Liver diseases take the third place in the number of reasons for visits to the clinic after cardiovascular and neurological problems. Improper nutrition and alcohol abuse causes irreparable damage to the gallbladder and liver. The modern pharmaceutical industry has found a solution - hepatoprotectors help maintain liver health and cure existing diseases. Heptral is a modern drug with hepatoprotective and antidepressant effects. From this article you will learn the information from the instructions for use with Heptral tablets and reviews of ordinary consumers about this drug.
Forms of release and varieties of the drug
To date, only one type of hepatoprotector with antidepressant properties is produced under the name "Heptral".
It is available in two dosage forms: ampoules with lyophilisate for injection and tablets for oral administration.
The name is often attributed to the name of the drug - "Heptral 400", which means the content in one tablet of 400 mg of the active ingredient.
Composition and principles of action
The main active ingredient in tablets and lyophilisate called "Heptral" is ademethionine. The most common dosage is 400 mg of ademetionine per tablet (vial).
Tablets contain auxiliary substances, in the presence of an allergic reaction, at least one of them should reduce the dose or completely refuse to take the drug:
- Colloidal silicon dioxide.
- Talcum medical.
- Sodium hydroxide.
- Magnesium stearate.
- A copolymer of methacrylic acid.
- Macrogol.
- Polysorbate.
- Sodium carboxymethyl starch.
- Simethicone.
- Sodium hydroxide.
- Microcrystalline cellulose.
- Distilled medical water.
When taking the drug, liver cells do not collapse even under the influence of severe intoxication. As a result of the cell support process, the functional activity of the organ increases, the patient begins to feel better, and biochemical liver parameters return to normal.
Ademethionine is produced in small quantities on its own by brain cells. Being the body's own secret, this substance rarely causes allergic side effects.
The antidepressant effect of ademetionine is to preserve neurons (brain cells) during toxic effects.
Indications for use
Instructions for use and reviews of "Heptral" report that the drug is active in the following diseases and conditions:
- pre-cirrhotic condition (as a prophylaxis of cirrhosis and liver fibrosis);
- fatty liver disease;
- persistent toxic damage to the liver and gall bladder;
- cholestasis, cholecystitis (without stone formation);
- cirrhosis;
- hepatitis of various etiologies;
- depressive disorders;
- withdrawal syndrome with drug addiction and alcoholism.
Contraindications and side effects
In the first week of using the drug (reviews of Heptral confirm this), itching, hives, erythema, and sweating may occur. As a rule, these symptoms quickly disappear - after three to four days. If the itching does not go away, but intensifies, and the urticaria spreads over a large area, you should consult your doctor and possibly stop taking it.
Contraindications to the use of the drug are the following diseases and conditions:
- violation of the assimilation of cyanocobalamin;
- genetic disorders of the mitionine cycle;
- period of pregnancy and lactation;
- children up to eighteen years old inclusive;
- suicidal tendency and serious psychiatric illnesses.
Heptral is dispensed without a prescription, but is a medication with a rather specific effect. So you should always consult with your doctor (gastroenterologist, neurologist, psychiatrist) before taking it.
Reviews of patients on admission for hepatosis of various etiologies
Reviews on the use of "Heptral" in hepatosis are mixed. Many patients were surprised by a sharp decrease in hepatic indices in the biochemical analysis of blood and good health.
In a number of patients, serious manifestations of side effects began - urticaria, itching, erythema. Because of this, they were forced to stop taking the drug.
Reviews on the use of toxic hepatitis
The most common causes of toxic hepatitis are the use of potent medications and chronic alcoholism. Often the cause of the development of the disease is also chemotherapy, which is carried out to stop the growth of malignant tumors.
Whatever the cause of intoxication, it is possible to get rid of the manifestations of toxic hepatitis only after completely getting rid of the source of poisoning. If these are medications, you should stop taking them. In the case of alcoholism and drug addiction, you need to do therapy for these addictions. Reviews of Heptral tablets confirm that the drug perfectly reduces the load on the liver, already on the third or fourth day the yellowness of the skin and mucous membranes disappears, weakness goes away and digestion is established. Of the minuses - a rather high price of the drug, which prevents the taking of pills on an ongoing basis.
Reviews on the use during withdrawal syndrome
During a hangover and withdrawal, the liver needs special protection. It is in this condition that the death of organ cells is formed, which provokes fatty degeneration of the liver, fibrosis, toxic hepatitis and subsequently cirrhosis. Patients in their reviews of Heptral report that taking the drug not only became an excellent prevention of these conditions, but also helped to cure existing diagnoses of liver diseases.
Use directly during withdrawal symptoms should be carried out at a dosage of 800-1200 mg per day (2-3 tablets), regardless of food intake. Patients note that on the fifth day of admission, amelioration occurs. The antidepressant effect helps to reduce the state of increased anxiety, irritability and reflection characteristic of the patient during the period of withdrawal. The total duration of the course is a month, then you should take a break in admission for about two weeks and repeat the course.
Medicinal analogues of Heptral and reviews
On the pharmaceutical market there is a biologically active supplement with hepatoprotective action called "HeptraLight". Do not confuse it with Heptral. Reviews of people who took the supplement confirm that it is very weak in its effect on the body. In addition, the main active ingredient in HeptraLight is completely different than in the described drug.
The doctors' comments on Heptral indicate that today it is the only drug with hepatoprotective and antidepressant effects on the body. An analogue of a domestic product called “Heptor” has a lower degree of purification of the main active substance, therefore, has a lower therapeutic effect. However, some patient reviews, on the contrary, confirm the great effectiveness of the “Heptor” in some liver diseases (in particular, cirrhotic disease).
Do not compare the action of Heptral with the usual hepatoprotectors - Karsil, Essentiale, Hofitol, Ursosan. Only Heptral can act in several directions at once, while preserving at the same time the liver cells and neurons in a healthy, efficient state.