Rifampicin Side Effects

TB or tuberculosis is a potentially fatal infectious disease that spreads easily from one person to another. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2008 there were 5,283 cases of tuberculosis that originated in the United States. The antibiotic Rifampin, or rifampicin, is often used to treat tuberculosis, but despite its effectiveness, rifampicin presents several risks for side effects and complications in some patients.

Common Side Effects

• Rifampicin may cause many troublesome or annoying, but not dangerous, side effects. Some patients experience gastrointestinal effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn, loss of appetite, flatulence and cramps. Effects to the central nervous system, such as headaches, fever, drowsiness, lack of coordination, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, confusion, pain in the extremities and numbness are common. Some patients report blurred vision or conjunctivitis infections while taking rifampicin.

Hematologic Side Effects

• Infrequently, rifampicin causes changes in the blood cell counts. Some patients develop a shortage of blood platelets, or thrombocytopenia, while undergoing treatment with the drug. These platelets are responsible for blood clotting, so thrombcytopenia can cause minor bruising or even prolonged bleeding following an injury. In rare cases, usage of rifampicin results in life-threatening cerebral hemorrhages due to decreases in platelet levels. Use of the drug sometimes results in anemia and leukopenia, shortages of oxygen-carrying red blood cells or disease-fighting white blood cells. These deficiencies pose a risk for difficulty in breathing, fatigue and increased incidences of infections.

Hypersensitivity

• Occasionally, patients develop a hypersensitivity to rifampicin, which often produces only minor side effects, such as itchy hives or red welts on the skin. Infrequently, use of rifampicin results in potentially life-threatening hypersensitivies such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or toxic epidermal necrolysis. Rarely, rifampicin causes anaphylaxis, a dangerous allergic reaction that occurs when your body mistakes the drug for a foreign threat and produces antibodies to protect itself. Anaphylaxis may cause wheezing, increased heart rate and even shock.

Renal, Hepatic and Reproductive Side Effects

• Rifampicin may adversely effect your kidneys and liver, as well as urinary and reproductive systems. Some patients experience severe side effects to the kidneys, including the passage of bloody urine, inflammation of the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder, and even sudden kidney failure. Inflammation or damage to your liver is also possible while taking rifampicin. In rare cases, use of rifampicin results in colitis or inflammation of the colon. Women occasionally report changes in the regularity, duration or heaviness of menstruation while taking rifampicin.

Intermittent Use Side Effects

• In general, adverse effects of rifampicin are most common when the drug is used intermittently rather than on a regular basis. Sometimes physicians prescribe taking the drug every other day or weekly, while other times intermittent usage is the result of the patient's failure to use the drug daily as prescribed. Side effects also increase if usage is suddenly stopped and then restarted. Some side effects only occur with intermittent use, such as so-called flu syndrome. Symptoms of flu-syndrome mimic those caused by influenza and include a combination of fever, chills, headaches, dizziness and bone pain. Respiratory side effects like wheezing and shortness of breath are common during intermittent use, as is low blood pressure.