Is pentoxifylline available in Nigeria?

No. Pentoxifylline holds no NAFDAC registration, and our copy of the Greenbook contains no record of it under any brand or ingredient name. There is no legal retail supply here. If you are offered it, it came into the country outside the registered channel and nobody has verified its contents.

Does pentoxifylline help sickle cell disease?

It has been studied on a reasonable theory — it makes red cells more flexible, and sickle cell is a disease of stiff, misshapen red cells — but the evidence has never been strong enough for it to become standard treatment anywhere in the world. It is not a substitute for hydroxyurea, which is the treatment that measurably reduces crises, transfusions and hospital days, is on the WHO essential medicines list, and is registered and available in Nigeria. If someone offers you pentoxifylline for sickle cell, ask why they are not offering hydroxyurea instead.

What is intermittent claudication?

It is cramping pain in the calf, thigh or buttock that comes on after walking a predictable distance and goes away within a few minutes of resting. It is caused by arteries narrowed by atherosclerosis, and it is a warning that the same process is at work in the heart and brain. The treatments that matter most are not tablets for the leg pain: stopping smoking, controlling blood pressure and diabetes, taking a statin and an antiplatelet, and walking regularly through the discomfort under guidance, which improves walking distance more than any drug studied.

What can I take for poor circulation in Nigeria?

That depends what is actually causing it, which is the first thing to establish. Circulation problems in the legs are usually arterial disease, which needs risk-factor treatment rather than a circulation tablet, or venous disease, which is a different problem needing compression and elevation. Registered options here include aspirin, clopidogrel and the statins. A doctor examining the leg and checking the pulses will get you further than any medicine bought on the strength of a search result.

Why write about a drug Nigeria does not have?

Because people search for it and get nothing back. Someone reads about pentoxifylline for sickle cell or for leg pain, wonders whether they can get it here, and finds no clear answer — which leaves the field to whoever is willing to sell them something. Stating plainly that it is not registered, and pointing to what is, is the more useful page.

Pentoxifylline in Nigeria: NAFDAC Status, Brands, Dosage & Uses

Pentoxifylline is an old medicine that changes the physical behaviour of blood rather than its clotting. It makes red blood cells more flexible so they deform more easily through narrow capillaries, and it reduces blood viscosity and platelet stickiness. Where it is licensed, its main use is intermittent claudication — the cramping leg pain that comes on when walking and eases with rest, caused by narrowed arteries.

In the NAFDAC register

No matched entry

In our August 2026 copy of the Greenbook (11,000+ products), we have not matched any pentoxifylline product to a register entry. If a seller quotes a NAFDAC number for one, check it on the official Green Book or our NAFDAC checker before paying.

Brands of Pentoxifylline in Nigeria

1 brand available in Nigeria.

Trental
Sanofi
400mg · Prolonged-release tablet

Brand Name	Manufacturer	Strength	Form
Trental	Sanofi	400mg	Prolonged-release tablet

Pentoxifylline Price in Nigeria

Pentoxifylline prices in Nigeria vary by brand, strength, and where you buy it. Confirm the current price with a licensed pharmacy, and always check the product is NAFDAC-registered before you pay.

We show a price here once it appears in our monthly sampling of Nigerian online pharmacies (MedPlus, HealthPlus), or when we have a reliable market figure. For now, confirm the current price directly with a licensed pharmacy.

How to Verify Your Pentoxifylline is Genuine

1There is nothing to verify. Pentoxifylline holds no NAFDAC registration, so no genuine Nigerian registration number exists for it.
2A pentoxifylline pack printed with a NAFDAC number is showing a number that was invented or cloned — check it against our NAFDAC checker and see.
3If you were prescribed it abroad and are bringing a supply into Nigeria, carry the prescription and the original pack.
4For sickle cell disease, the treatment with the strongest evidence and a registered Nigerian supply is hydroxyurea — see our hydroxyurea page rather than pursuing pentoxifylline.
5For poor leg circulation, ask about aspirin or clopidogrel, a statin, and a supervised walking programme, all of which are available here.

