Sodium Phenylbutyrate and Taurursodiol

Sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol is used for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease; a condition in which the nerves that control muscle movement slowly die, causing the muscles to shrink and weaken). Sodium phenylbutyrate is a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Taurursodiol is a bile acid. It is not known exactly how the combination of sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol works, but it may reduce the breakdown and death of nerve cells associated with the worsening of ALS symptoms.

🔔 How should this medicine be used?

Sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol comes as a powder to be mixed with water and taken by mouth or through a feeding tube. It is usually taken before a snack or a meal one time a day for 3 weeks then twice a day thereafter. Take sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol at around the same times every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

Open 1 packet and place contents into a cup of 8 ounces of room temperature water and stir vigorously. All of the medication mixed in water must be administered within 1 hour if stored at room temperature. Any medication that remains after that, must be thrown out.

Sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol controls ALS but does not cure it. Continue to take sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol even if you feel well. Do not stop taking sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol without talking to your doctor.

Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer’s information for the patient.