For the treatment of arterial hypertension, doctors often advise taking Adelfan, a combination drug that contains reserpine, hydrochlorothiazide and dihydralazine, which have different effects, but are complementary. So, reserpine causes a decrease in blood pressure, hydrochlorothiazide has a diuretic effect, and dihydralazine sulfate dilates the vessels of the brain.
The doctor selects the dosage of the drug purely individually. Treatment is usually started with the minimum dose and is gradually increased (every two to three weeks). The dose per day is 1-3 tablets, which are taken 2-3 times, with meals. If the patients are elderly people or have serious kidney and liver diseases, then the single dose and interval of medication should be carefully selected.
Like other drugs, Adelfan has numerous analogues. Replacing one drug with another should only be done after a detailed consultation with the attending physician, since substitutes may have their own intake, side effects and contraindications.
For example, as with the use of the Adelfan preparation, its analogues can sometimes cause dry mouth, diarrhea. Very rarely, the patient feels sick after taking the tablets, he has vomiting. Taking these drugs can provoke the formation of a stomach ulcer.
The rhythm of the heart may be disturbed, pain in the sternum may appear, similar to those noted with angina pectoris. In some cases, patients who use analogues instead of Adelfan have fainting or even heart failure. Sometimes there are flushing to the face.
On the part of the respiratory organs, when taking Adelfan tablets, replacing them with other drugs can provoke swelling of the nasal mucosa and nosebleeds.
The central nervous system can also fail: dizziness, nightmares, and excessive fatigue will appear. The use of the drug Adelfan (synonyms - Triniton, Alsidrex-G, Relsidrex-G) can cause a state of depression, irritability, unreasonable anxiety. Treatment with this drug or its substitutes in some cases is accompanied by a constant headache, impaired orientation on the ground and concentration of attention. Sometimes a person’s weight may increase - this is due to the reaction of the endocrine system to treatment. Blurred eyes, hearing impairment, various skin rashes appear.
If side effects occur on the part of many systems and organs of a person, taking this medicine should be stopped immediately.
The drug Adelfan (its analogues too) is absolutely contraindicated, with constant depression, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, exacerbated gastric ulcer and ulcerative colitis. If a person has heart, kidney or liver failure, severe tachycardia, gout, then he absolutely should not take this medicine. With extreme caution, the doctor prescribes it with an increased sensitivity of the patient to any component of the drug. Do not take this medicine for children, as well as during pregnancy and lactation.
Adelfan tablets (analogues of it as well) should be discontinued immediately at the first sign of depression. Even after drug withdrawal, a depressive state can still be observed for a long time, up to several months.
Before electroconvulsive therapy, the drug must be discontinued at least one week in advance. It should be borne in mind that Adelfan reduces the reaction rate, which is very important when driving vehicles or controlling machinery.
With an overdose of the drug, confusion, dizziness, severe headache, coma, persistent miosis (narrowing of the pupils) are possible. Muscle weakness or cramps, respiratory depression, severely decreased blood pressure, tachycardia and collapse are sometimes observed. If the patient is conscious, he should clear his stomach or rinse it, give activated charcoal and call a doctor.