Tranexamic Acid

Tranexamic Acid is a antifibrinolytic (haemostatic) agent medicine available in Bangladesh under many brand names. Below are its uses, dosage, side effects and precautions — and all brands with their current prices.

Tranexamic Acid is prescribed to control bleeding in situations such as:

• Heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia) — one of its commonest uses in Bangladesh
• Recurrent nosebleeds (epistaxis)
• Bleeding after tooth extraction, including in people with bleeding disorders
• Excessive bleeding after surgery, trauma or childbirth (hospital use)
• Other doctor-identified bleeding conditions, such as selected cases of blood-stained urine after proper evaluation

Heavy or irregular bleeding always deserves a diagnosis first — especially new heavy periods after age 40, bleeding between periods or bleeding after menopause — because the medicine controls bleeding but does not treat its underlying cause.

Doses depend on the condition; common adult patterns:

• Heavy menstrual bleeding: 1 g (usually two 500 mg tablets) three times daily, started only when heavy bleeding begins, for up to 4–5 days of the cycle
• Other bleeding: commonly 1–1.5 g two to three times daily as directed
• Kidney impairment: requires reduced doses — inform your doctor

Take Tranexamic Acid with water, with or without food. Use it only during bleeding days unless your doctor instructs otherwise — it is not a daily preventive tablet. If heavy periods persist despite two to three treated cycles, return for reassessment rather than simply continuing it month after month indefinitely.

Tranexamic Acid is generally well tolerated. Possible effects:

• Common: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach discomfort (often improved by dose reduction), headache, tiredness
• Less common: dizziness, muscle aches, skin rash
• Serious (stop and seek urgent care): signs of a blood clot — painful swollen calf, sudden chest pain, breathlessness, coughing blood, sudden severe headache, one-sided weakness or slurred speech; changes in colour vision or other visual disturbance; severe allergic reaction with facial swelling or breathing difficulty

Visual changes require stopping the medicine and a prompt eye assessment. Clot symptoms are emergencies — go to hospital immediately.

Take these precautions with Tranexamic Acid:

• Tell your doctor about any personal or family history of blood clots (DVT, pulmonary embolism, stroke, heart attack) before starting
• Combined oral contraceptive pills already raise clot risk — discuss before using both together
• Prolonged immobility, long flights, recent surgery, obesity and smoking add to clot risk; mention them
• Kidney disease requires dose reduction
• For blood in the urine, use it only after a doctor has evaluated the cause — clots can obstruct the urinary tract
• If treatment continues beyond the short term, periodic eye examinations may be advised
• Investigate the cause of abnormal bleeding rather than relying on the tablet cycle after cycle

Tranexamic Acid has relatively few interactions, but the important ones concern clotting:

• Combined hormonal contraceptives (pill, patch, ring) — additive clot risk; use together only after medical advice
• Clotting-factor concentrates (such as prothrombin complex) — combined use heightens thrombosis risk and is specialist-managed
• Thrombolytic (clot-busting) drugs — tranexamic acid directly opposes their action
• Tretinoin (in certain leukaemia treatment) — increased clotting complications reported

Anticoagulants such as warfarin work in the opposite direction; if you are on a blood thinner, any anti-bleeding medicine requires a doctor's coordinated plan. Always disclose your full medication list.

Do not use Tranexamic Acid if any of the following applies:

• Current blood-clot disease — deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, recent stroke or heart attack
• History of venous or arterial thrombosis, unless a specialist decides otherwise with precautions
• A known strong inherited or acquired tendency to clotting (thrombophilia)
• Subarachnoid haemorrhage (a specific type of brain bleed)
• Severe kidney failure
• History of seizures (particularly relevant to high-dose injectable use)
• Known allergy to tranexamic acid

Disturbed colour vision during previous use is also a reason not to take it again. When in doubt, ask your doctor before the first dose.

Pregnancy: Tranexamic Acid crosses the placenta, but the available evidence has not shown harm to the baby, and doctors do use it in pregnancy for specific bleeding problems — including, in hospital, for serious bleeding after childbirth. It should nevertheless be taken in pregnancy only on a doctor's explicit advice, never self-administered for spotting or unexplained bleeding, which always needs urgent evaluation.

Breastfeeding: Only tiny amounts reach breast milk — far below treatment doses — and short courses are generally considered compatible with breastfeeding. Tell your doctor you are nursing so the dose and duration can be confirmed as appropriate for you and your baby.

Store Tranexamic Acid in its original pack at room temperature below 30°C, protected from direct sunlight, heat and moisture. Do not keep it in bathrooms or other humid places. Keep it out of the reach and sight of children. Check the expiry date before each course — many women use this medicine only a few days per month, so strips can sit unused for long periods and quietly expire. Do not use discoloured or damaged tablets, and dispose of leftover or expired medicine safely rather than keeping it indefinitely.