Injections of meperidine have the potential to become habits, especially over time. Administer meperidine injection as prescribed. Use it only as prescribed by your doctor, and don’t take more of it, use it more frequently, or use it in a different way. Discuss your pain management strategies, treatment duration, and goals with your healthcare practitioner while you are receiving meperidine injections. Inform your doctor if you or any family members regularly use significant amounts of alcohol, take street drugs, abuse prescription drugs excessively, experience overdosing, or currently suffer from depression or another mental disorder. If you currently have or have ever had any of these conditions, there is a higher chance that you will misuse meperidine. If you suspect that you may have an opioid addiction, speak with your doctor right away and ask for advice, or call the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

Breathing issues brought on by meperidine injection can be severe or even fatal, especially in the first 24 to 72 hours of treatment and whenever the dose is raised. Throughout your therapy, your doctor will keep a close eye on you. If you have asthma or slow breathing, let your doctor know. Most likely, your doctor will advise against using meperidine injection. A head injury, a brain tumour, or any condition that raises the pressure inside of your skull should also be disclosed to your doctor. Lung ailments including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of illnesses that affect the lungs and airways, should also be mentioned. The likelihood that you will experience breathing issues may be increased if you are an older adult, weak, or undernourished as a result of a sickness. Get emergency medical care if you encounter any of the following symptoms, or call your doctor right away: sluggish breathing, protracted breath gaps, or shortness of breath.

While receiving therapy with meperidine injection, taking certain medications may raise your chance of developing breathing issues or other severe, life-threatening breathing issues, drowsiness, or coma. Inform your physician if you are now taking or intend to take any of the following drugs: drugs for anxiety, nausea, or pain; benzodiazepines including alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Diastat, Valium), estazolam, flurazepam, lorazepam (Ativan), and triazolam (Halcion); tranquillizers, sedatives, muscle relaxants, or sleeping medications. Your doctor will closely monitor you and may need to adjust the dosage of your drugs. Call your doctor right away if you experience any of the following symptoms after taking meperidine injection in combination with any of these drugs: unusual dizziness, lightheadedness, excessive drowsiness, slowed or laboured breathing, or inability to respond. If you are unable to seek treatment on your own, make sure your carer or family members are aware of any symptoms that may be dangerous so they can contact the doctor or emergency services.

You run a higher chance of developing severe, potentially fatal adverse effects from meperidine if you consume alcohol, use prescription or over-the-counter products that do, or use illicit substances. During your treatment, refrain from drinking alcohol, taking alcohol-containing prescription or over-the-counter medications, or using illegal substances.

Do not share your medication with anybody else. Meperidine injection poses a risk of damage or death to those who take your prescription, particularly young children.

If you are pregnant or want to become pregnant, let your doctor know. Your kid may face potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms if you routinely used meperidine injection when you were pregnant. If your infant exhibits any of the following symptoms, contact your doctor straight away: irritability, hyperactivity, disturbed sleep, high-pitched crying, excessive shaking of a body part, vomiting, diarrhoea, or failure to gain weight.

Discuss the dangers of using meperidine injection with your doctor.

If you have any questions, carefully read the information and ask your doctor or chemist. The Medication Guide is also available on the manufacturer’s website or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

Injections of meperidine are used to treat moderate to severe pain. Moreover, it might be applied both before and after surgery or other medical treatments. Meperidine injection belongs to the category of drugs known as opiate (narcotic) analgesics. It functions by altering how the body perceives pain.

Meperidine injection is available as a solution (liquid) to administer intravenously, intramuscularly, or subcutaneously (into a vein). Typically, it is injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly as needed once every three to four hours. Administer meperidine injection as prescribed.

During your therapy, your doctor may change the dose of meperidine injection you receive based on how well your pain is managed and any adverse effects you have. Discuss your feelings regarding your meperidine injectable therapy with your doctor.

Do not stop taking meperidine injection abruptly if you have been using it for more than a few days. You might experience withdrawal symptoms if you abruptly stop using meperidine injection, such as agitation, teary eyes, runny noses, yawning, sweating, chills, muscle, back, or joint pain, widening of the pupils, irritability, anxiety, weakness, stomach cramps, trouble falling or staying asleep, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, fast breathing, or rapid heartbeat. Your dose will likely be gradually reduced by your doctor.

Ask your doctor or chemist for more details if you believe this drug should be used for something else.

