Letairis

(ambrisentan)

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Treats high blood pressure in your lungs.

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Our bottom line

Letairis (ambrisentan) is a good choice for some stages of pulmonary arterial hypertension and can help relieve your symptoms, but it won't cure you.

Quick facts about Letairis
  • Drug class: Respiratory
  • Rx status: Prescription only
  • Generic status: No lower cost generic available

Upsides

  • Take Letairis (ambrisentan) only once a day.
  • Can help improve your quality of life and exercise ability.
  • You can use this medication even if you have kidney or liver problems.
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What to expect from Letairis, on one page

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Downsides

  • You need to be on 2 kinds of birth control during and one month after you stop taking Letairis (ambrisentan).
  • If you're female, you have to obtain this medication through a specific program, and only certified pharmacies can dispense it.
  • Since this medication is only available as a brand, it is very expensive.
  • Can cause swelling of the arms and legs.
  • Can lower your blood counts, so you might have to get regular blood tests when you're starting Letairis (ambrisentan).
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What to expect from Letairis, on one page

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How it works

Letairis (ambrisentan) is a vasodilator. It blocks a protein, endothelin, from binding to its designated receptors, which causes the blood pressure in your lungs to lower.

Quick facts about Letairis
  • Drug class: Respiratory
  • Rx status: Prescription only
  • Generic status: No lower cost generic available

Used for

Dosage forms

  • Pill
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Prices and coupons

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What to expect when you take Letairis (ambrisentan) for Pulmonary arterial hypertension

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  • First few hoursHours
    First few daysDays
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    First few monthsMonths
  • Effectiveness
  • Starts to kick in
    Full effects
  • First few hoursHours
    First few daysDays
    First few weeksWeeks
    First few monthsMonths
  • Possible side effects
  • Flushing
  • Stuffy nose
  • Swelling in arms and legs
  • Sinus infection
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Side effect rates for Letairis (ambrisentan)

From 393 clinical trials of Letairis when taken for pulmonary arterial hypertension (letairis 2.5, 5 or 10 mg daily)
  • Swelling in arms and legs
    17%17%
    11%11%
  • Stuffy nose
    6%6%
    2%2%
  • Flushing
    4%4%
    1%1%
  • Sinus infection
    3%3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Where we got our data »

The placebo bar shows how common a side effect was for people taking a sugar pill instead of Letairis.

Letairis (ambrisentan)
Placebo

People taking Letairis felt side effect more

People taking Letairis felt side effect less

No difference

Risks and Warnings for Letairis (ambrisentan)

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  • Letairis (ambrisentan) is toxic to an unborn baby. If you're female, make sure you are using 2 types of contraception during therapy and 1 month after stopping Letairis (ambrisentan). Tell your doctor right away if you find that you're pregnant.

    This is a black box warning. The FDA requires this warning when there is a significant risk of serious or life-threatening effects that anyone taking the drug should consider.

Means that some groups have a high risk of experiencing this side effect

Common concerns from people taking Letairis (ambrisentan)

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Food
  • You can take Letairis (ambrisentan) with or without food, but don't split, crush or chew it.
Kidneys and liver
  • You can use this medication even if you have kidney or liver problems.