Sometimes when buying certain medications in the insert, you can read that this pharmacy has a pronounced sedative effect. Oh, these pharmacists and doctors! How difficult it is to understand them, because they are used to expressing themselves in Latin. Sedative action - what is it? And about this we will now tell you in detail, but at the same time we will tell about sedative drugs and about when and in which cases their use is indicated. In fact, everything is very simply decrypted, even if you do not know Latin. So…
Sedative action - what is it?
In Latin there is such a word - "sedatio", which can be translated into Russian as "reassurance." The fog begins to dissipate, right? Sedatives act on a person as a sedative, relaxing, and sometimes sleeping pill.
They are distinguished from tranquilizers by a milder effect, the absence of strong side effects, they are usually well tolerated by most people and there is no getting used to them. Today, many people need such medicines. And not only adults, but even children.
When to use sedatives
Sedatives, the list of which will be presented in this article, are sold in all pharmacies. But I wonder why they are needed in such quantities, maybe you can do without sedatives somehow? It is possible, of course, but it is not necessary!
There is such a well-known expression that claims that all diseases come from nerves. Whoever made this statement first is silent, but apparently that person knew exactly what he was talking about. In any case, modern medicine agrees with this statement and does not recommend anyone to be nervous and annoyed for a long time. But people are so arranged that they can not always cope with their own emotions, and the constant nervous tension caused by various stressful situations, together with insomnia, torment modern people in the most ruthless way.
And far from always light sedative drugs sold over the counter in pharmacies can not always help. In some cases, the help of a qualified psychologist or psychotherapist is required and stronger drugs, which the doctor should prescribe.
But if a person is simply nervous because of any conflict at work or in the family, from overwork, during exams, etc., then, most likely, you can do without a doctor and independently purchase certain sedatives, reviews about which inspire him the greatest optimism and trust. Moreover, there are really a lot of them now. Just do not rush to buy the first expensive expensive newfangled tool that is advised in a pharmacy. Because often, new imported advertised drugs turn out to be, upon closer examination, renamed analogues of cheaper domestic drugs.
Traditional herbal sedatives
Soothing drugs, based on herbal ingredients, are known to almost everyone. How many of us at least once in my life have never drunk the good old valerian! Alcohol tincture of Valerian officinalis is available in most home medicine kits just in case of fire, so to speak.
Valerian-based sedatives are available in the pharmacy industry not only in the form of tinctures, but also in tablets. All these are non-prescription sedatives, which can be successfully used as a mild sedative for various neuroses, stressful conditions, insomnia, and neurasthenia. It would seem that everything is fine - drink yourself a tincture or pills and calm down. But with valerian is not so simple.
The fact is that with an overdose, this drug causes severe depression of the nervous system, a person begins to feel depressed, drowsy, working capacity decreases sharply, etc. So you should not think that the more herbal preparation, the better. It is necessary to observe the dosage indicated in the leaflet that is attached to the drug.
The next leader among traditional sedatives is motherwort and sedative preparations, also sold in the form of tinctures and tablets. Both have the ability to regulate the state of the nervous system and soothe. These drugs help with neurosis and insomnia. True, some people may have individual intolerance of motherwort. In this case, you can not use it. It is not recommended for pregnant and lactating women.
Herbal Combined Soothing
There are sedatives of herbal origin, which are relatively new, in any case, compared with the usual valerian and motherwort. Good effective drugs are tablets and oral solutions - Novopassit and Persen, available in tablets and capsules - Persen Fort. These drugs are combined, i.e., containing several active drug components.
The composition of the drug "Novopassit" includes extracts of hawthorn, hop, St. John's wort, passionflower, lemon balm, elderberry, valerian and the chemical substance guaifenesin. Composition of Persena: melissa, valerian, peppermint and a number of additional substances: corn starch, magnesium stearate, lactose, talc, glycerol, sucrose, etc.
