Sustanon 250mg/ml injection

Do not take Sustanon 250:

• If you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant (see “Pregnancy, breast-feeding and fertility”).
• If you have or have had a tumour of your prostate or breast, or are suspected to have one of these tumours.
• In children under the age of 3 years.
• If you are allergic to one or more of the ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6 “What Sustanon 250 contains”).If you are allergic to peanuts or soya (see Section 2 “Important information about some of the ingredients of Sustanon 250”).

Take special care with Sustanon 250:

If you notice any signs of masculinisation (for instance lowering of the voice or increase in body or facial hair), consult your doctor immediately.

Treatment with male hormones like testosterone may increase the size of the prostate gland, especially in elderly men. Therefore your doctor will examine your prostate gland at regular intervals by digital rectal examination (DRE) and blood tests for prostate-specific antigen (PSA).

Additionally, at regular intervals, blood tests will be done to check the oxygen-carrying substance in your red blood cells (haemoglobin). In very rare cases the number of red blood cells will increase too much leading to complications.

The following blood checks should be carried out by your doctor before and during the treatment: testosterone blood level, full blood count.

Medical checks may also be necessary in some other conditions. Therefore, before you start using this medicine you must tell your doctor or pharmacist if you ever had, still have or are suspected to have:

• Breast cancer which has spread to the bones;
• Kidney or lung cancer;
• Heart disease;
• Kidney disease;
• Liver disease;
• High blood pressure;
• Diabetes mellitus;
• Epilepsy;
• Migraine, headaches;
• Prostatic complaints, such as problems with passing urine;
• Blood clotting problems – thrombophilia (an abnormality of blood coagulation that increases the risk of thrombosis – blood clots in blood vessels).

If you are suffering from severe heart, liver or kidney disease, treatment with Sustanon 250 may cause severe complications in the form of water retention in your body sometimes accompanied by (congestive) heart failure.

Tell your doctor if you have high blood pressure or if you are treated for high blood pressure as testosterone may cause a rise in blood pressure.

If you have sleep apnoea (temporarily stopping breathing during your sleep), it may get worse if you are using testosterone-containing products. Let your doctor know if you are worried about this. Extra supervision by your doctor may be necessary in case you are overweight or suffer from chronic lung disease.

During treatment you should also tell your doctor:

• if you are a female-to-male transsexual. You should have special assessments, including psychiatric assessment, before treatment is started.
• if you are a female-to-male transsexual and have a personal or family history of breast cancer and a personal history of endometrial cancer.

Children and adolescents

The safety and efficacy of this medicine has not been adequately determined in children and adolescents.

Extra supervision by your doctor is necessary in the treatment of children and adolescents since testosterone administration in general may cause early sexual development and limits growth (see section 4 “Children and adolescents”).

Blood tests may be affected.

For female-to-male transsexuals, Sustanon 250 may be given as part of a programme of treatment, including surgery.

Other medicines and Sustanon 250

• Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken, or might take any other medicines – even those not prescribed.

Other medicines may influence the effects of Sustanon 250, or Sustanon 250 may affect other medicines. Therefore you must tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are using, or are about to use:

• Insulin and/or other medicines to control blood sugar levels;
• Medicines to reduce the clotting of your blood (anti-coagulants);
• Certain medicines that change the amount of enzymes to be made in the liver e.g. medicines used to treat epilepsy (phenobarbital).

These drugs may affect the levels of testosterone in your body and your doctor may need to adjust the dose or frequency of your Sustanon 250.

The use of androgens like Sustanon 250 may lead to a reduction of the doses of these medicines.

Also tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are using or about to use the hormone ACTH or corticosteroids (used to treat various conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis, allergic conditions and asthma). The use of androgens like Sustanon 250 may increase the risk of water retention especially if your heart and liver are not working properly.

Androgens may also affect the results of some laboratory tests (e.g. thyroid gland). Therefore you must tell your doctor or the laboratory staff performing the tests that you are using this medicine.

Using Sustanon 250 with food and drink

This medicine can be injected without taking consideration of meals and drinks.

Pregnancy, breast-feeding and fertility

Sustanon 250 must not be taken by women who are pregnant or think they are pregnant (see section 2 “Do not use Sustanon 250”), or by women who are breast-feeding.

In men, treatment with Sustanon 250 can lead to fertility disorders by repressing sperm formation.

In women, treatment with this medicine can lead to an irregular or absent menstrual cycle.

If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine.

Driving and using machines

As far as is known this medicine has no influence on driving and using machines.

Important information about some of the ingredients of Sustanon 250

This medicine also contains:

• Arachis oil (peanut oil) – If you are allergic to peanut or soya, do not use this medicinal product (see “Do not use Sustanon 250”).
• Benzyl alcohol (100 mg per ml of solution) – Products containing benzyl alcohol must not be given to premature babies or neonates. Benzyl alcohol may cause toxic reactions and allergic reactions in infants and children up to 3 years old.

Improper use

If you are a patient who participates in competitions governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), then you should consult the WADA-code before using this medicine as Sustanon 250 can interfere with anti-doping testing.

The misuse of this medicine to enhance ability in sports carries serious health risks and is discouraged.

Use in children and adolescents

The safety and efficacy of this medicine have not been adequately determined in children and adolescents. Pre-pubertal children using this medicine will be monitored by your doctor (see section 2 “Take special care with Sustanon 250”).

If you use more Sustanon 250 than you should

Your doctor or nurse will inject this medicine into you. If you have the impression that the effect of this medicine is too strong then please talk to your doctor or nurse immediately.

The following effects may happen:

• Frequent erections in men;
• Changes in your red blood cells (polycythaemia), which your doctor may monitor you for.

If you forgot to get your injection of Sustanon 250

Your doctor or nurse will inject this medicine into you. Should you miss a scheduled injection then please talk to your doctor or nurse as soon as possible. No double dose should be injected to make up for forgotten individual doses.

Effects when treatment with Sustanon 250 is stopped

The effects of this medicine do not stop immediately after discontinuation, but gradually subside.

When treatment with this medicine is stopped, complaints such as those experienced before treatment may re-occur within a few weeks.

If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Adults (female-to-male transsexuals)

Sustanon 250:

Doses vary from one injection of 1 ml every two weeks to one injection of 1 ml every four weeks.

Side effects in women:

In women, this product may induce signs of masculinisation (for example, lowering of the voice, and increase in body or facial hair.)

Children and adolescents:

The following side effects have been reported in pre-pubertal children using androgens:

• Early sexual development;
• Penis enlargement;
• An increased frequency of erections;
• Growth limitation (limited body height)

Reporting of side effects

If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at: www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard. By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.