"Nifedipine" is a drug widely used to treat patients with hypertension. He in a fairly short time will help lower blood pressure. It is also worth saying that when buying any type of Nifedipine, you do not need a prescription; it is available in pharmacies on sale.
Therapeutic effect
What is the effectiveness of the drug? What properties does it have, are there any analogues of Nifedipine, what are their results in treatment? This medication:
- Improves blood supply to the coronary arteries.
- Helps reduce peripheral vascular resistance.
- Slightly reduces myocardium.
- Lowers pressure.
- It is also a kind of blocker, which does not allow calcium to enter the cells of the vascular muscles and has a positive effect on ischemia.
Release form
The drug Nifedipine is released in the form of tablets, dragees, capsules, drops intended for oral administration.
The effectiveness and safety of taking more depends on what form of medication you have chosen. Since the beginning of the 70s of the last century, Nifedipine tablets or capsules of fast action have been mainly used, and about 20 years ago a prolonged form appeared in pharmacies. A drug that lowers blood pressure in a short time is also excreted quickly. It has a fairly low efficiency and tolerance is also not very good, when compared with those forms that slowly and more effectively act on the body during the day.
The fast-acting drug Nifedipine (the price for it is much lower - within 25-30 rubles per package) helps in most cases, especially in those cases when a person has a sharp jump in pressure. It will help to reduce it in the shortest possible time, although this effect may last for a short time.
The effect of the drug depends on how much its concentration fluctuates in the blood, and how quickly it rises and falls. Conventional pills sharply lower blood pressure, the answer to this fact is the reflex release of adrenaline and other stimulating hormones. All these hormones can cause a person to have a strong heartbeat, headache, fever, and even redness on the skin.
You also need to remember that when taking a fast-acting medicine that is excreted from the body in a short time, a “rebound” symptom may occur. This means that after a short time, the pressure may rise even higher than before you took the pill. Therefore, although the price of the prolonged “Nifedipine” is slightly higher - from 40 to 50 rubles per pack (50 tablets), its effect on the body is milder and longer. Almost no harm to human condition.
Pills "Nifedipine" from what?
This medicine is prescribed for hypertension, ischemic disease, which is accompanied by an attack of angina pectoris. In combination with a drug such as Verapamil, it is prescribed for patients who have kidney problems, or rather, to slow the development of kidney failure. With its help, a complex treatment of heart failure is performed, and together with drugs that expand the bronchi, it is used in the treatment of asthma.
Each drug has side effects, and the drug Nifedipine is no exception.
Side effects
For whatever purpose, the doctor has not prescribed you to take such a drug, be prepared for the fact that it can cause side effects, such as:
- Impaired kidney function.
- Violation of sleep and vision.
- Muscle pain.
- Skin rash.
- Heartburn and nausea.
- Peripheral edema.
If the side effect persists, then you should consult your doctor, you may need to reduce the dosage or have to cancel the drug.
Drug use
To achieve positive results in treatment, you need to know how to take Nifedipine tablets correctly. The application is quite simple and does not require special knowledge and skills from you.
Take it for 1-2 months 3-4 times a day for 100 mg. With a hypertensive crisis, it should be taken singularly. To do this, take one tablet and put it under the tongue. To resolve the drug faster, you can bite the pill. During this procedure, the patient must necessarily remain in a supine position.
After half an hour, the medication can be repeated, in some cases the number of tablets can be increased to 3 pieces.
The pharmacy also sells prolonged Nifedipine tablets. Instructions for their use give a detailed reception schedule, while noting that they give the desired effect only with prolonged use.
If you want to remove the patient from a hypertensive crisis, then use "Nifedipine" in solution, it must be administered within 4-8 hours.
What are Nifedipine tablets used for? What diseases are they considered effective for? One of these diseases is the Raynaud phenomenon.
The drug "Nifedipine" with Raynaud's phenomenon
Raynaud's phenomenon is considered one of the most “beautiful” diseases of the cardiovascular system. It affects the upper limbs and gives out a whole range of colors. It is the hands that this disease most often affects. Behind all this “beauty” is a huge number of complications, associated more with microcirculatory disorders at the ends of the fingers and numerous changes in the composition of the blood. The mystery of this disease is due to the fact that the causes of its occurrence are still not known, and no doctor can give a 100% guarantee that the patient really has this disease.
Assumptions of the Reynaud phenomenon
Until now, the causes of this disease have not yet been fully studied, but some of them have nevertheless been identified. Each person, especially in the winter, was chilled, this is one of the reasons for the further development of the disease. Frequent stressful situations can also affect the development of the disease. Chronic finger injuries can also affect, especially those who work in the construction industry.
All these factors lead to the Raynaud phenomenon. And what symptoms should indicate to a person the disease:
- Spasms of the vessels of the hand.
- Swelling and blue end phalanges.
- Tendency to ulcers and panaritiums.
- Necrotic phenomena.
Also, very often a sign of the disease can be a constant coldness of the fingers and very severe pains when cooling.
There are two ways to treat the disease: the first of them is Nifedipine tablets or Nifedipine analogues, and the second method is surgery, in which the patient is transected with nerve fibers that conduct impulses.
As for the treatment with drugs, not only the analogues of Nifedipine, but also the drug itself showed excellent results in treatment.
Can I use this medicine during pregnancy?
Many women are interested in whether it is possible to take "Nifedipine" during pregnancy? Reviews of doctors and expectant mothers showed that it can be taken only in extreme cases and under the supervision of the attending physician.
Although studies on pregnant women have not been conducted, experiments on animals have shown that taking Nifedipine can lead to perinatal asphyxia, premature birth, and delayed fetal development.