Use our NAFDAC Checker tool

Where to Buy

Pentoxifylline is not registered with NAFDAC, so there is no approved product and no lawful retail supply of it in Nigeria. Ogbogwu does not list sellers for it and does not take requests for it: anyone able to fill such an order would be supplying outside the register, which is the situation this site exists to help people avoid. If it was prescribed to you abroad, carry the prescription and the original pack and check the import rules with NAFDAC. If you were told to take it here, ask your doctor what registered alternative applies — and check any pack you are offered against the register, because a NAFDAC number printed on an unregistered medicine was invented or cloned.

What is Pentoxifylline?

PENTOXIFYLLINE IS NOT REGISTERED WITH NAFDAC. Our copy of the NAFDAC Greenbook holds no record of it under any brand or ingredient name, active or lapsed. There is no legal supply in Nigeria.

It comes up here for a specific reason. Because pentoxifylline improves how red cells move through small vessels, it has been studied as an add-on in sickle cell disease — a condition Nigeria carries more of than any country on earth. The evidence has never been strong enough for it to become standard care anywhere, and it is not a substitute for the treatment that has changed sickle cell outcomes, which is hydroxyurea. Anyone reading about pentoxifylline and sickle cell should know both halves of that: the idea is real, and the case for using it is not made.

What is Pentoxifylline used for?

In Nigeria, Pentoxifylline is commonly used for:

Nothing approved in Nigeria — pentoxifylline holds no NAFDAC registration
Intermittent claudication from peripheral arterial disease, where it is licensed abroad
Other circulation disorders of the limbs, abroad
Investigated in sickle cell disease and in alcoholic hepatitis, without becoming standard care
Not a treatment for stroke prevention, heart disease or high blood pressure

Dosage

IMPORTANT

Always follow your doctor's or pharmacist's instructions. The information below is for general reference only.

Adults

No dose is given here for a medicine with no legal supply in Nigeria. Where licensed, the usual adult dose is 400mg two or three times daily with food, as a prolonged-release tablet swallowed whole, with any benefit for walking distance taking weeks to appear.

Children

Pentoxifylline is not established for use in children and is not licensed for them.

Elderly

Not applicable in Nigeria. Where used abroad, doses are reduced in kidney impairment, which is more common with age.

The condition pentoxifylline treats abroad — claudication — has treatments in Nigeria that matter far more than any circulation tablet: stopping smoking, controlling blood pressure and diabetes, a statin, an antiplatelet such as aspirin or clopidogrel, and above all a structured walking programme, which outperforms every drug studied for this condition. If leg pain on walking is your problem, those are the interventions worth pursuing.

Side Effects

Common side effects

•Nausea, indigestion and abdominal discomfort
•Dizziness and headache
•Flushing
•Vomiting, particularly if taken without food

Serious side effects — seek medical help immediately

Bleeding, especially in people also on anticoagulants or antiplatelets
Low blood pressure and irregular heartbeat
Severe allergic reactions including angioedema
Aseptic meningitis and low blood counts — rare

When to see a doctor

Not applicable to a medicine unavailable here. Anyone taking pentoxifylline obtained abroad should seek urgent care for unusual bleeding or bruising, chest pain, or severe allergic symptoms, and should tell any Nigerian doctor treating them that they are on a medicine not registered locally.

Warnings & Precautions

Do not take Pentoxifylline if you have:

No lawful supply in Nigeria — pentoxifylline holds no NAFDAC registration
Recent bleeding in the brain or the retina
Active significant bleeding
Recent heart attack
Known hypersensitivity to pentoxifylline or other xanthines such as theophylline or caffeine

Drug interactions

•Warfarin and other anticoagulants — increased bleeding risk
•Aspirin, clopidogrel and other antiplatelets — increased bleeding risk
•Theophylline — levels rise
•Blood-pressure-lowering medicines — additive drops in pressure
•Ciprofloxacin — raises pentoxifylline levels

Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pentoxifylline is generally avoided in pregnancy, where safety is not established, and it passes into breast milk. As with any unregistered medicine, this is a conversation for a doctor rather than a decision to make from a web page.

Related Resources for Pentoxifylline

Guides, articles, and tools related to Pentoxifylline and other blood thinners medicines in Nigeria.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

•NAFDAC Greenbook — the official database of all products registered with Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Brand-level NAFDAC numbers for Pentoxifylline on this page were cross-referenced against the Greenbook.
•British National Formulary (BNF) dosing and interaction guidance for Pentoxifylline.
•Nigerian Standard Treatment Guidelines (Federal Ministry of Health).

Last updated: 11 August 2026

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Pentoxifylline