Today you can find a variety of reviews about "Phenazepam" - a tranquilizer of the benzodiazepine group. It is a potent sedative. Some patients believe that this medicine relieves mental stress and stress well, while others report its side effects and the ability to be addictive. The opinions of experts regarding this medication are also divided. To understand the question: is this tranquilizer useful or harmful, it is necessary to study its composition, effect and indications for use.
Composition and action of tablets
The active ingredient in the drug is phenazepam. The medication is produced in the form of white tablets. They may contain different amounts of the active substance - 0.5 mg, 1 mg or 2.5 mg. They also include auxiliary ingredients: lactose, carmellose, calcium compounds and starch. These additional components contribute to better absorption of the drug.
The active substance acts on the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for human emotions. Associated with this is the ability of the drug to stop anxiety, mental stress, a sense of fear. Also, the drug inhibits the cells of the reticular formation. This section of the brain stem regulates sleep and wakefulness. Therefore, "Phenazepam" is often used as a remedy for insomnia.
In addition, the medicine is able to relax muscles and relieve cramps. "Phenazepam" enhances the processes of inhibition in the central nervous system and prevents convulsive impulses from spreading. For this reason, the drug has found application in the treatment of epileptic disorders.
However, Phenazepam is not an antipsychotic drug. He cannot stop nonsense and hallucinations. Therefore, it cannot be used for schizophrenia and other psychoses.
This medicine was created in 1974 in the USSR, as the first domestic tranquilizer. Instructions "Phenazepam" and reviews of experts reported a strong anti-anxiety effect of this drug. It is considered one of the most powerful drugs in the benzodiazepine group.
Doctors warn patients that this remedy is stored in the body for a long time. It does not act as fast as other sedatives, but its effect persists for a long period of time. In most tranquilizers, the elimination half-life is 2-4 hours, and “Phenazepam” half leaves the body only after 6-18 hours (depending on the dosage).
Reviews of Phenazepam tablets report that the drug does not work instantly. It is more suitable for the treatment of chronic neurosis. Some patients take this medicine during stress, hoping that the tablet will quickly relieve anxiety and negative emotions. However, due to the long half-life, this tool does not work instantly in such situations. This is a slow but long-acting drug.
Indications for use
Instructions for the use of Phenazepam tablets and reviews indicate the effectiveness of this drug in chronic neurosis and psychopathy, accompanied by a sense of anxiety, fear, emotional stress. The medicine is also taken in reactive states after mental trauma and stress, insomnia, hypochondria, panic attacks.
The drug is used not only in psychiatric, but also in neurological practice. It eliminates tics, increased muscle tension and autonomic-vascular disorders. The medicine is used to treat foci of epileptic activity in the temporal lobe of the brain and myoclonic seizures.
In narcology, this drug is used to eliminate anxiety during alcohol withdrawal. However, the instructions for Phenazepam tablets and reviews indicate that the drug is incompatible with ethanol. It can be used for withdrawal only if the patient abstains from alcohol for a long time. If a person drank a large amount of alcohol in the evening and in the morning feels signs of a hangover, then you can not take "Phenazepam". For such a short period, alcohol has not yet completely left the body. And the interaction of ethanol with tranquilizers can lead to dangerous consequences.
It is important to remember that Phenazepam is a strictly prescription drug. It can be used only as directed by a doctor. In this case, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the recommended dosage. Self-medication with tranquilizers is unacceptable.
Contraindications
Absolute contraindications to the use of tablets are the following diseases and conditions of the body:
- Myasthenia gravis The medicine has an anticonvulsant effect and can enhance muscle weakness in this pathology.
- Shock and coma. These ailments are accompanied by inhibition of vital functions; Phenazepam may exacerbate unwanted symptoms.
- Obstructive pulmonary disease and acute respiratory failure. Tranquilizers enhance respiratory failure.
- Glaucoma (angle-closure). The drug may increase intraocular pressure.
- Poisoning with alcohol and psychotropic drugs. This medication may aggravate respiratory depression and cardiac activity.
- The age of the patient is up to 18 years. The safety of tranquilizers for children and adolescents has not been studied.
- Severe depressive states. The drug may increase suicidal tendencies.
- Hypersensitivity to the active ingredient. If the patient has had an allergy to benzodiazepine tranquilizers in the past, then the use of "Phenazepam" must be abandoned.
- Pregnancy. The use of tranquilizers in the first months of gestation can lead to the appearance of congenital malformations in the child. Reception "Phenazepamum" in the middle and at the end of pregnancy causes inhibition of the central nervous system of the embryo. A baby can be born with an inborn dependence on a tranquilizer and severe withdrawal syndrome. From this we can conclude that the use of "Phenazepam" during pregnancy is strictly prohibited.
- Lactation. The drug passes into breast milk. It can cause respiratory depression and the nervous system of the child. Newborn babies are very sensitive to the effects of tranquilizers.
In some diseases, the prescription of the drug is not prohibited, but it should be used with great care, at a reduced dosage and under constant medical supervision. Such pathologies include:
- insufficiency of liver and kidney function;
- nocturnal respiratory arrest (apnea);
- impaired coordination of movements of various origins (ataxia);
- psychotic abnormalities;
- hyperkinetic disorders;
- organic lesions of the central nervous system;
- decreased plasma protein levels.
Instructions "Phenazepam" and reviews indicate increased sensitivity to this drug in the elderly. They often have side effects. Therefore, at the age of over 60 years, a lower dosage is required.
If a person has had a dependence on medications in the past, then the medicine is prescribed with caution. Reviews of Phenazepam often report cases of serious addiction to the drug. Therefore, with the patient's propensity for drug dependence, such a medicine can be taken only under the strict supervision of a doctor.
Unwanted effects
The drug can cause negative reactions from various organs and systems of the body. Instructions for use "Phenazepam" and patient reviews report the occurrence of drowsiness, lethargy, lethargy, muscle weakness after taking the medicine. This is how the central nervous system reacts to a tranquilizer. These phenomena are especially often observed in the first days of treatment.
When using high doses, more pronounced undesirable phenomena are possible: impaired coordination of movements, dizziness, instability of gait, memory impairment, blurred fuzzy speech. In rare cases, taking pills can provoke a paradoxical reaction: psychomotor agitation with delusions and hallucinations.
Digestive organs can also negatively respond to taking pills. Dyspeptic symptoms, impaired liver function, jaundice are observed.
Against the background of taking the tablets, deviations in the blood analysis are possible: a decrease in the level of hemoglobin, as well as the number of leukocytes, platelets, neutrophils. Allergy sufferers may develop a skin rash such as hives and itching.
Negative manifestations of the genitourinary system are rarely observed: impaired discharge function, menstrual disorders and decreased libido.
One of the unpleasant undesirable effects of tranquilizers is the ability of these drugs to cause addiction and drug dependence. Judging by the reviews of "Phenazepam", this phenomenon is often observed, especially with prolonged and uncontrolled intake of pills. It must be remembered that a sharp cessation of drug use leads to severe withdrawal syndrome. This condition is accompanied by insomnia, tachycardia, irritability, depression, muscle spasms and autonomic disorders. Therefore, if you need to stop taking the drug, the dose is reduced gradually.
The dosage prescribed by the doctor should be carefully observed. Exceeding the recommended number of tablets is extremely dangerous, and can cause severe poisoning. An overdose of a tranquilizer is manifested in drowsiness, depression of consciousness, respiration and cardiac activity, disorders of coordination of movements and speech, a critical drop in blood pressure. In severe cases, the patient falls into a coma. Instructions for use and reviews of "Phenazepam" suggest that elderly people may develop intoxication even with a slight excess of the prescribed dose.
If the patient has exceeded the recommended dose of tablets, it is necessary to provide him first aid. It is necessary to wash the stomach and give the patient activated charcoal. Then you need to seek medical help as soon as possible. In the hospital, the patient will be given the Flumazenil antidote, which blocks the benzodiazepine receptors.
How to take medicine
The amount of medicine is determined by the doctor individually for each patient. On average, the following dosages are prescribed:
- Insomnia: 0.5 mg half an hour before bedtime.
- Neurosis: 0.5-1 mg twice or thrice a day.
- Anxiety Disorders: 3 mg per day.
- Epilepsy: 2-10 mg per day.
- Withdrawal syndrome with alcoholism: 2-5 mg per day.
This drug is not intended for long-term use, as addiction quickly develops to it. Usually, the course of treatment lasts about 14 days. When you cancel the drug, the dose is reduced gradually.
special instructions
It is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol while taking the medicine. Joint administration of tranquilizers with ethanol leads to severe intoxication with respiratory depression and other vital functions.
You cannot drive a car during sedative treatment. It is also not recommended to engage in work requiring a quick reaction and a high concentration of attention.
Interaction with other medicines
"Phenazepam" interacts with many drugs. Therefore, if a patient undergoes a course of treatment with other medicines, then it is necessary to warn the attending physician about this.
Patients with Parkinson's disease need to remember that benzodiazepine tranquilizers reduce the effect of Levodopa. Phenazepam may increase the toxicity of the antiviral agent Zidovudine and the gastric ulcer drug Cimetidine.
A tranquilizer enhances the effect of other psychotropic drugs (antipsychotics, sleeping pills, antidepressants), narcotic painkillers, muscle relaxants and drugs for hypertension.
Doctors reviews
According to doctors about Phenazepam, this medicine effectively alleviates anxiety in neurotic patients. Experts believe that this is one of the most powerful remedies for fear and increased nervousness. Psychiatrists prescribe this medicine for depressed patients. Modern antidepressants usually do not act immediately, but only after a few weeks. And doctors recommend that patients take Phenazepam during this time.
Experts do not always recommend using this remedy for insomnia. The medicine is removed from the body for a very long time. Because of this, some patients remain lethargic and drowsy during the day. Nowadays, there are more effective sleeping pills that lack such aftereffect.
In the reviews on the use of "Phenazepam", there are also disadvantages of this drug. The main disadvantage of this medicine, doctors consider its ability to be addictive and addictive. Such an undesirable effect can form after 3-4 weeks of taking a tranquilizer. Therefore, experts prescribe this tool for a period of not more than 10-14 days.
Doctors consider the negative effect of the tranquilizer on cognitive function to be another drawback of the drug. This is especially true for elderly patients. In some elderly patients, memory impairment, a decrease in concentration and difficulty in thinking were noted.
Positive patient reviews
On the Web you can find many positive reviews of people about "Phenazepam". This drug has helped patients cope with anxiety disorders, get rid of mental stress and insomnia. However, it is noted that the tranquilizer does not cure the cause of the disease. In severe depression, this remedy will not help to eliminate the ailment, it only temporarily relieves unpleasant symptoms.
The drug helps not only with neurotic diseases. There are positive reviews about the "Phenazepam" of patients suffering from vegetovascular and psychosomatic disorders. The drug helps to alleviate the condition in panic attacks. Pain in the stomach decreases with gastritis of neurotic origin, also this medicine is effective in irritable bowel syndrome and cardioneurosis.
Negative patient reviews
Negative reviews of people after the use of "Phenazepam" are associated with side effects of this drug. Patients note drowsiness, lethargy and a feeling of tiredness during the day after taking the medicine at night. Such undesirable effects are associated with the slow removal of the tranquilizer from the body.
You may find messages indicating addiction to the medicine. If at the beginning of the dose one tablet was enough for a person to calm down and sleep soundly, then over time a larger and larger dose was required to achieve a therapeutic effect.
There are negative reviews of "Phenazepam" from relatives of elderly patients. People write about memory impairment and thinking disorders in elderly patients. Usually we are talking about patients with senile dementia, accompanied by irritability, nervousness and insomnia. With this disease, a sharp decrease in cognitive functions is observed, and a tranquilizer exacerbates these symptoms. It must be remembered that in old age the drug should be used with caution, in a reduced dosage and under the supervision of a doctor.