In pharmacies today you can buy other herbal combined sedatives without prescriptions, a list of which you can see below:
- Drops sedative "Herbion".
- Balm "Muscovy".
- Dormiplant tablets.
- Drops "Carmolis".
- Elixir of Klosterfrau Melisana.
- Lily of the valley-valerian drops.
- The solution "Nobrassit".
- Syrup Passifit.
- Tablets "Patrimin".
- Phytorelax tablets.
Chemical-based sedative list
The medicines that will be discussed are available on the pharmacy network in free sale. In most of these preparations (along with the chemical component), plant extracts are also included. Let's take a closer look at these sedative medicines.
1. Drops "Valocordin" - are composed of sodium bromide, as well as valerian, belladonna, lily of the valley and menthol.
2. "Valoserdin" - also drops. Ingredients: phenobarbital, ethyl bromoisovalerianate, oregano oil, peppermint oil.
3. "Ipronal" - in this sedative, the active substance is proxybarbal.
4. Drops "Kardolol" - they include: substance phenabarbital, peppermint oil, ethyl ester of alpha-bromisovalerianic acid.
5. "Corvalol" - drops. The composition of the drug: peppermint oil, phenobarbital, ethyl bromisovalerianate.
6. "Lavocordin" - another drop with a sedative effect. In addition to phenobarbital, peppermint oil and ethyl bromisovalerianate, they also contain hop oil.
Other herbal sedatives
Much has been said about Valerian and motherwort. Now let's talk about other herbal remedies that have a sedative effect on the human body. What kind of medicine are these? These include, for example, tincture of peony. It is not as popular as the above drugs, but it works very effectively with insomnia and increased nervous irritability.
Lily of the valley-valerian drops is another excellent drug manufactured by our medical industry. The name speaks for itself - in the medicine there are two plant components: lily of the valley and medicinal valerian. In general, this is a good tool, but having a number of contraindications, such as endocarditis, myocarditis, cardiosclerosis, hypersensitivity. Drops of lily of the valley and valerian can also cause side effects in the form of nausea and vomiting, arrhythmias, diarrhea, headache, decreased attention, myasthenia gravis and allergic reactions. Both tincture of peony and lily of the valley-valerian drops are soothing drugs that are dispensed without prescription in any pharmacy. Nevertheless, you need to be careful when taking them, carefully read the instructions and start with the smallest doses.
Bromo sedatives
Bromine-based sedatives are widely known. The history of their use totals one and a half centuries. It can be said a classic. Selling bromine-containing sedatives without prescription. You can read the list below:
- Drops "Bromenval" (except sodium bromide, contain valerian, hawthorn, menthol).
- Tablets Bromkamfora.
- Solution "Potassium bromide" (used for children) and tablets.
- Drops of lily of the valley-valerian with sodium bromide.
- Sodium bromide oral solution.
- A combined preparation, which is a solution in itself, which simultaneously includes potassium bromide and sodium bromide.
- Tablets Adonis Bromine.
How bromides affect higher nervous activity was studied in the 19th century by our great compatriot, academician Pavlov. He and representatives of his school came to the conclusion that bromine has undoubted sedative properties and is good for irritability and insomnia. But you need to know that too long-term use of bromine-containing drugs can cause a condition called bromism, which is accompanied by memory impairment, severe lethargy, and sometimes skin itching and rashes.
When a child needs help
Sedatives for children are a special category of medicines. After all, what is recommended for an adult can be simply dangerous for a child. The need for taking sedatives for a child may occur in such cases as:
- Excessive tearfulness and irritability (in young children).
- A difficult adaptation period is when a child begins to attend a kindergarten or school.
- Excessive nervousness during exams.
- Tantrums and stressful situations.
- Sleep disturbances.
- Transitional age.
Of course, these are far from all reasons; only the most common ones are indicated here. Attentive parents will always notice in time that their child needs medical assistance, and will consult a doctor to prescribe soothing drugs for children. You should not start giving children medication from an adult home medicine cabinet, especially this warning applies to very young children. Homeopathic remedies are good for babies. A separate chapter is devoted to them in this article.
Side effects and contraindications
It is unlikely that there are drugs in the world that would suit absolutely everyone and do not give any undesirable reactions. Even herbal sedatives have contraindications. Frequent side effects are allergic reactions, and in case of an overdose, for example, of alcohol tinctures, there may be dizziness, confusion, etc.
Of course, each drug has its own characteristics that you can find out when buying from a pharmacist in a pharmacy. Especially should be attentive women waiting for the birth of the baby, nursing mothers. Pregnant ladies tend to be nervous and worried, because they often need sedatives. But the choice must be very responsible so as not to harm either yourself or the child.
Maternal sedatives
Glycine is believed to be a safe sedative. It is often prescribed for pregnant women. It must be borne in mind that this drug has a cumulative effect, that is, in order to feel its effect, you will have to drink tablets for more than one day. But then it acts very gently on the body.
In the first trimester of pregnancy, expectant mothers should be especially careful with taking medications. Herbal preparations "Novopassit" and "Persen" are acceptable, but only on the recommendation of a doctor. Tablets of Valerian officinalis extract and motherwort can be drunk only after the sixteenth week. But the use of alcohol tinctures is not allowed. In some cases, the doctor may prescribe homeopathic medicines that have a sedative effect. What these medicines are can be found in the next chapter.
What can homeopathy offer?
Homeopathic medicines are considered absolutely harmless and designed for almost any person. Homeopathy is good because there is no harm from it, and in some cases there is much more benefit than from traditional drugs. All homeopathic remedies undergo mandatory clinical trials, so that they can be trusted.
Among them there are sedatives for children. Passiflora Edas-11 (Russia) is suitable even for newborn babies; children from the second or third year of life are destined for pellets under the tongue “Rescue Remedy” (Russia), drops “Valerianachel” and granules “Kindinorm” (Germany); granules "Babysed", "Naughty" Russian-made (for children from 6-7 years old). I just want to warn young mothers that you should not prescribe sedative drugs, even harmless ones, to irritable or crying babies and babies. For crumbs, any doctor should prescribe any drug therapy.
But how can homeopathy please adults? Sedative action is possessed by Avena Comp, Neurosed, Calm down and many others.
And what does traditional medicine offer?
Finally, let's talk about the mild sedatives that traditional medicine offers in abundance. All of these recipes can be used as additions to taking pharmacy drugs, and separately in order to get a sedative effect. Here is what age-old folk wisdom from insomnia advises:
1. Hot foot baths before bed. They well calm nerves, relieve fatigue and contribute to speedy falling asleep and sound sleep.
2. Shared baths with the addition of fir or pine infusions, mint leaves, calendula, oregano, lemon balm and lavender flowers to the water.
3. If you fall asleep badly, you can breathe valerian root infusion before bedtime or grease whiskey with lavender oil.
4. A small pillow (sachet), hand-sewn and stuffed with a collection, which includes peppermint, geranium, oregano, fern, pine needles, bay leaves, rose petals and a pinch of valerian roots, laid at the head of the bed, can contribute to the best way possible falling asleep.
5. A soothing collection of herbs that has the effect of sleeping pills. To prepare it, you need to take equal parts of cones of hops, rosemary, peppermint, lemon balm, St. John's wort and valerian root. Pour one tablespoon of the resulting mixture with a glass of boiling water and leave for 15-20 minutes. Then the solution is filtered and drunk on the sips during the day.
6. Honey water. They say that this tool helps the body to relax and fall asleep. And preparing such sleeping pills is very simple: you need to add honey (a tablespoon) to a glass of warm water.
Finally, in order to relieve nervous tension, you can buy various dried herbs with a sedative effect (lemon balm, hawthorn, valerian, hops, motherwort), prepare a collection from them, brew it and drink instead of tea during the day.