Cardiovascular preparations must be used with great care. Despite the fact that they can be sold in pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription, with self-medication such pills become very dangerous. Therefore, doctors are categorically against the fact that patients prescribed them for themselves. If you notice that you feel bad and are inclined to believe that this is a heart disease, then contact the clinic and undergo an appropriate examination.
In the modern world, a high percentage of people suffering from heart failure and various types of arrhythmias. Such patients have to constantly take certain drugs in order to improve their condition and keep the heart muscle in good shape. Doctors often prescribe Digoxin for such problems. The instructions for use of this drug give its full description, but for people who do not know the medical terms, it is quite difficult to understand. They have to look for additional information about the medicine in other sources. In the article we will describe instructions for the use of "Digoxin" in simple language and add to it the reviews of cardiologists and their patients.
Brief Description of Digoxin
This medicine is sold only by prescription. The instructions for use with Digoxin indicate that it previously belonged to the category of drugs conditionally classified as "poisonous." Thus, it becomes clear that it can only be used after a thorough examination. It is also necessary to periodically take tests so that the attending physician can monitor the patient's state of health.
Judging by the instructions for use with the medicine, "Digoxin" is excellent in complex therapy. Therefore, its administration is usually combined with other drugs. If the patient adheres to the scheme indicated by the doctor, then in just a few days he will notice an improvement in his condition.
"Digoxin" (in the instructions for use are not always marked all the options for taking the drug) has a wide spectrum of action. It increases the excitability of the heart muscle and increases vascular conduction. At the same time, the product has vasoconstrictor and vasodilating effects. Vasoconstriction is a natural and natural reaction of the body to taking the drug, but the indirect effect is the expansion of the vascular network. Moreover, this reaction is most pronounced due to the fact that there is stimulation of the heart.
From the instructions for use with Digoxin, patients can find out that it belongs to the group of glycosides. They are widely used in the treatment of arrhythmias and chronic heart failure. Digoxin also has many analogues. We will talk about some of them a little later.
Release form
When going to a pharmacy for a medicine, keep in mind that it is available for sale in two forms. Each has its own instructions for use. Digoxin can be purchased in the form of tablets and an injection. The necessary option is chosen by the doctor, but most often patients are given a tablet form. Injections can be prescribed in especially difficult situations, when the result is needed in the shortest possible time.
It is worth considering that the product is produced by different pharmaceutical companies, so packaging and packaging may have some differences. In the instructions for use for Digoxin tablets, a paragraph has been introduced that describes the appearance of the capsules and their composition. The tablets are white and packaged in packs of twenty-five, forty or fifty pieces. Most often they are located on blisters, in one cardboard box is placed from two blisters. Often, recently in pharmacies you can find the drug in plastic banks.
"Digoxin" in ampoules (the instructions for applying to it are identical in most respects with the previous form) has several packaging options. Depending on the need, you can purchase the following dosage of ampoules:
- one milliliter;
- two milliliters;
- five milliliters;
- ten milliliters.
Each of the cardboard boxes contains ten ampoules of the drug.
Keep in mind that if your package does not contain instructions for use with Digoxin (we will list the analogues of the drug later in this article), then you got a fake. In no case should you drink such pills.
The composition of the drug
From the instructions for use for "Digoxin" and reviews about it, you can find out that its main component is a vegetable. The drug is made from a well-known digitalis plant. It is medicinal, and our ancestors knew about its effect on the vascular system.
Both tablets and Digoxin ampoules (instructions for the use of all types of the drug require careful study and the mandatory implementation of recommendations and requirements) have the same active substance. It is digoxin. However, depending on the form of release, its concentration in medicines varies. The dosage is always indicated in the instructions for use: in Digoxin tablets - 0.25 mg of the active substance, and in ampoules - 250 milligrams per milliliter of solution.
It is known that today there is a drug in which 0.1 milligrams of digoxin in one tablet. But such a dosage is not always convenient during treatment and is not too in demand among physicians and patients. It can be prescribed if the patient is a child under ten years old.
Each form of release of the product has its own list of excipients. All of them have undergone rigorous testing and a number of clinical trials, so there is no need to worry that they can harm the human body. From the instructions for use with Digoxin 0.25 mg (in tablet form) you can find a complete list of additional substances. Of these, we distinguish talc, silicon, starch and magnesium salts. In ampoules, the auxiliary components are citric acid, sterile water and ethyl alcohol.
Features of the drug
Before taking any medicine, you must carefully study the instructions for use and reviews. Digoxin tablets and injection are no exception to this rule. The instructions always indicate some features of the drug that the patient should be aware of.
For example, in the case of heart medicine, it is important to understand when it begins to act. When taking Digoxin, the first effect occurs approximately thirty minutes later, after two hours the concentration of the active substance becomes maximum. However, keep in mind that the solution begins to act much faster than tablets. The absorption of the latter into the stomach is slowed down by food. This is especially noticeable if you eat foods rich in fiber. In this case, the effect will occur no less than two hours after taking the pill.
When starting treatment, keep in mind that the drug also has a diuretic effect. It is not pronounced, but sufficient to reduce swelling and shortness of breath in the patient. Digoxin components of the drug are withdrawn (according to cardiologists and instructions for use) after about thirty-six hours. But in older people, the elimination process is much slower. Usually it drags on for up to seventy hours. Therefore, in older people, more pronounced side effects from treatment are more often observed.
Indications for use
Digoxin is prescribed to patients quite often. A reason to write a prescription is a number of diseases. These primarily include heart failure. Moreover, the drug successfully copes even with the chronic form of the disease, which is beyond the power of many other modern means. Also, tablets and injections are prescribed in cases of detection of arrhythmias of a different nature. Doctors find the drug effective in some forms of tachycardia.
