Precautions:
- Take naproxen with food, milk, or an antacid to lessen stomach upset.
- Do not crush or chew any extended-release forms of naproxen. Swallow them whole. They are specially formulated to release slowly in your body. Ask your pharmacist if you do not know if you have an extended-release formulation.
- Watch for bloody, black, or tarry stools or blood in your vomit. These symptoms could indicate damage to your gastrointestinal tract.
- If you drink more than three alcoholic beverages a day, naproxen may increase the risk of stomach bleeding
- Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight. Naproxen may increase the sensitivity of your skin to sunlight. Use a sunscreen and wear protective clothing when exposure to the sun is unavoidable.
- Use caution when driving, operating machinery, or performing other hazardous activities. Naproxen may cause dizziness. If you experience dizziness, avoid these activities.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:
- FDA pregnancy category B. This means that it is unlikely to harm an unborn baby. Naproxen should not be taken late in pregnancy (the third trimester) because a similar drug is known to affect the baby's heart. Do not take naproxen without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant.
- Naproxen passes into breast milk and may harm a nursing infant. Do not take this medicine without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Other medical conditions:
Be sure to tell your doctor if you:
- have an allergy to aspirin or any other NSAIDs,
- have an ulcer or bleeding in your stomach
- drink more than three alcoholic beverages a day
- have liver disease
- have kidney disease
- have a coagulation (bleeding) disorder
- have congestive heart failure
- have fluid retention
- have heart disease
- have high blood pressure
Other medications:
Be sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any other prescription or over-the-counter medications, especially:
- other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Rufen, others), ketoprofen (Orudis, Orudis KT, Oruvail)
- other commonly used NSAIDs, including diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam), etodolac (Lodine), fenoprofen (Nalfon), flurbiprofen (Ansaid), indomethacin (Indocin), ketorolac (Toradol), nabumetone (Relafen), oxaprozin (Daypro), piroxicam (Feldene), sulindac (Clinoril), or tolmetin (Tolectin)
- aspirin and other salicylates (forms of aspirin) such as salsalate (Disalcid), choline salicylate, and magnesium salicylate (watch the aspirin content of other over-the-counter products such as cough, cold, and allergy medicines)
- diuretics (water pills) such as hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ, Hydrodiuril, others), chlorothiazide (Diuril, others), chlorthalidone (Thalitone), bumetanide (Bumex), ethacrynic acid, furosemide (Lasix), spironolactone (Aldactone), and amiloride (Midamor)
- anticoagulants such as warfarin (Coumadin)
- steroids such as prednisone (Deltasone)
- alcohol
- oral antidiabetic drugs such as glipizide (Glucotrol) and glyburide (Micronase, Diabeta)
- lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid, others)
- cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral)
- bismuth subsalicylate in drugs such as Pepto-Bismol of other drugs, such as
- angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, used to treat high blood pressure and other conditions, such as benazepril (Lotensin) and captopril (Capoten)
- other commonly used ACE inhibitors, including enalapril (Vasotec), fosinopril (Monopril), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), moexipril (Univasc), quinapril (Accupril), and ramipril (Altace)
- beta-blockers, used to treat high blood pressure and other conditions, such as acebutolol (Sectral), metoprolol (Lopressor), propranolol (Inderal, atenolol (Tenormin), and carteolol (Cartrol)
