Almost every person at least once in their life had a feeling of discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract. Many are familiar with pressing pain and a feeling of heaviness in the abdomen, as well as bloating and increased gas formation. Often this sensation occurs after overeating or eating unusual food.
"Pancreoflat" helps to successfully and quickly cope with these symptoms and feel much better. This is a unique drug that combines the action of two therapeutic components.
Description of the drug. Pharmacotherapeutic group
Instructions for use "Pancreoflat" describes the drug as coated tablets. They have a white or almost white color and an oblong shape.
Pankreoflat tablets are determined by the instructions for use as an enzyme drug containing in its composition a component that helps to eliminate gas formation in the intestine.
The healing properties of the components
The medicine contains 170 mg of pancreatin and 80 mg of dimethicone. Each of the components has a specific pharmacological effect, which makes this drug especially effective for various digestive disorders.
Pancreatin is a powder isolated from pork pancreas. It includes a number of different enzymes:
- amylase
- lipase
- trypsin
- chymotrypsin.
Each of them plays a role in the digestion process. Protease breaks down proteins into amino acids, and amylase breaks down starch into oligosaccharides. Lipase turns fats into fatty acids and glycerin. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are responsible for the breakdown of proteins and peptides.
Basically, various disorders in the pancreas are associated with a lack of these enzymes. Pancreatin is able to fill this deficiency and ensure the healthy functioning of the pancreas.
Dimethicone is inherently a chemically inert substance. Its main property is a change in the surface tension of gas bubbles in the intestine. After exposure to dimethicone, the bubbles burst and are excreted naturally. As a result, gas formation in the intestine stops, pain and bloating disappear.
In addition to the active substances, Pancreoflat also includes auxiliary components, each of which performs its specific function:
- Sorbic acid and sucrose act as flavoring agents for taste.
- Hypromellose, which performs a loosening function.
- Methyl parahydroxybenzoate and propyl parahydroxybenzoate act as preservatives.
- Copovidone - performs a binding function.
- Talc. It has anti-slip properties.
- Silica. Involved as an adsorbent.
- Beeswax. Add as a prolongator in order to increase the interval of action of the drug.
- Acacia gum, milk powder, magnesium oxide, titanium dioxide, shellac are additional components.
Indications for use
Instructions for use "Pancreoflat" contains information that the drug can be used for diseases such as:
- Chronic pathologies of the stomach, intestines, liver or gall bladder, which are accompanied by inflammation.
- The insufficiency of such a function of the pancreas as the secretion of enzymes. This happens with chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis.
- Conditions after irradiation or partial removal of affected organs, accompanied by disturbances in the digestion of food.
- Flatulence, upset stool (as part of complex therapy).
- In preparation for any examination of the abdominal organs (ultrasound or x-ray examination).
- To improve the digestion process, Pancreoflat can be used in people with normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. This is true for those who have made certain errors in their diet or have a violation of the ability to chew, and also lead a sedentary lifestyle.
Contraindications
The instruction to "Pancreoflat" indicates some contraindications for taking the medicine. The drug is not recommended for acute pancreatitis in order to avoid an increase in the load on the pancreas.
Also, taking the drug is contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity to its components, in order to prevent the development of an allergic reaction.
Contraindications include children's age up to 12 years, since proper clinical studies have not been conducted in this direction.
Use during pregnancy and during breastfeeding
The safety of the use of the drug "Pancreoflat" during pregnancy and lactation is not well understood. For this reason, it is recommended that pregnant and lactating women consult a doctor first.
Side effects
Like any other drug, Pancreoflat can cause some unwanted side effects, namely:
- Allergic manifestations in the form of a rash, itching, swelling of the mucous membranes. This situation arises in case of intolerance by a person of any component of the drug.
- Side effects can also occur from the digestive system. This includes a feeling of bloating, pain and discomfort in the stomach, an upset stomach like constipation or diarrhea, and nausea and vomiting.
- Taking the drug may also affect the results of a blood test on the content of uric acid in it.
Dosage and administration
"Pancreoflat" must be taken orally by 1 or 2 tablets. This should be done during each meal or immediately after it. To wash down with water. Chew tablets are not required. The duration of the course depends on the severity of the disease and should be prescribed individually by the attending physician.
Overdose. Drug incompatibility
According to the information contained in the instructions for use of "Pancreoflat", data on overdose cases are currently not registered.
The simultaneous use of antacids containing magnesium carbonate ("Rennie" and others) and / or aluminum hydroxide ("Gastal", "Almagel" and others) can lead to a decrease in the absorption of dimethicone, which reduces the effectiveness of treatment with the drug.
How can I replace the drug?
Pankreoflat does not have a full analogue, as it has a unique composition and contains two main components at once. The pharmaceutical market offers a huge selection of drugs with enzymatic activity. All of them contain pancreatin, but the buyer often has to deal with different price levels for these drugs. It happens that the cost of one medicine is an order of magnitude higher than the cost of another, with the same composition. The fact is that these formulations differ from each other by auxiliary components and by the method of coating the active substance, on which their pharmacological effectiveness directly depends.
Cheap analogues of Pancreoflat have, as a rule, only one enteric coating (Pancreatin, Mezim, Panzinorm). In more expensive preparations, the active substance is usually enclosed in microcapsules, and only then many of these particles are combined into one common shell. This allows the drug to be more resistant to the aggressive environment of the stomach and released in the intestine in full, which significantly increases the effectiveness of the treatment. These characteristics are possessed by funds with such trade names as Mikrazim, Creon, and Hermitage. The production of such drugs is expensive. Naturally, such compositions cannot cost as much as cheap analogs having a simpler production method.
It should also be recalled that in addition to pancreatin, “Pancreoflat” has dimethicone. As the main active ingredient, it is contained in a drug such as Zeolate. Also included in the Pepsan-R. But these drugs do not have pancreatin in their composition, that is, they are not substitutes for the Pancreoflat drug.
We can say that the analogues of "Pancreoflat" are cheaper than the drug itself, but we must remember that they are not its full substitutes, because they have a different composition.
Storage conditions. Shelf life. Reviews about "Pancreoflat"
The drug must be stored in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight, out of the reach of children. The shelf life of Pankreoflat is 2 years from the date of manufacture.
In most cases, patients report a significant improvement. Some indicate that pain and discomfort disappear after a few days of taking the drug regularly. Two doses of medicine were enough for the other. Therefore, reviews about Pancreoflat are mostly positive. Nevertheless, there are opposing opinions of people who have not received the expected effect of treatment with Pancreoflat. There are those who felt better only during the course of treatment with the drug. As soon as he stopped taking it, digestive upset returned again.
It should be noted that Pancreoflat only supplements the lack of pancreatic enzymes and eliminates gas bubbles in the intestines. For a complete recovery, it is necessary to establish an accurate diagnosis and undergo complex treatment.
This is an over-the-counter drug, therefore it is possible to purchase Pancreoflat in Moscow and other cities without much difficulty.