Although it is impossible to say for sure whether the drug causes such consequences, or whether some diseases of the mother lead to similar pathologies. But after a thorough study in pregnant women after taking this drug, similar symptoms were noted. Therefore, it is best not to take Nifedipine during pregnancy. Reviews about the drug are not confirmed by laboratory tests, and it is best not to risk the health of the mother and fetus.
I would also like to say that for children under 18 years of age, Nifedipine is categorically contraindicated.
What can replace the drug "Nifedipine"?
Each patient often faced such a problem as the lack of the right medicine in the pharmacy. This often happens with the drug Nifedipine. This is a very popular medicine, and in pharmacies it may not be, but there are analogues of Nifedipine. Among their huge number, you can choose the one that may suit your body even better.
If you are prescribed an emulsion "Nifedipine", but it is not in the pharmacy, you can choose a similar drug from this list:
- "Adalat."
- Kordafen.
- Cordaflex.
- Corinfar.
- Cordipine.
- "Nicardia."
- "Procardia."
- "Farmadipin".
- "Phenigidin."
All these drugs are available in tablets or capsules, except for "Pharmadipine" - it is in drops. There are also prolonged analogues of Nifedipine:
- "Adalat-SL."
- Corinfar Uno.
- Corinfar Retard.
- Cordipin Retard.
- Nifebene Retard.
- "Nifedipine SS."
As can be seen from the above lists, there are a large number of synonyms for this drug, and this is due to its popularity. Most pharmaceutical companies produce an analogue of the drug Nifedipine. Reviews of patients indicate that most of them are in no way inferior to him in efficiency.
Before choosing the right analogue, you need to accurately identify for yourself for what purposes and what kind of drug you need, short-acting or extended.
So, fast-acting medicine is not recommended for long-term treatment of hypertension and diseases of the cardiovascular system. In these cases, it is better to stop the choice on a long-acting drug, but with a hypertensive crisis, a quick-acting medicine will become useful to you.
Before choosing an analog or the main drug for yourself, carefully study the instructions for the drug "Nifedipine", indications and contraindications, so as not to harm your health with the wrong medicine.
But also be prepared for the fact that the pharmacist in the pharmacy may ask you a question: do you need Nifedipine - gel or tablets? You should consult your doctor in advance about this.
Nifedipine (gel): indications
An emulsion or, as it is often called, a gel is a drug for treating cracks in the anus, hemorrhoids in the early stages.
The composition of this drug includes lidocaine, nifedipine and isosorbite dinitrate, it is available in tubes of 40 g.
Thanks to nifedipine, which is part of the gel, smooth muscle tissue relaxes and the peripheral vessels expand rapidly. This substance in the emulsion relaxes the muscles of the anus, lowers rectal pressure.
Lidocaine, in turn, relieves pain, and isosorbite dinitrate also helps to dilate blood vessels, penetrating smooth muscle cells. It is thanks to this correctly selected composition that Nifedipine (gel) helps in healing the fissure, removes the hemorrhoids that have fallen out, relieves pain and stops bleeding.
The instructions for the drug indicate that the pain after the use of the drug will disappear after a couple of days, after 14 days, all cracks in the anus area are tightened, and after a month, full recovery occurs, provided that the Nifedipine gel is used regularly. Patient reviews about the drug are only positive. Most of them note that in a short time they got rid of the pains and bleeding that tormented them.
The Israeli manufacturer of the emulsion "Nifedipine" claims that the drug has no side effects and contraindications, since its effect only affects the inflamed areas in the tissues and their healing. You can even prescribe a gel for pregnant women and those who are breastfeeding.
It is highly recommended to combine Nifedipine treatment with a diet. In the diet should be present foods rich in fiber, a sufficient amount of liquid. Do not eat anything sharp and salty. If possible, engage in physical therapy at least 10 minutes a day.
You can store an open package with Nifedipine Gel for only two weeks, so you need 2 packs to complete the entire course of treatment.
To summarize
In conclusion of our article I want to summarize and repeat the most important points. So, gel and tablets "Nifedipine" from what help?
The main role "Nifedipine" and its analogues play in the treatment of hypertension in patients with complications such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. That is why a similar drug and its analogues do not violate the metabolism, to put it more simply, do not affect the level of blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides. But still, it is better to give preference to the daily drug in the form of GITS for patients with diabetes and a high risk of cardiovascular disease.
"Nifedipine" daily action will not only help reduce blood pressure during hypertension, but also protect all internal organs. Organoprotective qualities of the drug "Nifedipine":
- Reduces remodeling of the left ventricle of the heart.
- Optimizes blood circulation in all tissues of the human body.
- Positive effect on kidney function.
- Significantly improves the functional state of the retina.
In the treatment of hypertension, the drug "Nifedipine" is combined with almost all groups of drugs for pressure, which are currently in great demand among doctors and patients:
- diuretics (diuretics);
- beta blockers;
- ACE inhibitors;
- angiotensin receptor blockers.
If you use the drug "Nifedipine" in combination with drugs from other groups, then you can significantly increase the effectiveness of treatment, reduce the dosage of tablets and reduce their unwanted side effects.
"Nifedipine" - a drug that helps with hypertensive crisis and generally with hypertension. If the doctor makes an appointment and picks up a few more drugs for him, then in this case you can be sure of the effectiveness of the treatment. Never self-medicate in order not to harm the body and aggravate the course of the disease.
Also, "Nifedipine" (gel) can help in the treatment of anal fissures and hemorrhoids, the results from its use are only positive.
Any drug has its contraindications. Be sure to read the instructions before starting treatment, even if the drug does not have any contraindications, no one will give you 100% guarantees that you will not have any unpleasant sensations from its use. There were cases that one Nifedipine tablet quickly lowered blood pressure, but a severe headache appeared. Always monitor your health and take only those drugs that the doctor has prescribed for you, after undergoing a full examination of the body.