Before Using

Drug information provided by: Merative, Micromedex®

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:

Allergies

Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.

Pediatric

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of Creon®, Pancreaze®, Pertzye®, and Zenpep® in children.

Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of Ultresa™ in children younger than 12 months of age, and Viokace™ in children. Safety and efficacy have not been established in these age groups.

Geriatric

No information is available on the relationship of age to the effects of Creon®, Pancreaze®, and Pertzye® in geriatric patients.

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of Ultresa™, Viokace™, and Zenpep® in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related kidney, liver, or heart problems, which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for patients receiving these medicines.

Breastfeeding

There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.

Drug Interactions

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your healthcare professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine.

Other Interactions

Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.

Other Medical Problems

The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

  • Abnormal blood glucose levels, history of or
  • Fibrosing colonopathy (bowel disorder) or
  • Gout or
  • Hyperuricemia (high uric acid in the blood) or
  • Hyperuricosuria (high uric acid in the urine) or
  • Intestinal (bowel) blockage, history of or
  • Kidney disease or
  • Pancreatitis (swelling of the pancreas)—Use with caution. May make these conditions worse.
  • Allergy to pork products—Use with caution. Pancrelipase contains pork proteins.
  • Lactose intolerance—Viokace™ tablets contains lactose, which can make this condition worse.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Portions of this document last updated: Feb. 01, 2024

Copyright: © Merative US L.P. 1973, 2024. All rights reserved. Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes.