What is charcoal?
Charcoal is used to treat stomach pain caused by excess gas, diarrhea, or indigestion. Charcoal also is used to relieve itching associated with kidney dialysis treatment and to treat overdoses of other medicines. Charcoal may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.
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What are the possible side effects of charcoal?
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic
reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Other side effects may occur. Tell your doctor about unusual or bothersome side effect.
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How should I take charcoal?
Take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not take it in larger amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label. Take this medicine with a full glass (8 ounces) of water. Do not crush, break, or chew a charcoal tablet or capsule. Swallow the pill whole. Charcoal is usually taken after meals or at the first sign of stomach discomfort. Do not take more than 4.16 grams of charcoal in a day (16 capsules of 260 mg each). Stop taking charcoal and call your doctor if your diarrhea lasts longer than 2 days or you also have a fever.
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What is the most important information I should know about charcoal?
Do not take this medication if you have ever had an allergic reaction to charcoal. Before taking this medication, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have liver or kidney disease, or any type of serious illness. Stop taking charcoal and call your doctor if your diarrhea lasts longer than 2 days or you also have a fever. Do not take charcoal with any other medicine. Take your dose of charcoal at least 2 hours before or 1 hour after a dose of any other medicine. Charcoal binds to other drugs and can make them less effective, which could become dangerous.
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What happens if I miss a dose?
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, wait until then to take the medicine and skip the missed dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
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What other drugs will affect charcoal?
There may be other drugs that can interact with charcoal. Tell your doctor about all your prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.
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Can I take this if I am pregnant or trying to get pregnant or if I am breastfeeding?
Charcoal has not been formally assigned to a pregnancy category by the FDA. No animal or human reproductive or fetotoxicity studies have been done. There appears to be no apparent toxicity associated with therapeutic dosages of activated charcoal administered once or for short periods of time.
There are no data on the excretion of charcoal into human milk. However, adverse effects to the nursing infant are not anticipated since charcoal is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.
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Who should NOT use this medication?
- Before endoscopy after ingestion of corrosive agents, unless necessary to adsorb another ingested toxin; may obscure endoscopic evaluation of gastroesophageal lesions.
- Patients with an unprotected airway, a GI tract that is not anatomically intact, and where risk or severity of aspiration may be increased (e.g., hydrocarbon ingestions).
- Multiple-dose regimen in presence of ileus or bowel obstruction.
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What happens if I overdose?
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine. An overdose of charcoal is not likely to cause life-threatening symptoms.
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What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking charcoal?
Do not take this medication if you have ever had an allergic reaction to charcoal. Before taking this medication, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have: liver disease; kidney disease; or any type of serious illness. If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take this medication. FDA pregnancy category C. This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment.
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Can I stop taking the medication if I feel better?
As a general rule, you should always take your medications exactly as prescribed and do not change the dosage or stop taking the medication without first discussing it with your healthcare provider.
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I am on so many medications; do I have to take them all?
This is called polypharmacy—many different medications being used at the same time by one person. Sometimes, being on multiple medications is acceptable and appropriate but at other times it may be problematic. If you are receiving your medications from multiple physicians you need to ensure that they all know what medications you are taking. The best way to do this is to make a list of all the medications you are currently using, including all nutritional supplements, homeopathic remedies, vitamins and over-the-counter drugs (if possible, also include all the diseases you have been diagnosed with). Give a copy to every doctor who takes care of you so they have it on file, this way they can avoid duplicating medications and perhaps even try to consolidate some. After every doctor's visit remember to update the list accordingly. Also, as much as you possibly can, try to use the same pharmacy to fill all your prescriptions, this way any potential drug interactions can be caught and averted.
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Where can I get more information?
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