From the Guidelines
Zofran (ondansetron) can cause drowsiness in some people, but it's not a common side effect, occurring in less than 10% of patients 1.
Side Effects of Zofran
Most patients don't experience significant sedation when taking this medication. Zofran primarily works by blocking serotonin receptors in the brain and gut that trigger nausea and vomiting, without strongly affecting the brain centers that control alertness.
Mechanism of Action
The typical adult dose is 4-8mg taken orally every 8 hours as needed for nausea.
Dosage and Administration
If you do experience drowsiness while taking Zofran, it's usually mild and temporary. However, until you know how the medication affects you personally, you should be cautious about driving or operating machinery.
Precautions
If drowsiness becomes problematic, speak with your healthcare provider, as there are alternative anti-nausea medications that might work better for you.
Alternative Treatments
Other more common side effects of Zofran include headache, constipation, and dizziness 1. Some key points to consider when taking Zofran include:
- Zofran is effective in preventing acute emesis, but seems to be less effective in preventing delayed emesis 1.
- The use of 5-HT3 antagonists, such as ondansetron, on days 2 to 4 to prevent delayed emesis was not found to be cost-effective in a Canadian meta-analysis 1.
- Palonosetron, another 5-HT3 antagonist, has been shown to be more effective than other available 5-HT3 antagonists in preventing acute and delayed nausea and vomiting for both highly and moderately emetogenic chemotherapy agents 1.
From the FDA Drug Label
Table 4: Most Common Adverse Reactions in Adults afor the Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Adverse Reaction Ondansetron Tablets 16 mg as a Single Dose (n = 550) Placebo (n = 531) ... Dizziness 36 (7%) 34 (6%) ...
- Drowsiness is not explicitly listed as an adverse reaction in the provided drug label.
- However, dizziness is reported in 7% of patients receiving ondansetron tablets, which may be related to drowsiness.
- The FDA drug label does not directly answer the question of whether zofran (ondansetron) makes you drowsy, but it does report dizziness as a common adverse reaction 2.
From the Research
Zofran and Drowsiness
- The provided studies do not directly address the question of whether Zofran (ondansetron) makes you drowsy.
- However, some studies mention side effects associated with ondansetron, such as headache 3, 4, 5, but do not specifically mention drowsiness.
- One study mentions that sedation and amnesia were side effects associated with the metoclopramide regimen, but not specifically with the ondansetron regimen 6.
- Another study mentions that patients receiving the ondansetron combination antiemetic regimen experienced only a mild headache as their only toxicity, with no mention of drowsiness 5.
- It appears that there is limited information available in the provided studies regarding the specific side effect of drowsiness associated with Zofran.