My pharmacist asked me this question and it has been a few years. I know you need a prescription, we were merely talking about Africa and he was curious.

Got ours last week.

If I remember rightly, it is one day before your arrival in Africa, then one a day while you are there, and one week daily after your return.

Got my prescription today and Saeed is 100% correct.

Saeed is correct.

As with any medication it is best to consult your physician as there can be interactions with other medications as well as contraindications to using it in patients with certain medical conditions.

Dosing for normal healthy adults over 41kg in weight is one tablet daily, taken with food or a milky drink at the same time each day. Beginning 1-2 days before entering the malaria zone and continuing daily until 7 days after leaving the malaria zone.

Just picked mine up today.

From GSK Source

- Start prophylaxis 1 or 2 days before entering a malaria‑endemic area and continue daily during the stay and for 7 days after return.
- Adults: One adult strength tablet per day.

I take it 2 days before and 7 days after leaving the area.

Yes, start 1 to 2 days before arrival
and continue for 7 days after departure from the malarial area.
Take one tab daily of the adult tabs.
The pediatric tabs are 1/4 of the adult tablet.
Tell Walter he may crush and swallow the pediatric tablets with milk,
or his favorite formula.

My advice, take it in the morning. Not before bed following 4 or 5 stout cocktails around the fire. Learned the hard way...

If this is your first time taking Malarone, you may wish to take a backup along. I had a very, very bad reaction to it and ended up being off any anti-malarial for over a month in Africa. I was fine (which would not have been the case if I had stayed on Malarone).

Terry,

The above information is all correct and it is a very well tolerated drug in most of the population. Malarone is useful in that it can be used for both prophylaxis as well as treatment. It is also better tolerated taken with food or on a full stomach. Be also sure to take it at the same time every day to keep a constant level of the drug in circulation. Cindy and I have a routine to take it after breakfast and as we we are getting ready to get on the truck for the day's hunt. Still one of the better antimalarial drugs out there and tested over time. I am a retired GSK researcher and did lots of checking with that division of our infectious disease group
Good luck

Paul

quote:

Originally posted by Flipper Dude:
My advice, take it in the morning. Not before bed following 4 or 5 stout cocktails around the fire. Learned the hard way...

This is good advise. I've always taken malarone in the am with a hearty breakfast but in the Luanga a few years ago I took it on an empty stomach after a few too many the night before and I didn't get "right" again for several days. It was a place I NEVER want to go to again. It may have been a combination of malarone, ambien and an empty stomach, although, the alcohol from the prior night may have been a contributing factor.

Anyone traveling to TZ (Dar es Salaam) should be aware that we have had an unusually high rate of malaria cases registered to-date.

Jorge400,
You trying to follow in Heath Ledger's footsteps? Too much alcohol AND Ambien?
That would make me sick for sure.

Rarely, some people are allergic or hypersensitive. If you vomit within 1 hour of taking it,
you should take it again as soon as stomach settles. If vomiting persists, or is a side effect of Malarone for you, yep, you can't take it.

I take Malarone on an empty stomach or with food or drink, with no problems either way,
though I do try to wait a few hours after taking it before hitting the booze.

Malarone is a most benign of drugs for least problems with good effectiveness for malaria prophylaxis,
and is used to treat the acute disease with higher dosing of it.
That is if you develop Malaria while taking some other prophylaxis besides Malarone.
4 adult tablets at once, daily for 3 days may be all it takes for a cure of Malaria treated promptly.
Babies of 5 Kg/11 lbs or greater weight can also be treated with it, at proper dosing.
When you get up to 40 Kg/88 lbs body weight, you get the full adult dose.

If you have near endstage kidney failure (creatinine clearance less than 30 ml/min) you can't take it for prophylaxis.
Avoid it if you have a really bad liver, like from too much alcohol and Ambien or whatever else.
If you take Coumadin/warfarin as a blood thinner/anticoagulant, it may interact with that and make you bleed.
Malarone should not be combined with some HIV drugs, and some antibiotics like rifampin.
Tetracyclines (doxycycline, etc.) will make the Malarone less effective.
For a list of the remaining few drugs interacting with Malarone, see epocrates on my iphone.
You can get the infant dosing of it there too.

You have to take it the same time daily USA time to African time. 11am here would be 7 or 8pm there.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
You have to take it the same time daily USA time to African time. 11am here would be 7 or 8pm there.

Mike

It is not that fussy.
A person can just make the clock shift and take it at the same time of day for the first day in Africa, even if that is 8 hours early for your body flown east from USA to Africa.
Coming back, it would be better to take an extra dose to get you on the same clock time again, rather than go more than 24 hrs (actual time for your body) between doses.

For so many years, I have been taking Larium on a weekly basis while in Africa.

Had no side effects at all.

But, last year my doctor suggested I take Malarone.

I generally take any necessary medicine after dinner at night.

I use larium and have had no side effects. I like weekly dosing.