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Drug Profile

The information on this site is intended to supplement and enhance, not replace, the advice of a physician who is familiar with your medical history. Decisions about your health should always be made ONLY after detailed conversation with your doctor.

Limited Use [what does this mean?]
Generic drug name: sulfacetamide (sul fa SEE ta mide)
Brand name(s): SULAMYD
GENERIC: available FAMILIES: Antibiotics, Sulfonamides
Find the drug label by searching at DailyMed.

Pregnancy and Breast-feeding Warnings [top]

Pregnancy Warning

Sulfacetamide caused fetal harm in children born of mothers taking the drug by mouth. Because of the potential for serious adverse effects to the fetus, this drug should not be used by pregnant women.

Breast-feeding Warning

Sulfacetamide caused harm in nursing infants when mothers took this drug by mouth. Because of the potential for adverse effects in nursing infants, you should not take this drug while nursing.

Facts About This Drug [top]

Sulfacetamide is used to treat some eye infections and is available as a liquid or an ointment. It can cause blurred vision, stinging, or burning after use. It also makes your eyes sensitive to bright light. Wearing sunglasses may help with this problem. For serious eye infections, sulfacetamide may not be as effective as other antibiotics.

Sulfacetamide is used to treat some eye infections and is available as a liquid or an ointment. It can cause blurred vision, stinging, or burning after use. It also makes your eyes sensitive to bright light. Wearing sunglasses may help with this problem. For serious eye infections, sulfacetamide may not be as effective as other antibiotics.

Before You Use This Drug [top]

Tell your doctor if you have or have had:

  • allergies to drugs
  • pregnancy or are breast-feeding
  • an unusual reaction to other sulfa drugs, furosemide, thiazide diuretics (water pills), sulfonylurea (diabetes drugs), or carbonic anhydrase inhibitors

Tell your doctor about any other drugs you take, including aspirin, herbs, vitamins, and other nonprescription products.

When You Use This Drug [top]

  • Call your doctor if your symptoms do not improve in a few days.
  • You may get blurred vision or stinging or burning after application.
  • Use all the sulfacetamide your doctor prescribed, even if you feel better before you finish. If you stop too soon, your symptoms could come back.

How to Use This Drug [top]

  • Do not let the tip of the applicator touch your eye, your fingers, or anything else. It could become contaminated.
  • If the drug gets dark brown, throw it away.
  • If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember, but skip it if it is almost time for the next dose. Do not take double doses.
  • Do not share your medication with others.
  • Take the drug at the same time(s) each day.
  • Store at room temperature with lid on tightly. Do not store in the bathroom. Do not expose to heat, moisture, or strong light. Keep out of reach of children.

Interactions with Other Drugs [top]

Evaluations of Drug Interactions 2003 lists no drugs, biologics (e.g., vaccines, therapeutic antibodies), or foods as causing “highly clinically significant” or “clinically significant” interactions when used together with the drugs in this section. We also found no interactions in the drugs’ FDA-approved professional package inserts. However, as the number of new drugs approved for marketing increases and as more experience is gained with these drugs over time, new interactions may be discovered.

Adverse Effects [top]

Call your doctor immediately if you experience:

  • itching, redness, or swelling not present before using this drug
  • other adverse effects like those that occur with the sulfonamides (sulfa drugs). See sulfisoxazole (GANTRISIN), for examples.

last reviewed July 31, 2023