Excessive Sweating
About Prescription Oral Medications
Oral Robinul (glycopyrrolate)
Robinul is used primarily to treat peptic ulcer disease and to decrease excessive saliva production. To start taking Robinul for hyperhidrosis, clinicians will prescribe a large quantity of small pills. Small pills allow the patient to carefully adjust the dose according to specific directions to achieve maximal benefits and minimize side effects. The number of tablets you need to impact your sweating may be limited by the medication’s side effects, which are discussed below. You must determine how many tablets per day are needed to improve excessive sweating with mild or tolerable side effects. Decrease the dose to reduce mild side effects.
The most common side effect is dry mouth. Please be aware that this medicine has other significant potential side effects characteristic of this class of medications (called anticholinergics). These side effects include but are not limited to difficulty with urination, confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision or sandy feeling in the eyes, eye sensitivity to light, increased bloated feeling, constipation, dry skin, rapid heartbeat. You should also know that this medicine can potentially put you in danger of overheating if you are unable to sweat during heat or exercise. Please stop using the medicine if you have significant side effects and notify our office. If you experience pronounced difficulty passing urine, or severe blurred vision or eye pain, you should seek urgent evaluation at an emergency room.
This medicine should not be used in patients with significant liver, kidney or unstable heart disease, patients with significant gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcerative colitis, patients with eye diseases like glaucoma, patients with a history of urinary retention or prostate enlargement, or patients diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. Please ask your physician about usage of this medicine if you have any of these medical problems. Usage of Robinul during pregnancy has not been studied, though animal studies have not found any fetal harm. The medication should be discontinued during pregnancy or breastfeeding.