Before using meperidine injection

• If you have any allergies, including to meperidine, other drugs, or chemicals in meperidine injection, let your doctor and chemist know right away. Get a list of the ingredients from your chemist.
• Use of meperidine injection is not advised if you are taking an MAO inhibitor, such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), linezolid (Zyvox), methylene blue, phenelzine (Nardil), procarbazine (Matulane), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), or tranylcypromine (Parnate), or if you have recently stopped taking any of these medications. If you are taking one or more of these medications, your doctor probably won’t advise you to use meperidine injection.
• Inform your doctor and chemist about all prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products that you are now taking or intend to use. Incorporate any of the following: Dextromethorphan (present in many cough medicines; in Nuedexta); lithium (Lithobid; in Librax); cyclobenzaprine (Amrix); almotriptan (Axert), eletriptan (Relpax), frovatriptan (Frova), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt), sumatriptan (Imitrex, in Treximet), and zolmitriptan (Zomig) are among the migraine treatments; alosetron (Lotronex), dolasetron (Anzemet), granisetron (Kytril), ondansetron (Zofran, Zuplenz), or palonosetron (Aloxi); the antidepressant mirtazapine (Remeron); selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors such fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem, in Symbyax), citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Brisdelle, Prozac, Pexeva), and sertraline (Zoloft); tramadol (Conzip, Ultram); serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors such duloxetine (Cymbalta), desvenlafaxine (Khedezla, Pristiq), milnacipran (Savella), and venlafaxine (Effexor); trazodone (Oleptro); tricyclic antidepressants (often known as “mood elevators”) as amitriptyline, clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin), imipramine (Tofranil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), and trimipramine; or doxepin (Silenor) (Surmontil). Meperidine may interact with a wide variety of other drugs, so be sure to let your doctor know about anything you’re taking, even those not on this list. Additionally let your physician or chemist know if you are currently taking any narcotic painkillers or have recently taken any. Your doctor might need to adjust your medication doses or keep a close eye out for any negative side effects.
• Inform your doctor about the herbal supplements you are taking, especially if you take St. John’s wort or tryptophan.
• Inform your doctor if you experience or have ever experienced urinary incontinence, Addison’s disease, prostatic hypertrophy, urethral stricture, seizures, thyroid, heart, kidney, or liver disease. Addison’s disease is a disorder in which the body does not generate certain essential substances.
• Inform your physician if you are nursing a baby, intend to get pregnant, or are already pregnant. Call your doctor if you become pregnant while receiving meperidine injection.
• You should be aware that this medicine may lower both male and female fertility. You should discuss the dangers of using meperidine with your doctor.
• Inform the surgeon or dentist that you are using meperidine injection if you are having surgery, including dental surgery.
• You need to be aware that meperidine might make you feel sleepy. Prior to understanding how this drug affects you, avoid using machinery or driving a car.
• You should be aware that if you stand up too rapidly from a supine position while taking meperidine, you could have dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting. Get out of bed gradually, resting your feet on the floor for a few minutes before standing up, to avoid this issue.

Keep eating normally unless your doctor instructs you otherwise.

Side effects from meperidine injection could exist. If any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away, let your doctor know right once:

• Lightheadedness
• Headache
• Agitation
• Constipation
• Uncontrolled trembling in a bodily component
• Fuzzy vision
• Mouth ache
• Redness or discomfort at the injection site

Certain adverse effects can be very harmful. Call your doctor right away if any of these symptoms occur to you:

• Decreased breathing
• Agitation, hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing things that are not there), disorientation, fever, sweating, shivering, extremely stiff or twitching muscles, loss of coordination, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhoea
• Nausea, vomiting, weight loss, anorexia, or lightheadedness
• Failure to achieve or maintain erection
• Less sexual arousal
• Irregular periods of time
• Intensely happy
• Gloomy mood
• Rash
• Itching
• Flushing
• Hives
• Seizures
• Hallucinations

Further negative effects from meperidine injection are possible. If you experience any strange issues while taking this drug, call your doctor right away.

You or your doctor can submit a report to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting programme online or by phone if you have a serious side event (1-800-332-1088).

You should speak to your doctor about keeping naloxone, a life-saving drug, on hand while using meperidine injection (e.g., home, office). Naloxone is used to undo an overdose’s potentially fatal consequences. To treat harmful symptoms brought on by excessive levels of opiates in the blood, it functions by inhibiting the effects of opiates. If you live with young children or someone who has abused prescription or illicit drugs, your doctor could also advise you to get naloxone. Make sure you, your family, your caretakers, and anyone else who spends time with you are aware of the signs of an overdose, how to administer naloxone, and what to do until emergency assistance arrives. You and your family members will be shown how to use the medication by your doctor or chemist. For the directions, speak to your chemist or go to the manufacturer’s website. If you start to experience overdose symptoms, a friend or family member should administer the first dose of naloxone, contact 911 right away, and stay by your side while keeping a careful eye on you until emergency medical assistance comes. After receiving naloxone, your symptoms can come back a short while later. The person should administer you another dose of naloxone if your symptoms come back. If symptoms reappear before receiving medical attention, more doses may be given every 2 to 3 minutes.

Call the poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222 in the event of an overdose. Moreover, information can be found online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. Call 911 right once if the person has collapsed, experienced a seizure, is having difficulty breathing, or cannot be roused.

Overdose signs could include the following:

• Weak or sluggish breathing
• Having trouble breathing
• Extreme slumber
• Not able to speak or awaken
• Slack, flabby muscles
• Clammy, frigid skin
• Sluggish heartbeat
• Fainting

Keep all of your doctor’s appointments. To determine how your body reacts to meperidine, your doctor may request specific lab tests.

Inform your doctor and the lab staff that you are using meperidine prior to any laboratory test (particularly those involving methylene blue).

This medication cannot be renewed. Call your doctor if the discomfort persists after you’ve finished the meperidine.

You should keep a written record of every medication you take, including any over-the-counter (OTC) items, prescription drugs, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. This list should be brought with you whenever you see a doctor or are admitted to the hospital. You should always have this information with you in case of emergencies.