Fortzaar Dosage/Direction for Use

FORTZAAR may be administered with other antihypertensive agents.
FORTZAAR may be administered with or without food.
Fixed dose combination is not indicated for initial therapy.
Hypertension: The usual starting and maintenance dose of FORTZAAR is one tablet of HYZAAR 50-12.5 (losartan potassium 50 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg) once daily. For patients who do not respond adequately to HYZAAR 50-12.5, the dosage may be increased to one tablet of FORTZAAR (losartan potassium 100 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg) once daily or two tablets of HYZAAR 50-12.5 once daily. The maximum dose is one tablet of FORTZAAR once daily or two tablets of HYZAAR 50-12.5 once daily. In general, the antihypertensive effect is attained within three weeks after initiation of therapy. HYZAAR 100-12.5 (losartan potassium 100 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg) is available for those patients titrated to 100 mg of COZAAR who require additional blood pressure control.
FORTZAAR should not be initiated in patients who are intravascularly volume-depleted (e.g., those treated with high-dose diuretics).
FORTZAAR is not recommended for patients with severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance ≤30 mL/min) or for patients with hepatic impairment.
No initial dosage adjustment of HYZAAR 50-12.5 is necessary for elderly patients. FORTZAAR should not be used as initial therapy in elderly patients.
Hypertensive Patients With Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: The usual starting dose is 50 mg of losartan once daily. If goal blood pressure is not reached with losartan 50 mg, therapy should be titrated using a combination of losartan and a low dose of hydrochlorothiazide (12.5 mg) and, if needed, the dose should then be increased to losartan 100 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg once daily. If necessary, the dose should be increased to losartan 100 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg once daily. HYZAAR 50-12.5, HYZAAR 100-12.5 and FORTZAAR are suitable alternative formulations in patients who would otherwise be treated concomitantly with losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide.