Elantan

Elantan is a medication used to prevent angina pectoris, a condition characterized by chest pain due to the heart muscle not getting enough oxygen. It works by widening the blood vessels in the heart, allowing more blood to flow to areas that need it. This helps reduce the frequency and severity of angina attacks.

Elantan can also be used to treat congestive heart failure, a condition where the heart muscle is not strong enough to pump blood effectively around the body. This can lead to symptoms like breathing difficulties and swelling in the legs.

Before taking Elantan, it’s important to note the following:

• Allergies: Do not take Elantan if you are allergic to isosorbide mononitrate or other nitrates.
• Severe Anaemia: Avoid if you have severe anaemia, which can cause pale skin, weakness, and breathlessness.
• Heart Conditions: Do not take if you have had a heart attack, brain haemorrhage, head injury, severely low blood volume, or severely low blood pressure.
• Other Conditions: Also avoid if you suffer from certain heart conditions like hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, constrictive pericarditis, cardiac tamponade, aortic/mitral valve stenosis, or diseases associated with raised intra-cranial pressure.

Common side effects include heartburn, red or scaly skin, low blood pressure, and swelling of the skin. Rare side effects include increased chest pain due to a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle and areas around the chest.

If you experience any side effects, it’s crucial to report them to your doctor or pharmacist. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard.

Elantan is available in 20mg tablets and 25mg prolonged-release capsules. The active ingredient is isosorbide mononitrate. Each tablet contains 20mg of isosorbide mononitrate, while each prolonged-release capsule contains 25mg. The other ingredients include talc, lactose monohydrate, colloidal anhydrous silica, potato starch, microcrystalline cellulose, and aluminium stearate for the tablets, and lactose monohydrate, purified talc, ethyl cellulose, macrogol 20,000, hydroxypropyl cellulose, sucrose, corn starch, gelatin, titanium dioxide, iron oxide red (E172), and iron oxide black (E172) for the prolonged-release capsules.

Elantan is supplied in blister packs and should be stored out of the sight and reach of children. Do not use the medicine after the expiry date, which is stated on the carton. Proper disposal of unused medicines is also important to protect the environment.