Methimazole
Methimazole Prescribing Information
Methimazole is indicated:
- In patients with Graves’ disease with hyperthyroidism or toxic multinodular goiter for whom surgery or radioactive iodine therapy is not an appropriate treatment option
- To ameliorate symptoms of hyperthyroidism in preparation for thyroidectomy or radioactive iodine therapy.
Methimazole is administered orally. The total daily dosage is usually given in 3 divided doses at approximately 8-hour intervals.
Methimazole is contraindicated in the presence of hypersensitivity to the drug or any of the other product components.
Major adverse reactions (which occur with much less frequency than the minor adverse reactions) include inhibition of myelopoieses (agranulocytosis, granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and aplastic anemia), drug fever, a lupus-like syndrome, insulin autoimmune syndrome (which can result in hypoglycemic coma), hepatitis (jaundice may persist for several weeks after discontinuation of the drug), periarteritis, and hypoprothrombinemia. Nephritis occurs very rarely. There have been postmarketing case reports of acute pancreatitis.
There are reports of a vasculitis, often associated with the presence of anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), resulting in severe complications (see WARNINGS).
Minor adverse reactions include skin rash, urticaria, nausea, vomiting, epigastric distress, arthralgia, paresthesia, loss of taste, abnormal loss of hair, myalgia, headache, pruritus, drowsiness, neuritis, edema, vertigo, skin pigmentation, jaundice, sialadenopathy, and lymphadenopathy.
To report
Methimazole (1-methylimidazole-2-thiol) is a white, crystalline substance that is freely soluble in water. It differs chemically from the drugs of the thiouracil series primarily because it has a 5-instead of a 6-membered ring.
Methimazole tablet, USP contains 5 mg or 10 mg (43.8 or 87.6 μmol) methimazole, an orally administered antithyroid drug.
Each tablet also contains lactose monohydrate, pregelatinised starch, talc, and magnesium stearate.
The molecular weight is 114.17, and the molecular formula is C4H6N2S.The structural formula is as follows:
