breasts in men, according to Drugs.com. You can also have trouble sleeping, drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhea or constipation. Other side effects include decreased libido (sex drive), erectile dysfunction (impotence) and stomach pain. These symptoms are benign but you should discontinue this medication if these symptoms remain for about three days or more. Visit your doctor and she can recommend or prescribe a prescription-strength acid blocker.
Dangerous Side Effects
Zantac may cause fatigue, confusion, depression, and agitation, says the National Library of Medicine. Zantac can affect your heart and cause tachycardia (a fast heart rate), bradycardia (slow heart rate) and atrioventricular (AV) block (a disturbance in the electrical conductivity of your heart). Zantac can also increase your risk for pancreatitis (inflammation of your pancreas), hepatitis, myalgias (muscle pain) and arthralgias (joint pain). It can disturb your blood cells and cause leukopenia (low white blood cell counts) and thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts). These blood cell disturbances make you prone to infection, bleeding and bruising. Zantac can cause kidney problems, alopecia (hair loss) and vasculitis (inflammation of your blood vessels).
Drugs.com says that Zantac can increase your chances of getting pneumonia. Pneumonia symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, chest pain and a cough productive of yellow or green phlegm.
Additional Concerns
Zantac should not be harmful to your unborn child. However, tell your doctor if you are pregnant. Zantac can contaminate breast milk so tell your doctor if you plan to breast-feed.
Avoid Zantac if you suffer from phenylketonuria, a genetic condition in which you are unable to breakdown the amino acid phenylalanine. Zantac may contain phenylalanine, says Drugs.com.
Tell your doctor of the over-the-counter, prescription-strength, vitamins, herbs and minerals you are taking. Any of these substances can interact with Zantac and cause the aforementioned side effects.
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