Entresto is a heart medicine used to treat heart failure in adults, adolescents, and children from 1 year of age with chronic heart failure who have symptoms of the disease and reduced ejection fraction. It contains two active drug ingredients: sacubitril and valsartan. Sacubitril is a neprilysin inhibitor that helps relax blood vessels and decrease sodium and fluid in the body, while valsartan is an angiotensin receptor blocker that reduces blood vessel tightening and the buildup of sodium and fluid.
Like all medications, Entresto can cause side effects. The most common side effects of Entresto include cough and dizziness, which may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks. Serious side effects from Entresto are not common, but they can occur. These include kidney problems, such as kidney failure, which can cause symptoms such as producing a small amount of urine, dark-colored urine, swelling in the feet and legs, confusion, and itchy skin. Other serious side effects include swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat, difficulty breathing and/or swallowing, high potassium level, low blood pressure, severe allergic reaction, and risk of fetal harm. If you experience any serious side effects, you should call your doctor right away or seek emergency medical attention if your symptoms feel life-threatening or if you think you’re having a medical emergency.
Before taking Entresto, you should talk with your doctor and pharmacist and tell them about all prescription, over-the-counter, and other drugs you take, as well as any vitamins, herbs, and supplements you use. Sharing this information can help you avoid potential interactions. Some products may interact with Entresto, including aliskiren, lithium, drugs that may increase the level of potassium in the blood, birth control pills containing drospirenone, and products that could worsen your heart failure. If you have any questions about drug interactions that may affect you, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
If you experience any side effects while taking Entresto, you should keep track of them and consider taking notes on any side effects you’re having. You can then share this information with your doctor, which is especially helpful when you first start taking new drugs or using a combination of treatments. If you would like to report any side effect you’ve had with Entresto, you can do so through MedWatch, which is a program run by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that tracks side effects of drugs they have approved.
