Contraindications

Novalgin® must not be administered if intolerance to the active ingredient has already been observed. Further contraindications are a deficiency of a certain enzyme (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency) as well as disorders in the production of red blood pigment (porphyria). Patients who already have blood count disorders should also not take Metamizol/Novalgin®. Pregnancy and lactation are further contraindications. Also infants should not be administered Novalgin®.

Use during pregnancy

The drug Novalgin® should not be taken during pregnancy or while breast-feeding as there is insufficient knowledge about possible harm to the unborn child. Alternatively, there are better tested drugs such as paracetamol (for pain and fever) or ibuprofen (for inflammatory diseases) available instead of Novalgin® for therapy. Painkillers in lactationNovalgin® must not be taken during lactation, as components and breakdown products of the drug pass into breast milk.

It can then cause severe overdose reactions such as nausea, vomiting, drop in blood pressure, convulsions, cardiac arrhythmia or circulatory arrest in the baby. In addition, the mother’s body needs some time to eliminate Novalgin® completely. Therefore, not only should not be breastfed while taking Novalgin®, but also after the last intake of Novalgin® breastfeeding should only be resumed after at least 48 hours in order not to endanger the baby.

Can you buy Novalgin without a prescription?

Novalgin® is not available in any form (drops, tablets, suppositories, solution) or dose over the counter. The medication must always be prescribed by a doctor. This is due to the fact that Novalgin® may have dangerous side effects or interactions with other medications and the patient should be protected from these possible dangers caused by incorrect use.

Age restrictions at Novalgin

An infant under 3 months of age must not receive Novalgin®. In addition, the body weight must be more than 5 kilograms, as there are no empirical values for other weight groups and damage by Novalgin® would be possible.

Price

The Novalgin® price that the patient has to pay at the pharmacy varies due to various factors. On the one hand, it depends on the dose and package size of the drug purchased. Therefore the basic price varies between 15 – 25€.

As Novalgin® is prescription only, it can be prescribed by means of a cash register prescription or private prescription, whereby the private patient first has to pay the full price of the drug in the pharmacy and later gets the money back from the cash register. For patients who are not exempt from co-payment, a co-payment of 10% is usually applicable – but a maximum of 10 €. Drugs such as Berlosin contain the same active ingredient as Novalgin®, but are cheaper. Therefore it is possible that the doctor prescribes other preparations with the same effect instead of Novalgin®.