If we superficially describe the mechanism of action of Digoxin on the body, then we can say that it increases the force of contractions of the heart muscle, but at the same time reduces the frequency of these contractions. Due to this effect, blood begins to be pumped much easier and the patient's condition improves. And this happens literally on the second day after the start of treatment.
Possible contraindications
The drug is recognized as very strong, and therefore not all patients can be prescribed. If there are many pathologies, the doctor will beware of prescribing Digoxin. Obvious contraindications include a low level of potassium and calcium in the blood, an allergy to any constituent agents and a heart attack in the acute stage, or a recovery period after it.
Do not start treatment with "Digoxin" if you have been diagnosed with the following problems:
- heart block and inflammatory process of its tissues;
- cardiomyopathy;
- tachycardia;
- angina pectoris;
- aortic aneurysms.
In addition to these problems, there are a number of cardiac pathologies in which the drug can not be taken in any case.
Keep in mind that before starting treatment it is recommended to undergo an extensive medical examination. Indeed, in his process, diseases that the patient did not know about before may be revealed. Perhaps they will become an obstacle to taking the described drug.
Instructions for use of tablets
The drug should be taken at a certain time, it is most effective if you take the pill between meals. At the same time, it must be washed down with plenty of clean drinking water. The volume of fluid cannot be less than one hundred and fifty milliliters. You can not chew the tablet, otherwise it will begin to act earlier than necessary, and will not have the expected effect.
The doctor usually prescribes the administration schedule; it consists of a two-stage treatment. At the first, it is necessary to obtain a quick result in order to improve the patient's condition and remove risks to his life. For this purpose, two to four tablets are initially drunk. Then, every six hours, from one to three capsules. Such treatment lasts for three days. During this time, the patient is relieved, and he proceeds to the second stage. It is important to take only a maintenance dosage. It is one to two tablets per day. Most often they will need to be drunk in the morning and in the evening.
If your condition is not acute, then the doctor may prescribe a maintenance dosage for you initially. In any case, remember that you can not drink more than six tablets per day. This leads to overdose and poisoning.
Can I drink the drug for children and pregnant women?
In case of urgent need, doctors prescribe Digoxin for babies from birth. But in these cases, the dosage is selected individually and is directly dependent on the weight of the child.
For example, if a drug is prescribed for premature babies, then its maximum concentration is calculated based on three hundredths of a milligram per kilogram of weight. For full-term babies, the dosage can be increased to four hundredths of a milligram. A similar scheme is relevant for children from birth to one month.
Up to a year, the treatment regimen implies up to six hundredths of a milligram of active substance per kilogram of a baby’s weight. Further, up to ten years, the doctor will focus on the indicated concentration. Then the child switches to an adult dosage.
Pregnant women are not recommended to take “Digoxin.” It is known that it crosses the placental barrier, and its dosage in the fetal blood is the same as that found in the mother. Therefore, doctors prescribe the drug to women only if it is clearly necessary, exceeding any risks for the child.
When breastfeeding, the doctor will not prescribe this remedy. Its content in breast milk is quite high, and therefore can harm the health of the newborn.
Injection treatment regimen
Judging by the instructions for use, Digoxin is administered intravenously. It can be either injections or droppers. There is no other option for using this form of medication.
The instructions for use will help to dilute the solution of "Digoxin" correctly. It describes how it is necessary to prepare a solution for injection. For one injection, the contents of the ampoule are diluted in ten milliliters of sodium chloride or glucose. Moreover, the latter should be five percent.
At the initial appointment, an injection or dropper is given twice a day. In this way, the treatment lasts two days, in the future one injection per day will be enough. In general, the scheme is designed for five days, during which time the necessary positive effect is achieved. To consolidate it, treatment will continue with tablets.
Let's talk about analogues
Digoxin is produced by different manufacturers, so it comes under the Russian market with several names. Usually the name of a pharmaceutical company is attributed to the main word. Interestingly, drug prices also vary. They depend on what technology the manufacturer uses and what quality the raw materials were used. With a high degree of purification, its efficiency and, consequently, the price increase. Fearlessly, the drug can be replaced with the following:
- "Digoxin Grindeks" (instructions for use with it are closest to the original);
- Digoxin Gideon Richter ;
- Digoxin Nycomed.
In addition to these names, there are five more companies that produce this drug under their own brand.
If you are interested in a similar product to be described, then consider Novodigal.
Digoxin solution and tablets. Reviews
The instructions for use contain a lot of useful information, but real patient reviews may give slightly different information about taking the drug. What do people write about Digoxin?
Most patients were satisfied with the effect. Judging by the reviews, the maintenance dosage can be taken without interruption for three months. Then it becomes necessary to temporarily change the drug or take a break if the state of health allows it.
People also note the fact that at first they were tormented by side effects from pills and injections. Most often, patients complain of nausea, sleep disturbance, anxiety and sweating. But after one or two weeks the situation is changing for the better. Ailments disappear, and the condition normalizes.
In the comments you can find information that older people do not always tolerate the drug well. They may experience hallucinations, delusions, and insomnia. After stopping the use of "Digoxin" the situation returns to normal.
Cardiologists reviews about Digoxin
The instructions for use do not provide comments on the doctors working with the drug. For many patients, it is very important that the drug prescribed by them is approved by leading practicing cardiologists. Therefore, they begin to look for such information.
After analyzing the data found, we can say that doctors very positively evaluate the treatment with the drug. They believe that from a wide group of glycosides, Digoxin is one of the safest. It is highly effective and helps to normalize the patient’s condition in the shortest possible time. In the case of heart problems, this is a very important characteristic.
Also, doctors are impressed by the availability of the drug. Its cost usually does not exceed fifty rubles, which means that people of different social status can buy it at the pharmacy.