Bezafibrate

• Your dose of bezafibrate will depend on whether you have been prescribed Bezalip® or Bezalip Retard®. 
• The usual dose of Bezalip® is 200 mg, 3 times a day. The usual dose of Bezalip Retard® is 400 mg, once a day.   
• Always take your bezafibrate exactly as your healthcare provider has told you. The pharmacy label on your medicine will tell you how much bezafibrate to take, how often to take it, and any special instructions.

• Timing: Take bezafibrate at the same time each day, either in the morning or the evening.
• With a statin: If you’re also taking a statin, take your bezafibrate in the morning and the statin at night.
• Food: Take bezafibrate with or after food.
• Bezalip Retard®: If you're taking slow-release Bezalip Retard tablets you need to swallow the tablets whole with a glass of water – don’t chew, crush, or break them. 

Here are some things to know when you're taking bezafibrate. Other things may be important as well, so ask your healthcare provider what you should know about.

• Other medicines: Bezafibrate interacts with some medicines (eg, warfarin, diabetes medication such as gliclazide and insulin), herbal supplements and rongoā Māori, so check with your healthcare provider before starting bezafibrate and before starting any new products.
• With a statin: Using bezafibrate with a statin increases the chance of muscle side effects. If you develop muscle pain, without any known reason for it, talk to your healthcare provider. Read more about risks with taking statins. 
• Keep taking regularly: Treatment with bezafibrate is usually long term. You should continue to take it unless you are advised by your doctor to stop. Talk to your healthcare provider before stopping. 
• Monitoring: You’ll need a blood test to check that your blood cholesterol level has come down and to check your kidneys. Read more about cholesterol testing.
• To get the full benefit of bezafibrate, it's important to keep to a healthy diet and to exercise often.

Like all medicines, bezafibrate can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them. Often side effects improve as your body gets used to the new medicine.

Read more about medicines and side effects and reporting a reaction you think might be a side effect.