Welchol Oral Suspension

Welchol Oral Suspension is a powdered form of colesevelam that requires patients to prepare the powder into an oral suspension form for daily consumption. This medication is a bile acid sequestrant that is used for the treatment of high cholesterol levels (hyperlipidemia). The primary goal of this medication is to reduce patients’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and it is used in children older than ten years of age as well as adults. In adults, Welchol Oral Suspension may also be used in the management of type 2 diabetes.

How is Welchol Oral Suspension Used?

Welchol Oral Suspension should be consumed once per day. One packet of Welchol Oral Suspension powder is to be mixed with 8 ounces of fluid (juice, diet soda, or water), stirred until well-combined, and then immediately consumed along with a meal. Welchol Oral Suspension is not a medication that will fully dissolve and disappear when mixed into other liquids, but this is normal and should simply leave your preferred beverage used for preparing the suspension with a more cloudy appearance. Patients using Welchol Oral Suspension should consume the entire dose of the prepared suspension all at once when taking this medication.

Storage

Welchol Oral Suspension should be stored in an environment that remains at room temperature without allowing the medication to exceed a low of 59°F (15°C) or a high of 86°F (30°F) for any extended period of time.

Keep this medication out of the reach of pets and children at all times.

Once Welchol Oral Suspension has been prepared with the patient’s liquid of choice, it should be consumed immediately. The prepared suspension should not be retained or stored for later consumption.

Patients should not consume Welchol Oral Suspension without first mixing it with liquids. The powder should not be taken by itself.

Uses

Welchol Oral Suspension is prescribed for the treatment of hyperlipidemia in adults as well as children between the ages of 10 to 17 who have hereditary hypercholesterolemia. Female pediatric patients using this medication should only do so if they have begun menstruating, as this medication has not been studied in patients who fall into the range of 10 to 17 years of age that have not begun to have menstrual periods.

This medication may also be used for adult patients with type 2 diabetes to assist in lowering their blood glucose levels. These individuals should also include a healthy diet and exercise regiment alongside treatment with Welchol Oral Suspension to ensure effective management of their blood sugar levels.

How Does Welchol Oral Suspension Work?

Welchol Oral Suspension is a bile acid sequestrant, and its method of reducing a patient’s cholesterol levels involves attaching to the bile acids present within the body. This action takes place within the intestines of the patient, and the excess cholesterol attaches to the medication as it passes through. Once the cholesterol has become bound to the Welchol, the medication and the trapped cholesterol pass through the remainder of the patient’s digestive tract and are removed from the body during defecation.

The amount of cholesterol in the patient’s bloodstream is reduced after this medication has removed a significant amount of cholesterol-like substances from the digestive tract. The liver of the individual taking Welchol Oral Suspension will require additional bile acids as the medication traps and removes what is presently available, and it will pull cholesterol from the blood, reducing its overwhelming presence in the bloodstream and alleviating the associated symptoms of hyperlipidemia.

When Welchol Oral Suspension is included as part of a patient’s plan to manage their type 2 diabetes, the function of the medication remains the same. However, as the binding properties of Welchol prevent absorption from occurring within the digestive tract of those using the medication, this instead helps to prevent spikes in blood glucose levels in those with type 2 diabetes, as any food or beverages they consume will be less likely to be properly absorbed. This impaired absorption is what will alleviate some of the fluctuations in regard to their blood sugar levels.

Dosage

Welchol Oral Suspension is available as a packet containing 3.75 g of powder to be mixed with 8 ounces of fluid to create the oral suspension.

Patients using this oral suspension, regardless of the health condition for which it has been prescribed, should only consume one packet of this medication each day as instructed by their prescribing physician. Patients should not exceed this maximum daily dosage amount.

Overdose

Although Welchol Oral Suspension is not absorbed into the bloodstream or body in the same way as many other medications, anyone suspected to have ingested additional doses or excessive amounts of this medication should seek emergency medical assistance or contact their local Poison Control Center. Welchol Oral Suspension has a very low risk of any actual toxicity occurring, but an individual that has consumed too much of this medication is likely to present with adverse digestive symptoms.