midazolam (injection)

What is the most important information I should know about midazolam?

Use only as directed. Tell your doctor if you use other medicines or have other medical conditions or allergies.

What is midazolam?

Midazolam is used alone or with other medicines to help reduce anxiety, cause drowsiness and prevent memory events before and during surgery or a medical procedure.

Midazolam is also used to maintain sedation in people who are on a machine that helps with breathing (ventilator) in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Midazolam may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before receiving midazolam?

• narrow-angle glaucoma.

Tell your doctor if you have or have ever had:

• an electrolyte imbalance (such as low blood levels of potassium or magnesium);
• open-angle glaucoma;
• recently used alcohol, sedatives, tranquilizers, or other opioid medications;
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD);
• congestive heart failure; or
• liver or kidney disease.

Anesthesia may affect brain development in a young child or unborn baby (when used in the mother), which may lead to learning or behavior problems later in life. Long surgeries or repeated procedures pose the highest risks.

Anesthesia may still be necessary for a life-threatening condition, medical emergency, or surgery to correct a birth defect. Your doctor can inform you about all medicines given during a surgery or procedure.

Midazolam may contain an ingredient that can cause serious side effects or death in babies.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding. Do not breastfeed within 4 to 8 hours after receiving midazolam. If you are breastfeeding, tell your doctor if you notice excessive sedation, poor feeding, and poor weight gain in the nursing baby.

How is midazolam injection given?

Midazolam is injected into a muscle or into a vein. A healthcare provider will give you this injection.

What happens if I miss a dose?

In a medical setting you are not likely to miss a dose.

What happens if I overdose?

In a medical setting an overdose would be treated quickly.

What should I avoid after receiving midazolam?

What are the possible side effects of midazolam?

Midazolam can slow or stop your breathing, especially if you have recently used an opioid medication or alcohol. A person caring for you should seek emergency medical attention if you have slow breathing with long pauses, blue colored lips, or if you are hard to wake up.

• trouble breathing;
• confusion, agitation; or
• tremors, uncontrolled muscle movements.

Midazolam can cause problems with thinking or memory that may last several hours after the injection.

Common side effects may include:

• amnesia, sleep apnea;
• irregular heartbeat and blood pressure;
• headache, drowsiness;
• cough, hiccups;
• slow breathing;
• nausea, vomiting; or
• pain, bruising, swelling, or irritation where the medicine was injected.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What other drugs will affect midazolam?

Sometimes it is not safe to use certain medicines at the same time. Some drugs can affect your blood levels of other drugs you use, which may increase side effects or make the medicines less effective.

Using midazolam with other drugs that make you drowsy or that slow your breathing can worsen these effects. Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures.

Tell your doctor about all your other medicines, especially:

• antibiotic or antifungal medicine;
• heart or blood pressure medicine; or
• HIV or AIDS medication.

This list is not complete and many other drugs may affect midazolam. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Not all possible drug interactions are listed here.

Where can I get more information?

Your doctor or pharmacist can provide more information about midazolam.

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

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