Do not use Clin Cap Cream:

• if you are allergic to clindamycin, lincomycin, benzoyl peroxide or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in Section 6).

Do not use this medicine if any of the above apply to you. If you are not sure, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before you start using Clin Cap Cream.

Warnings and precautions

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before using this medicine.

• Only use Clin Cap Cream on your skin. Keep it away from areas like your eyes, lips, mouth or inside your nose.
• Do not use the gel on any irritated areas of your skin. For example, if you have cuts, grazes, sunburn or broken skin.

• If you accidentally get this medicine in your eyes, mouth, lips, or inside your nose rinse with plenty of water.

• Do not use too much Clin Cap Cream on sensitive areas of skin.
• Most patients will experience some skin redness and peeling during the first few weeks of treatment. If your skin becomes irritated, you may need to use an oil-free moisturiser, use this medicine less often, or stop using it for a short period to allow your skin to recover and then re-start treatment.
• Stop treatment and see your doctor if skin irritation is severe (severe redness, dryness, itching, stinging, or burning) or does not improve.
• Try not to let Clin Cap Cream come into contact with coloured fabrics, including clothing, towels, bed linen, furniture or carpeting. This medicine can bleach these materials.
• This medicine may bleach hair.
• This medicine can make your skin more sensitive to the harmful effects of the sun. Avoid the use of sunbeds/lamps and minimise the time you spend in the sun. You should use a sunscreen and wear protective clothing while using Clin Cap Cream.

Check with your doctor or pharmacist before using this medicine if:

• You have ever had any of the following gut problems: ‘regional enteritis’, ‘ulcerative colitis’, or ‘antibiotic-associated colitis’.
• If you develop stomach cramps or diarrhoea that does not improve or is severe, stop using this medicine and contact your doctor immediately. Antibiotics may cause a condition that results in severe diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Although this is unlikely to happen with antibiotics applied to the skin.
• If you have recently used other clindamycin or erythromycin-containing medicines, there is an increased chance that Clin Cap Cream will not work as well as it should.

• Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have used any other clindamycin or erythromycin-containing medicines recently.

Children

Do not give this medicine to children under twelve years. It is not known if it works or if it is safe for them.

Other medicines and Clin Cap Cream

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are using, have recently used or might use any other medicines.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are using any of the following:

• any other acne treatments including antibiotics used on your skin
• medicated or ‘abrasive’ soaps and cleansers
• soaps or cosmetics that have a strong drying effect
• products which contain large amounts of alcohol or ‘astringents’

This is because when used together with Clin Cap Cream, they may irritate your skin over time.

Clin Cap Cream may make some acne medicines less effective when used at the same time. This includes:

• Some acne medicines that are applied to the skin which contain tretinoin, isotretinoin or tazarotene

• Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are also using one of these medicines. You may need to use the two products at different times of the day (e.g. one in the morning and the other in the evening). Using other acne medicines at the same time as Clin Cap Cream can increase the risk of skin irritation.

• Stop treatment and see your doctor if skin irritation becomes severe (severe redness, dryness, itching, stinging or burning).

• Clin Cap Cream should not be used at the same time as erythromycin-containing medicines.
• Applying Clin Cap Cream at the same time as medicines such as dapsone and sulfacetamide can cause a temporary colour-change of skin or facial hair (yellow/orange colour). This will not be permanent.
• One of the medicines in Clin Cap Cream can affect how certain general anaesthesia medicines work (called “neuromuscular blocking agents”).

• Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are going to have surgery.

If you are not sure if any of the above apply to you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before using this medicine.

Pregnancy, breast-feeding and fertility

There is only limited information about the safety of this medicine in pregnant women.

If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before using this medicine.

Your doctor will consider the benefit to you and the risk to your baby of using Clin Cap Cream while you’re pregnant.

It is not known whether the ingredients of Clin Cap Cream can pass into breast milk. One of the medicines in Clin Cap Cream is clindamycin. When clindamycin is taken by mouth or injection, it may pass into breast milk. If you are breast-feeding, you must check with your doctor before you use Clin Cap Cream.

Do not use this medicine on your breast if you are breast-feeding.