Cimetidine is commonly used to treat and prevent certain types of ulcers, and to treat conditions that cause too much acid production in the stomach. It is also used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus and causes heartburn.

It is usually taken once a day at bedtime or two to four times a day with meals and at bedtime. Cimetidine should be taken within 30 minutes before eating or drinking any foods that cause heartburn.

Do not stop taking Cimetidine without first talking to your doctor. It may take up to 8 weeks for an ulcer to heal.

Store Cimetidine at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light.

Before using Cimetidine you should:

• tell your doctor if you are allergic to Cimetidine or any other medications
• tell your doctor if you are taking any prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products
• tell your doctor if you are taking any anticoagulants ('blood thinners') such as warfarin (Coumadin); antidepressants (mood elevantors) such as amitriptyline (Elavil), amoxapine (Asendin), clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin), doxepin (Adapin, Sinequan), imipramine (Tofranil), nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), and trimipramine (Surmontil); chlordiazepoxide (Librium); diazepam (Valium); lidocaine (Xylocaine); metronidazole (Flagyl); nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia); phenytoin (Dilantin); propranolol (Inderal); and theopylline (Theobid, Theo-Dur)
• avoid taking antacids unless your doctor recommends them for heartburn pain
• tell your doctor if you have or have ever had HIV, AIDS, or kidney or liver disease
• tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding

Cimetidine side effects

Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• headache
• diarrhea
• dizziness
• drowsiness
• breast enlargement

These serious yet uncommon side effects may occur while taking Cimetidine. If you experience any of them, call your doctor immediately:

• confusion
• excitement
• depression
• nervousness
• hallucinating

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