Ursocol 300 Tablet: Uses, Composition, Side Effects & FAQs

Ursocol 300 is a tablet of ursodeoxycholic acid, a bile acid used to dissolve cholesterol gallstones and to treat liver problems in children with cystic fibrosis. In India it is a prescription-only medicine. The ursodeoxycholic acid helps the cholesterol inside a stone break up over months. It cannot dissolve every stone.

Ursocol 300 is a tablet with a single active ingredient, ursodeoxycholic acid. It is a bile acid, one your liver already makes in small amounts. The 300 in the name is the strength: 300 mg in each tablet. Explore Ursocol 300 Substitute and Alternatives

It also contains lactose and other inactive fillers. Ursocol comes as a 150 mg tablet too, so check the strength on your own strip.

Bile is a liquid your liver makes to digest fats, and cholesterol travels inside it; too much cholesterol is what lets a stone form. Ursocol 300 changes the bile so that cholesterol stays dissolved instead of settling out, and the stone slowly gives up its cholesterol and shrinks. Think of it as stirring sugar into tea: keep the mix right and nothing settles at the bottom.

Doctors usually prescribe Ursocol 300 for:

• Cholesterol gallstones, see-through on an X-ray (radiolucent), in a gallbladder that still squeezes normally.
• Gallstones in people who cannot have surgery, because of other illness, age or choice.
• Liver disease linked to cystic fibrosis in children aged 6 to under 18 years.
• Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a long-term liver disease where the small bile ducts are damaged. A specialist prescribes it.

It only works on cholesterol stones that an X-ray or scan shows can dissolve, and it does not ease gallstone pain or treat infection. Stones bigger than about 20 mm rarely dissolve, so surgery is usually discussed instead.

Pigment stones can also look see-through, so an X-ray alone does not confirm the type; your doctor uses ultrasound and your history. Used on the wrong stone type, this tablet wastes months while the stones can still cause pain.

1. Swallow the tablet whole with water. Do not chew it; it tastes very bitter.
2. Take it after a meal, as your doctor advises, with at least half your daily dose after the evening meal.
3. Take your doses at the same times each day.
4. If your doctor asks for half a tablet, snap it along the line and swallow it with water.

Your doctor sets the dose by your body weight, not by how bad your symptoms are. For gallstones, adults usually take 8 to 10 mg per kilogram of body weight a day, split into two doses after meals. People who are obese may need up to 15 mg/kg a day.

Never increase the dose on your own. A higher dose does not dissolve stones faster, but it does make loose stools and diarrhoea more likely.

Children with gallstones take 8 to 10 mg/kg a day, worked out by weight. Children aged 6 to under 18 with cystic fibrosis liver disease take 20 mg/kg a day in two or three doses, up to 30 mg/kg, under a specialist. Never give an adult tablet to a child without a paediatrician's advice.

If someone takes too many tablets, diarrhoea is the main effect. Go to the nearest emergency department and take the strip with you.

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If the next dose is almost due, skip the missed one. Never take two doses together.

Gallstones usually take 6 to 24 months to dissolve, and treatment often continues 3 to 4 months after a scan shows they are gone. If a scan after about a year shows no shrinking, see your doctor: the chance of success drops sharply.

Store at or below 30°C, away from light. Keep the strip closed, away from children, and never use tablets past the expiry date.

Most people take Ursocol 300 without any trouble. When side effects happen, they are usually mild and settle on their own.

Common and mild:

• Loose or pasty stools
• Diarrhoea
• Stomach pain or discomfort
• Feeling sick
• Indigestion or wind
• Itching or a mild rash
• Hair loss

Rare but serious (stop the medicine and see a doctor right away):

• Diarrhoea that is severe or will not stop
• Hives, or swelling of the face, lips or throat, or trouble breathing
• Yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, or pale stools
• Severe belly pain with vomiting, or a belly that stops passing wind or stool
• Hardening of the stones, seen on a follow-up scan

The loose stools come from the bile acid itself. They are more likely at higher doses and usually settle when the dose is lowered. Treatment stops if a scan shows hardened stones, or a gallbladder that no longer shows up.

• Allergy to ursodeoxycholic acid, lactose or any ingredient
• A blocked bile duct, or sudden gallbladder or bile-duct inflammation
• Repeated severe biliary pain, or a gallbladder that squeezes poorly
• Calcified stones that show white on an X-ray
• Pregnancy, or planning a pregnancy
• Active stomach ulcer, or liver or bowel disease blocking bile recycling

The last point covers a length of bowel removed or a stoma, Crohn's disease of the ileum, and severe liver disease where bile cannot drain properly (your doctor will tell you). Children with biliary atresia whose bile-duct surgery did not restore good bile flow are also not given it.

Tell your doctor before taking Ursocol 300 if you have:

• Diarrhoea that will not settle (the dose may need to come down)
• A chance you could become pregnant (a pregnancy test is done first, and you need non-hormonal contraception while you take it)
• Lactose intolerance (the tablet contains lactose)
• Breastfeeding (only small amounts reach breast milk, but check first)
• Other bowel surgery, or a slow or narrowed bowel (rare bowel stones can form)
• An age above 65 (your dose is still worked out from your body weight)

Always tell your doctor about every medicine, supplement or home remedy you use. Ask whether alcohol is safe for you during treatment.

Ursocol 300 works slowly and does not treat an emergency. Get medical help quickly if you have:

• Severe upper right belly pain lasting more than a few hours
• Fever with belly pain, or yellow eyes or skin
• Dark urine or pale stools
• Vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down
• Severe or bloody diarrhoea
• Face or lip swelling, or trouble breathing, after a dose

Ursocol 300 is a weight-based bile acid tablet for cholesterol gallstones, and for liver disease in children with cystic fibrosis. It works slowly, and only on stones that can dissolve. Take it after meals, keep your scans and blood tests, and never raise the dose yourself. Loose stools are the usual side effect and often settle when the dose is lowered.